• Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit
• Loss of taste or smell
• Cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Headache
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Shaking or exaggerated shivering
• Significant muscle pain or ache
• Diarrhea

In addition to this, students may experience the following symptoms:

• New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline);
• Vomiting or abdominal pain
• New onset of severe headache especially with fever

Highland ISD requires teachers and staff to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before coming onto campus each day. Teachers and staff must report to the school district if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, they must remain off campus and follow protocol as described in this plan. Additionally, they must report to the school district if they have had close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19.

Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school if the child has COVID-19 symptoms (as listed in this document) or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and instead should opt to receive remote instruction until the conditions for re-entry are met. Parents may also opt to have their students receive remote instruction if their child has had close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 until the 14-day incubation period has passed.

Any individuals who are lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 must stay at home throughout the infection period, and cannot return to campus until the school system screens the individual to determine whether any of the below conditions for campus re-entry have been met:

In the case of an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual may return to school when all three of the following criteria are met:

•  at least 24 hours have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications);
•  the individual has improvement in symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath), and
•  at least ten days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

Or:

• Obtain an acute infection test at an approved testing location (https://tdem.texas.gov/covid19/) that comes back negative for COVID-19

Or:

• A doctor’s note indicating an alternative diagnosis

In the case of an individual who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and who is not evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, such individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to the campus until the individual has completed the same three-step set of criteria listed above.

If the individual has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either (a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis or (b) receive two separate confirmations at least 24 hours apart that they are free of COVID via acute infection tests at an approved COVID-19 testing location found at https://tdem.texas.gov/covid-19/.

Highland ISD will immediately separate and place in isolation any student who displays COVID-19 symptoms while at school until the student can be picked up by a parent or guardian. Staff will clean the areas used by the symptomatic individual as soon as is feasible. Students who report feeling feverish will be given an immediate temperature check to determine if they are symptomatic for COVID-19.

The school will provide hand sanitizer at each entrance, and hand sanitizer will be provided in every classroom and other areas.

School teachers and staff will be trained specifically on the protocols outlined in this document and the practices adopted by Highland ISD.

On the first day a student attends school on campus, we will provide instruction to students on appropriate hygiene practices and other mitigation practices adopted in our local school system.

Students, teachers, staff, and campus visitors are encouraged to sanitize and/or wash hands frequently. Students will be encouraged to engage in supervised handwashing for at least 20 seconds at least two times each day, in addition to being encouraged to wash hands after using the restroom and before eating. The school will teach students proper handwashing techniques.

Students, teachers, staff, and campus visitors are encouraged to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue.  Used tissues should be thrown in the trash, hands should be washed immediately with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or hand sanitizer should be used.

The campus is instituting more frequent cleaning practices, including additional cleaning by custodial staff, as well as providing the opportunity for students to clean their own spaces before and after they are used, in ways that are safe and developmentally appropriate. Commonly-touched surfaces in classrooms will be cleaned and disinfected between different class groups, if the same room will be used by multiple class groups. Additional cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces that are touched in common throughout the day will be done by staff. This includes objects such as door handles, common tables/desks, shared supplies such as art supplies, and high touch devices such as shared desktop computers. Disinfectant atomizers will be used daily.  All school staff will receive training on proper cleaning protocols. Cleaning products will be stored safely.

Whenever possible, the campus will open doors or otherwise work to improve air flow by allowing outside air to circulate in the building. Doors used for morning entry and afternoon dismissal will be kept open and monitored. Classroom doors will be open between classes to minimize contact of doors and door handles by staff and students entering or exiting rooms.

Where feasible without disrupting the educational experience, students will be encouraged to practice social distancing. In classroom spaces that allow it, student desks will be placed a minimum of six feet apart when possible. In classrooms where students are regularly within six feet of one another, more frequent hand washing and/or hand sanitizing will take place.

Filling of classrooms should be from the furthest point from the door to the point closest to the door.

All teachers and students are asked not to visit another classroom outside of their assigned class, team, or grade level.

When feasible and appropriate (for example, in physical education classes as weather permits), it is preferable for students to gather outside, rather than inside, because of the likely reduced risk of virus spread outdoors.

Highland ISD will continue to offer extracurricular activities, consistent with the guidance in this document for non-UIL extracurricular activities and with the guidance found on the UIL website for all UIL activities.

Student release from class to the cafeteria and from the cafeteria back to class will be staggered by grade level. To the extent possible, students will be placed at least six feet apart.

 Self-serve areas in the cafeteria will be removed.

Highland ISD requires students and staff to wear masks and use hand sanitizer upon boarding the bus. When possible, windows on the bus will be open to allow outside air to circulate in the bus. The district encourages families to drop students off  to reduce possible virus exposure on buses. Buses will be thoroughly cleaned after each bus trip, focusing on high-touch surfaces such as bus seats, steering wheels, knobs, and door handles. During cleaning, windows will be open to allow for additional ventilation and air flow.

Highland ISD provides multiple methods of communication. Staff, students, and families should check email daily. Robocalls may be used periodically. Students should check Google Classroom daily for each course. The district’s digital communication methods are as follows:

District Website: www.highland.esc14.net

District Facebook: Highland School

Phone numbers for the district are as follows:

We believe that in-person learning is best. We will not reduce student populations through half-day, every-other-day, or other options at this time due to the constraints put on families, students, and teachers.

Teachers will gather data through a beginning-of-year baseline assessment using teacher-created assessments to assess learning gaps for all students. Each course scope and sequence will be altered as needed to address student gaps. Areas in which students struggle will be supported throughout the year instead of starting the year to attempt to cover content from the previous school year. Interventions will be provided via teacher-directed instruction, TEKS Resource System support documents, Boardworks supplemental materials, and online resources.

Teachers will use Google Classroom and Google Meet to provide video lessons and communication with students. Remote learning will be at the same level of depth and complexity as on-campus learning. Attendance will be taken daily, and interaction between students and teachers is required daily.

Remote learning will be offered all year, even while on-campus instruction is being provided. Short-term remote learning will be provided to students on an as-needed basis during the year should students become ill or need to quarantine. Teachers will provide homework as they have in the past. Students may get work ahead of time for a known absence or each day if they become ill.

Secondary science courses, some Career and Technical Education courses, and certain services provided through special education will require that some time be spent on campus to access specialized equipment and supplies, even for remote learners.

To receive credit and attendance for courses, students are expected to complete assignments for on-campus learning and remote learning equally.  Grading procedures are located in the Highland ISD Student Handbook. Students must be engaged daily in each class.

Per Texas Education Code (TEC), §25.092, students must attend 90% of the days a course is offered (with some exceptions) in order to be awarded credit for the course and/or to be promoted to the next grade. This requirement remains in force during the 2020-21 school year.

Given the public health situation, student attendance may be earned through the delivery of remote instruction.

Highland ISD will provide daily on-campus instruction for students otherwise entitled to attend school who follow this document’s required public health procedures and whose parents wish them to attend on campus each day, subject to school closure and exceptions. Highland ISD will also provide daily remote instruction.

If a parent who chooses virtual instruction wants their child to switch to an on-campus instructional setting, they can do so, but changes may only be made at the end of each grading period.

Students that do not complete academic work or opt not to participate during in-person or remote learning will be eligible for summer school or virtual summer school.  For promotion to the next grade level, students must complete the requirements outlined in the grading procedures. Failure to complete academic work could result in transfer application denial. A Grade Placement Committee (GPC) will be formed for any student at risk of being retained.