LONGVIEW, Texas — Longview ISD has released its plans for mitigation of COVID-19 for the 2021-2022 school year.
Their plans emphasize that the school system will "follow all state and federal requirements, rely on local health experts for guidance in decisionmaking, and adopt reasonable practices while maintaining an effective learning environment."
Officials have acknowledged that their plans are subject to change depending on guidance from Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Education Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The district will also be taking direction from Longview Andy Mayor Mack and the Gregg County Health Department.
Here are their guidelines:
Screening for Communicable Diseases and COVID-19
- All stakeholders should self-screen for communicable disease symptoms, including COVID-19 symptoms before coming onto campus each day. Stakeholders should not be on campus if they have symptoms of a communicable disease, including COVID-19.
- Stakeholders should not be on campus if they, or an immediate family member, is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 or if you have been exposed to anyone that is confirmed.
- Campus staff members will monitor students and refer them to the nurse if symptoms are present.
Vaccinations
- Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, it is more urgent than ever.
- Vaccines can also be obtained by your personal physician, drug stores and Walmart stores. You can also locate additional sites using vaccines.gov or by searching online. You can enter your zip code and find the vaccine sites near you.
- Longview ISD will provide numerous vaccine opportunities during the school year for anyone 12 years of age and older. Please stay tuned to the district website for future vaccine clinics sponsored by Longview ISD.
Face Coverings
- Longview ISD highly recommends face coverings for its students and staff. It cannot be mandated by Governor Abbott’s executive order.
- Centers for Disease Control recommends that if not fully vaccinated and age 2 or older, you should wear a mask in public places. In general, you do not need to wear a mask in outdoor settings.
- Longview ISD highly recommends wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings.
- People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken their immune system may NOT be protected even if they are fully vaccinated. They should continue to take all precautions recommended for unvaccinated people, including wearing a well-fitted mask, until advised by their healthcare provider.
- Masks should be worn correctly, over your nose and mouth
Distance from Others
- Stay 6 feet away from others.
- Inside your home avoid close contact with people who are sick. If possible, maintain 6 feet between the person who is sick and other household members.
- Outside the home, put 6 feet distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household.
- Keeping distance from others is especially important for people who are at higher risk of getting very sick.
- Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.
- Students may bring water bottles with them to hydrate because water fountains will be turned off in order to help control the spread of disease.
Hand Washing
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
- It is especially important to wash: before eating or preparing food, touching your face, using the restroom, leaving a public place, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, after handling your mask, caring for someone who is sick and after touching animals and pets.
- Handwashing stations with soap, water and paper towels are present at each campus.
Disinfecting and Respiratory Etiquette
- Each classroom and restroom will be cleaned and disinfected.
- All high-touched areas will be disinfected throughout the day.
- Cafeterias will be disinfected between lunch periods.
- Students and staff will have access to disinfecting items to sanitize working surfaces, shared objects, and high-touch areas after use and during breaks in instruction.
- Students and staff should cover coughs and sneezes. If you are wearing a mask and you sneeze into your mask, put on a clean mask as soon as possible and wash your hands as soon as possible.
- If you are not wearing a mask, always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, or use inside of your elbow and do not spit. Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Transportation
- Students cannot be separated at least 6 feet apart on district transportation, it is highly recommended by Longview ISD’s Transportation Department that students wear masks. It cannot be mandated due to Governor Abbott’s executive order.
Guidance from the Department of Education:
- Opening windows, weather permitting, to increase circulation of outdoor air, as long as doing so does not pose a safety or health risk (e.g., risk of falling).
- Maintaining mandatory consistent, correct use of masks by adults and children while on a school bus and at arrival/departure points (e.g., bus stops), except for individuals who cannot safely wear a mask. Bus drivers should be provided with extra masks to make available in case a student does not have one.
- Seating one student per row, alternating window and aisle seating, skipping rows when possible.
- Seating members of the same household next to each other.
- Assigning each bus rider to a designated seat that is the same every day, to promote clear expectations and assist contact tracing, when needed.
- Using seat assignments that load the bus from the rear forward (and unload from the front backward) to help reduce student contact.
- If a school system provides transportation for students with disabilities as part of their IEP or 504 plan, including medically fragile children, considering the reservation of specific seats that would not be used for other students during the day and would be subject to special precautions for cleaning. Alternatively, the student’s IEP or 504 team could discuss arranging for separate transportation for those students who require this type of transportation in order to receive FAPE.
- Installing signage with visual cues on the school bus to encourage physical distancing protocols and to communicate this information to students with vision or reading disabilities.
- Developing a communication plan to encourage students and parents to maintain physical distance at bus stops and avoid congregating in groups while waiting for the bus.
- Encouraging families to drive or walk their children to school, if possible, to reduce the number of students on buses.
School Visitors
- In an effort to keep students and staff as safe as possible, we recommend that parents conduct as much business as possible via telephone, email or zoom.
Response to COVID-10
Symptomatic Individuals
Individuals who have symptoms such as: (fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and/or diarrhea) should stay home and seek medical guidance.
Students with symptoms will be sent to the campus nurse. The nurse will determine if the student should be sent home. Students will isolate until picked up by parent. Parents should pick up children ASAP.
Obtain a medical professional’s note clearing student to return.
Individuals that are Positive
Quarantine & Isolation
- You should quarantine when you might have been exposed to the virus.
- You should isolate when you have been infected with the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms.
People who are fully vaccinated need to quarantine after contact with someone who has COVID-19. Fully vaccinated people should get tested 5 days after their exposure even if they don’t have symptoms. If they receive a negative test after 5 days then the person should monitor their health for the next 14 days.
- You may be able to shorten your quarantine if you receive a negative test 5 days after exposure. You must remain quarantined for 10 days without testing.
Isolation is used to separate people infected with COVID-19 from those who are not infected. People who are in isolation should stay home until it’s safe for them to be around others. At home, anyone sick or infected should separate from others, stay in a specific “sick room” or area, and use separate bathroom (if available).
Longview ISD will follow the Gregg County Health Department’s guidelines along with the CDC.
Virtual instruction may not be an option for this school year.
Returning to Work/School Protocols
In the event that a Longview ISD teacher, staff, student or other campus visitor is lab-confirmed positive for COVID-19, they must stay home throughout the infection period.
Individuals who are confirmed to have COVID-19 will not be allowed to return to work/school as specified below:
Confirmed or Unconfirmed COVID-19 with Symptoms:
- At least 10 days have passed since their symptom onset and
- 24 hours without fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
- Other symptoms have improved
- Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation
Confirmed COVID-19 without Symptoms:
- 10 days have passed since a positive test sample was taken
- If any individual has tested positive for COVID-19 and believes the test was a false positive, and wants to return to school before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either:
- Obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis, though for health privacy reasons the note does not need to indicate what the alternative diagnosis is, or
- Obtain two PCR acute infection tests (at a physician’s office or campus tests) at least 24 hours apart that come back negative for COVID-19.
- Any individual whether vaccinated or not that come into contact with a lab-confirmed positive person should quarantine for 10 days. If an individual has been fully vaccinated they may test out and return to school or work after 5 days with a negative PCR test preferably, but Dr. Brown said that the BinaxNOW can suffice due to time for PCR results.
- Any un-vaccinated individual may test out with a negative test after 7 days.
Any employee who has questions concerning protocol, leave, benefits etc. should contact Kristie Womack at 903-381-2374. Any student who has questions concerning protocol, number of days to quarantine, testing etc. should contact your school nurse or Mrs. Kimberly Dans at 903-663-7191.
