March 12th, 2020
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has continued to generate a great deal of news and concern over the past few days. While Franklin County is considered low risk, USD #289 wants to assure families that we are taking all the essential precautions and have protocols in place as part of our Emergency Response plan to respond to any outbreak of communicable disease within our schools. The following additional precautions have been implemented effective 5pm on March 12th, 2020.
All USD 289 student trips to the nursing home are postponed through March 27th.
All (school related) staff and student travel out of state is postponed until March 27th.
Both of the above items will be reviewed by the USD 289 Board of Education at the March Regular Board meeting.
We want to ensure that we are not bringing unnecessary risks to our students, staff or segments of the population which are more at risk for the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effects. Additionally, in collaboration with the Franklin County Health Department, we would ask that if you travel out of Kansas for spring break, please remain alert for cough, fever or difficulty breathing. Travel may expose you to COVID-19. Please call your healthcare provider if you have reason to believe you have been exposed to this disease (call before going to the provider and tell them you may have COVID-19).
Custodial staff has continued to prioritize and increase frequency of cleaning common and high traffic areas each day including buses. We continue to work with the Franklin County Health Department as they closely monitor the current situation. As new information is received by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Franklin County Health Department, more guidance and recommendations will be given at that time.
We encourage parents to continue to encourage all family members to practice good hygiene and virus prevention practices.
Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol, dye free and fragrance free) is a good choice when soap and water is unavailable but not the recommended choice for killing all germs.
Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue and discard the tissue after each use.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Stay home or keep your child home except to get medical care with a fever of 100 degrees or greater -- If you are sick please stay home.
As the impact of COVID-19 is felt across the nation and state, it is very normal for additional questions about COVID-19 to arise. There has been an increase in SPAM information related to COVID-19 in recent days. I would encourage you to go to one of the following sites for information related to COVID-19: Franklin County Health Department, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Center for Disease Control.
We will continue to communicate with families by email and/or phone using our PowerSchool and Apptegy system if there are updates, changes, or concerns.