Back to School, Oct 19th Edition
Health and Safety
The health and safety of students and staff are top priorities in Duncanville ISD. Strict measures will be implemented at every campus and district facilities to limit virus transmission and create a safe environment for learning.
- All campuses and facilities will be sanitized nightly.
- Face coverings will be required for all staff and students
- Face coverings will be required for all campus visitors
In addition to all facilities being sanitized nightly, daily temperature checks, symptom screenings, and face coverings, the following safety measures will be implemented.
- SOAP, HAND SANITIZER, AND DISINFECTANT
- HEALTH SCREENING
- LIMIT VISITOR AND BUILDING USE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL HOURS
- HANDLING OF SYMPTOMS AND POSITIVES
SOAP, HAND SANITIZER, AND DISINFECTANT
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Soap dispensers are installed and filled in all restrooms.
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Touchless hand sanitizer dispensers will be installed throughout the district at identified locations.
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Teachers will encourage students to regularly follow CDC guidelines for hand washing.
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E-misters with medical-grade disinfectant will be used nightly to sanitize all district facilities.
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Materials and equipment that require disinfecting will be left out (not in cabinets or carts) and will be sanitized nightly.
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Laptops and other devices will be sanitized regularly.
HEALTH SCREENING
- Student and staff temperature screenings will be logged daily using infrared touchless thermometers.
- Parents will regularly submit a health survey.
- Each campus will designate an isolation space for students with a temperature or other COVID-19 symptoms.
- Students will stay in cohorts as much as possible.
Staff Self Screening Required Daily:
The district is currently piloting a health screening process with Virtual Care for Families to provide a COVID-19 Self-Screening Tool for our staff. We’ll be looking for feedback about this pilot and evaluating other screening programs to determine which one best meets our needs.
As part of this pilot, the COVID-19 self-screening questionnaire should be completed before arriving to work each day starting Monday, August 17, 2020. The questionnaire takes less than a minute to complete and can be accessed starting Monday morning at screener.pond.md/duncanvilleisd. The data is securely provided to the district through a file transfer protocol protecting the privacy of employee information in compliance with requirements from the Texas Education Agency.
Student Self Screening Required Daily:
The district will be asking all parents to assist or remind their student to complete a COVID-19 self-screening questionnaire each day prior to attending school in-person. The screener is easily accessible through Skyward Family Access at www.duncanvilleisd.org - top right hand corner. Parents or students can also download the Skyward app for their phone and complete the screener through the application.
Parent Screener View in Skyward Family Access
Skyward Mobile App
LIMIT VISITOR AND BUILDING USE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL HOURS
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o the extent possible, events will be live-streamed or recorded (i.e. Open House, PTA meetings, concerts, games, etc.) and facility access limited.
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The district will plan to limit weekend facility use to ensure campuses are ready for students and staff on Monday mornings.
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All campus visitors will be required to wear a mask and be screened upon entry.
HANDLING OF SYMPTOMS AND POSITIVES
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Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 will be placed in an isolated area with visible monitoring until a parent/guardian arrives.
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If a student has a fever above 100 degrees F or other symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they will be asked to stay home.
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The nurse will follow-up with the family the next day to determine if further symptoms are evident or if a COVID-19 test has been taken.
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The "Can My Child Attend School Today?" flyer will be used to help parents determine when a student should stay home or return to school.
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If a student tests positive for COVID-19, a parent is asked to submit a student self-report.
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A comprehensive process has been developed and provided to campuses for reporting and tracking student positive cases, exposures and symptoms.
Meals
The Duncanville ISD Cafeteria services and meals will operate as normal for the 2020-21 school year with additional safety measures implemented to protect the health of both students and staff.
MEAL SERVICE FOR VIRTUAL LEARNERS
Effective Sept 8, 2020
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Virtual learners for Duncanville ISD will have the opportunity to receive a free weekly meal bundle through contactless curbside pickup at the student’s home campus. However, if you have students at different locations, meals can be obtained at one campus of choice.
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Each student will receive a meal bundle that consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and milk.
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Meals must be pre-ordered each Wednesday by 1:30 p.m for the following week.
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Parents/guardians can call or email your child’s campus cafeteria manager to reserve your meals. (See the campus information below).
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Please provide the student’s name, grade and ID number.
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Meal pick up day is Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at all campuses.
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Meals will not be distributed on student holidays.
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Each bundle will consist of five breakfast meals and five lunch meals.
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Students do not need to be present during pick up, but please be prepared to provide student identification such as ID cards, or a past report card.
MEAL SERVICE FOR IN-PERSON
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Students at campuses will be provided both breakfast and lunch opportunities daily.
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Meals will be served and eaten in the school cafeteria with social distancing measures required.
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Free breakfast meal service will be Grab and Go for grades PK-12.
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Lunch meal service for grades PK-12 will have a pre-plated meal with a choice of milk..
CLEANING AND PREPARATION
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Cafeterias will be disinfected and cleaned daily pre- and post- meal service.
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Cafeterias will be e-misted at the end of each service day.
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All cafeteria staff will be required to wear face coverings and gloves, and also applies to anyone that enters the kitchen area.
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All staff monitoring the cafeteria during meal times will be required to wear face coverings.
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Plexiglas shields have been installed at each cashier area to protect from virus transmission.
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Each campus will establish a cafeteria social distancing plan with a seating diagram and schedule. Social Distancing signage has been installed as well.
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All keypads (pin pads) will be removed from cashier stations.
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(For grades K-6) To eliminate frequent touching of the pin pads, each cashier will have a class roster with each student’s name and bar code to scan once the student receives their meal.
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(For grades 7-12) Student ID badges will be scanned at each cashier station. If ID badges are not available, cashiers will look up the students by name.
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- Due to limited space and the need for social distancing, visitors will not be allowed in the cafeteria during lunch time.
Technology
Preparation for the start of school includes addressing the technology needs of students. This summer, the Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees approved $2.8 million to purchase new devices including iPads, Chromebooks, student and staff laptops, and hotspots. During the past few months, the district has purchased almost 7,000 new devices. Due to the purchase demand from schools across the nation, not all of those devices will be here before the start of school. As new devices arrive, they will be deployed to students and staff in a timely fashion.
The majority of students have selected the Virtual Learning program. As part of the enrollment process, students who chose virtual notified the district if they needed a loaner laptop or Chromebook. Families that chose In-Person Learning will receive an email from the Technology Department to determine additional technology and internet access needs. Taking into consideration the new devices that have been purchased and loaner devices that have previously been distributed, the district will start by providing one laptop or Chromebook per household.
Starting September 1, the Technology Department will begin distributing the first deployment of loaner devices with a focus on initially providing one device per household. Students and their families will be notified by email and phone that they will receive a loaner device. To ensure you can be reached, all families should confirm that the email and phone number listed in Skyward Family Access is current. The accuracy of contact information is necessary for the district to be able to reach families.
FOR PARENTS: DEVICES USED FOR ON-SITE INSTRUCTION
MY CHILD HAS A PERSONAL DEVICE
- Students are encouraged to bring personal devices from home to be used for classroom instruction.
- Students who bring personal devices must abide by the District’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy.
- The district is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged personal devices.
- Students may not share their personal device with other students.
- Students must charge their devices at home each day.
MY CHILD HAS A DISTRICT DEVICE
- Students are required to bring district-owned devices from home to be used for classroom instruction unless the device is being used by a Duncanville ISD sibling who is learning from home.
- Students must continue to abide by the district’s Acceptable Use Policy
- Students may not share their district-owned loaner device with other students.
- Students must charge their devices at home each day.
MY CHILD DOES NOT HAVE A DEVICE
FOR PARENTS: RETURNING DISTRICT-OWNED DEVICES
- I RECENTLY PURCHASED A DEVICE FOR MY CHILD
- I NO LONGER WANT TO USE A DISTRICT-OWNED DEVICE
- I AM WITHDRAWING MY CHILD
- MY DEVICE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY
- ONE CHILD IS STAYING HOME AND THE OTHER IS GOING ON-SITE
- WHEN WILL I NEED TO RETURN THE DISTRICT-OWNED DEVICE?
I RECENTLY PURCHASED A DEVICE FOR MY CHILD
I NO LONGER WANT TO USE A DISTRICT-OWNED DEVICE
I AM WITHDRAWING MY CHILD
MY DEVICE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY
Contact the technology department by:
- Contact the technology department by:
- Enter a student help desk ticket online
- Call 972-708-2300
- Email techsupport@duncanvilleisd.org
ONE CHILD IS STAYING HOME AND THE OTHER IS GOING ON-SITE
WHEN WILL I NEED TO RETURN THE DISTRICT-OWNED DEVICE?
- STUDENT DEVICE ALLOCATION AND DEPLOYMENT
- TEACHER DEVICE REFRESH
- VIRTUAL LEARNING
- INTERNET ACCESS
- TECHNICAL SUPPORT
- TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE
STUDENT DEVICE ALLOCATION AND DEPLOYMENT
- Students that currently have a Duncanville ISD device, will continue using their device for virtual instruction.
- Students enrolled in Virtual Learning will be deployed a device, if needed.
- Note: there may be more devices needed than available.
- Students who enrolled in Onsite Learning have been sent notification by email regarding how to register of a device or hotspot if needed.
- Device Deployments will be handled through the Technology Department and will occur on September 1,2,3 and 4.
- Students who have indicated that they need a device or hotspot, and are approved, will be notified by email and given specific instructions the device deployment.
- Devices will be issued in the order that families register for a device or hotspot.
- Devices will be issued based on availability (1 device per household).
- Pre-K, Kindergarten and first grade students will be issued iPads and second through twelfth grade students will receive Chromebooks.
- Questions regarding device deployments can be sent to techsupport@duncanvilleisd.org.
TEACHER DEVICE REFRESH
VIRTUAL LEARNING
- PreK-1 will use SeeSaw as the Learning Management System.
- Grades 2-12 will use Google Classroom as the Learning Management System.
- Virtual learning teachers will receive priority for device refresh to ensure sound and video capabilities.
- Google Classroom and CatchOn usage data will provide documentation for virtual learning Attendance for ADA.
- Swivl robot kits will be utilized as a resource at each campus to help facilitate virtual classroom instruction.
INTERNET ACCESS
- Wifi hotspots will be available for internet access for students who do not currently have access at home.
- Limited hotspots will be issued based on availability (one per household).
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To help increase internet connectivity throughout the district, the Technology Department is partnering with the Transportation Department to outfit four school buses with WiFi that will be parked in areas that are most in need of internet service.
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Nearly 40 outdoor wireless antennas are being installed in campus parking lots across the district. There will be more information coming on how to access the internet through those resources.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation
Duncanville ISD transportation services and routes will remain unchanged for the 2020-21 school year. Transportation will be provided for eligible students who are enrolled for in-person instruction. Students enrolled in the virtual learning program will not have access to transportation services.
TRANSPORTATION HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES
The following health and safety measures will be implemented to ensure protection for the students and drivers:
- All students and staff will be required to wear face coverings throughout the duration of their routes due to the inability to properly social distancing on buses.
- All buses will be outfitted with hand sanitizer, and students will be expected to sanitize when loading.
- All buses will be disinfected (e-misted) twice a day; at the conclusion of the morning, afternoon and extra-curricular routes.
- Campuses will socially distance students when they are waiting in line to load buses at dismissal daily.
- Students will be reminded daily by drivers to social distance when loading and unloading the bus.
- Staggered arrival and departure times will be implemented for transportation personnel to minimize the number of employees on-site and to better practice social distancing.
- Transportation will not be available for students enrolled in the virtual learning program.