Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Superintendent Joe Nelson and other school officials have fielded hundreds of questions in the last weeks about what school during COVID-19 will be like when it starts in a few weeks. To share that information with the community, over the next several weeks, Nelson will answer some of the commonly asked questions he is hearing.
When will the students get their district-provided face shields?
Students will get their face shields August 24, on the first day of school. Many of our kids are currently wearing PPE right now in and around our three communities. I’ve met with small groups of students and our principals in each of our buildings. At each of these meetings, every kid showed up with a PPE and handled the distancing without any prompts or reminders. I’ve been so impressed with the resilience and can-do spirit exhibited by our students.
Will teachers be responsible for making students keep their face coverings on? What will you do if kids, especially the younger ones, keep taking them off? I consider every district employee a teacher and role model. It will be everyone’s responsibility to remind our students to keep their PPE on. When a student needs a reminder, it will provide a teachable moment for our staff members to remind students that PPE provide an extra layer of support to keep everyone healthy. I’ve appreciated the approach our teachers have shared when PPE has been discussed. We all share the opinion that we want school to look as normal as it can given our new COVID-19 restrictions. I think families can expect to see a great deal of patience and grace from our staff in regards to all COVID related reminders. We love our kids in all three communities and everyone is ready for their return on 8/24.
Who will be responsible for cleaning face shields? Will they be left at school at night?
This will be a community effort done by teachers, para-educators, and custodians. PPE will be left in the building overnight and put back on in the morning
What happens if a student breaks or damages a face shield?
We expect PPE to become damaged during the school day by staff and students. We’ll offer new PPE when they need to be replaced. That’s just the price of doing business during the COVID era.
Will health screenings take place at the schools? What will that look like?
Everyone, all employees and students, will have their temperature checked and recorded once every day. This time will be determined by each building’s principal. I too plan to visit our buildings every day for a temperature check.
All answers were provided by Superintendent Joe Nelson
