Orientations on Safety & PPE for Return to School

With TK-3 and 11-12 grade students returning to campus on Monday, Manteca Unified School District’s top priority is to provide a safe learning and teaching environment for both students and staff.

Since San Joaquin County has now met the safe health metrics under California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy allowing the resumption of in-person instruction for schools, TK-3 grade students along with high school juniors and seniors will return to their school sites on Monday, November 2. Grades 4-10 will return to campus two weeks later, on November 16.

Next to the District’s comprehensive return to school plan, each school site has produced their unique mitigation plans with site specific operational information. Each plan, as well as the District’s overarching plan, has been evaluated through external agencies such as SJCPHS (San Joaquin County Public Health Services) and Keenan & Associates Safe Schools, a third-party insurance brokerage. Both confirm we are prepared for our intentional and controlled return to a hybrid instructional model.

This week, schools hosted orientations for transitional kindergarten through third grade to acquaint students and parents/guardians with new campus and classroom procedures including: entry/exit and directional pathways, recess and play equipment procedures, location of hand washing/sanitizing stations, lunch services schedules, and social distancing guidelines while outside and in the classroom.

Each student was introduced to their designated desk and class materials and received cloth masks as well as reusable water bottles to use at the school’s water bottle filling stations that replaced drinking fountains, a planned campus modification as part of our safe return to school.

During orientations, teachers and administration reinforced the District’s new online self-screening platform, a procedure required by California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH), to implement seamless safeguards even before student and staff arrival at campus. The symptom check survey asks questions related to COVID-19 exposure, signs, and symptoms and based on a survey results, a student or staff member will either be directed to remain home or be approved to come to campus. If the results direct an individual to remain home, a contact tracing survey is implemented to help identify close contacts.

In addition to completing the selfscreening survey, students may also receive a temperature reading upon campus/classroom entry by their teacher or designee using a touchless thermometer.

Each preventative measure taken helps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and community.

In preparation for students’ return to campus, the District’s Workplace Illness Prevention command team reports that MUSD has spent nearly $17 million in dedicated funds for learning loss mitigations for student and staff support including facility modifications, instructional materials, professional development, personal protective equipment (PPE), and site mitigations and safeguards. The District has supplied classrooms and campuses with face shields (3,600), cloth and surgical masks (1.4 million), reusable water bottles (27,800) hand sanitizing and/ or hand washing stations, partition barriers (17,000), infrared contactless forehead thermometers (1,500) with batteries, spray bottles (2,000) with disinfecting solution, microfiber cleaning cloths for classrooms (4,200), coverall DuPont Tyvek suits (3,000) as needed and disposable gloves to name a few.

Campuses have been modified to include directional and social distancing signage with easyto-understand illustrations for students (15,000 signs/decals). The District has also invested in new and additional play equipment to minimize sharing during outdoor play.

Campuses are safe and ready to receive students for in-person instruction. The District continues to monitor current health conditions and evolving guidelines from California Department of Public Health and San Joaquin County Public Health Services.

MUSD continues to provide training for faculty and staff on COVID-19 awareness and illness prevention, and encourage proper safety practices via email communication, social media platforms, and website for students and families.

Visit “Return to School Plan” for more information: https:// www.mantecausd. net/returntoschool