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Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan

Return to In Person Instruction & Continuity of Services Plan

For the 2022-23 school year, Lake Dallas ISD will continue full in-person learning. Highlights for the year are as follows:

  • In-Person Learning: All learning will take place on campus during the school year. While the TEA issued a statewide waiver that allowed virtual learning in 2020-21, that waiver has since expired. Additionally, the Texas Legislature did not pass any bills that would make virtual learning feasible. As such, all learning will return to campuses and virtual learning will not be available.
  • Face Coverings Optional: Every person in a Lake Dallas ISD school or facility, including both students and teachers, has the option of wearing a mask designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or any communicable disease. Families are free to make the decision they feel is appropriate for themselves. At the end of the 2020-21 school year, the Texas governor issued an order that banned the requirement of masks in public schools. As such, Lake Dallas ISD has no plans to require masks during the 2022-23 school year.
  • Hand Sanitization Stations Available: Last school year, Lake Dallas ISD invested in several hand sanitization stations for each campus, and these stations will continue to remain available. Washing hands or using hand sanitizer when appropriate remains a positive health practice, both during the pandemic and at any time, and we encourage individuals to use them frequently.
  • Regular Cleaning of Schools: Schools will continue to be cleaned at the regular rate they were during the 2021-22 school year to promote healthy practices across the district. Janitors and other cleaning personnel focus on heavily touched areas to prevent the spread of germs.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

  • Quarantine for asymptomatic individuals who report having had close contact with a COVID-19 confirmed case is now optional for all students. 
  • Symptomatic individuals require quarantine.
  • Desk shields are optional for Lake Dallas ISD students.
  • Face coverings are optional in all Lake Dallas ISD school facilities, events, and buses. 

All additional COVID-19 protocols will remain in place including social distancing inside facilities (when possible) and the encouraged use of hand sanitizer and hand-washing. A parent's decision to quarantine would pertain to children who have come into close contact with a positive case and do not have any symptoms. Test-confirmed positive cases reported to the campus will continue to quarantine for 10 days from the date of the positive test. Confirmed positive tests will still follow the district's COVID-19 protocols. Parents who choose to quarantine their child must adhere to the COVID-19 protocol requirement of 7 days with a negative test or ten days without testing. Such absences will be counted as excused absences. 

Staff and students or their parents will continue to self-monitor for symptoms prior to coming to campus. The self-screening should include a temperature check at home. Staff and students (or parent/guardian of a student) must report to the campus nurse if the staff member or student has COVID-19 symptoms or are test-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, they must remain off campus until they meet the criteria for re-entry.

All visitors will be subject to screening by way of a symptom screening form.

Students participating in UIL extracurricular activities will continue to follow UIL’s COVID-19 safety guidelines and procedures and must also follow the requirements while competing at an opponent’s venue. 

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your campus nurse.

Attendance and Enrollment

  1. Per Texas Education Code (TEC), §25.092, students must attend 90% of the days a course is offered (with some exceptions) in order to be awarded credit for the course and/or to be promoted to the next grade. This requirement remains in force during the 2022-23 school year and each school year thereafter.
  2. During periods of school closure, student attendance may be earned through the delivery of virtual instruction.
  3. During a period of quarantine or illness, the student will follow the excused absence protocol in making up classwork. 

Screening Questions for COVID-19 Before Campus Access 

  1. All Lake Dallas ISD employees must self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before coming onto campus or entering district facilities each day. (Symptoms are listed at the end of this document.)  Teachers and staff must report to the campus nurse if they themselves have COVID-19 symptoms or are test confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, they must remain off campus until they meet the criteria for re-entry as noted below. THIS WOULD FALL UNDER THE  SELF-ISOLATION PROTOCOL. 
  2. Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has COVID-19 symptoms (as listed in this document) or is test-confirmed with COVID-19, and instead should opt to contact the school nurse and submit an absence excuse note. 
  3. Before being allowed into campus buildings, all visitors must be screened to determine if they have COVID-19 symptoms (as listed in this document) or are test-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, they must remain off campus until they meet the criteria for re-entry as noted below.

Individuals Confirmed or Suspected with COVID-19

  1. Any individuals who themselves either: (a) are test-confirmed to have COVID-19; or (b) experience the symptoms of COVID-19 must stay at home throughout the infection period, and cannot return to campus until the campus nurse screens the individual to determine any of the below conditions for campus re-entry have been met: 
  • 24 hours with no fever (without the use of fever-reducing medication); 
  • Symptoms improved; and  
  • At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared or ten days from the date of the positive test if asymptomatic. 

Or:  

  • Obtain an acute infection test that comes back negative for COVID-19.

Or:  

  • A doctor’s note indicating an alternate diagnosis, though for health privacy reasons the note does not need to indicate what the alternative diagnosis.

Actions if Individuals with Test-Confirmed Cases:

  1. If an individual who has been in a school during the infection period (48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms) and is test-confirmed to have COVID-19, the school will notify the following:
    1. the local health department,
    2. Texas Education Agency, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, including confidentiality requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, &
    3. Families of those who had class with the test-confirmed staff member/student.  

Staff who have had close contact with a test-confirmed case of COVID-19 (new 8/19/21)

For staff who meet the *close contact threshold with a COVID-19 positive individual, if these staff continue to work on campus, rapid testing must be performed at the start of the day, at least once every other day until the end of day 10 regardless of vaccination status. This exposure criteria does not apply to staff who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 within the previous three months of contact. 

Symptoms for quarantine for students/staff who have not had close contact:

  • Have one of the following:
    • Cough
    • Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
    • New loss of taste or smell
  • Have at least two of these symptoms:
    • Fever or chills
    • Repeated shaking with chills
    • Muscle pain
    • Headache
    • Sore throat
    • Fatigue
    • Diarrhea
    • Nausea/Vomiting
    • Congestion or running nose

Symptoms for quarantine for students/staff who have had close contact:

  • Have one of the following:
    • Cough
    • Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
    • New loss of taste or smell
    • Fever or chills
    • Repeated shaking with chills
    • Muscle pain
    • Headache
    • Sore throat
    • Fatigue
    • Diarrhea
    • Nausea/Vomiting
    • Congestion or running nose

Continuity of Services

Elementary Schools:

At the Elementary Schools, whole class lessons on kindness, friendship, drug prevention, gratitude, bully prevention, growth mindset, stress management, anxiety and personal safety are delivered throughout the year.  In small groups, students receive support on self-regulation, mindfulness and social skills.   Staff at all levels received support and professional development on trauma-informed care, self-care, mindfulness, and grief. Middle School: Teachers facilitate Social Emotional Learning lessons using the middle school Character Strong curriculum on Fridays-the curriculum covers all of the CASEL domains and fosters community building. So far, most grade levels have completed approximately 16 lessons. We have a registered yoga teacher (through a program for educators that also covered SEL in depth) and offer monthly staff yoga after school.   High School:

Mental Health America of Greater Dallas (MHA Dallas) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to promote mental wellness through community education and policy advocacy. Put simply, MHA Dallas serves as a catalyst to identify, assess and respond to mental health needs in the community.

As a facilitator and coordinator for local mental health service providers, MHA Dallas operates through strategic long-range planning along with immediate responses to community crises as they arise. In addition to our efforts to supply information, education and advocacy related to mental health issues, we also provide preventive programs designed to equip high-risk populations (including children, the homeless and the indigent) with information and skills to combat stress and adversity.