We hope you enjoyed a restorative winter break! We are looking forward to starting another successful semester, and we wanted to share some updates and resources about our return to in-person learning. As a reminder, the timeline for our return was shared in this message from interim superintendent Dwight Jones.
We recognize the complexity of color ratings, cohorts, quarantines and the other health, safety and operational guidelines -- and our intention for sharing this information is to be as transparent as possible about how decisions are being made. Please know we have COVID coordinators and school leaders, health care professionals, and a COVID response team that are deeply familiar with how to implement these processes. Individual educators are only responsible for reporting known symptoms or cases of COVID to one our trained team members.
With that in mind, please review these high-level updates about our return to in-person learning, check out the resources and training, and connect with your school leader to learn more about plans for your individual school.
Health and Safety Training and Resources
As we plan and prepare for students and staff to re-enter buildings in the coming weeks, it’s important that staff members have the necessary information and tools to keep our schools safe. We’ve created this list of resources,
as well as required and recommended professional learning opportunities. Please review these videos and resources.
How Health Conditions Determine the Level of In-Person Schooling DPS Can Offer
Note: The connection between the color rating on the dial and how in-person instruction is delivered is rooted in the level of disruption that schools see due to quarantines, and is not indicative of a school’s safety level.
Cohort Changes
Elementary schools will maintain the same cohort structures as this fall. While these cohorts created some operational challenges, they allowed elementary schools to stay open as much as possible. Click here to learn more about elementary cohorts.
Secondary Schools
- Schools will be building individual plans tailored around safety protocols and maximizing in-person learning and may not use a single cohort number. Schools will operate with reduced class sizes and/or hybrid models in which not all learners are in person every day.
- Some of our secondary schools will be transitioning to quarter systems. Using a four-period quarter allows for less exposure for both students and staff. It also allows for an easier transition to and from in-person and remote learning, if required by quarantine rules. In this period of uncertainty, many students find it easier to manage a smaller course load and have greater success in their course work. Several large districts have used this approach.
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Click here to learn more about secondary cohorts, and reach out to your school leader if you have questions about the plans for your school.
Updated Quarantine Guidance
The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDHPE) issued revised quarantine guidance that will allow schools to stay open for safe in-person learning with fewer disruptions. This guidance, which is based on the latest medical data and analysis, is a tool that can be used to determine who is a close contact and needs to quarantine in the event of a student or staff member with COVID (or symptoms of COVID) in school.
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Elementary schools will continue to identify close contacts following "Enhanced Contact Identification." This is because the "Targeted Contact Identification" option available to secondary schools requires the use of seating charts, which we know is not developmentally appropriate for our young learners.
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Secondary schools will use either the "Enhanced Contact Identification" or the "Targeted Contact Identification" guidance, depending on whether a set of health and safety criteria has been met.
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Click here for a visual guide on how this guidance will be used at DPS by our COVID response team members.
In addition, based on updated recommendations from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), DPS will be implementing the following changes to quarantine times:
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Effective now, a 10-day quarantine period will be our standard, which is appropriate for most people who do not have contact with high-risk individuals (older adults and people of any age with underlying medical conditions).
Other lengths of quarantine will be implemented at the discretion of individual school and department leaders, in consultation with their operational superintendent:
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A 14-day quarantine period for people who have regular, close contact with high-risk individuals. This includes classes where students are considered medically fragile.
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A quarantine period that is shorter than 10 days based on individual circumstances, such as:
- Those who do not have contact with high-risk individuals.
- Those who are exposed outside of school and their class is not quarantined.
The shorter quarantine option is for people who do not have contact with high-risk individuals and have a negative test collected 48 hours before quarantine is discontinued (on day 5 or later). Staff and students must show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test in order to return before a 10-day quarantine period is complete. Schools cannot require staff or students to return early from a quarantine.
Additional PPE Delivered to Schools
Schools continue to receive regular PPE deliveries to support safe in-person learning. With additional deliveries arriving at schools this week, schools will have received 100,000 child-sized cloth masks, 190,000 adult-sized cloth masks, 20,000 face shields, 14,000 disinfectant spray bottles and 1800 gallons of hand sanitizer. In addition, you can receive a KN95 mask every week you work in-person. It is strongly recommended that all adults wear both a KN95 mask and a face shield while working with in-person students. If you are running low on any PPE, please work with your school leader and operational superintendent.
Free Student COVID Testing
We are expanding our partnership with COVIDCheck Colorado to offer free COVID-19 testing to students to support a safe return to school. Students will now be able to take an initial COVID-19 test before coming back to school as well as ongoing screening tests every other week. The tests are free, fast and reliable.
Testing sites include Montbello campus, Abraham Lincoln, North, All City Stadium and a new site at George Washington. Tests will be completed via nasal PCR test or SalivaDirect, and results will be returned within 36-72 hours. DPS students and team members should use this link to register for a test.
