Essential actions to keep staff and students safe and healthy.
Do When Schools are Open and Operating
- Continue to check in regularly with students at higher risk for mental health challenges, whether attending school onsite and virtually from home.
- Conduct mental health screening and social-emotional assessment of all students on a regular basis.
- Establish referral processes for students and for staff in need of mental health services and/or social-emotional supports.
- Establish and maintain school-based mental health services and social-emotional supports for students and staff.
- Implement tele-access to mental health services and social-emotional supports for students attending school virtually from home.
- Ensure mental health crisis interventions and supports are in place to immediately respond to students or staff at risk of imminent harm.
- Encourage and provide opportunities for mental health and social-emotional self-care to staff, students and families.
- Normalize and validate feelings about the pandemic and the loss of previous practices through forums and spaces for compassionate listening where students and staff can share and process their common experiences.
- Prevent the spread of infection:
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- Encourage students and staff to stay away from school when sick following district protocols. Refer to “Planning for a Safe Return to School in Nebraska” for more information.
- Teach students and staff to use masks and protective equipment appropriately, covering a cough, and using/discarding tissues appropriately.
- Stress the importance of keeping hands away from the eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Teach students and staff how to keep surfaces clean and disinfected.
- Introduce hand washing best practices:
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- Utilizing and posting signage.
- Using soap and water and scrubbing for approximately 20 seconds before rinsing.
- Using paper to schools to turn sink handles and open doors before discarding.
- Using alcohol-based sanitizer when hands are not visibly soiled.
- Developing fixed schedules for hand washing (particularly, for younger students).
- Ensuring that adequate supplies are available and in good functional condition.
- Institute limited contact policies:
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- It will be challenging to minimize personal contact between schools and students of younger ages, but efforts should be made to limit close contact with older students.
- Spread desks and seating arrangements to conform with social distancing guidelines.
- Amend schedules to conform with social distancing guidelines (e.g. stagger lunches).
- Employ virtual meetings with staff and parents to conform with social distancing guidelines.
- Review and amend vaccinations planning:
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- School officials should not plan on a vaccine being available for the start of school in fall 2020, the return to school will take place with a body of students unprotected from infection.
- School officials should expect to receive guidance on the timing and availability of teacher and student vaccines from public health officials.
- Update and finalize student and staff health records:
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- Once vaccination begins, it is possible that SARS-CoV-2 immunization status will fall under state “school entry” laws wherein states can prohibit student attendance unless there is proof that a student has been immunized through a verified health record. Schools should expect that a requirement for such evidence will be forthcoming from public health officials.
- It should also be considered, however, that prior SARS-CoV-2 status may be protected under current privacy laws. Certain diseases, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and mental health, for example, are considered protected health information that students, parents, and employees cannot be forced to disclose involuntarily. Because immunization statutes are enforced at the state level, there may be some inter-state variability around SARS-CoV-2 requirements and school leaders should seek guidance from their district.
- Consider Physical Activity best practices
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- Ensure that recess is being provided.
- Create a plan for recess that enables kids to play while meeting expectations for physical distancing.
- Ensure single class recess is fun for students and continues to provide cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits to kids and teachers.
- Ensure that classroom physical activity is provided with social distancing precautions.
- Hands-on kinesthetic learning in classroom/afterschool programs can be integrated safely with utilization of shared or outdoor spaces.
- Train staff and students on proper etiquette and safety for space use for physical activity purposes. (See UNO and Wellbeing Partners Modules 1-5)
- Provide access to the required equipment for indoor recess or classroom PA (big screens for visual learning with speakers if sound is needed, balls, etc.)Utilize GoNoodle for creative recess options or physical activity breaks.
- Provide guidance for paraprofessionals over safety considerations, activity options and overall plan working with students before, during and after school and at recess
- Plan space accommodation for individuals with crutches, wheelchairs or equipment to participate in indoor recess or physical activity.
- Consider Nutrition Services best practices:
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- Consider an alternative lunch schedule to accommodate social distancing 10’ to 6’ distance; consider meals in the classroom or alternate room. (Best Practice)
- Classroom service utilizing pre-ordering and pre-plated covered trays, boxes, sacks, clamshell or staff serving in the classroom. Use plexiglass for sneeze guards on carts. (Best Practice)
- Clean and sanitize desks/tables before students are served.
- Classroom Service; provide a dish return area and trash in each classroom or centrally located where the students are able to return their dish and or trash while social distancing.
- Salad bars, food bars, condiments and self serve water stations; children are considered a highly susceptible population, any kind of self-service is highly discouraged unless items offered on the self serve bar are pre-portioned, pre-packaged, or served by cafeteria staff or other staff members.
- Salad bars, food bars, condiments, water may be served by a staff member who is masked and gloved. Plexiglass should be in place in areas previously not covered by the sneeze guard for serving. Staff hands out wrapped silverware or wrapped disposables, milk and individual items. For grab-and-go/pre-portioned/pre-packaged items: Sneeze guards/ plexiglass must be used to cover all pre-portioned items unless there are lids or the food is completely wrapped. All pre-portioned items without lids MUST BE UNDER a sneeze guard.
- All containers offered must be separated enough for students to avoid touching multiple items.
- Microwaves: Microwaves may be used in the cafeteria with frequent cleaning and sanitizing. A staff person should assist younger students with the microwave. Clean and sanitize at a minimum between each lunch period. Kitchen microwaves cannot be used by students or staff members.
- Second serving and/or a la carte in cafeteria service only. These items must be provided on a clean plate and NEVER re-served on the same plate. This is already a required practice. (Nebraska Food Code Reference 3-304.16)
- POS: We strongly recommend that cashiers wear masks and gloves during service. Consider having a plexiglass partition to limit exposure. Move the electronic payment terminal/ credit card reader farther away from the point of service in order to increase the distance between the customer and the cashier, if possible. Schools that have previously had students enter an account number on a keypad for lunch payment should consider having the student verbally relay their number to the cashier.
- Seconds and a la carte purchases, encourage students to use touchless payment options such as ID cards when available. Minimize handling cash where possible. When exchanging paper and coin money: wear gloves, do not touch your face afterward, ask customers to place cash on the counter rather than directly into your hand, place money directly on the counter when providing change back to customers, and wipe the counter between each customer at checkout.
- Consider longer meal service times to accommodate smaller groups that can better practice social distancing.
- HACCP and Food Safety Regulations have not changed. Schools are still responsible for following the current Nebraska Food Code and HACCP regulations.
- Clean and sanitize desks before students are served.
- Clean and sanitize tables and the high touch surfaces in the cafeteria and alternate feeding areas between each lunch service period.
- All high touch surfaces should be disinfected at the end of the food service day. Wipe the high touch food preparation surfaces with hot soapy water and regular strength sanitizer each morning.
- Food Service staff wear a mask. Make sure cloth face covering fits snugly but comfortably against the side of the face, completely covers the nose and mouth, is secured with ties or ear loops, allows for breathing without restriction, and can be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape.
- No visitors in the Food Service Kitchen area;
- Staff members may not put their personal lunches in the kitchen refrigerators.
- Staff members may not fill their personal water bottles with ice or water (beverage).
- The kitchen may not be used as a shortcut or walkway to minimize the risk of contamination.