Stoutland R-II Adopts Modified Guidance on Mask Use and Quarantine in K-12 Schools
Launch the media gallery 1 playerStoutland R-II has adopted the Modified Guidance on Mask Use and Quarantine in K-12 Schools. Full implementation shall begin on Monday, November 30, following our return from the Thanksgiving Break. Our goal in implementing these new guidelines is to keep students in school where instruction and learning are best accomplished. The key to successfully implementing these guidelines relies upon proper masking and social distancing. Prior to our Thanksgiving Break, our administrative team and staff members will review opportunities to maximize social distancing that will allow multiple opportunities during the school day for student masking to be minimized. We will also use this time to help students understand their role in the successful implementation of the modified guidance on masking use and quarantine in K-12 Schools.
The adoption of these new guidelines announced by Governor Parson on November 12, 2020 relaxes Missouri’s K-12 school quarantine guidance. With the adoption of the modified guidance on mask use and quarantine in K-12 schools, we will significantly reduce the numbers of students quarantined as close contacts. Stoutland Board members and administrators were unanimous in their support of these guidelines for no other reasons than keeping students in school and preventing parents from unnecessarily having to miss work to care for students in quarantine.
Stoutland R-II experienced its first wave of COVID-19 positive cases in October of this year resulting in over 250 students quarantined as close contacts in addition to over half of our staff also quarantined as close contacts. Had these more relaxed quarantine guidelines been available and in place during that time, less than 20 students would have been quarantined and 6 staff members.
Guidance and questions continue to surface around these guidelines and their implementation. Most answers to common questions may be found in the, “Missouri School Reopening & Operating Guidance Frequently Asked Questions” and the “Wear a Mask, Stay in School” infographic posted to the district webpage and Facebook page.