VACCINATION UPDATES & CLINICS: Children ages 5-11 are now eligible for a vaccine. The VT Department of Health web page is full of resources for parents about the vaccine. Local pediatricians are also ready to answer questions and help parents with their decisions and can even give the shots. VDH has chosen two of our schools to hold vaccination clinics, thus far:
➤ Leicester (OCA): Thursday, Nov. 18 (1st dose with the second dose scheduled for Dec 9)
➤ Neshobe: Tuesday, Dec. 14 (with the second dose scheduled for Jan. 4)
TO REGISTER: Although we were first told these clinics would be closed just for our families, the state has opened registration to the public and slots are limited. Please use the state registration website VDH COVID-19 portal (linked below👇) to register or call the Dept of Health 855-722-7878, Mon - Fri 8 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat and Sun 10 AM - 3 PM to register, give consent, or if you have problems with registration. We cannot register students ourselves as parents must give consent.
https://vermont.force.com/events/s/selfregistration
RNESU Parent Update Nov 5 just posted in News and sent by email. Learn about snow days and sign up to participate in an equity focus group!
Vaccination clinics coming to #RNESU schools of Leicester and Neshobe. See news feed for more information www.rnesu.org
Upcoming School Board Meetings: In August, Board meetings returned to in-person meetings with a zoom option for those who wish to attend virtually. Meeting information can be found on the district calendar!
OVUU Board meets Nov. 3, 6 pm @ OVUHS Library
BUU Board meets Nov. 15, 18, 6 pm
RNESU Board meets Nov. 17, 5 pm @ Neshobe School
Flu Shot Reminder: It is that time of year again- please consider getting a flu shot for your child. COVID and flu together do not mix well and may be hard to tell apart for the schools as well. Thanks for helping to keep us all well!
Oct 28, 2021
If you gave consent for your child to be part of surveillance testing and participated yesterday in school, you should receive an email from Binx lab to set up an account to get your results. Results are usually in early morning on Fridays. Please check your results before sending your child to school on Friday.
If you have not given consent but still wish to for future Wednesday please go to this web page to give consent or ask your school for a consent form.
CIC Health COVID-19 Testing for Schools Consent webpage
Oct 28, 2021
Dear Parents,
If you gave consent for your child to be part of surveillance testing and participated yesterday in school, you should receive an email from Binx lab to set up an account to get your results. Results are usually in early morning on Fridays. Please check your results before sending your child to school on Friday.
If you have not given consent but still wish to for future Wednesday please go to thie web page in the parent letter to give consent or ask your school for a consent form.
Interested in having your child tested at school for COVID regularly? See News for full information on how to give consent for this.
Staffing and Bus Transportation Issues: We continue to have significant issues with finding substitute teachers and bus drivers. Like our colleagues around us, we are not fully staffed and we are not getting applicants. The result is that buses are being asked to do double runs, making some kids late and others very early. This schedule changes on a daily basis in response to what staffing we do have. This is very disruptive to families and we deeply regret this. If you know of anyone interested in being a bus driver or a substitute teacher, please have them contact our HR department. We are in dire need!
GUIDANCE: WHEN TO KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME: Per VT Dept of Health guidelines, students and staff with symptoms of COVID should be excluded from school. If your child has any of the following symptoms, they need to stay home until their symptoms have been improved for at least 24 hours without the use of Tylenol or Ibuprofen. If your child has one or more symptoms for more than 24 hours, please consult their healthcare provider for guidance and testing. If your child is tested for COVID, they should stay home until negative test results are received. Written test results will be required before returning to school.
➤ Fever
➤ Cough
➤ Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
➤ Fatigue (Very Tired)
➤ Muscle aches
➤ Headache
➤ New loss of taste or smell
➤ Sore throat
➤ Runny nose
➤ Nausea or Vomiting
➤ Diarrhea
COVID, Quarantine and Distance Learning: When we have a positive case, we immediately identify and notify close contacts using the VT Dept of Health guidelines. We then send general notification to the school. Unfortunately, we have had to close a few classrooms over the past week and a half and ultimately, closed Neshobe for two days. If an entire class is out on quarantine, we will provide distance learning. We will re-open the class when more than half of the students are cleared to return with a negative test. However, once a teacher has students in person once again, we will stop the distance learning.
VACCINATION INFORMATION REQUESTED: In order to know if we can relax masking requirements, we need to know who is vaccinated in our student body. Knowing this information also makes it much quicker to contact trace when a positive case exists, as vaccinated students do not need to quarantine. Please send a copy of your child’s vaccination card to your school nurse to help us reach the 80% student body indicator.
MASK REQUIREMENTS EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 1: The governor extended his mask recommendation to Nov 1, still with the caveat that a school with 80% or more of the eligible student body vaccinated - may relax the guidelines.
STAFFING AND BUS DISRUPTIONS: We continue to have significant issues with finding substitute teachers and bus drivers. Like our colleagues around us, we are not fully staffed and we are not getting applicants. The result is that buses are being asked to do double runs, making some kids late and others very early. This schedule changes on a daily basis in response to what staffing we do have. This is very disruptive to families and we deeply regret this. If you know of anyone interested in being a bus driver or a substitute teacher, please have them contact our HR department. We are in dire need!
REMINDER - NO SCHOOL TOMORROW OCTOBER 8th: Our calendar has an October break weekend starting tomorrow, Friday, October 8th. Students have no school on October 8th and return to class on Monday, October 11th.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS: In August, Board meetings returned to in-person meetings with a zoom option for those who wish to attend virtually. Meeting information can be found on the district calendar or on the district website: OVUU Board meets Oct. 5 (Date changed to October 5 from October 6), 6 PM @ OVUHS. RNESU Board meets Oct. 20, 5 PM.
UPDATE - RNESU Phone System Issues Continue - Outgoing and Incoming phone service may be erratic, especially one party not hearing the other party.
We are aware of and have reported these issues. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. During this time, please consider using email and Let's Talk to reach us.
SCHOOL SAFETY HOTLINE: All Vermonters now have access to a new anonymous school safety tip line. The purpose of this tip line is to enhance school safety and security by providing students, faculty, staff and members of the community with a tool to report concerning behaviors that may have a negative impact on our schools. These tips will assist law enforcement, human service providers and school administrators in identifying school threats and coordinating assistance to students and families for services not needing an immediate response.
Submitted tips will be received 24 hours a day/7 days a week and will be assessed to determine if an immediate action from law enforcement or other first responders is needed. Tips that are determined to not need immediate attention, will be directed to VT 211 (United Way) and/or appropriate school officials for additional services.
Any student, parent/guardian, educator or member of the community can utilize this tip line at no cost. All tips are anonymous.
There are three ways to submit a tip: (1)Go to www.SAFE4VT.org and click on “Submit a Tip”, then fill out the form with your information. (2) Dial (844) SAFE4VT or (844) 723-3488 and speak with a call taker. (3) Send a text to 274637, type in keyword SAFE4VT and then your tip. Please share this information far and wide. Thank you!
COVID TESTING TIPS: Local doctor’s offices have told us that they may not be able to test students who are deemed a close contact unless they have symptoms, as their offices are too busy with people who are ill. It is highly recommended that an appointment for testing at one of the many state sites be made. You can do this online at the link below. As always, if you or your child have symptoms, however, please do reach out to your medical provider.
In mid October or after, we hope to offer free weekly optional testing for all staff and students right at school. Stay tuned for more information on this.
Where to test: https://www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19/testing/where-get-tested
VACCINATION VERIFICATION REQUEST (OPTIONAL)
The Otter Valley and Barstow school nurses are asking parents to voluntarily provide a copy of vaccination cards for any student age 12 and above who has been vaccinated. This information is optional for parents to provide; however having the information will help us know who needs to quarantine in the case of a positive case. It also will help us know when the school might reach the 80% vaccination goal that may allow us to relax the mask mandate. Please consider sharing this information with your school nurse. It becomes a part of the child’s health record, which is HIPAA protected for your privacy.
What to do when COVID-19 is in PreK-12 School, Child Care, Camps and Out of School Programs. If only a few in a classroom are quarantined, we likely will continue with the class in session as those few quarantine. If a large number within a class is affected by the exposure, we may need to close the class and teach remotely during quarantine. If this occurs, we likely will give the teacher one day to pivot and prepare both synchronous and asynchronous lessons and will help make sure all students have the technology they need. This is one important reason we continue to provide a Chromebook to all students this year and ask teachers to post homework on Google Classroom or SeeSaw.