January 8, 2021 – DPS61 says it plans to return to in-classroom instruction beginning January 19th. Students will also be offered a virtual-only option. Even though students who choose to do so can return to the classroom, it will only be one day a week.
Statement from DPS61:
We have been monitoring our community’s health data, and based on current indicators, determined that it is in the best interest of our students to begin in-person instruction in Decatur Public Schools.
We’ve worked in conjunction with the Macon County Health Department to develop a series of metrics to examine in making this decision – those metrics have been frequently monitor and are posted on our website at www.dps61.org/returntolearn. The decision matrix also includes responses should cases arise across our district or in a specific building.
We feel confident that making in-person instruction available to those families who want it, while continuing to offer a virtual-only option, is the best decision at this time for our students.
DPS will welcome students back in person starting Tuesday, January 19, following the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on January 18. Students who have declared they want in-person learning are assigned one day per week to attend in person for January 19 – February 5. In-person students are divided into two groups, A and B – in-person students will be notified by their school which group they are divided into. Group A students will attend in-person on Tuesdays, Group B students will attend in-person on Thursdays.
All students will continue to attend school virtually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Those who selected to continue with virtual learning only will still receive assignments for Tuesday and Thursdays; those who selected in-person learning will receive assignments for the day of school they are not in-person. Only those students who previously declared through Skyward that they would attend in person will attend for January 19 – February 5.
We have been preparing our staff and our buildings for many months to welcome students back in person. We will ask parents to certify in Skyward each morning that their student attends in person that the student does not have a fever and is not showing any COVID symptoms.
Students will also get temperature checks and a symptom screening as they enter the buildings. We have enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures in all buildings, and have hand sanitizer and disinfecting supplies available in each classroom. DPS has also hired additional custodial staff to manage these enhanced cleaning needs, including substitute custodians and floating custodial staff to address needs in different locations as they arise.
All classrooms will also be set up to allow for six feet of distance between desks. There is much more information on these protocols in a handbook on our website at www.dps61.org/returntolearn, just click on Health & Safety.
A form in Skyward is still open for families to select if they want students to attend in-person starting February 8 – families have until the end of the day Friday, January 8, to make that selection in Skyward. If our community’s health data shows it is safe to do so, we will begin welcoming students back in-person more than one day per week, starting February 8.
At this time, we are still examining options for expanded in-person instruction, including a possibility of offering two-days per week on the continuing hybrid schedule, in which each A and B group would attend two days per week in person. We will of course continue to offer a virtual-only option for those families and students who want it.
As always, we continue to monitor our community’s health and safety statistics as we make these decisions.
