No students come to school on Wednesdays, so I went in to school this morning to get some work done. One of my classes has a test this Friday, so I spent some time zooming with students who had questions about the review assignment.
While I was zooming, one of our vice principals and our head custodian came in to my room. They had a seating chart (we were required to submit those recently) and a tape measure and were measuring distances from one seat to nearby seats. After my meetings I went to the office to see what that was all about.
Sure enough, one of my students has tentatively tested positive for the 'rona, and they were measuring in accordance with our contact tracing protocols. We can allow students to sit within 3' of each other, but if someone has the 'rona, we quarantine for 10 days anyone who sat within 6' of them. The distancing in my room was satisfactory so no additional students from my class were quarantined.
I'll be glad when this is done.
I teach high school in California. We are in a red tier county, and we have a regular schedule, 5 days a week. We've been told we should try for 3 feet between students; however, if there isn't enough room for 3 feet, we just have them closer. Is your district saying they are required to have 3 feet between them?
ReplyDeleteIts a good thing your vice principal had the head custodian with him to help with the understanding of the workings of that tape measure!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, to be honest, I don't try to keep up with the ever-changing rules. They told us to keep 3' between students, so that's what I've endeavored to do.
ReplyDeleteInitially the standard was 6'. Some teachers were reassigned to other classrooms (of teachers on prep) because their own rooms wouldn't allow for 6' of separation for the number of students in class. After the 3' rule was announced, I haven't heard if anyone is switching rooms or not.