Reopening

Remote Instruction

• If the entire District must enter into a remote learning model the following will occur:
  • All students and staff will be equipped by the District with a learning device to use at home
  • The District will use Google Classroom and Google Meet as its primary online learning platform. Access points will be streamlined and consolidated. 
  • PK-12 teacher office hours will take place from 7:30 a.m. - 8 a.m. and from 2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m., and at additional times scheduled for different different grade levels when possible, via Google Meet. 
  • The District will move from a 6 day schedule to a Monday-Friday schedule. 

• Online classes will begin at the same time as classes held in person based on the modified schedule outlined for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
• Lessons will be streamed in real time via Google Meet, but also recorded so that students can follow up with missed classes in the event personal situations arise preventing them from attending the initial lesson in real time.
• The District will have continued communication with families regarding internet accessibility and will work with families and staff in the event that there is a disruption in their internet connections. 
• For additional  information on how the school schedule and related information will be shared with students, families, and staff members please refer to the Communication & Engagement section of the Reopening Plan. 

Chronic Absenteeism

• The District will work to identify and help support families to overcome potential barriers limiting attendance in an effort to move forward in a productive and successful matter as quickly as possible.
• For a hybrid learning model with a student receiving in-person instruction, traditional chronic absenteeism protocols will be enacted. 
• For a student in remote learning, whether district is in a hybrid model or strictly remote, the family of a student nearing or at chronic absence thresholds and/or had disconnected completely, will be contacted in a sequential manner, depending on the barriers that are present and the level of disengagement:
  • Classroom teachers for PreK-6, or point of contact teachers for 7-12 will reach out to the family. 
  • If this pattern continues, the student services team will meet, resulting in the school nurse or school counselor contacting the family, along with an attendance letter mailed home. 
  • The superintendent will contact the family.
  • The student services team may submit a referral to the Berkshire Farms Homerun Program.
  • Contact will be made to local social service agency for additional support
  • If pattern continues, a Person in Need of Supervision (PINS) may be filed or child protective services may be contacted. 

Long Lake CSD will work directly with Hamilton County Public Health when there is a concern that diagnostic testing is needed for the District. Hamilton County Public Health is committed to supporting school districts within the county when a need arises for diagnostic testing.

The school nurse and the superintendent will continue to participate in Hamilton County weekly shared-service calls to receive updates from Hamilton County Public Health regarding rates of infection, testing availability, and any other regional information that is key to determining access and needs for testing. 

In addition to working with Hamilton County Public Health, Long Lake CSD will also work with the District's Medical Director, Dr. Russell Rider, and Adirondack Health to monitor local needs for testing, access to testing, and the local hospitalization rates. 

Students or staff with symptoms related to COVID-19 will be evaluated and isolated from others by the school nurse, if appropriate. The District's COVID-Liaison will contact the student's parent/guardian to notify them that their child must be transported from school. In the case of a staff member, if they are able to drive themselves home, the staff member will be sent home. If they are not able to drive themselves home their emergency contact will be notified that they need to come to the school to pick the staff member up. In the event that any person is in serious medical distress, the Long Lake Rescue Squad will be called. All individuals will be advised to contact their healthcare provider immediately, and their healthcare provider will evaluate the need for COVID-19 diagnostic testing and advise accordingly. The District will notify Hamilton County Public Health to report that there was a symptomatic person in the building, and this will prompt the District to work with Hamilton County Public Health to begin contact tracing. 

The District will work directly with Hamilton County Public Health, as well as any other surrounding county public health agency as appropriate, to ensure proper contact tracing information is reported in a prompt and complete manner. Upon request, the District will provide information on the past locations of students and staff who are involved in the contact tracing program, including, but not limited to classrooms, offices, and school vehicles. The District will maintain daily records that allow for this information to be compiled and shared as promptly as possible. If the information is needed, the District's COVID Liaison will provide Public Health with the requested information. 

If an individual tests positive, Hamilton County Public Health will inform the District of this result. The individual will be in a 10 day period of isolation, and the time could be increased if the individual continues to exhibit symptoms. Hamilton County Public Health will provide the District with an out of work or out of school notice for the staff member or student. The individual will get a release from isolation from Public Health, and Public Health will then notify the District with a return to work/return to school order. 

Anyone who was exposed to an infected individual will notified of the need to quarantine for 14 days from the last day of exposure. 

The District has designed the master schedule in a way that limits student and staff exposure to students and staff outside of their small cohort. All staff members will be required to sign in and out each day, including when they leave for brief periods of time. The District will limit the movement of students and staff in the building and has suspended all visitors, without a specific purpose and approved appointment, from entering the building. 

The District will support professional development opportunities for the school nurse, COVID Liaison and the District office staff to participate in, allowing for the best practice to be implemented and updated as needed.