September 4, 2020 Weekly Family Update

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Lincoln Public Schools families,

This afternoon, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department announced the risk dial moved deeper into the “Orange – High Risk for spread of COVID-19”. While the latest numbers from LLCHD are concerning, the health department has said again that we at Lincoln Public Schools are doing a great job of adhering to protocols and reducing the risk of spread. At Lincoln Public Schools, we will continue as planned with classes and see our in-person and remote students as scheduled next week.

Just a reminder, we continue to work closely with the health department and if there are any changes to the risk of spread of COVID-19 in Lincoln, we will communicate with families in a timely manner so they can make the necessary plans and adjustments. We understand there is a lot of anxiety about any changes in schedules. Please know we will give families as much time as possible to prepare for any adjustments.

The protocols and safety procedures we have in place, developed in collaboration with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, appear to be working. Through the contact tracing process, we have not seen any spread of COVID-19 within our school buildings, and we believe that is due to our safety practices and everyone doing a great job of following those protocols. We will continue to work with the health department to make adjustments when and if they are needed and follow local health measures.

While we have these protocols in place during the school day, we also need everyone to follow the same care while out in our community. This is how we further protect our staff, students and families. Please continue to self-screen for symptoms before leaving home, wear face coverings, practice good hand hygiene, and maintain physical distancing. Our actions in the community greatly impact our schools. Together, we can reduce the spread and help keep students in school longer.

Below is this week’s update. You can continue to check our special website for updates and information: lps.org/coronavirus.

Thank you for your continued support, patience and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your school or visit our website and click on the blue “Contact Us” button.

Have a great weekend!

Next week’s schedule reminders

Just a reminder there is no school on Monday, September 7, because of the Labor Day holiday. For high school students, Group A will only attend in-person on Tuesday and Zoom-in Wednesday through Friday. Group B high school students will Zoom-in on Tuesday, and attend in-person Wednesday through Friday.

Self-screening magnets

Each LPS family should have received a self-screening magnet in the mail at the beginning of the school year. If you did not receive one and you would like one, please fill out this form.

REQUIRED: Updating your child’s school records

Each year, LPS parents/guardians verify their child’s information online through the parent portal, ParentVUE. This includes updating contact and emergency information, signing consent release forms, etc.

Many of you have already completed this important task, and we thank you. If you have not yet had a chance to do so, please follow the directions below. The deadline to complete this form has been extended to September 15.

Please visit https://synergyvue.lps.org/ using a web browser to access and log in to your ParentVUE account. Once you have logged in, select the Online Registration button in the upper right corner, and follow the prompts to update and verify your information. It is important that you complete this task as soon as possible.

If you have previously activated your ParentVUE account, but can’t remember your password, you can reset it online at https://synergyvue.lps.org/. If you have not yet activated your LPS ParentVUE account, please contact the main office of your child’s school for an activation key.

If you have questions or need help with completing these steps, please contact your child’s school.

Community News is online

Community News is our monthly publication that provides families with information about community non-profit organizations and government entities offering student- and family-friendly events and services. There are also stories from across Lincoln Public Schools.

This year, printed editions of Community News will only be sent home with elementary students and a link to the electronic version will be emailed to all families.

Click here to read September’s edition of Community News.

Notification of positive COVID-19 cases

Every Thursday after 2 p.m., LPS will post on our website positive cases reported each week at LPS and the number of staff reporting to be self-isolating or quarantining.

If a staff member or student tests positive for COVID-19, the health department will lead all contact tracing while working closely with LPS staff. Those students and staff with direct high-risk exposure who need to self-isolate will be contacted directly. All families and staff of the school where there is a positive case will be notified and given instructions for next steps as directed by the LLCHD.

Return to school after exclusion due to positive COVID-19 or directed to quarantine

Once a student is excluded from the school environment, they may return if they satisfy the recommendations of the CDC. Currently those guidelines are:

1. Symptoms, but untested: Persons who have not received a test proving or disproving the presence of COVID-19 but experience symptoms may return if the following three conditions are met:

They have not had a fever for at least 24 hours (no fever without the use medicine that reduces fevers); and
Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); and
Ten (10) calendar days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
OR
Students may also return if they are approved to do so in writing by the student’s health care provider.

2. Symptoms and tested: Persons who experienced symptoms and have been tested for COVID-19 and are found to be positive may return to school if the following three conditions are met:

They have not had a fever for at least 24 hours (that is one full day of no fever without the use medicine that reduces fevers); and
Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); and
Ten (10) calendar days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.

Persons who experienced symptoms and have been tested for COVID-19 and are found to be negative may return to school if the following two conditions are met:

They no longer have a fever (without the use medicine that reduces fevers); and
Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved)

3. Tested with no symptoms: Persons who have not had symptoms but test positive for COVID- 19 may return to school when the following three conditions are met:

They have not had a fever for at least 24 hours (no fever without the use medicine that reduces fevers); and
Any symptoms that develop have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); and
Ten (10) calendar days have passed since the positive test was done.

4. Close contacts with a confirmed positive COVID-19 case: The close contacts must remain in quarantine for 14 days unless they test positive. A close contact is someone who has had contact with a positive case 48 hours prior to onset of the positive case’s symptoms or test date if the positive case is asymptomatic. A close contact has been within 6 feet of the positive case for 15 minutes or more and one or both persons were not wearing a face covering.

5. Household contacts: Remain in quarantine for 14 days after the positive case in their house is released from isolation.

Please note: A person identified as a close contact and household contact remain in quarantine even if they test negative.

6. Pending test results: any student or staff with pending test results for COVID-19 are quarantined until results return. Only the student or staff with a pending test needs to be quarantined, unless family members have symptoms of COVID-19, then they need to quarantine as well.

Students may start a remote learning plan while excluded, especially if for an extended period of time.

Reference: CDC guidance on When to Quarantine

Choosing remote learning

We understand that circumstances might change and you may choose to start remote learning for your child. We ask that you please consider this option carefully and commit to a long-term change. We are not able to effectively serve students bouncing between remote and in-person every day or even part of the day. Students who are switching often may be missing out on valuable instruction. Any in-person student who is absent can still make up the instruction they missed as they have traditionally in the past and are not able to Zoom in to their classes for that day. For more information, please contact your child’s school. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

REMINDER: Meals Distribution for 100% Remote Learners

LPS is offering all PreK-12 grade 100% remote learners meals for the week to be picked up on Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at three locations.

Next week’s meal distribution for 100% remote learners will be on Tuesday, September 8.

Go to our website for more information.

Plexiglass dividers added to some lunchrooms

We have worked with the LLCHD to implement several strategies at lunch time to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 at school. To aid in this effort, we have added clear table plexiglass dividers in many of our lunch rooms to help with physical distancing while students are eating with their face coverings off.

We understand that the shields make it more difficult for students to hear conversation during lunchtime. However, these shields will reduce the number of high-risk close contacts a potential positive case may have at school. As a result, fewer students may get ill or have to quarantine for 14 days.

Updated October 8, 2020