Good Thinking
MERCER’S BACK TO SCHOOL PLAN
The Mercer School District has come up with a plan which it
believes will provide a safe way for students to resume their educations this
fall. The Covid-19 virus continues to
infect an increasing number of Iron County residents with the count up to 118 today. On a per capita basis Iron County has the
highest percentage of Covid-19 cases of all counties in Wisconsin and all
counties east of the Mississippi River.
Still undecided is what to do about the Mercer School’s fall
sports program – football, volleyball and cross country. Mercer/Butternut
eight-player football is in the Lakeland Conference, which has not decided how
to proceed. A few conference schools
have already indicated that they will not be playing this fall. Volleyball and cross country fall within the
Indianhead Conference and the conference administrators were to meet last night
to decide whether to play this fall or move the fall schedule to next spring.
Even for those Mercer residents who do not have children in the
Mercer School, its carefully thought-out Back to School Plan is worth
reading. It follows:
Mercer School
District
Information for Fall 2020
Welcome
Tiger Families,
The Mercer School District is
dedicated to providing a safe place for students to learn. We welcome your
input into how we can better serve our students and families during these
historic times. We are so excited and hopeful that we will be able to see
everyone in person on September 1st.
The dedicated staff of the Mercer
School District is looking forward to a year full of a variety of learning
experiences while also anticipating challenges along the way due to COVID-19.
We thank all the families for working with the school and teachers to keep
students’ education a high priority. We are welcoming some new staff members
this year: Maddi Piburn will be teaching 6th grade, Sarah Rand-Engler will be
teaching 7-12 Science,, Colin Anderson will be teaching 7-12 Social Studies,
and Jonathan Erickson will be our new music teacher beginning in January.
Please help me welcome them all to our Tiger Family.
Throughout the school year, we will
follow guidance from state and local health department officials regarding
school opening or possible closures. While we are altering certain aspects of
the school day, our goal is to maintain the most normal environment possible
while keeping students and staff safe. As we open school, each person must
understand the role they play on keeping everyone safe. It is imperative that
if you or your child are experiencing any flu-like symptoms (fever, cough,
chills, sore throat, etc) that you keep your child home. We will be
discontinuing any perfect attendance awards this year so no one feels compelled
to come to school.
I look forward to seeing all of you soon!
Ms.
Sheri Kopka
Mercer
School District Administrator
We
have three instructional options for students at the Mercer School this year.
● In-Person Learning
○ All students PK-12 attend in
person five days per week.
○ Staff and students are
encouraged to wear face coverings on the bus and in common areas of the school.
○ Classrooms will be arranged
to promote social distancing.
● Blended/Virtual Instruction
○ Teachers will broadcast live
from their classrooms to students who are not able to attend in person for any
reason.
○ Homework will be sent home
and technology will be provided to access online learning.
● Virtual Learning
○ We expect that at times the
Mercer School may need to close to students. During this time teachers will
move to full-time virtual instruction with a schedule to be provided.
○ Teachers will instruct
students daily and homework assignments will be posted online in Google
classrooms.
Physical Spaces
● Desks will be placed six feet
apart in all classrooms to the extent possible.
● Social distancing will be
taught and practiced throughout the school
● Safety signage will be placed
throughout the school.
● Drinking fountains will allow
bottle filling only.
● We will create an isolation
room for ill students and staff
● Outdoor learning areas are
being created.
● Specials classes are
encouraged to be held outside to the extent possible.
Healthy Environments
● Cleaning and disinfecting
protocols will be set daily and weekly.
○ High touch surfaces and
common use areas will be disinfected throughout the day.
● Sharing of objects will be limited-
all students will have their own technology and supplies to be used.
● Hand hygiene will be taught
and practiced throughout the day.
● Hand sanitizer will be
available in all classrooms without a sink.
● Additional cleaning will
occur throughout the building.
● Custodial staff will complete
recycling.
● HAND WASHING, HAND WASHING,
HAND WASHING
Daily Operations
● Visitors- Limit non-essential
visitors and visits. (Essential visitors will need a health screening and be
required to wear a face covering)
● Students should limit the
interaction outside of the classroom environment.
● Face Coverings- face
coverings are encouraged by students and staff in all common areas of the
building and when social distancing is not possible.
● Field trips- field trips are
generally not allowed unless it is by one class to an outdoor space.
● Gatherings- no gathering of
people is permitted at this time (no fundraising activities unless approved by
the school)
● Families are asked to check
their child/ren before sending them to school for any signs or symptoms of
COVID-19 and keep them at home when ill.
● Teachers are required to
check themselves for any symptoms each morning and not come to the building if
they are showing any symptoms.
● Staff- staff may be
reassigned as needed to cover the daily needs of the school prioritizing
student learning and safety.
● Morning announcements will be
conducted every day via Zoom at 8 am.
● Outdoor learning spaces are
being created for use by teachers.
● To be counted for attendance
students will need to either be present in school or log in online.
Transportation
● Students are encouraged to
wear a face-covering on the bus
● Each student will have an
assigned seat on the bus and must remain in their seat.
● Seating arrangements will be
based on social distancing, family groups, and daily groups.
● Busses will be cleaned after
each run.
● Hand sanitizer will be
available on the bus.
● Families are encouraged to
transport their children to school and a survey has been sent to determine who
is riding the bus to design a seating chart.
● Students should practice
social distancing at the bus stop.
● Parent pick-up will occur
from 3:15-3:25 or after the busses have left.
● The front of the school will
have a one-way flow of traffic in the morning and afternoon.
● Parents will not be allowed
in the building to pick-up students. Students will be escorted out to the
parents waiting in the parent pick-up area.
● Bus arrival in the morning
will be staggered to prevent the overlap of students in the hall to the extent
possible. Busses will begin dropping off at 7:45.
● End of day release will occur
with 9-12 being released at 3:28 followed by 7-8 at 3:30. PK-6 will have a
staggered release to decrease the number of students in the hallway at any one
time.
Cafeteria and Lunch
● Students in grades Pk-8 will
eat lunch in their classrooms.
● Lunch will be brought to the
room on trays.
● Teachers may not eat lunch
together and are encouraged to eat in their classrooms.
Playground and Recess
● Groups will have assigned
spaces outdoors for play.
● Students in grades PK-6 will
have both a morning and afternoon recess.
● There will be a schedule for
use of the playground area with a minimum of 15 minutes between each group
using the equipment.
Registration/Conferences/Open House
● We are asking that families
return their registration forms prior to or on the first day of school.
● We will not be holding an
in-person open house this year.
● Conferences will be conducted
over Zoom in October