Copperas Cove ISD resumes classes, issues COVID-19 protocols
By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
As of the first day of school, Copperas Cove Independent School District had a total of 7,572 students enrolled, with 4,254 choosing to do on-campus learning while 3,318 are learning at home. By the end of the first week, CCISD reported a total of 7,872 enrolled, with 4,614 registered for on-campus classes and 3,258 opting for at-home learning.
Altogether, 58.61 percent of enrolled students are on campus, with the remaining 41.39 percent at home.
Copperas Cove High School has a total of 1,289 on campus, with Crossroads High School a sharp contrast with only 20 enrolled on campus. The CCHS on-campus number stands at 59.05 percent of its total students, not much higher than the district average.
The junior high campuses of CCJHS and S.C. Lee have in-person enrollment of 537 and 487, respectively.
For the elementary campuses, Clements-Parsons has 477, Williams Ledger has 416, House Creek has 395, Martin Walker has 282, Fairview Jewell has 273, and Halstead has 246 on campus. The district’s prekindergarten academy has 195 prekindergarten students enrolled.
Self-screening prior to going to school
CCISD staff are required to self-screen daily prior to school, completing a self-assessment of checking for fever over 100, and other COVID-19 symptoms. Anyone with a fever of 100 degrees or higher is not permitted to come to work, and must notify their campus nurse if they have COVID-19 symptoms or are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, must remain off campus.
Staff are also required to notify their campus nurse if they had close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, they must remain off campus until the 14-day incubation period has passed.
Likewise, students and families are encouraged to self-screen prior to the start of classes daily, and are required to screen prior to school starting each Monday. Students with temperatures of more than 100 must stay home for at least 24 hours after being fever-free without the use of medication.
Social distancing and hygiene practices on campus
Throughout the day, students are required to wash hands and use hand sanitizer, such as prior to entering and upon exiting classrooms.
Where possible, desks are spaced at least six feet apart and turned to face in the same direction. Campus custodial staff will clean and disinfect the classroom at the end of every school day, and during the school day, commonly touched surfaces will be disinfected such as doors, door handles; drinking fountainsm sinks, fixtures, and restroom stalls.
“Our website explains how recess, music, lunch and other activities outside the classroom are being handled to ensure social distancing. It also explains measures being taken by CCHS to reduce traffic flow in the hallways,” said Wendy Sledd, CCISD’s director of communications.
District practices in the event of positive COVID-19 case
Even with the above protocols, social distancing measures and sanitization practices on campuses, CCISD has instituted protocol in the event that a student or district staff member happens to test positive with COVID-19, or is suspected of having COVID-19.
If a staff member or student is a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case, the school will notify all teachers, staff and families of all students in a school. The name of the individual will not be disclosed. The district has not disclosed specific criteria on the number of positive cases that would lead to a classroom or campus closure.
Close contact is defined by TEA as being directly exposed to infectious secretions, such as coughing or sneezing, or being within six feet for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes, if both parties are not properly masked; and “other factors defined by TEA,” as two days prior to symptom onset to 10 days after symptom onset.
In the case of asymptomatic individuals who are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, the infectious period is defined as two days prior to the confirming lab test and continuing for 10 days following the confirming lab test.
Individuals who are lab-confirmed COVID-19 positive or who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms must stay home throughout the infection period and will not be able to return until screened.
Campuses have already designated rooms to be used for isolating students or staff members who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 while on campus. If a staff member or student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms while at school, they will be sent to the isolation room, where a nurse will evaluate their symptoms and determine whether or not the symptoms could be related to COVID-19. If so, the student or staff member will be sent home. The student will be escorted by the nurse to the parent’s vehicle, and the parent will be advised to seek testing. Students must be picked up within one hour of notification.
Students with positive lab-confirmed or who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 may switch over to the at-home learning option.
Criteria for returning to campus for those with positive cases
The district will use a three-step criteria for staff members and students returning to school, to include going at least 24 hours without a fever and use of fever-reducing medication, improvement in symptoms, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
If a student or staff member is assumed to have COVID-19 but has not seen a doctor or been tested, they must pass the same three-step criteria before returning to campus.
A student who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school before the 10-day stay-at-home period must either provide a doctor’s note clearing them for return based on an alternative diagnosis or obtain a negative COVID-19 acute infection test at an approved testing location.
New dress code enforcement: face coverings
In compliance with Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-29, students and staff are required to wear a face covering, which can be a face shield or a face mask, at all times while on campus, unless eating. Students who do not have a face covering will be provided one and reminded to bring one for the next day.
“If we see a student not wearing PPE correctly, they are instructed to do so and must comply. We have had no issues with students not being asked to wear their PPE correctly when requested,” Sledd said.
However, the return to school plan notes that students who refuse to wear a face covering or refuse to wear the face covering appropriately will be sent to the assistant principal, and the parent will be contacted. If the student continues to refuse to wear the face covering or to wear it appropriately, the student will be sent home.
The entire 10-page CCISD comprehensive plan can be found at https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/1223/ccisdreturntoschool.pdf.
Lynette Sowell also contributed to this article.