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Health and Safety Information

Staying healthy at School

Our team is following strict cleaning practices daily to sanitize classrooms and commons areas.

  • Students will be encouraged to wash hands more frequently. 
  • Classrooms will set up to keep students physically distanced to the extent possible.
  • Hand sanitizing stations will be placed in all classrooms, building entrances and throughout different areas of our school buildings to promote good hygiene practices. 
  • Signage will be placed in our buildings to promote good hygiene, hand-washing practices, directional traffic flow and entry and exit doors.
  • Plexiglass barriers will be installed in offices to keep visitors and employees safe in these high-traffic areas.

Face coverings are required:

  • Masks must be worn at all times except meals
  • Masks must cover nose and mouth and secure under the chin
  • Masks must be at least 2 layers of fabric thick (no see through material, lace, tulle, etc.)
  • Bring a spare mask if able
  • Bring a clean mask every day

Prohibited: Gaiters, Bandanas, masks with valves or vents, slogans or imagery that are not compliant with the GLCS dress code.

Hygiene:

  • Students will be taught hygiene protocols.
  • Signage will be placed throughout the buildings to reinforce good hygiene practices.

School Gatherings:

  • There will not be any indoor assemblies.

Cleaning:

  • Frequently-touched surfaces cleaned every four hours.
  • Libraries, Computer Labs, Art rooms, and other hands-on classrooms cleaned after every period.
  • Student desks must be wiped down after every class period.
  • Playground structures must continue to undergo normal routine cleaning.

Busing and Student Transportation

  • Use of hand sanitizer before entering the bus.
  • Drive, staff and student must wear a face covering during transport to and from school.
  • Students will load from the back of the bus to the front whenever possible and unload the bus from the front to the back.
  • Cleaning and disinfecting of transportation vehicles with EPA approved cleaners will take place before and after every route.

Athletics:

  • Will comply with MHSAA Guidelines.
  • Indoor and outdoor spectator or stadium events are limited to 2 spectators per participant, must have ticket for entry.

COVID-19 Screening and Confirmed Cases

  • Teachers and staff must self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms prior to coming to school each day.
  • Parents and guardians will be asked to screen students in their household for COVID-19 symptoms prior to coming to school each day. To learn more about COVID-19 symptoms, see the information from the CDC.
  • Visitors will be limited, but will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms upon entry into the office if they will be in other parts of the building.
  • Staff, students, and visitors who test positive for COVID-19, or those who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, must stay at home throughout the infection period and cannot return to campus until they have been cleared by their health professional.
  • Students who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 at school will be immediately separated from other students and sent home.
  • If any student or staff member at a school tests positive for COVID-19, the district will work with the local health department and follow its quarantine guidance and potential closure of a school. 

Communicating a Positive COVID-19 Case: 

  • The district, in collaboration with the Kalamazoo County Health Department, will only communicate confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a school building, student event/activity, or district-sponsored function.
  • Notification of confirmed cases will be shared via email to parents and guardians.
  • Names of those impacted (whether it is a student, employee, district approved volunteer, or guest/spectator) will not be shared.
  • All contact tracing will be handled confidentially by the County Health Department. In an effort to protect student and employee privacy rights, we respectfully encourage all (district) families not to spread rumors or false information. The health and safety of everyone is important and trust that we will work as a community to support each other as we face this pandemic together.

Remember, if your child is sick, do not send them to school. If you, your student or a member of your family has COVID-19 symptoms, please contact your health professional.

COVID-19 health and safety recommendations: 

  • Wash your hands often, either with soap and water for 20 seconds or a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • Put distance between yourself and other people to the extent possible.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering when around others.
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces daily.