Dear Lovejoy Families,
The health and safety of our Lovejoy students, staff, parents, and community is a high priority. Lovejoy ISD continues to monitor flu and other illnesses within our district, and thankfully, at this time, the flu cases are low.
We want to keep you informed regarding what we are doing in Lovejoy ISD. With the ongoing news around Coronavirus (COVID-19), we want to ensure you we are monitoring the situation through trusted resources like the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as well as Collin County Health Care Services.
We realize with any new illness; there is uncertainty and concern. We ask that you help partner with us and concentrate on the facts and preventative measures. While the risk is currently low in Texas, and there are no reported cases in our immediate area, we are taking all necessary steps to provide a healthy environment for our staff and students. Our custodial team members remain vigilant about regular cleaning and disinfecting of all of our facilities, and our nurses continue to monitor students and enforce guidelines regarding student and staff illness.
Over Spring Break, the district will be conducting additional deep cleaning of all surfaces and spaces. Custodial teams will completely sanitize all campuses including athletic facilities and portable buildings. All school buses will also be disinfected. Custodial teams will physically sanitize with disinfectant all high-touch areas such as doorknobs, fixtures, drinking fountains, cafeteria tables, light switches, keyboards, telephones, desktops, etc. Custodial staff will then follow-up with an electrostatic sprayer to positively charge a disinfectant fine mist that clings to every side of an exposed surface to ensure complete coverage. The disinfectant is safe and non-toxic. We are thankful for our custodial staff and we value the services they provide and their work excellence.
As a community, we can help prevent the spread of illness by washing our hands and covering every cough and sneeze. However, the best way to prevent the spreading of illness is to
ensure students, staff, parents, and community members stay at home until they are entirely symptom-free without any Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or fever-reducer for a full 24 hours before returning to school or other public areas
. The State of Texas classifies a fever as a temperature greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If a student, employee, parent, or community member has a fever, vomiting, or exhibits other flu-like symptoms, please stay home and allow time to become symptom-free.
We realize many of our families have plans to travel this Spring Break. It is highly likely that travel advisories from the CDC will remain in place, making international travel difficult. If you are traveling, we encourage you to follow the recommendations on the
CDC information for travel webpage
. With current CDC guidelines, travel outside of the United States, or through any impacted region, has the potential to cause delayed entry back to the United States and school. Given the rapidly changing public health situation, we urge you to take any necessary precautions in advance when traveling.
Lovejoy ISD has canceled school-sponsored trips to areas of concern. As an employer, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking staff to self-report any travel to a Level 2 or Level 3 area to their immediate Supervisor. We are also asking our families to be mindful of our community and self-report any family travel to Level 2 and Level 3 areas to their Campus Principal.
We will continue to work closely with health agencies as more information becomes available, and if a concern or known case is brought to our attention, we will share that information with you. Our nursing staff has developed guidelines based on symptoms provided by the CDC to assess staff or students showing signs of fever or respiratory illness, recent travel to affected areas, and/or close proximity with others impacted or diagnosed. Nurses are required to report symptomatic students or staff who travel to Level 2 and Level 3 areas to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
Any decisions that may need to be made regarding a change to school operations will be done so with guidance from the CDC, local health officials, authorities at the Texas Education Agency and Region 10. Our district has protocols in place for managing temporary closures should they be needed, and can deliver instructional activities through online platforms if necessary.
We are prepared and committed to the safety of our staff, students, parents, and community. We have created a
website
with resources from organizations such as the CDC and Texas Department of Health and Human Services and Collin County Care Health Services. We encourage you to use these resources and follow the guidance provided as we partner together to keep our One Heart. One Lovejoy. community safe.
We are thankful for you and your ongoing support.
