With quarantine and isolation numbers increasing, Emporia Public Schools is clarifying its instructional access for students needing to separate from others as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Legislation passed by Kansas lawmakers and signed by Governor Laura Kelly earlier this year limits the number of hours a school district can use for remote learning at 40 — unless a school board suspends that remote learning cap if students can’t be in a school building due to illness, medical condition, injury or other extraordinary circumstances that would prompt an extension of remote learning.
With that in mind, USD 253 has two options available for parents to choose from when children go into isolation or quarantine if deemed necessary by Lyon County Public Health:
*Option 1 involves homework, where assignments will be given to students through Google Classroom or made available for pickup. Student absences will be marked as excused.
*Option 2, the remote access to instruction, is more involved. Homework and assignments will be provided through Google Classroom or made available for pickup, as is the case with Option 1, but Option 2 students will have a 24-hour window for staff to prepare for remote access learning. Teachers will share a Google Meet link, which students will then join and observe the instruction. Option 2 students should prepare for the teacher to meet with them at least once per block for secondary students and twice per day for elementary students. Option 2 students will also be marked present when joining remotely and participating in class. Option 2 students who are feeling ill do not have to participate and will be marked excused if they choose not to be involved.
The clarification comes as USD 253 announced a notable increase in students needing quarantine over the past week. USD 253 went from 11 students needing home quarantine and 14 needing modified quarantine, where close-contact students can attend class if they are asymptomatic but are subject to daily tests, last week to 43 students needing home quarantine and 82 using modified quarantine. Positive students increased from 10 to 18 week-to-week. New staff positives remained at four on a week-to-week basis and new staff quarantines went from one to zero. For school exposures, there are no COVID positives among staff and one staffer in quarantine.
Separately, USD 253 also reminded parents and students of quarantine policies through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which say uncaccinated residents need to quarantine if they attend any out-of-state mass gatherings of 500 people or more where people do not use social distancing methods and do not wear masks, singling out Kansas City Chiefs games or concerts.
The district asks families to do their part to have safe in-person learning by following all COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
