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Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services - HCS County has moved into a "high" COVID-19 community level.
At this level it is strongly recommended that you:
- Wear a mask in indoor public locations (choose a multilayer surgical, KN95, or N95 mask rather than a cloth mask).
- Stay up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccines (if you need an initial dose or booster, visit http://vaccines.gov).
- Get tested if feeling ill or if you have been exposed. Test before and after travel, as well as before gatherings, especially when events may include those who are at higher risk of severe illness.
- Stay away from others if you are feeling ill, have been recently exposed, are waiting for test results, or have tested positive. If you test positive, talk to your doctor right away about treatment options to prevent severe illness.
- Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible.
- If you’re at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions
COVID-19 Case Reporting
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Per requirements from MDHHS, Kalamazoo RESA provides below a public notice within 24 hours of being notified of a KRESA-associated COVID-19 case. All new cases represent positive cases that have been reported by Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services on that date. Cumulative cases represent the total number of cases to date, including new cases.
Please note that the case count does not reflect an outbreak within the agency. For a list of current outbreaks, please visit MDHHS’ school-related outbreak reporting website, updated every Monday. For more information about COVID-19 in Kalamazoo County, please visit the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services COVID-19 Dashboard.
If your child attends a KRESA classroom housed in another district, please visit that school district’s website.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response
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Per Executive Order 2020-142, the KRESA Preparedness and Response Plan provides a description of instructional support and/ or the safety protocols provided by the district in Phases 1-3 (Remote Learning) and Phases 4 and 5 (In-Person Learning) and aligns with the MI Safe Schools Roadmap.
Phases of Severity
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Phases IV and V (In-Person Learning)
The district will return to in-person instruction for students within KRESA center-based and preschool programs due to the nature of the child/student’s disability-related needs. The district has adopted the required safety protocols as well as most of the “Strongly Recommended” protocols identified within the MI Safe Schools Roadmap. These will be in place for both Phase 4 and Phase 5 for consistency purposes as well as for the safety of students and staff. For students with medical needs that make in-person learning a concern, the district will work in collaboration with families and their medical providers to consider medical documentation and make necessary IEP team decisions.
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Phases I-III (Remote Learning)
The district has updated our Continuity of Learning Plan (utilized for remote learning circumstances) based on input from stakeholders--students, parents/guardians, and staff. Some highlights of updates include: utilizing Google Classroom (center-based programs) or SeeSaw (preschool programs) as common platforms, the addition of weekly office hours for teachers/staff, common expectations for teachers to provide synchronous/asynchronous instruction, and replacing the coordinated and collaborative OT, PT, speech and classroom teacher instruction with individual/ small group OT, PT, and speech sessions based on individual needs.
Phase IV Protocols and Procedures
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Phase IV Personal Protective Equipment Requirements
- Facial coverings must always be worn by staff except for meals.
- Facial coverings must be worn in classrooms by all students grades 6-12
- All students in grades K-5 must wear facial coverings unless students remain with their classes throughout the school day and do not come into close contact with students in another class.
- Facial coverings must always be worn in hallways and common areas by PreK-12 students in the building except for during meals.
- Facial coverings must be worn by PreK-12 students, staff and bus drivers during school transportation.
- Facial coverings may be homemade or disposable level-one (basic) grade surgical masks.
- Homemade facial coverings must be washed daily.
- Disposable facial coverings must be disposed of at the end of each day.
- Any staff member or student who cannot medically tolerate a facial covering must not wear one.
- Note: Students with significant disabilities preventing the use of facial coverings are referred to forthcoming guidance from MDE.
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Phase IV Cleaning Procedures
- Frequently touched surfaces, including light switches, doors, benches, bathrooms, will undergo cleaning at least every four hours with the hospital-grade disinfectant QT Plus.
- Hands-on classrooms will undergo cleaning after every class period with either QT Plus or diluted bleach solution.
- Student desks will be wiped down with either QT Plus or diluted bleach solution after every class period.
- We will ensure safe and correct use and storage of cleaning and disinfection products, including storing products securely away from children and with adequate ventilation when staff use products.
- Staff must always wear gloves, surgical masks and face shields when performing all cleaning activities.
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Phase IV Food Service, Gathering, and Extracurricular Activities
- Indoor assemblies that bring together students from more than one classroom are prohibited.
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Phase IV Busing and Student Transportation
- The use of hand sanitizer is required before entering the bus. Hand sanitizer will be supplied on the bus.
- The bus driver, staff and all students in grades PreK-12 must wear facial coverings while on the bus.
- Transportation vehicles will be cleaned, sanitized and disinfected before and after every transit route.
- Frequently touched surfaces in the vehicle will be cleaned, sanitized and disinfected prior to morning routes and prior to afternoon routes.
- Car seats, wheelchairs, walkers and adaptive equipment being transported to schools will be cleaned, sanitized and disinfected daily.
- If a student becomes sick during the day, they must not use group transportation to return home and must follow the protocols outlined above.
- If a driver becomes sick during the day, they must follow protocols for sick staff outlined above and must not return to drive students.
- Windows will be kept open while the vehicle is in motion to help reduce the spread of the virus by increasing air circulation, if appropriate and safe.
- Weather permitting, doors and windows will be kept open when cleaning the vehicle and between trips to let the vehicles thoroughly air out.
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Responding to Positive Tests
- Like all schools, public and private, we will cooperate with the local public health department if a confirmed case of COVID-19 is identified, and in particular, we will collect the contact information for any close contacts of the affected individual from two days before he or she showed symptoms to the time when he or she was last present at the school.
Phase IV Cleaning Protocols
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Product Information
After consulting with infectious disease professionals, KRESA has chosen to use the disinfectant QT Plus to sanitize its locations and classrooms. QT Plus is a hospital-grade disinfectant/detergent, sanitizer, fungicide and virucide. QT Plus has proven to be effective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with three-minute contact time.
You can read the product’s full specifications, benefits and instructions here.
- Proper use of QT Plus, to clean and disinfect for COVID-19:
- Thoroughly wet surface
- When using a sprayer, use the “coarse spray” setting (between “stream” and “fine mist”)
- Spray 6-8 inches away, and rub with brush, sponge or cloth
- Allow the surface to remain wet for 10 minutes
- Wipe dry or allow to air dry
- Rinse all surfaces that come in contact with food before reuse
- Do not use on dishes
- Clean heavily soiled areas first, then disinfect
- Use yellow rags for all surfaces EXCEPT the bathroom. Use blue rags in the bathroom
- Wash hands after using (and before ingesting items/touching mouth)
- Routinely wash work clothing and PPE to remove contaminants
- QT Plus has been tested for use on hard, nonporous surfaces
- Cleaning Other Kinds of Surfaces
- You may try QT Plus on other materials (such as cloth items), but watch for discoloration or other damage. Using soap and water, laundering, and/or vacuuming may be more appropriate for some items/surfaces.
- If we can get alcohol wipes in stock, it would be best to use those on electronic screens (such as the SmartBoard), rather than QT Plus.
- When doing laundry:
- Wear gloves. Do not shake dirty laundry. Use the warmest appropriate water setting and dry items completely. Clean and disinfect the hamper. Wash hands.
- See CDC Guidelines for Disinfecting Facilities for more information.
- Proper use of QT Plus, to clean and disinfect for COVID-19:
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Cleaning Procedures
- Wear gloves, disposable masks, and face shields when cleaning.
- Have adequate ventilation when using cleaning and disinfecting products.
- Properly store cleaning products, away from children.
- Disinfect frequently touched surfaces at least every 4 hours.
- Such as:
- Classroom light switches, door handles, cabinet handles, countertops, phones, keyboards
- Classroom bathrooms
- Plan for classroom staff to do a mid-day cleaning, using proper protocols
- g., toilet, handle, grab bars, sink, faucet and handles, paper towel and soap dispensers
- Such as:
- Disinfect tables, desks, and materials between student use.
- That may look like:
- Having students sit in the same spot throughout the day.
- Having centers transition to a leisure area, so that centers can be disinfected between groups.
- Scheduling a routine, less-intense activity into group times, that will allow staff to disinfect areas students have come from/will go to.
- Having students wipe down their own area, following appropriate safety protocols.
- Having designated fidgets, toys, and/or leisure spaces for each student.
- Having assigned supports for each student (each student has their own pair of headphones, etc.)
- Having a bin to put materials in, throughout the day, to disinfect later.
- Ensuring students do not touch the book, during shared reading time, or having only one student participate using the SmartBoard during a session.
- That may look like:
Community Resources
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MI Return to School Roadmap: Transportation Operations
Dean Transportation_MI Return to School Roadmap_Final_7-22-2020.pdf 1.23 MB (Last Modified on August 3, 2020)
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KRESA Staff COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan
KRESA COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan - 1.11.2023.pdf 474.34 KB (Last Modified on January 11, 2023)