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In today's edition of District News:
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It's Back to School Time!
The first day of school is approaching! Here are some important dates to remember!
- Wednesday, Sept. 8: First day for grades 1 - 6, Parkview Center grades 7 - 8, RAMS grade 7, and RAHS grades 9 -10.
- Thursday, Sept. 9: First day for kindergarten, RAMS grade 8, FAHS and RAHS grades 11 - 12.
- Monday, Sept. 13: First day for prekindergarten.
- Tuesday, Sept. 21: State of the District Address
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What Will School Look Like This Fall?
As we shared with you earlier this month, masks will be required for all students and staff when indoors and on buses, regardless of vaccination status, at the start of the school year.
Universal masking will be just one of several strategies for keeping students healthy, safe and learning in school. Beginning this school year, students wearing masks will not need to quarantine when exposed to someone with COVID-19, and may continue coming to school (based on close contact guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC). Masks are a part of layered mitigation to reduce transmission between staff and students. Masks do not need to be worn outdoors.
Some strategies from last school year are no longer in place, such as cohorts and the hybrid (or blended learning) models, but many good strategies will continue for 2021 - 2022, all in an effort to reduce transmission and to keep students in school.
Here are Roseville Area Schools' mitigation strategies that we are implementing for student and staff safety for the start of the school year:
- Along with public health experts, we strongly encourage vaccinations for all people 12 years and older, and for younger students as soon as recommended by the CDC and Minnesota Department of Health.
- Staff and students will use a Daily Screening at Home tool to identify COVID-19 symptoms so that everyone with COVID symptoms stays out of school, and they are encouraged to get tested.
- Directional use of hallways, whenever possible.
- Three feet or greater spacing between people, to the extent possible.
- Office space and small group plexiglass shields can remain in place.
- Social distancing markers may be in some hallways, or posters to remind everyone to keep a little distance from each other.
- Spacing of students in hallways, lunch lines, recess lines and drinking fountains to avoid crowded lines.
- Entry and exit doors may be separated in some schools for better flow of people traffic.
- Breakfast and lunch may have various adjustments in each school, depending on the physical structure and schedules, in an effort to reduce crowding.
- Visitors for lunch will not be allowed at this time, so we can maintain as much space as possible between students in the cafeteria.
- Avoid mixing classes indoors.
- Classes can mix outside, and outdoor recess will be a time for friends to get together with friends from other classes.
- No whole-school assemblies indoors at this time, and there could be group assemblies outdoors.
- Move some activities and lessons outdoors, when possible.
- Continue hand hygiene routines.
- Continue cleaning high-touch surfaces, daily or as needed.
- Students exhibiting symptoms will be sent to the health office, and will be checked by the nurse or health assistant, and may need to go home.
- Contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, and working with MDH to report positive cases will continue. Masked students and anyone fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine when exposed to a positive case at school.
- Promote increased ventilation, when possible, including open windows in spaces that allow it. District buildings and grounds staff, along with our heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) consultants, have been working at our buildings this summer to ensure that our classrooms will have maximum fresh air inflow. Various repairs have been made to our facilities. In addition, the remodeled and newly constructed areas have been updated to provide improved indoor air quality.
- Planning for voluntary school COVID-19 testing – We are looking into the MDH testing proposal for students and staff. This will be completely voluntary, and parent permission would be required for students to use the COVID-19 test kits. We will share additional information about testing as soon as it is available.
- Vaccination clinics and community COVID-19 testing clinics are widely available and we strongly endorse the use of these public health resources. COVID-19 testing kits can be ordered from MDH and sent to your home. Communication about access will be sent to our school community regularly.
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Students Ages 12 and Up Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine
We strongly encourage all students ages 12 and up to get the Pfizer vaccine as soon as possible. Getting students vaccinated will help protect those who are not yet able to be vaccinated, like younger siblings. Minnesota's Vaccine Connector will help you find a location to access a vaccine and answer questions you may have about the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Vote on School Funding Requests This Fall
Residents will decide whether to increase local funding
for our schools on November 2. On the ballot will be two questions: Question 1 requests a renewal of the existing operating levy. Question 2 requests an increase in the operating levy. If both questions are approved, funds would help:
- Expand career pathways to better prepare
students for careers after graduation
- Invest in student mental health and social-emotional needs
- Maintain academic programs
- Lower class sizes
- Provide financial stability for the schools and the district
If voters do not approve both questions, there will be significant financial repercussions including cuts to programs, staff and student supports.
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| Important Transportation and School Nutrition Information
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Maintaining Health and Safety on School Buses
Transportation guidelines for students riding busses are based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and enforced by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Currently, both the driver and students are required to be masked while riding the bus. There are no longer distancing requirements between students. The two seats nearest the driver are to be left open. We will have windows open as before to increase ventilation.
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FAQs for School Meals in the New School Year
Did you know that all school meals will be offered this year at no cost to families? Below are answers to some frequently asked questions about school meals this year. Check out the Parent Guide to School Nutrition for the upcoming school year for more information!
Question: Will schools offer hot lunch? If so, will meals be individually plated? Will there be any self-serve food stations? Will students eat in the classrooms or cafeterias?
Answer: All students will have access to breakfast and hot lunch. Breakfast consists of an entrée, fruit, 100% juice and milk. Each lunch contains a choice of at least two entrées, a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and milk. See our school lunch menus. Afterschool super-snack will be offered to any student attending after-school programming. Breakfast service will vary by location; students will either have access to a grab-and-go meal in the hallway or through the cafeteria. Students will go through the lunch line and eat in the cafeteria. The self-serve utensils on the service lines will be replaced after each lunch to increase sanitation measures. Students will also have access to hand washing and sanitizer prior to lunch service.
Question: How will kids socially distance while eating?
Answer: Lunchroom supervision will remind students to maintain at least three feet of social distancing in the lunch line as well during seated lunchtime.
Question: Will I need to put money in my child’s lunch account?
Answer: No, because all meals are at no charge to all students this year your child’s lunch account does not need to be maintained. There will be no ala carte offerings at any grade level. If students wish to supplement meals brought from home, they can take a fruit, vegetable and milk for no cost. If you would like to withdraw money from your child’s lunch account, please complete this form to be refunded.
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Meals will be Free of Charge all Next School Year, but families Should Still Complete the Application for Educational Benefits form
Even though meals are free through June 2022, all families are encouraged to complete an Application for Educational Benefits, often referred to as the free and reduced-price meal form. You can complete the application online at frapp.isd623.org, or you may request a paper copy. Online applications are available in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong. You can fill out a new form any time your family’s income changes.
This form not only determines benefits for students and families such as no-cost meals at school, but also provides free bus cards, discounted internet service, discounted/no-cost early childhood classes and scholarships for summer camps ad childcare centers, discounted field trips, standardized test fee waivers, and sports team scholarships and fee waivers.
It also impacts your school’s funding and the district’s budget including state and federal dollars that may be used for administration, social workers, family liaisons, and more! The results of these applications are crucial to funding for things like Title 1, compensatory revenue, and summer and non-school day meals.
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