Reopening Schools

It is not 50% of enrollment, it is 50% of occupancy. I will bet 10 students are under 50% occupancy so you may in the hybrid model be able to bring all students in every day. That is an A cycle within all the other requirements of a hybrid model. Please refer to the MN fire marshall document for guidance in calculating actual occupancies and allowable capacities within the various spaces in your building.

Yes, please visit this link for more information on the building calculator and maximum capacity: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/sfm/Documents/School-occupant-loads-COVID.pdf

In general, we would recommend maximizing the use of any other spaces within your facility that are equipped with some form of mechanical ventilation as guidance indicates that rooms with no means of mechanical ventilation should be avoided. Opening windows and the use of fans is not recommended. The use of Portable air filtration units could also be explored as a last resort.

Where possible, utilize electric water coolers that have the bottle fill feature and disable the drinking fountain portion. Per Neil Carlson, if you are able to safely turn off your hand dryers, it is recommended to do so to avoid spreading aerosols. Drinking fountains can be used to fill water bottles, but you will need to explain clear instructions for the fountains and provide a handwashing or sanitizing option for the user after they fill their bottle.

Fred Nolan suggested that this will have to be decided in collaboration with your food service staff and transportation department. There is potential to send lunches/pre-packaged food/lunch items with students home with them or buses to transport the food on full distance learning days.

Per current building code, drinking fountains are required. However, we do not have clear direction from the Minnesota Deptartment of Labor & Industry – Construction Codes & Licensing Division on this issue yet. The recommendation would be to utilize the bottle fill feature only on those electric water coolers that have both drinking fountain and bottle fill features.  In this case, the bottle fill feature would meet the code requirement. This modification would require a plumber to make the required changes.

Yes, please visit this link to see an example of a recruiting email.

Yes, visit this link to see an example of Aaron’s parent survey.

Bemidji’s answer: Our Special Education Director is working on the SPED program and developing plans for ongoing services, paperwork, due process, etc. Feel free to email me at Tim_Lutz@isd31.net for more details.

Bemidji’s answer: Bemidji only has 13 students who are classified as ELL, and we do have our ELL teacher/coordinator providing services to those students. ost of our ELL students are in the same building. For those few in a couple of other buildings, we are considering Google Meet. Gene Dillon Elementary will be looking to rotate our specialists through our homerooms, 1 week at a time, throughout the school year. This is very much in its infancy and needs to be explored further to establish this idea as part of our 2020-21 daily schedule.

Mora’s answer: We will share our tools. We are pushing out our communication with staff and parents as we go. The specific plans will push out after completion.  We will share what you need. Brenda Spartz has all the tools and will share them. Feel free to email me at bpartz@moraschools.org.

Mora’s answer: We are having our District Nurse work through the health recommendations for taking temperatures.

Mora’s answer: We are planning on leaning on our guidance department to help our schools with the SEL piece.

Bemidji’s answer: We will have a supportive team of mental health professionals available to our staff and students. At Gene Dillon, as an example, we have a school counselor, school social worker & school psychologist.  We are very fortunate.