COVID-19 School Guidance Checklist

K–12 Reopening Plans

Last updated January 30, 2021

☐ Cleaning and Disinfection: How shared surfaces will be regularly cleaned and disinfected and how use of shared items will be minimized.

Supplies 

• Learning supplies (textbooks, writing utensils, tape, rulers, calculators, etc.) are not shared among students. Students have their own learning materials/supplies, which are kept in separately labeled caddies with each item inside labeled with their name. 
• Library books are used by one student at a time and checked out to one student. Students return books to a “quarantine” bin where they sit for 72 hours (studies have demonstrated that coronavirus cannot be detected on book pages after three days). If learning materials are accidentally shared, they are disinfected before being returned to the correct student. 

Surfaces

• Desks and chairs: Students are assigned to a chair and desk. 
• Bathrooms are single-use, cleaned before the start of each school day and at least twice more throughout each school day. Maintenance staff ensures bathroom supplies are well-stocked during each cleaning time. A record is kept of all bathroom checks.
• High touchpoints (doorknobs, light switches, copier, etc) are disinfected before the start of the school day and at least two more times throughout each day.
• Playground equipment is disinfected between cohort use.

Disinfectants

Oak Grove has three different EPA “List N” disinfectants and three electrostatic sprayers for disinfecting purposes. All staff are required to watch a training video on disinfectant use (including contact time) and acknowledge that disinfectants are used according to the manufacturers’ recommendations. 

Disinfecting occurs while students are not present. Proper ventilation and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use, per the manufacturers’ recommendations, are followed.

☐ Cohorting: How students will be kept in small, stable, groups with fixed membership that stay together for all activities (e.g. instruction, lunch, snack, recess) and minimize/avoid contact with other groups or individuals who are not part of the cohort.

Cohort Size 

Oak Grove School has one class per grade in Kindergarten through 6th grade, all of which consist of 12-18 students per cohort. Students remain in their designated class cohort throughout the day, including lunch and breaks. Oak Grove’s playgrounds are divided into a total of six play areas. Each class is assigned a play area for the day, rotating areas throughout the week. Equipment is disinfected between cohort uses. 9th through 12th grade students remain in their cohorts from 8:30-1:30 for academic classes. For one class period between 1:45-3:15, High School students attend elective courses in mixed cohorts (the largest cohort is 10 students) and outdoors. 

☐ Entrance, Egress, and Movement within the School: How movement of students, staff, and parents will be managed to avoid close contact and/or mixing of cohorts.

Campus Paths

Outdoor walking paths are wide (6’-7’) and allow for free movement. All staff, students (kindergarten through 12th grade), and parents are required to wear CDC-approved face coverings while moving on campus (walking to and from the parking lot, the restroom, break, etc.). 

Teachers walk with their cohorts through campus to avoid close contact and/or mixing of cohorts.

Entrances 

Since our campus is on 150 acres, walkway congestion is not a concern. At arrival time, a staff member is in the parking lot to guide proper distancing when walking from the parking lot to the outdoor classroom. At dismissal, teachers walk their students to the parking lot to keep cohorts together. Teachers walk students directly to their family’s car.

• Kindergarten (from parking lot 2) – Kindergarten day is from 9:00am-2:15pm.
• 1st-2nd Grade (from parking lot 1) – 1st-2nd grade day is from 8:00am-2:15pm. 
• 3rd-6th Grade (from parking lot 3) – 3rd-6th grade day is 8:00am-2:15pm. 
• 9th-12th Grade (from parking lot 1) – high school day is 8:30am-3:15pm.

☐ Face Coverings and Other Essential Protective Gear: How CDPH’s face covering requirements will be satisfied and enforced.

Faculty and Staff 

All employees wear face coverings while on campus, except when eating or drinking while physically distanced by at least 6 feet and seated outdoors. Administrative staff and teachers may remove masks when alone in their own office or classroom. 

Students

Kindergarten through 12th grade students wear face coverings during the school day, except when eating or drinking and physically distanced by at least 6 feet and seated outdoors. Teachers will monitor students’ use of face coverings and remind students to use face coverings appropriately.

Campus Signage 

Signs are posted throughout campus (in 14 locations) reminding community members of Oak Grove’s policies around face coverings, hand hygiene, physical distancing, and recognizing symptoms associated with COVID-19.

☐ Health Screenings for Students and Staff: How students and staff will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 and how ill students or staff will be separated from others and sent home immediately.

Guidelines  

All plans are developed using the CDPH COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Framework for K-12 Schools in California, 2020-2021 School Year and the CDPH, CDSS, and Cal/OSHA guideline COVID-19 UPDATED GUIDANCE: Child Care Programs and Providers and the CDPH, CDSS, and Cal/OSHA guidelines COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Schools and School Based Programs.

Health Screenings 

Students and staff will perform Daily Health Screenings before arriving on campus. Program Directors and Care and Comfort staff are equipped with thermometers and assist when a community member forgets to complete the passive health screening. Teachers and staff will monitor the results; Program Directors will follow up as needed with anyone reporting symptoms and report findings to Oak Grove’s two designated Ventura County Public Health Liaisons. 

Monitoring

Teachers monitor students in their cohort throughout the day for any signs of illness, as outlined by the CDC. Teachers send symptomatic individuals to the Care and Comfort staff. Parents/guardians are contacted immediately for an early pick up. Care and Comfort staff report symptomatic individuals to liaisons immediately.

Mitigation

Oak Grove’s Care and Comfort staff uses N95 or surgical/procedure masks when caring for sick students or staff (community members). If a community member is coughing, a surgical/procedure mask is provided to that community member if needed. Oak Grove immediately notifies parents/guardians and sends students home with a temperature of 99.5 F or higher using an oral or no-touch thermometer, cough, or other COVID-19 symptoms, after isolating from the general cohort population. COVID-19 testing is recommended, and the school and class can stay open. A community member that presents with a temperature of 99.5 F or higher orally or 99.5 F or higher using an oral or no-touch thermometer, cough, or other COVID-19 symptoms are sent home. COVID-19 testing is recommended, and the school and class can stay open. Community members with a documented history of allergies are not excluded from campus. 

Measures outlined on CDPH’s COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Framework for K-12 Schools in California, 2020-2021 School Year (July 17, 2020) will be followed when a student, teacher, or staff member has symptoms, is a contact of someone infected, or is diagnosed with COVID-19.

☐ Healthy Hygiene Practices: The availability of handwashing stations and hand sanitizer, and how their use will be promoted and incorporated into routines.

Handwashing Stations (15 in total) 

Handwashing stations are available indoors and outdoors. Students wash their hands before and after snack as well as before and after lunch, when using the restroom, and any other time a teacher feels it is important to practice hand hygiene. Each classroom and office is equipped with hand sanitizer.

☐ Identification and Tracing of Contacts: Actions that staff will take when there is a confirmed case. Confirm that the school has designated staff persons to support contact tracing, such as creation and submission of lists of exposed students and staff to the local health department and notification of exposed persons. Each school must designate a person for the local health department to contact about COVID-19.

Guidance 

All plans are developed using the CDPH COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Framework for K-12 Schools in California, 2020-2021 School Year and the CDPH, CDSS, and Cal/OSHA guideline COVID-19 UPDATED GUIDANCE: Child Care Programs and Providers and the CDPH, CDSS, and Cal/OSHA guidelines COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Schools and School Based Programs.

Reporting, Identification, Tracing 

Oak Grove has two designated VCPH Liaisons. If a community member is confirmed with a COVID-19 case infection, a school Liaison notifies VCPH, isolates the case, and excludes the person from school premises for 10 days from the onset of symptoms or test confirmation date. VCPH and School Liaisons, separately and/or in cooperation with County Health, identify contacts, recommend quarantine, and exclude exposed contacts (i.e the entire cohort) for the entire 14-day period after the last date the case was present at school while infectious. VCPH and the School Liaisons recommend testing of contacts, and prioritize symptomatic contacts (this will not shorten the 14-day quarantine). The campus maintenance team disinfects and cleans the classroom and primary spaces where the case spent significant time (more than 15 minutes). School may remain open. Oak Grove will send a school community notification of a known case. 

If a community member has symptoms associated with COVID-19 but receives a negative test result, they may return to the school campus three days after the last symptom resolves. 

☐ Physical Distancing: How space and routines will be arranged to allow for physical distancing of students and staff.

Classrooms 

Oak Grove has open-air, outdoor classrooms for each grade, which is where teachers spend the majority of the learning day. All indoor classrooms are set up to maximize physical distance between desks (6 feet or more). The distance varies by classroom but each room accommodates a minimum of 6 feet between students. Windows and doors remain open while utilizing indoor spaces to allow for adequate ventilation. 

Each of Oak Grove’s outdoor classrooms accommodates a full class (ranging from 12-18 students) with physically distanced seating (6’ apart). 

Offices 

School offices are primarily single-person offices with windows and doors separating them from common spaces and hallways. Three offices are shared with two employees each. Those who share offices are encouraged to work different hours and/or work from home when feasible. Those workspaces in each of those shared offices provide for more than 6 feet of physical distancing, and employees are required to keep windows and doors open to provide proper ventilation. 

☐ Staff Training and Family Education: How staff will be trained and families will be educated on the application and enforcement of the plan.

Staff Training On Campus Mitigation Requirements 

Before returning to campus, all staff complete a Prevention and Mitigation training video for being on campus. 

Family Education On Mitigation and Prevention Plan

Parents receive Oak Grove’s Safely on Campus (SOC) plan directly from the Head of School, and it is also posted on the school website. Direct communications from teachers and the Head of School are ongoing and continue to remind our community of the SOC plan.

Parent Consent Campus Mitigation Form 

Before parents and students come onto campus, all parents sign the Parent Consent Form, which can be found here.

☐ Testing of Students and Staff: How school officials will ensure that students and staff who have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 will be rapidly tested and what instructions they will be given while waiting for test results. Describe how staff will be tested periodically to detect asymptomatic infections.

Testing Those with Symptoms

If a community member displays symptoms of COVID-19, they are immediately sent home and directed to an approved Ventura County COVID-19 testing location.

Testing Those with Close Contact with Someone with a Positive Test Result

If a community or household member has close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, that community/household member is sent home to quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. COVID-19 testing is recommended (but will not shorten the 14-day quarantine). Oak Grove’s Liaisons provide information on current testing facilities in Ventura County. It is also recommended that the symptomatic community member contacts their doctor.

Testing Staff 

To detect asymptomatic infections and per the COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Framework for K-12 Schools in California, 2020-2021 School Year (July 17, 2020), staff are tested periodically, as testing capacity permits and as practicable. When feasible, 25% of staff are tested as often as every two weeks, or 50% every month, to ensure adequate testing frequency among all staff.

☐ Triggers for Switching to Distance Learning: The criteria the Head of School will use to determine when to physically close the school and prohibit in-person instruction.

Oak Grove will toggle onto remote learning when we are unable to provide a learning environment on campus which is safe for our students and employees. Possible reasons to move to remote learning:

• Confirmed positive case of COVID-19 within the community
• Significant percentage of teachers absent
• Significant percentage of students absent 
• Extended rain (because our primary learning is outside) 
• Excessive heat (because our primary learning is outside) 
• Stay-at-Home orders issued by the government 
• Guidance of the Ventura County Public Health Department 
• When there are multiple cases in multiple cohorts at school or when at least five percent of the total number of teachers/student/staff are confirmed COVID-19 cases within a 14-day period.

☐ Communication Plans: How the Head of School will communicate with students, staff, and parents about cases and exposures at the school, consistent with privacy requirements such as FERPA and HIPAA.

Communication

All communications are direct by phone around an active community COVID-19 case, maintaining the confidentiality of the community members involved. Individuals who have been exposed to, or were in close contact with the positive case, are notified while also protecting the identity of the known COVID-19 case. 

School liaisons and the Human Resources manager maintain the privacy of all community members regarding positive cases, test results, and those with symptoms. The following language is included in the initial communication to notify our community of a case: 

“Maintaining confidentiality during COVID-19 case investigations and contact tracing is critically important. Please respect the confidentiality of all involved in this instance.”