Jennings School District Strong Defense Plan
In the abundance of caution, Jennings School District is exercising a strong defense against the COVID 19. Effective immediately, our strong defense in Jennings includes the following actions:
• Canceling and suspending out of state travel until further notice for student activities and events. Please review and share if you have any such activities or events
• Requiring all staff who travel out of the country to stay home using PTO days for 14 calendar days or receive CoVID19 testing before returning to work
• Encouraging all sick students and staff to see the school nurse or their physician and to stay home until well
• Sanitizing, cleaning, fogging all Jennings buildings as needed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis
• Monitoring and reducing all other actions that may cause a safety concern
• Asking for extra information and communication of staff, parents, and students to building and district administration of information regarding any exposure to COVID, airports, hospitals, and travel to high areas of risk/threat
• Moving or canceling non-essential large scale district led events and district supported events of over 250 people in one room.
• For instance, Jennings's participation is canceled for WE Day in Chicago. Know that I am having discussions with each organization's leadership on a case-by-case basis in this regard, and then emails are being sent for each event.
The following events are canceled
• The Gala on March 27th
• The Jennings Art Festival on April 2nd.
• Athletic games and many other events.
The actions above are part of a strong defense against the spread of COVID 19 and other viruses.
As this situation progresses, we will be considering the best practices for a strong offense when needed. At that time, my goal will be to have strong offensive actions that do not offend or harm everyone. Lastly, offensive actions with the least amount of harm are a first prior.
What are the offensive actions that we are avoiding for as long as possible?
• School closure over two weeks, which may harm some students without food, shelter, adult supervision, and care.
• No graduation event, in which there may never be another time for extended families to celebrate their student's success; smaller graduation in the gym or commons may be necessary and is better
• Requiring quarantines of students to the point of preventing them from passing to the next grade or meeting graduation requirements.
• Requiring quarantines of staff beyond PTO days for fear of income, extending PTO through FMLA is an option
• Having too many staff absences to continue providing FAPE - a free and appropriate public education.
Please check the school district website for more information and district plans to keep everyone safe regarding COVID-19 at www.jenningsk12.org.
Sincerely,
Dr. Art McCoy
Superintendent of Schools
In the abundance of caution, Jennings School District is exercising a strong defense against the COVID 19. Effective immediately, our strong defense in Jennings includes the following actions:
• Canceling and suspending out of state travel until further notice for student activities and events. Please review and share if you have any such activities or events
• Requiring all staff who travel out of the country to stay home using PTO days for 14 calendar days or receive CoVID19 testing before returning to work
• Encouraging all sick students and staff to see the school nurse or their physician and to stay home until well
• Sanitizing, cleaning, fogging all Jennings buildings as needed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis
• Monitoring and reducing all other actions that may cause a safety concern
• Asking for extra information and communication of staff, parents, and students to building and district administration of information regarding any exposure to COVID, airports, hospitals, and travel to high areas of risk/threat
• Moving or canceling non-essential large scale district led events and district supported events of over 250 people in one room.
• For instance, Jennings's participation is canceled for WE Day in Chicago. Know that I am having discussions with each organization's leadership on a case-by-case basis in this regard, and then emails are being sent for each event.
The following events are canceled
• The Gala on March 27th
• The Jennings Art Festival on April 2nd.
• Athletic games and many other events.
The actions above are part of a strong defense against the spread of COVID 19 and other viruses.
As this situation progresses, we will be considering the best practices for a strong offense when needed. At that time, my goal will be to have strong offensive actions that do not offend or harm everyone. Lastly, offensive actions with the least amount of harm are a first prior.
What are the offensive actions that we are avoiding for as long as possible?
• School closure over two weeks, which may harm some students without food, shelter, adult supervision, and care.
• No graduation event, in which there may never be another time for extended families to celebrate their student's success; smaller graduation in the gym or commons may be necessary and is better
• Requiring quarantines of students to the point of preventing them from passing to the next grade or meeting graduation requirements.
• Requiring quarantines of staff beyond PTO days for fear of income, extending PTO through FMLA is an option
• Having too many staff absences to continue providing FAPE - a free and appropriate public education.
Please check the school district website for more information and district plans to keep everyone safe regarding COVID-19 at www.jenningsk12.org.
Sincerely,
Dr. Art McCoy
Superintendent of Schools