• Supporting individual family choice/need by providing online/ distance-based learning options for those families who desire it. • Continuing to provide for the nutritional needs of the children in our communities. • Providing a safe harbor for schoolaged children during the school day. What Families Can Expect
Safe Harbor Schools Make Kids’ Health a Priority
By Brock Falkenberg, Lake County Superintendent of Schools
S
chools serve as vital resource hubs and safety nets for students and families during challenging times. We in the educational community are embracing the opportunity to reimagine our educational system as we look to re-open schools.
Lake County Superintendents and school personnel, in partnership with the Public Health Officer, are planning to reopen schools safely and on time for the 2020–2021 school year. When we discuss the concept of safety, it is not just about mitigating the risk of spread of COVID-19, it is also about improving school programs and practices ensuring our schools, however they may look, are places of inclusivity and equity. Lake County School Districts will strive to maintain the following guiding principles, as we all move 16 MendoLakeFamilyLife
Social Distancing Social distancing will help limit the spread of the virus. Schools will
Schools will follow enhanced disinfecting guidelines. consider the following strategies to maintain smaller groups of students in shared spaces: • Modify school schedules. • Limit visitors on campus. • Keep students in smaller groups.
forward to address the needs of our children and our communities:
• Keep student groups from mixing.
• Continuing to provide high-quality educational opportunities to all students.
• Serve individually plated or boxed meals.
• Managing and mitigating risk associated with COVID-19. • Ensuring equity for all students and maximizing individual student achievement. • Returning students to classroom-based instruction five days per week or as many days as the COVID-19 health pandemic allows.
• Serve meals in small group settings.
• Stagger lunches, recesses, and other transition times. • Prohibit large gatherings like assemblies and dances. • Identify a sick room for students who are not feeling well. Screening at Home • Anyone with a fever of 100.4°F or higher should not go to a school site.
July 2020 www.mendolakefamilylife.com
