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ABOUT COVID-19

STAY UP-TO-DATE

  • Facebook: @SteGenRII

  • Twitter: @stegenr2

  • Instagram: @stegenr2

  • Push Notifications: SG R-II App (available at the App Store & Google Play Store)

  • Email & Phone Calls: Please make sure your child's school has your updated email address and phone number on file.

HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

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Welcome to the SG R-II COVID-19 Update Center, a dedicated space on our district website designed to keep parents, staff, and the community informed about the potential effect of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. We created this centralized hub of updates and links to additional resources, such as links to the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

This Update Center serves as an ongoing, reliable resource for the entire school community, in order to communicate proactively and transparently. It is our mission to keep you informed on how we are preparing to cope with COVID-19, and hope you'll find it useful.

2023-2024 REOPENING PLAN — JULY 2023

During the July 18, 2023 Regular Meeting, the Board of Education approved an updated version of the 2023-2024 Reopening Plan.

The health and safety processes and procedures included in this Reopening Plan have been crafted with the recommendations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are subject to adjustment as local conditions change. We will continually evaluate this plan and integrate updates to reflect changing local conditions and evolving recommendations from the state and federal level. We will continue to monitor local conditions, including positivity rates, and may return to a more strict stance if circumstances warrant such a decision.

2022-2023 REOPENING PLAN — JANUARY 2023

During the Jan. 17, 2023 Regular Meeting, the Board of Education approved an updated version of the 2022-2023 Reopening Plan.

The health and safety processes and procedures included in this Reopening Plan have been crafted with the recommendations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are subject to adjustment as local conditions change. We will continually evaluate this plan and integrate updates to reflect changing local conditions and evolving recommendations from the state and federal level. We will continue to monitor local conditions, including positivity rates, and may return to a more strict stance if circumstances warrant such a decision.

2022-2023 REOPENING PLAN — JULY 2022

During the July 19, 2022 Regular Meeting, the Board of Education approved the 2022-2023 Reopening Plan, with few updates from the March 2022 version. The only notable update was MSHSAA's decision to rescind the Return to Play form for participation following a COVID-19 infection. Instead, return to participation will follow the same guidelines as returning to school. See p. 23 for details.

The health and safety processes and procedures included in this Reopening Plan have been crafted with the recommendations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are subject to adjustment as local conditions change. We will continually evaluate this plan and integrate updates to reflect changing local conditions and evolving recommendations from the state and federal level. We will continue to monitor local conditions, including positivity rates, and may return to a more strict stance if circumstances warrant such a decision.

Please see the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard here for the latest overview of local COVID-19 cases.

Q: Why is the district sharing the health department's dashboard, and not the district's current number of positive individuals?

A: While the district continues to monitor students and employees who test positive for COVID-19 or who are identified as close contacts, the Board of Education has approved changes regarding isolation protocols for positive individuals. When the number of positive individuals is low, consistently sharing the current number of positive cases could identify those individuals with these new protocols in place. We want to do all that we can to protect our students' and employees' personally identifiable health information.

UPDATED REOPENING PLAN — MARCH 2022

During the March 15, 2022 Regular Meeting, the Board of Education approved updates to the 2021-2022 Reopening Plan, including the following:

  • Masks and Buses: On Feb. 25, the CDC announced new guidance regarding required masks on public transportation, including school buses. According to the new guidance, masking is not a recommended prevention measure in counties where the COVID19 Community Level is at low or medium. However, additional prevention measures are still recommended in community settings such as schools, which can include physical distancing, contact tracing, and other measures. Masks are no longer required on SG R-II buses, as our county is currently not identified as a high level for COVID.

  • MSHSAA Return to Play: As of March 2, 2022, MSHSAA is no longer requiring student athletes to have a formal medical screening prior to returning to sports participation following COVID infection. The original intent of the screening by a medical professional was to assess for the possible complication of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, that can lead to exercise intolerance and the ability of the heart to function normally. As we have moved through 2 years of the pandemic, MSHSAA shared that it seems that the risk of myocarditis is less than first estimated. However, there will still be a Covid-19 RTP Form that must be completed by the student athlete, parent/guardian and school personnel for any student athlete that tests positive or is symptomatic for Covid-19.  Furthermore, a 5 day/step RTP progression also remains in place for those student athletes who test positive or are symptomatic for Covid-19.

The health and safety processes and procedures included in this Reopening Plan have been crafted with the recommendations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are subject to adjustment as local conditions change. We will continually evaluate this plan and integrate updates to reflect changing local conditions and evolving recommendations from the state and federal level.
We will continue to monitor local conditions, including positivity rates, and may return to a more strict stance if circumstances warrant such a decision.

UPDATED REOPENING PLAN — JANUARY 2022

During the Jan. 18, 2022 Regular Meeting, the Board of Education approved updates to the 2021-2022 Reopening Plan, including the strongly encouraged continued use of face coverings for students, employees, and visitors on the campuses of the Ste. Genevieve County R-II School District during school hours.

Other changes include updated protocols recommended by the CDC regarding isolation periods for individuals who test positive for COVID-19. Per the CDC:

  • Students, teachers and staff who test positive for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms should isolate and not come to school/work for at least 5 days. 

  • If they continue to remain asymptomatic, they can end isolation and return to school/work after at least 5 days, but should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others until day 10. If they are unable to wear a mask when around others, they should not come to school or work for the full 10 days.

  • If they develop symptoms after testing positive, the 5-day isolation period should start over.

UPDATED REOPENING PLAN — DECEMBER 2021

Following a Public Input Session on Dec. 21, 2021, the Board of Education approved updates to the 2021-2022 Reopening Plan, including the strongly encouraged continued use of face coverings for students, employees, and visitors on the campuses of the Ste. Genevieve County R-II School District during school hours. Updates to the plan were crafted as a response to a letter sent from Eric Schmitt, Missouri Attorney General to Missouri's health departments and public schools. We have discussed this letter and its directive with the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department, as well as area schools and districts across the state.

LETTER FROM MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL & UPCOMING PUBLIC INPUT SESSION

Hello, SG Family:

We wanted to make you aware of this letter from Eric Schmitt, Missouri Attorney General. Based on a judgment in a Cole County case on Nov. 22, 2021, Attorney General Schmitt has ordered all Missouri public schools and local health departments to cease issuing mask mandates, quarantine orders and other public health orders beginning today, Dec. 7, 2021. This letter, which can be read in its entirety below, warns of enforcement action against public schools and local health departments for failure to follow the court’s judgment. 

We have discussed this letter and its directive with the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department. 

Here is what we know so far:

  • As of today, our schools will no longer send communications to families notifying students and employees of the need to quarantine. At this time, this change is being made to ensure that our district complies with Attorney General Schmitt’s directive.

  • As always, if a student is sick or symptomatic at school, we will contact a parent and ask that the student be taken home until he/she is well enough to return to school.

  • Our local health department will continue to call positive cases and encourage them to stay home for 10 days from their onset of symptoms.

  • If a student lives in a home with a positive case, the health department will strongly encourage the parent to monitor that student for symptoms for a period of time, but will not direct the parent to keep the student at home. The health department will, however, strongly recommend that the student should be kept home if the student becomes symptomatic.

This situation is frustrating, and has led to confusion and a multitude of questions about how to proceed during this ongoing pandemic, in terms of preventative measures. We know that many of you may have questions and concerns, because we do, as well. We will be reviewing our Reopening Plan in order to address areas that might need to be revised following this court judgment and directive from the Attorney General.

We ask that our families continue to communicate with the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department and their healthcare providers regarding exposure and symptoms. Please take their recommendations seriously, as this guidance is made in the best interest of public health.

We are sure that more information will follow soon, and as soon as we have additional information, we will let you know.

The Board of Education will host a Public Input Session prior to their Regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 21, to offer community members an opportunity to offer input on changes to the 2021-2022 Reopening Plan, outlined above. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will be held in the SGHS Commons.

EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT PROGRAM

The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that provides a temporary discount on monthly broadband bills for qualifying low-income households. If your household is eligible, you can receive:

  • Up to a $50/month discount on your broadband service and associated equipment rentals

  • Up to a $75/month discount if your household is on qualifying Tribal lands

  • A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer (with a co-payment of more than $10 but less than $50)

Only one monthly service discount and one device discount is allowed per household. To receive the connected device discount, consumers need to enroll in the EBB Program with a participating provider that offers connected devices (not all service providers offer device discounts). The service provider will provide the discount to the consumer.

The program will end when the fund runs out of money, or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the COVID-19 health emergency, whichever is sooner.

MENTAL HEALTH & SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL SUPPORTS