Face Covering Requirements

• Face coverings are required for all who enter the building, including students, staff, parents, and visitors. It is recommended to limit all parents and visitors from entering the building.
• Face coverings do not need to be worn outside if a 6-foot distance can be maintained.
• Face coverings must be removed during eating, so it is important to ensure a 6-foot distance between individuals.
• Special attention should be paid toward students when putting on and removing face coverings for purposes such as eating. Hand hygiene should be performed immediately after removing and replacing face coverings.
• Face Shields should not be used in lieu of face-coverings such as masks unless there is a physician’s note documenting a medical contraindication.
• Face shields may be used by teachers in situations where it is important for students to see how the teacher pronounces words such as English Learners, early childhood, foreign language, etc., however, wearing a face mask with a plastic insert is preferred for these situations.

Social Distancing Requirements

• Rearrange desks so that there is a 6-foot distance in all directions between each desk and face desks in the same direction. Require students to remain in their seats to the greatest extent possible. Open windows, if possible, for increased ventilation.
• Teachers should develop a marked path of travel inside the classroom to maintain social distancing from the entry point of the classroom to each student’s assigned seat.
• Students should stand in the hallway on social distancing markers that are spaced 6-feet apart when waiting for the bathroom, drinking fountain, recess, checking-in after morning arrival, and checking out at dismissal.
• Suspend or limit the use of lockers. If students can remain 6 ft apart, then lockers may be used for personal items such as coats, hats, gloves, lunches, ect. School items should remain in the classroom or backpack to reduce the time students would need to leave the classroom.
• Only allow supervisors and staff who are required for instruction to be in the classroom.
• If students typically rotate to different classrooms, they should stay in one classroom, and teachers should rotate to them

Schoolwide Cleaning and Disinfection Requirements

• Hands should be washed frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds.
• Build-in time for hand hygiene and/or schedule hand hygiene breaks to include:
  1. transition times
  2. arrival to and departure from school
  3. after coughing, sneezing, or nose blowing
  4. following restroom use
  5. before food preparation
  6. before and after eating
  7. after contact with a person who is sick
  8. upon return from the playground/physical education
  9. upon exiting and returning to the classroom
  10. touching shared items such as books, pencil sharpeners, doorknobs, answer keys, light switches, dispenser handles, P.E. equipment, etc.
  11. following use of water fountains, sinks, faucets, and countertops
  12. following glove removal

• Ensure adequate hygiene supplies, including tissues, hand sanitizer, extra face coverings, gloves for staff, and handwashing supplies such as extra soap and paper towels if a sink is present.
• Ensure students do not place their mouths on the spout of the water fountain by having students use it only to fill their water bottles.
• Schools should determine any “hot spots” where germ transmission may easily occur and ensure hand sanitation/handwashing supplies are readily available and used often.
• Consider assigning classroom computers to minimize disease transmission. Computer keyboards and/or touchscreens can be difficult to clean, so consider utilizing keyboard covers to facilitate cleaning. Shared computers should have signs posted instructing proper hand hygiene before and after computer use. Electronics, including tablets, touchscreens, keyboards, remote controls, lunchroom keypads, door entry systems, etc., should be cleaned before and after use.
• Communicate with parents of younger students to discourage or prohibit their children from bringing any toys from home to school. Consider labeling students’ personal items and keeping them in a separate bag to ensure they remain separate from the belongings of other students.
• Restrict or discourage the borrowing or sharing of any items. The CDC recommends that electronic devices, toys, books, pencils, papers, games, or learning aids not be shared.
• Lunches – Students will eat lunches at their desks or outside (weather permitting).
• Parents are requested or required to use single-use/disposable items when sending lunches to school – paper sacks, plastic bags, plastic utensils, etc.
• Playground equipment – should be monitored, and the number of students using each piece of equipment should be limited.
• Consider staggering playground times to allow one class in a playground space at one time rather than multiple classes playing together. Maintain appropriate cleaning of playground equipment. Any equipment/items that cannot be cleaned should not be utilized. Discourage the sharing of toys. High-touch surfaces made of plastic/metal, such as swings/slides, railings, and other play structures, should be cleaned routinely and disinfected as per the most recent CDC guidance.
• Thorough cleaning of all high touch areas should be done nightly, and deep cleaning should be done over holiday breaks.