Thursday, March 12, 2020

To all the SC School District Community Members

To all Sanborn Central School District and Community Members:
Upon returning from an informative morning of meetings, I felt it important to share with you all some information regarding the current issues surrounding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation that we are all being faced with.  As a collective group, the Department of Health, Department of Education and local school districts are working together to come up with solutions to the problems that everyone could be faced with in the coming days, weeks and months.  We attended a conference call with the DOE and DOH and discussed all that has been going on.  There was not any grand “AH HA” or end-result shared by anyone, because there is not one at this stage.  However, there were a couple major thoughts that everyone should be made aware of:
Number 1: If you, your child, or anyone in your family is experiencing any of the known symptoms (flu-like – fever, cough, shortness of breath), PLEASE DO NOT attend school.  This goes for any student, teacher, support staff, student, or administrator.  This will certainly not end the issue, but it can help stop the continued spread of the virus.
**If you choose to keep your child home and they are not symptomatic, please let the school know.  Information like length of time being held out is important.  This way, any assignments can be sent home and the student(s) can still receive their education.
Number 2: Increased emphasis on good hygiene habits.  Make sure that you and all your family members are washing your hands, taking the recommended 20-30 seconds to ensure they are cleaned well.  Clean common surfaces.  At school, we are making sure all commonly used surfaces, like sinks, doorknobs, desks, etc… are being cleaned multiple times a day.  This would be a great practice at home as well.  Also, avoiding large group activities has been recommended if possible.  As you may well know, many of the national and local athletic activities have been canceled and or postponed.    
Number 3: Regarding to potential school time missed:  This is a fluid issue.  Districts will be made aware of any positive cases associated with their school.  It will then be up to each district to make decisions on how to proceed.  For the moment, SC does not plan to miss any days.  However, we are making plans to address this should the need arise.  Staff are being asked to make preparations within their lessons for materials to be sent home with students in a short notice.  It is difficult to know how much time to plan for, or even when to plan for it.  The staff will do their best to be prepared to send things home for a period of time that would be determined once the official order to dismiss is given.  As far as making the time up to be in good standing with state regulations, it is required of the district to make every effort to meet the required time as set forth by the state.  Potential ways to address the missed days, should they occur, would be extending the school day by some measure of time, likely an hour or so, or the more obvious thought of adding days to the end of the school year.  The state will be understanding of situations so long as the district tries to make up the time.  We are fortunate so far this year we have avoided missing any school due to weather, so we have some time in our schedule to play with.  The decision will boil down to how much time do we need to make up.  Any information will be made available regarding this should the need come.      
If you have any questions specific to your child and the school please contact us at 605-495-4183 or you can email Superintendent Justin Siemsen at justin.siemsen@k12.sd.us.
The state has provided a number of resources available to the public with information about the virus and other pertinent information.  Here are a couple of those web sites:
South Dakota Dept of Health – https://doh.sd.gov/news/coronavirus.aspx
I cannot stress how important it is to monitor your children and your families for any of the symptoms associated with COVID-10 and report them immediately to your physician.  The only way we can fight this virus is to meet it head on and take steps to address areas that are controllable.  Keeping things clean and sanitized as well as seeking medical attention are vital to the fight.
The district will provide any updates as they become available.
Justin Siemsen                                                                                                                                                                           Superintendent


Justin Siemsen, Ed S.
Superintendent/HS Principal
Sanborn Central School District 55-5
40405 SD Hwy 34
Forestburg, SD 57314
Phone: 605-495-4183
Fax: 605-495-4185