By Emily Massingill
editor@
themonroetimes.com
MONROE — The School District of Monroe Board of Education discussed temperature screening of students in detail at its meeting Aug. 10.
District Nurse Sam Kubly was in attendance virtually to explain to the board how the temperatures would be taken and what would happen if someone’s temperature is elevated.
Temperature screenings will be done in each students’ classroom, Kubly said. For middle schoolers, that means their home room and for high schoolers, that means their first hour class. The goal is that temperatures will be taken within the first 10 minutes of the students being at school.
Kubly said the thermometers used are simple and include a button to turn it on. It’s then pointed about an inch from the students’ forehead and a button is pressed again. Colors of green, orange and red react based on what the temperatures read as an easy measure of whether or not the student needs further evaluation.
If elevated, the temperature is recorded on a carbon copy paper where it’s then traced. Students are expected to quarantine for 14 days, starting two days prior to the onset of symptoms if they test positive for COVID-19. Temperatures are only recorded when elevated, Kubly said.
“We will work with the county to provide contacts,” Kubly said, noting that seating charts and attendance records will be shared to provide contact tracing.
Additional staff will be utilized for contact tracing, including two recent retirees from the district who will work remotely to help with communication and contact tracing in collaboration with Green County Public Health. They’re familiar with students, families, staff and Skyward, a communication tool used throughout the district, Kubly said.
In middle and high school, those who will be required to quarantine will be based on seating charts and attendance records, looking closely at who was within 6 feet of the student for more than 15 minutes.
In elementary school, a positive test will mean the entire classroom will be expected to quarantine for the 14-day period. Student absences will also be tracked and information will be collected using Google Spreadsheets, she said.
“It’s just going to be a lot of communication,” Kubly said.
Kubly said much of the communication will happen through email, and District Administrator Rick Waski hopes to emphasize to parents that email addresses should be updated and checked regularly.
Students can return to school after a 72-hour resolution of any symptoms related to COVID-19. However, Kubly said she cannot tell anyone to get tested for COVID-19 — she can only recommend that they do. Those tested are expected to quarantine until they receive results. A negative test simply means the student or staff member can go back to “regular life.”
“We are taking an extra step other school districts are not,” Waski said, referring to temperature checks in both Plan A and Plan B.
Kubly noted that the Department of Public Instruction and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend mass temperature screenings.
The School District of Monroe will start school Sept. 1 in a Plan B model, meaning half of students will return on opposite weeks and will learn online during the opposite week. In Plan A, all students would return to school with additional safety measures in place. In Plan C all students would learn virtually. Parents can opt children into a Plan H, which is learning online.