HOLYROOD — Updated COVID-19 protocols were approved by the Central Plains USD 112 board of education Monday during the monthly meeting at Central Plains Elementary School in Holyrood.

Superintendent Greg Clark said he worked with Kerianne Ehrlich, administrator of the Ellsworth County Health Department, to develop the updated plan based off of what is being implemented in Ellsworth County.

Clark said currently, every student in the district, unless they are positive for COVID-19, can be in school, but are required to be tested.

“I know people have some objections to testing,” he said.

In addition to the new updated plan for review, Clark also gave the board the district’s original plan.

The district’s original plan was basically test to stay, where only the students or adults that were actually COVID-19 positive were not in school, he noted. Everybody else could stay in school and were tested on a daily basis.

Clark said the different between the two is with the new plan, there is no testing. However, with the new plan, parents can opt to have their kids tested.

Features of the new, updated plan include:

Positive cases (for those persons (students and staff who vaccinated or unvaccinated)

• Isolate for five days from the onset of symptoms and/or a positive test.

• Isolation can end after five days if the person is fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and symptoms have improved.

• Positive students and/or staff will wear a mask in school an additional five days.

Close contacts at school

• Students and staff have the option to be tested for 10 days.

• Students and staff who are considered close contacts will be required to wear a mask for 10 days.

• Administration will work with local health departments to determine close contacts.

• Parents have the right to quarantine their kids for a mandatory five days for safety reasons.

Household close contacts (if the person is vaccinated)

• Monitor for signs and symptoms.

• If the person develops signs and symptoms, the district recommends quarantining and getting tested for COVID-19.

• Masks will be required in the school building for 10 days. Household Close Contacts (if the

Household Close Contacts (if the

person is unvaccinated)

• If able to separate from the positive household member, the unvaccinated person should quarantine for five days in the home from the last exposure.

• If the unvaccinated person is unable to separate in the home, the household contact will quarantine during the positive person’s quarantine, plus an additional five days.

• Wear a mask for five additional days in school after quarantine ends.

Clark said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan has nothing in it about testing.

“Oh, and by the way, the CDC is coming out with a new plan for schools any minute now,” he said. “Well, it’s been a minute and I still haven’t seen any plan.”

Clark said if the board approved the updated plan, he would recommend the district highly encourage close contacts to test for COVID.

Pam Stiles, school nurse, said while it is a good plan, she didn’t think the district was there yet.

“Right now, I feel we are in a bit of a crisis,” she said.

Stiles recommended keeping the testing protocols of the original plan in place for now, then reassess the situation in a month.

Board member Dalton Wirth suggested the district try the updated policy.

In other business:

• Consensus approval was given to Sid Wiens of Wiens Construction in Hutchinson, to begin an indepth look a the needs of each school in the district. He will come up with a list of priorities and present options to the board for consideration.

Wiens spent a day visiting each of the three schools at the request of Clark and developed a quick list of items. For example, at Wilson School, the needs ranged from replacing the HVAC (heating, venting and air conditioning) system to the better utilization of available space.

Lists of similar needs were also taken at Central Plains Elementary School in Holyrood and Central Plains Junior-Senior High School in Claflin.

“When we deal with the schools, we talk in terms of two generations,” he said. “What are you thinking about for your kids' kids and your great-grandchildren? What are you as a school district going to provide the communities in terms of the coming generations?”

Wiens said he recognizes schools are important to communities and it’s critical to think in the long term.

“You have a fair amount of investment to make at all three buildings,” he said. “The thing that we can do is help is work through the needs. Get an understanding of what the needs truly are and then help you think about how do you break it down so they are doable — what makes the most sense.”

Wiens proposed doing a facilities study. “I know you’ve done some of that in the past, I understand,” he said. “Several years ago, you had an effort to replace the HVAC. That failed on a bond issue. And more recently you had a committee to study different options.”

Wiens said the facilities study would take a couple of months or more to complete.

In exchange for a zero dollar cost to the district, Wiens said he would require the district stick with Wiens Construction through the duration of the study.

Clark said his call to Wiens was part of the district’s strategic plan to consider ways to improve its facilities.

“There are needs district-wide and it does get a bit overwhelming to try to figure out how we’re going to address those needs,” he said. “It seems like the way that its worked, probably since I’ve been here, is we don’t ever get ahead. We’re always trying to fix something from behind.”

Clark said Ellsworth is a very viable school district that has recently done some renovations. Ellinwood is currently looking at a bond issue to do renovations in their district. Hoisington has also passed a bond to refresh schools in their district.

“We don’t want to be left behind in our facilities,” Clark said.

“I think it’s something we need to pursue,” said board member Chad Rogers.

• The resignations of Therese Strobel, CPHS counselor, and Debbie Oeser, CPHS secretary, were approved.

• Board member Roger Robinson was chosen to be on the district’s teacher negotiations team.

• No action was taken after returning from a 10 minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel (evaluations).

The next meeting of the Central Plains USD 112 board of education will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, at Wilson School.