Washakie County School District No. 1 hosts town hall update after first week

WORLAND – Washakie County School District No. 1 hosted a town hall meeting via Zoom to provide an update on how the first week of school went and how activities would be conducted this fall.

The district began by providing an update from curriculum director Jody Rakness discussing how technology is being utilized in the district and how students are being helped to get online should quarantine result for that child.

Rakness said that the district has heeded advice from parents in the spring and have adjusted the frustration of online learning to make it a more centralized platform for students and parents to find links to online curriculum should a child be placed in quarantine. She also said that the district will help provide hard copies of learning materials should a child require them at home.

Under the district’s 1:1 technology policy each student should have a Google Chromebook as soon as the last order comes in. Rakness discussed how the district will help to provide internet as well as helping connect to teachers each day if a student is quarantined at home.

Superintendent David Nicholas provided an update on the state of the district, he said that the first week felt like a rollercoaster for the district after the two employees at East Side had tested positive which led to the delay of the start of classes at the school, and additional quarantines. He also reported that the staff members have recovered.

Nicholas also said that a student had tested positive at East Side right at the start of the year, but no additional quarantines of students were issued thanks to proper social distancing and mask wearing.

“I got to tell you I am pretty impressed with our kiddos,” Nicholas said. “They are wearing the masks, it is not business as usual but they are adapting to this and I could not be more proud of our students and how they are handling it.”

Nicholas said that the district is required to check temperature twice a day every day and understands that there are many things that may cause temperatures to reach 100.4 degrees, but the district needs students and staff to be below that temperature for 24 hours without medication in order to attend school.

Nicholas said that other requirements are a mask on the person of everybody in the district and hand sanitizer available throughout buildings.

Business manager Jack Stott discussed the screening process, and said that the most important screening is the screening that happens with parents at home before they send their child to school.

A parent identifying symptoms that are unique to COVID-19 as well as symptoms commonly related to other colds is important, and the district is asking parents to “err on the side of caution” this year and keep children home that exhibit any symptoms.

“We do not want the school district to become an incubation site for COVID-19,” Stott said.

Stott then described what would happen when they have a COVID-19 situation at school. The plan would be to notify all parents and guardians in that school that there is a child that tested positive, they will not mention names or classrooms but those affected may call and confirm if the positive case was in their child’s classroom or not.

Stott and the district encourage parents to keep their contact information up to date through Infinite Campus.

Athletics director Aaron Abel provided an update regarding attendance to activities; full details regarding attendance to activities were highlighted in last week’s edition of the Northern Wyoming News.

Questions asked by the audience centered on masks, activities and what constitutes a quarantine being ordered when there is a positive case in a classroom.

Nicholas said in response to one of the questions that the mask requirement will be in full effect for students until it is lifted by State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist.

Nicholas also said that if a student or staff member needs to go get a rapid test at Washakie Medical Center performed to contact the district and they will help pay for the test.

As of Monday, Aug. 31, Stott said that there were currently six students in quarantine, with that number expected to drop to four on Tuesday. Stott said that none of those quarantined students “resulted from attendance at school or participation in school events.”

Stott also said that the school anticipates holding town hall meetings every other week for the next month, and the continuation and frequency of those meetings depends on community interest.