The West Washington School Corporation has been notified of a single positive Covid-19 result at the Jr/Sr High School and will close for one week.
According to Superintendent Keith Nance, the decision has been made to move to a virtual schedule for a minimum of five days.
He said a family notified him of a positive test result early Sunday morning and moved to take action.
“Our administration was notified by the family at 10:30 am on Sunday 8/23/20 as soon as they received their results,” he said. “This communication was timely and exactly what we needed to make the best decision for the safety of our students and staff. If we would have had to wait to hear from the ISDH we may not have known until Monday after everyone had already arrived at school. I commend our families for being vigilant and effectively communicating with us.”
“This could be longer after consultation with the health department,” he said in a statement Sunday morning. “This is for the entire corporation K-12. Due to the nature of our corporation set up, we feel it is necessary to take these precautions for all grades.”
Nance said tomorrow (Monday, August 24) school administration and the health department will be conducting contact tracing and notifying anyone that may have been in “close contact” as defined by the CDC.
Virtual instruction will begin Monday.
“Monday’s virtual schedule may look a little different because it will be our first virtual day of the year,” noted Nance. “Teachers will be contacting students, holding Google Meets, and posting important information on their Google Classroom.”
Until contact tracing is complete, Nance said he is not sure of the impact on extracurricular activities.
The school completed its first varsity football game this past Friday night and their second game is set for next Friday at Crawford County High School.
The Senators Girls Volleyball team has already completed three games and the Washington County Tourney was set for this weekend but was canceled after Salem’s team is under quarantine due to a case of Covid-19.
“This could impact a small number of students and staff or it could impact a larger group,” Nance said. “We will not know the full impact until the contact tracing process is complete. Teams and players will be contacted about Monday’s events sometime on Monday. Prepare as if practices and events will go on as planned. We will notify you if there is a change.”
According to the Senators sports schedule, the following sports are set for Monday:
- Scott Hiles Invitational Co-Ed Cross Country Meet at Bedford
- Eastern High School JV Football at Pekin
- Crothersville Volleyball with JV/Varsity Girls – at Crothersville
Students should check into their Google Classrooms on their normal daily schedule.
“If you are a parent of a younger child and they cannot access the content until you are home from work, please contact your teacher and your building administrator so we can add you to the list of students that will be completing their work after school hours,” said Nance.
Virtual Closure Expectations
Short Term Closure (3-10 days)-
- All staff is expected to report to work at normal times unless communicated otherwise.
- We will maintain a regular schedule, as close to normal as possible.
- Students that are unable to do the work during the normal hours of school must contact the school and be added to the “2nd shift” list.
- Building level administrators will determine if their reason to be on “2nd shift” is legitimate.
- Teachers will be expected to:
- Have live lessons during the normal school schedule. (Recorded lessons could be utilized. However, live interaction is expected during each period, subject, etc, in order to check for understanding and answer questions)
- EX-
- 3rd Grade Reading during the normal 3rd grade reading time.
- 2nd-period Geometry during the time frame of 2nd-period Geometry.
- Have recorded direct instruction for all subjects and periods for students doing their schooling during “2nd shift”.
- Provide feedback during the hours of 8 am – 3 pm.
- You do NOT have to answer emails or hangout calls after hours.
- You do have to get back to those emails and calls the next day between 8 am – 3 pm.
- You do NOT have to answer a question of a student from period 1, while you are working with kids from period 5.
- You do have to get back with that student another time during the day.
- Students will be expected to:
- Join live lessons or watch recorded lessons during the normal school schedule.
- Unless they are assigned to the “2nd shift”.
- Complete “classwork” during the normal class time.
- Complete “homework” before the next day’s class.
- Communicate with the teacher during live lessons.
- Check email daily.
- Keep a disciplined schedule of reporting to each virtual class on time.
- “2nd” shift students are expected to:
- Watch recorded lessons nightly.
- Complete “classwork” nightly before the next day.
- Exception- you have a question and you have to wait for a response from your teacher.
- Communicate with the teacher through email and Google Hangouts.
- Check email daily.
- Keep a disciplined schedule of completing lessons and assigned work daily.
