Oct 20
11
McNeil Canyon Elementary shifts to 100% Remote Learning
McNeil Canyon Elementary School will shift to 100% Remote Learning on Monday, October 12, 2020 for contact tracing after a positive COVID-19 case
October 11, 2020
Dear McNeil Canyon School Staff and Families,
Sunday morning, October 11, 2020, the school district learned that a positive COVID-19 case is connected to someone at McNeil Canyon Elementary School. Contact tracing is beginning, but without ample time to complete it immediately, and the potential that it affects the entire K-3rd grade classes, with positive cases trending upward, and out of an abundance of precaution, school will immediately change to 100% Remote Learning on Monday, October 12, 2020, and possibly longer. Additional communications will be sent later today, and as contact tracing happens, everyone who is a close contact will be called personally.
Kindly trust that we are working as quickly as possible, and working with public health to assess any interactions in the time period the person was at school and potential exposure to others.
Everyone who is identified as a close contact will be called personally today, and need to Quarantine for 14 days. The quarantine would likely go through October 22, 2020, and students or staff could return to school October 23, 2020. At this time, we request that everyone connected with K-3 grades limit interactions with others today, until contact tracing is complete.
Principal Pete Swanson is away right now, and making arrangements to return asap. Paul Banks Principal Eric Pederson is assisting your school through this until his return, together with Nurse Iris, district leadership, and your school team. Your school and KPBSD will share further information as it becomes known—but we may not know until Monday if the 100% Remote Learning will continue into Tuesday.
KPBSD honors HIPAA and FERPA privacy laws, so the identity of a student or employee will not be revealed by the school or KPBSD, unless permission is given to do so.
Each case of COVID-19 is interviewed by public health, and our team. As part of this public health investigation and contact tracing at school, and based on CDC guidance and Alaska DHSS protocols:
- Everyone diagnosed with COVID-19 is kept home from school until they are no longer infectious
- The person’s activities when they could have spread COVID-19 were assessed
- The people who were close contacts of the person with COVID-19 are instructed to stay home from school for 14 days after the exposure. This is called quarantine and there is no way to test out of a 14-day quarantine when someone is identified as a close contact
What to know during 100% Remote Learning Monday, October 12, 2020, and possibly beyond
- Teachers will reach out to students and parents
on Monday with more information with how we are moving forward
- Free Get-It-And-Go meals will be available
Monday for all students during 100% Remote Learning. Daily pickup at your
school between 12:00-12:30
- No students or staff will be at school on
Monday, October 12, 2020
- You can expect regular contact as soon as there are updates. Check your School Messenger alerts, and the McNeil Canyon Facebook page.
If you have questions, kindly contact your school, Principal Pederson at 907-435-7379 until Principal Swanson returns, or call our public health agency at 907-335-3400.
You can find specific information for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District on our dedicated COVID-19 in KPBSD Hub webpage that includes communication updates, safety protocols, 2020 Smart Start Plan, sports and activities, risk levels on the Kenai Peninsula, and the COVID19 Confirmed Case in School Response Matrix.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as contact tracing takes place, and our lives are further disrupted. Together the Dragons will get through this.
