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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2020)
6A | SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS PLAN from page 1A “We want them to be able to have the same educational op- portunities as if they were on campus,” O’Mara said. She stated that the district is still looking into online only options for students. Most importantly, howev- er, O’Mara said that the draft plan she came up with will most likely change. “We’re living with this virus. The virus makes the timeline, not us,” O’Mara said. “If there’s a huge spike in the virus, or it’s affecting more children, this all could change. That’s why we’re saying, ‘This is a draft plan.’ It’s a living, breathing document that will change. We’ll probably start school one way and have to change and adapt and make it fit what the requirements are to keep all of our kids and staff safe.” When starting the plan, the district looked at one of the most restrictive portions of OHA/ODE requirements — physical distancing for all students. “We refer to it as ‘physical’ distancing instead of ‘social distancing,’” O’Mara said. “The main reason is that we want kids to socialize, we want them to interact with each other, but at a safe distance.” Students must remain six feet apart from each other at all times, in the classroom and outside. “It will not be easy to keep students six feet apart in any aspect of school, includ- ing recess, lunch, breakfast, classroom, transitions, etc.,” O’Mara said. To help students, district staff will make floor markings, ropes with knots six feet apart when traveling and assigned seats in classrooms. “For recess/PE, we will teach recess games that en- courage distance and/or are singular activities like jump rope, hula hoops, Frisbee, games of catch, as well as dif- ferent tag games that use pool noodles,” O’Mara said. The middle and high schools will also have floor markings, and they will stag- ger class dismissal bells to en- sure kids aren’t mingling. The one thing students will not be required to do is wear face coverings. Teachers will also not be required to, un- PORT from page 1A “There is nothing pretty about this picture at all. ... The numbers are not good,” said Buckwald. The commissioner went on to point out the COVID pandemic was unavoidable, but fortunately the port had enough of a financial cushion to be able to weather the crisis. Huntington sought to re- assure the commission by pointing towards the positive response from the public re- garding Port of Siuslaw camp- site rental. “The campground has been really steady with reservations and with campers showing up,” he said. “And we are getting booked up for the summer. There are a lot of people mak- ing reservations, so it looks like we will be full come Sep- tember.” Huntington went on to say that the Oregon Department less there is an instance where they have to break the six foot distance, such as providing one-on-one support. Front office staff will also wear face coverings, but the plan is to have face shields. “Kids are learning to read emotions, but you can’t do that when you’re wearing a mask,” O’Mara said. The students will also be broken up into cohorts. “So for us, at my elementa- ry school, each of their class- room square footage allows us to have 25 people in that class- room,” O’Mara said. “Well, my largest class is the fifth/sixth grade blended classroom, and that’s 24 students. So I can have 25 people in that class- room and still maintain six feet distance. That’s a cohort.” Cohorts can’t mingle. This is to ensure that if an outbreak does occur, it can remain iso- lated. It also helps with con- tact tracing. “If somebody within that cohort is either exposed to or has tested positive for COVID-19, we have to hand Lane County the contact trac- ing log for anybody in that co- hort,” O’Mara said. “You just have to manage the tracing log of which teachers and spe- cialists come into contact with that cohort.” The district is hoping to make the entire high school a cohort, which only has 50 students. “They could potential- ly travel to do their normal schedule throughout the day, as long as they’re just with 9th, 10, 11th, 12th graders,” O’Mara said. That would require ap- proval by a host of agencies, including Lane County Public Health. For Mapleton, doing that would make managing co- horts simpler, as well as cut down on cleaning. “If one cohort leaves the science room, and then the 7th and 8th grade cohort comes into the science room, it has to be cleaned before a new cohort comes in,” O’Mara said. “Working out those de- tails, that’s the trickiest part. And then food service. We have to serve them, they can’t serve themselves.” Even within cohorts, there will still be cleaning. “We’ll start at the elemen- of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) had imposed a one-fish limit on anglers, acknowledging the potential that the limit may impact camping revenues. The port manager also up- dated the commissioners on the reopening of the port’s boat ramp and the measures being taken to slowly open more of the port’s facilities for public use. “The boat ramp hasn’t been a problem at all, as far as dis- tancing, and we’ve opened up the cleaning stations,” Hun- tington said. There were some modifica- tions, such as sink removal and water for washing down the stations that were dealt with and the process has gone well enough, from Huntington’s perspective, to continue to move forward. For more information on booking a space at the Port of Siuslaw, visit portofsiuslaw. com or call 541-997-3426. Shorewood Senior Living Is about comfort, independence, laughter, good food, health and friendship. tary,” O’Mara said. “Because they are cohorts and the bath- rooms are in the classrooms, nobody outside that cohort will use that bathroom. It will be cleaned once or twice a day. So it can be cleaned in the morning, after school or in the middle of the day.” Any shared supplies, like a pencil or scissors, will also have to be cleaned, but the district is providing each stu- dent a pencil pouch filled with its own supplies to make cleaning easier. “In the high school, the cleaning will have to be more consistent throughout the day, especially with bathrooms,” O’Mara said. “Even though every cohort will be assigned bathrooms, we will still clean them a couple times a day just for the sheer volume. For in- stance, our sixth graders go to the high school for sixth grade math. Well, when they leave for the high school classroom, that has to be cleaned, the sur- faces that they touch. Those moments are pretty tricky.” Trickier still will be trans- portation to and from the school. “On our Deadwood route, we have some kids three to a seat,” O’Mara said. “Now it’s one to a seat. We just met this morning to find creative ways we can have a double bus run.” It also creates issues with cohorts. While a sixth grader would be in their own cohort at school, on the bus they share seats with third graders and tenth graders. The school can’t logistically make bus runs for each grade. “So then they would have a separate transportation co- hort,” O’Mara said. “And then when they get off the bus to come to school, they go into their educational cohort. Now they’re in that cohort for the rest of the day. And then they get back on the bus which is the third cohort.” It makes the effectiveness of cohorts more challenging. “Every time you mix co- horts, it does increase their exposure if somebody were to be symptomatic or asymp- tomatic and spread it,” O’Mara said. “But, we’re pretty lucky that the morning bus cohort 541.997.8202 shorewoodsl.com Just off Highway 126 on Spruce Street 1451 Spruce Street, Florence temporary exclusion from school. “I can count so many times when I’ve come to school with a cough or a runny nose. Sometimes, my stomach is upset,” O’Mara said. “It’s going to be really hard to distinguish if that’s COVID or not. We’re going to have to err on the side of caution.” The rule also applies to staff, which means that the district will be preparing sub- stitute teachers all summer long. For some students, it’s possible that they could go through rolling periods of at- home education, depending on how many times they or their families get sick in a year. “If they’re in a high-risk liv- ing situation, they may be in and out,” O’Mara said. “In the fall, we will design a system for these short-term distance learners. That’s something teachers will be designing in the fall.” There is technology the school district is looking into to help with online learning, from new software programs to swivel connections on iP- ads that will follow the teacher around class. “There’s a lot of technology out there that can help sup- port,” she said. “While it may not be livestreamed, the stu- dents at home can still watch recordings, and still learn and be a part of the classroom.” While they are working out the technology of teaching online, students at home with insufficient internet access is another problem. “That is a huge issue, es- pecially if a student is home distance learning,” O’Mara said. “We have free wireless on campus. I know some districts are looking at taking buses and making them wireless hubs. We don’t have the ca- pacity for that in the fall.” Families without internet in the district are a small per- centage, with only 10 students out of 160 without some form of internet. However, there can be bandwidth problems if multiple kids are at home, along with regular family us- age. While a student might have a satellite link or dial up in- ternet, the slow connections can make streaming a class difficult, even more so if there are multiple children in a fam- ily that are required to stay at home at any given time. “That, I think, is a bigger issue than access right now,” O’Mara said. Finally, the most frequent question she receives is about whether or not sports will be allowed. “It’s the $1 million ques- tion everybody’s asking, and nobody has an answer for it,” O’Mara said. “It’s hard for me to wrap my head around fall sports in their typical sense. It’s hard to imagine, based on the guidelines for school re- entry, what that looks like for football and volleyball. Main- taining six feet distance, it doesn’t happen. It’s not logis- tically possible in my opinion when it comes to football and volleyball. So I don’t know what that’s going to look like. We need to have sports, but what sports?” The Oregon State Athlet- ics Association is expected to come out with guidelines sometime this summer. With all the changes that are expected and still un- known, O’Mara understood the concerns that families in her district have regarding re- opening. “This is a really hard time for everyone,” she said. “Not just because of the pandem- ic, but the state of our society right now. I think we all need to take a deep breath and just go a day at a time.” Mapleton’s draft plan can be found online at www.oregon. gov/ode/students-and-family/ healthsafety/Documents/Ma- pleton%20Operational%20 Blueprint%20Final.pdf. Stu- dents and guardians within the district are encouraged to take a survey on reopening, found at rmd.me/6Yyb5iuO- kT8. Editor’s Note: In next week’s edition of Siuslaw News, Siuslaw School District administrators and board discuss their possible plans for reopening. What’s happening soon Each Sunday Florence Farmers Market Ordering Deadline Go to www.florencefarmersmarket.org/ to place order or go to sourcewhatsgood.com/ Market pickup each Tuesday from 4 to 6 Kingwood Street in Old Town Florence Now through July 15 Open to public; apply at oregonrain.org Course will run from July 8 to Sept. 15 July 1 to July 6 June 27 Save the Oregon Dunes Scotch broom removal 10 a.m. to noon at the North Jetty Contact brian@eugenecascadescoast.org to attend and for further info Call for Art: 2021 Central Coast Connection Business Directory & June 30 Phone Book Last day to submit WLCF Presented by Pacific Publishing and Florence Continuing Education Regional Arts Alliance www.fraaoregon.org/central-coast-entry-in- Scholarship Application Hosted by Western Lane Community structions.html Foundation Applications and info can be obtained from June 24 www.wlcfonline.org “Nonviolent Communication The deadline for receipt is June 30 Basics” Class at LCC With instructor Rosemary Alden July 1 First of nine classes; $81 for course “Story of Plastic” Virtual lanecc.augusoft.net Screening Hosted by Siuslaw Watershed Council and Last day to apply to “RAINmaker Siuslaw Chapter of Surfrider Foundation Accelerator” 6 p.m.; open to public Virtual 10-week series focused on sales and www.siuslaw.org/events/ marketing 4th of July Porch Parade Hosted by Florence Habitat for Humanity Decorate your porch, lawn or window for a chance to win Maps available that week; free to enter florencehabitat.org July 4 and 5 Siuslaw Pioneer Museum Open Noon to 4 p.m.; admission required 278 Maple St.; 541-997-7884 July 11 and 12 Siuslaw Pioneer Museum Open Noon to 4 p.m.; admission required 278 Maple St.; 541-997-7884 July 15 Last day to submit applications for Mapleton Continuing Education Scholarships Hosted by Mapleton Community Foundation and the Mapleton Lions Club Applications and info can be obtained from jayh6539@msn.com The deadline for receipt is July 15 Submit your planned events to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com YES, THIS ONE HAS IT ALL FOR RENT: Two bedrooms, full kitchen with new appliances, nice size living area, 6X6.5 walk-in closet in the hallway. Large bathroom with a step-in shower and lots of storage. 750 sq. . of easy living. Rent includes u li es, cable, WIFI, three meals per day. FREE use of washers and dryers. Conveniently located on the fi rst fl oor. Bring baby dog! Enjoy si ng on the private pa o with iced tea and plant some summer fl owers. Call me for more informa on or a virtual tour. Ask for Niki at 541-997-8202. is the same as the afternoon cohort.” She acknowledged, “It’s tricky. We have three bus routes. There are districts that have hundreds of bus routes. Trying to figure this out is go- ing to be challenging in many ways for many districts.” When the students do make it to school, it’s possible they may not be let in. “Part of entry to school is screening,” O’Mara said. “It doesn’t mean taking every- body’s temperature when they come to school, but just a vi- sual screening. How are you going to identify when a stu- dent has a fever?” There are four primary symptoms staff would be looking for: cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. If a stu- dent has any of those symp- toms, they will be sent home for 10 days “after illness onset and 72 hours after fever is gone and other symptoms are improving.” If a student comes in on a Monday and develops a fe- ver, they must be sent home immediately. Even if the stu- dent’s fever subsides on Tues- day, they still must stay home for the remainder of the 10 days. If after 10 days they still have a fever, they must remain home until 72 hours after the fever is gone. There is one expectation listed for coughing. If students have a cough from allergies or asthma, that could preclude them from going home. But the symptoms are not just regulated to the student. OHA/ODE also asks if anyone “living in the homes or com- munity living spaces” has the four symptoms. Even if the student is healthy, if they have someone in their home that has one of the four symptoms, the students will have to stay home. There are other symp- toms the district will have to look out for, including nau- sea, vomiting, nasal conges- tion and runny nose. Having just one of those symptoms wouldn’t exclude a student from going to school, but mul- tiple symptoms in a student or family member could mean ESTATE JEWELRY AND ANTIQUE FURNITURE!!! Auto, Home, Life, Business Flood, Antique Auto, RV’s Medicare Advantage Plans Medicare Supplements Health Insurance Phone (541) 997-9497 1234 Rhododendron Dr / Florence We buy, sell and consign quality estate/heirloom jewelry & furniture. Gold, silver, platinum jewelry with precious & semi precious stones. Call 541-997-8104, Florence Antiques & Coast Jewelers County Transfer & Recycling Separating recyclables from your trash reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfi lls, saves energy, and reduces emissions! Items that can go into your recycle cart are: • Cardboard (fl atten) and Paper (magazines, junk mail, newspapers, scrap paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons) • Plastic milk jugs and transparent drinking bottles (rinse – no lids) • Metal food and drink cans (rinse – no lids) Florence recycling picked up on same day as your trash. 541-997-8233 5078 Coastwood Ln, Florence OR wasteconnections.com Since 1983 Alva Bracey Broker Your goals are my top priority. Let’s get together! LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS Tires • Brakes • Shocks Alignments Call, Text or Email Cell: 541-505-1180 Insect & Pest Removal 4325 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-7178 Trapping • Mole/Gopher Dead Animal Removal • Honey Bee Removal Crawl Space Cleaning • Exclusion Work Fumigation of Antiques and Commodities. (541) 997-4027 Alva@CBCoast.com 541-997-7777 100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR COAST REAL ESTATE MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS Over ars 50 Ye ce! rien Expe CALL ME TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE! I’M LOCATED HERE IN FLORENCE. 541-255-9822 - Larry landl316@live.com Us TOO Florence Prostate Cancer Education Support on the Oregon Coast www.ustooflorence.org • Tuesday Evening Group (2nd Tuesday) 5-7 p.m. - Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff attends. • Tuesday Lunch Group (3rd Tuesday) 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Roger McKimmy attends. Contact Bob for more information: (H) 541-997-6626 • (C) 541-999-4239 maribob@oregonfast.net