The Atlantic Community School District will be working on getting back to normal, as much as possible, with regard to COVID-19. During Wednesday’s meeting of the School Board, Superintendent Steve Barber said the Health and Safety Committee met, “I think with the new standards from the Iowa Department of Public Health, in defining COVID as a child illness, early was a standard that we had to keep at the forefront in discussing all these modifications.”

That fact that we’ve been living with COVID for over a year, and “all of the sudden, now we’re going to treat it like something else,” according to Barber, “was big challenge.” The H&S team looked at ways to handle mitigation strategies as it it were for chicken pox, including “Would you do that, for this.” The answer, he said, “Would be no.”

He said it was their decision then, to go back to a normal way of doing school. “One piece of the mitigation strategies the committee felt very strongly in maintaining,” according the Mr. Barber, “was how we were disinfecting and using hygiene.”

His, and the H&S recommendations for the start of the 2021-22 School Year in August, are as follows:

• Classrooms will be back to normal, there’s no social distancing, no mask mandate, and the water fountains will be turned back on.
• There will be no remote learning, based upon the definition of COVID at this point in time. If there are students whose health prevents them from being in school for an extended period of time, the district would explore the available options. Barber thinks “There won’t be many students who fall into that category.” Atlantic does have the Home School Assistance Program, which is another option for parents to take advantage of.
• Visitors will be allowed back in the buildings
• No more travel restrictions, especially with some of the workshops returning to in-person.
• Trips and assemblies, a few of which were added in the fourth quarter, will be allowed again, with permission procedures resuming as normal.
• There will be no more screening in the buildings, including staff temperature checks. As was customary before COVID, staff and students who are genuinely sick, should stay home.
• If a child tests positive for COVID, the return to school process would be similar to what it is right now, per IDPH & CDC guidelines. It will be  the student and parents’ decision on whether or not to quarantine their student who comes in close contact with a positive case.
• The isolation room will be eliminated.
• and, cleaning processes will continue with regard to buses, the lunch room tables and kitchen. Teachers may wipe down desks at least once during the day if they choose, but it is not mandated.

Superintendent Barber said in conclusion, “We are excited to get back to normal. A lot of those different things have created a lot of grey hairs for some of us, and I know the teachers are excited about being able to do that, and do some of that moving, next week.”