The Dell Rapids School Board made updates to the “Return to Learn” plan to align it with updated CDC guidelines during their regular meeting on Monday, April 12th. The big change will be the use of the individual desk shields. The use of these shields will now be at the discretion of the classroom teacher.
For the elementary school, student desks will remain a minimum three feet spaced apart facing the same direction. At that distance, students will be able to sit at their desks without a mask and not have a desk shield. The first through fourth graders will continue to need masks when moving around the classroom or school, in art, in library, in music when singing, and whenever a three-foot distance cannot be maintained.
At the middle school, the student desks in the classroom will also need to remain at least three feet apart and facing the same direction, or if students are sitting at a table, they need to remain three feet from their table partner and remain three feet from the student at the table next to them to be able to sit and their desk or table without a mask or desk shield. Masks will still continue to be worn when moving around the classroom, hallways, lines, and when three feet cannot be maintained.
The lunchroom at all the schools will still continue to have the dividers in place.
The school district will still require a student who is on the presumptive close contact (PCC) list to wear their mask throughout the day with the exception of PE, lunch, and recess. The elementary and middle schools will continue to have student cohorts and seating charts so the school can contact trace if necessary.