Black Horse Pike School District Presents Safe Return Plan

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — With students in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District set to return to the classroom Sept. 7, the district recently presented its plan for a safe return to school this fall.

There are two areas in which the district will not have any control, though: masking and teacher vaccinations.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all school staff in all pre-K through 12 schools must be vaccinated by Oct. 18, or they will be subject to weekly COVID testing. Read more here: NJ Teachers, State Employees Must Be Vaccinated Or Face Testing

Previously, it was announced that New Jersey students, educators, staff and visitors must wear masks in school buildings regardless of vaccination status. Read more here: NJ K-12 Students Must Wear Masks This Fall, Gov. Murphy Says

These are statewide guidelines as all 21 New Jersey counties hit a "high" transmission level of coronavirus for the first time since April 23, according to the latest rankings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more here: NJ Hits High COVID Transmission Rate, First Time Since April

The Black Horse Pike Regional School District — which includes Highland, Timber Creek and Triton regional high schools — has offered five vaccination clinics and helped facilitate the vaccinations of more than 600 people, according to the presentation made at the Aug. 19 Board of Education meeting.

“We have encouraged all staff and students to get vaccinated through our district newsletters, all-calls and messaging,” officials said in the presentation.

The school’s nurses will receive information from the state about who has been vaccinated, but they will not overtly share that information with anyone, officials said.

While the school day will be held fully in-person, students who must quarantine will learn remotely. In communities where transmission levels are high, anyone who tests positive or was in close contact with someone who tested positive, needs to quarantine for 14 days.

For communities where transmission levels are low, exposed close contacts should be excluded from school for 10 days (or 7 days with negative test results collected at 5-7 days), unless they are vaccinated. If a student/employee tests positive, they will have to quarantine for 10 days past the positive test or 14 days past the onset of the symptoms. The student does not need to test negative, but will require medical certification to return to school.

Teachers will offer both remote, synchronous instruction and asynchronous materials for students not attending school because of a forced quarantine period. Attendance will be taken and students are expected to follow the same bell schedule as if they were attending school, unless directed otherwise by the classroom teacher.

“We will not offer virtual, synchronous instruction for absences for other reasons,” officials said.

There are also plans in place for changes that are forced by changes in health data. The district will either:

• Cohort students, run full days of school with lunches, and students will attend every other day. If a student attends school on Monday, they will get lunch on Monday and take home a breakfast and lunch for Tuesday; or
• Cohort students, run half days of school with no lunches, and students will follow a schedule like they did last school year: four, 50-minute classes in-person, and afternoons are for asynchronous work, extra help, and virtual academic support.

In addition to mask wearing and vaccinations, the district - which includes students from Gloucester Township, Bellmawr and Runnemede - will take additional precautions to prevent the further spread of the virus, including:

Social Distancing: In classrooms, students will be spaced to the greatest extent possible in classrooms, but in some cases, students will be less than 3 feet apart. Seating charts must be up-to-date and accurate and shared with the vice-principal overseeing the department. Schools will try to avoid personal interaction and mixing students as much as possible.

Daily Screening: Parents and caregivers should not send students to school when they are sick and symptomatic. Students should be kept home if they have two of the following symptoms: fever (measure or subjective), chills, rigors (shivers), myalgia (muscle aches), headaches, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion, or runny nose; or one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new olfactory disorder (cannot smell), or new taste disorder.

Handwashing: Students should wash hands for at least 20 seconds at regular intervals, including before eating, after using the bathroom, and after blowing their nose/coughing/sneezing. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) if washing with soap and water is not possible.

Maintaining Clean Facilities: Schools will follow the CDC recommendations for cleaning.

Contact Tracing: If a student shows symptoms or tests positive, parents should email the child’s school nurse to notify them of the positive COVID-19 test result and include the following information: Student Name, School, Grade Level, Date of Symptoms, Date of Positive Test, Where Tested, Contact Information.

Household Close Contacts: Students/staff members who are not fully vaccinated and who are household members of a student/staff member with COVID-19 compatible symptoms that meet COVID-19 Exclusion Criteria should be excluded from school until the symptomatic individual receives a negative test result. If the symptomatic individual tests positive, the household member will need to quarantine, unless that household member meets all of the criteria for vaccinated individuals outlined on page 18 of the NJ DOH Public Health Recommendations for Local Health Departments for K-12 Schools document. The Department of Health can also determine a quarantine period that is 17-24 days for household close contacts.

Safety Accommodations For Children With Special Needs: For students with special needs, special education classrooms will follow continuous classroom disinfecting protocols for the staff and students assigned to special programs, after every period. Ongoing, daily cleanings will be added to assure that special program classrooms maintain high standards of cleanliness. Special Education staff will maintain the handwashing documentation throughout the day, and Special Education Supervisors will monitor compliance and completion of the stated protocols as well as of the corresponding documentation. For the SCMD program, create and implement a handwashing/sanitizing protocol and tracking for the staff and students assigned to special programs. Students and staff will wash their hands before and after eating, after touching their face or mouth, after sneezing or coughing, after using the restroom, after touching another person or materials that have not been sanitized or when applicable. Special Education staff will maintain the handwashing documentation throughout the day, and Special Education Supervisors will monitor compliance and completion of the stated protocols and the corresponding documentation.

The district will also continue to offer free meals using the cafeteria, Library Media Center, two gymnasiums, auditoriums, and classrooms to provide for greater social distancing when meals are offered. Eating in classrooms outside of the designated “lunch service” will be discouraged.

“We will stagger freshman/ sophomore eating times from junior/senior students’ eating times,” district officials said. “We will also promote the use of our outdoor patios during food services with proper supervision.”

The district is partnering with Camden County Educational Services Commission to provide an additional social worker to assist with students’ mental health needs. It will also have a Student Assistance Coordinator and Mental Health Counselor, in addition to School Counseling and Child Study Teams, to address students’ mental health needs.

School counselors are also devising a mental health assessment at the beginning of the school year to assess any individual or group concerns that could be addressed upon returning to school.

“We will be culturally responsive by advocating for participation in school events and co-curricular activities,” officials said.

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