POWHATAN – Powhatan County Public Schools (PCPS) recently released guidance for the start of the 2021-2022 school year that includes masks being optional in school buildings but not on the bus, continued health and safety measures, and a loosening of restrictions on students and visitors.
Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, sent a notice to PCPS families on July 27 to update them on the plan staff created based on the updated school opening guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Education.
Jones noted that all executive orders from the state have expired so “decisions around mitigation efforts are primarily a local decision based upon health metrics in the locality and the collective strategies schools employ to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among unvaccinated students and staff.”
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Jones said in a separate interview that it feels good to have those decisions back at the local level with the school board, staff, and parents. It is something he has lobbied for at the state level for months, he added.
“Virginia is a large commonwealth that is very different when you move from locality to locality, and I think our school divisions represent our communities,” he said. “To be able to make a decision that we feel is best in our community is empowering. I think it acknowledges the fact that every locality is different – not just in its makeup but also what its health metrics are and how it is doing in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.”
According to the school division’s plan, masks will be optional for students and staff with those wishing to wear masks indoors allowed to do so. The school division is still encouraging people who are not vaccinated to strongly consider wearing a mask indoors when social distancing cannot be met.
While masks aren’t required in the schools, a federal mandate to wear masks while using public transportation is still in effect, which applies to school buses, Jones said. Until the order expires, all students and staff will be required to wear masks while on a school bus, van, or car. However, social distancing requirements on school buses have expired, and the school division is returning to normal passenger capacity.
Jones added that if there are medical concerns, families may contact the transportation department.
PCPS will continue to socially distance students in the classroom to the extent possible, but small group instruction and collaboration between students will return and be implemented when possible by teachers, Jones said. Students will also be allowed to eat lunch in the cafeteria/commons.
Access to the school district will be more open from the start. Visitors will be allowed back in schools for student pick-up and school meetings, and community access to school facilities in the evenings and weekends will resume. However, all visitors will be expected to follow the same protocols/expectations that are in place for staff and students.
The division encourages safety measures wherever possible, such as hand washing and sanitizing by students and staff and continuing with the air quality improvements such as ionization and other HVAC enhancements in the schools and on buses.
Students and staff who are sick will be advised to stay home, and the school division is asking parents to complete a health screening of their children before sending them to school every day.
The school division will also continue to contact trace and isolate students and staff that have been identified as close contacts, Jones said in the release.
“It is important to note that vaccinated individuals will not be considered a close contact and will not be subject to isolation requirements. Likewise, unvaccinated individuals who wear a mask will not be considered a close contact and will not have to quarantine,” he shared.
Jones warned that this plan is subject to change if health metrics within Powhatan schools or the community worsen at any time during the school year. If that happens, it is possible that the school division would expand mitigation measures using a three phased approach. Phase II Increased Mitigation includes measures such as stricter social distancing, more closely monitoring school programs and visitors in schools, trying to create more physical distance between children on school buses, and all students not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine being required to wear a mask.
Phase III Mitigation used 2020-2021 includes measures such as virtual options and limited in-person instruction, no visitors in the school, stricter social distancing, one student per seat on the bus when possible, limited athletics and extracurricular activities with physical distancing, and all students, faculty and staff required to wear a mask in the schools and on buses.
There is a great deal of uncertainty, and the reason the school district released the three-phase plan is because it is a real possibility that they may have to move between them, Jones acknowledged.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to stay in Phase I: New Normal for the 2021-2022 school year. All of us want a school experience that is positive and productive for our students. We need your help in following the mitigation measures that we have in place and taking the necessary steps to keep you and your family safe,” Jones said in the release. “We know that getting vaccinated is one of the best mitigation measures to prevent serious illness. Getting vaccinated will remain a personal decision for you and your family.”