BELLE — Maries County R-2 Board of Education on Dec. 21 passed an updated version of the Safe Return to In-person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan (SRCSP) as part of the bi-annual update with minimal changes.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) requires the plan to be updated twice a year, once in June and again in December. 

The board also needed to address any measures in place that were recommended by the health department. A Cole County Circuit Court ruling in November that said only elected officials have the authority to enact health orders like those requiring masking or other COVID-19 mitigation strategies, took effect Dec. 22. 

Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham introduced the plan by addressing a few changes, including changing the word “quarantine” to “isolation.”

“I have only talked to the health department maybe twice this whole year,” Basham said. “They are not reporting to us, parents are reporting. So we are not doing things necessarily based on the local health department, we are just following the CDC guidelines, which according to our attorneys, that is what should be in the plan. We are still doing mitigation services; we are just not following directives that have been given to us by the local health department.”

Basham hit a few highlights in the plan.

“Our nurses have filled out the necessary training so we should have our test ready for January so we can do some test-to-stay for our staff and our kids and that should help with quarantine as well,” Basham said. “We really have very little quarantine at school.”

Basham said pre-schoolers are ineligible for the quarantine vaccine so students in pre-school are encouraged to stay home when sick. Pre-school is also still doing isolation if there is a positive case.

“For the most part, our isolations due to school exposure are very low,” Basham continued. “It doesn’t change anything in the home. If you have a case in your home, the doctors are still going to encourage you to isolate because you have been exposed in the home.”

A few of the highlights from the plan include:

Classroom instruction is expected to remain the same when students return to class on Jan. 4. Precautions to maintain social distancing when possible will continue.

Virtual learning: Anyone who was interested in opting into virtual instruction had to be signed up by Dec. 10. The district will provide students and staff with materials if any class time instruction is interrupted due to COVID.

Transportation: The federal transportation mandate for all public transportation continues to be in effect, meaning drivers and students will continue to wear masks during transit. Drivers must wear the mask during loading and unloading, but may remove the mask between stops. The district continues to encourage walking and parent drop-off to decrease possible long-term exposure to others during transport,

Visitors: The district will continue to discourage outside visitors and guests to decrease the risk of exposure.

Parent responsibility: Parents should continue to monitor the children before bringing them to school. Keep contact information up-to-date. 

Health checks: Teachers and staff will complete a health assessment before comig to school. School staff is also asked not to come to school if sick or exposed to someone with COVID.

Masking requirements: A mask mandat was put in place by Maries County R-2 schools during the 2020-21 school year at the middle and high schools, but was rescinded on June 29, 2021, due to a drop in positive COVID-19 cases within the county and the availability to social distance. Students are encouraged to have access to a mask at all times while at school in case social distancing cannot be followed. Masks may again be mandated if a health crisis warrants. Also, due to a federal order regarding public transportation, masks are required for all students and staff on district buses. Masks will be mandated on all district transportation per the CDC requirements.,

Contract tracing: All contact tracing will be consistent with the CDC recommendations. The district will also conduct contract tracing and will notify parents when a student or staff has been identified with COVID.

Testing available: Test sites are available at local health departments, medical clinics and the local pharmacy.

The Continuity Plan is a total of six pages long and had to be sent out to everyone in the district during a two-week comment period.

“We didn’t have a lot of questions about the plan,” Basham said. “It’s basically the old plan with very little (changes).”

The plan is available online at MariesR2.org and on the district’s app Maries R-2 School District.

Board members approved the plan with a 6-0 vote.