NPCSD COVID cases, Health Commissioner Ionon, and the State’s Advisory System will all be examined to determine what plan the NPCSD will operate under. The State’s Advisory System’s “Color” (Yellow, Orange, Red, & Purple) will not be the sole determining factor for the NCSD.
October 20, 2020
Dear Quaker Nation:
The Responsible Restart Plan for the New Philadelphia City School District was designed collaboratively with the health and safety of our students, staff, and families and continues to be of the utmost importance as we move forward with the 2020-21 school year. Our goal is to have all students learning at school in-person with proper safety protocols. The structure of the Responsible Restart Plan was designed to be flexible and with the knowledge that it probably would need to be adjusted/adapted.
In the best interest of our students, the Board of Education approved an adjustment to the original Responsible Restart Plan. We do not feel our current situation is one that was truly considered during the development of this plan. Currently, our positive COVID cases are extremely low and our quarantine numbers from those being quarantined by the health departments are very low, too.
Therefore, the change to the current Responsible Restart Plan that was Board Approved, is to enact the sections about adapting and adjusting to increased information and current realities. The change would be to remove the “Cross-Walk” of Plan A, B, & C to the County Risk Level System (Yellow, Orange, Red, & Purple). The concepts of our three plans (Plan A, B, & C) do not change. The change would be to not have the County Risk Level System dictate our operating Plan decision. Instead, our school district specific data and consultation with our local public health officials will drive the decision to change which plan we are operating under.
Below are some reasons for this adjustment -
- Our internal data
- Support and consultation with the New Philadelphia Health Department
- Recommendations and Findings from the World Health Organization
- School closures have clear negative impacts on child health, education and development, family income, and the overall economy.
- Other school districts in this county and across the state have already made this change (e.g. Claymont)
- Informal feedback from staff, students, and parents are to keep students in school as we are now, unless our internal data changes dramatically
- We have successfully developed and implemented all major recommendations from the CDC
- We have a very high rate of compliance and adherence to our COVID prevention protocols and precautions - that are working!
The New Philadelphia Schools will remain open and continue to operate under Plan A - 100% In-Person learning 5 days per week.