Category Archives: Community

On September 13, 2021 at 1:00 p.m., a meeting conducted by Sheridan County School District #3 will take place in the Hawks Nest at Hay Springs High School. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide an opportunity for parents and representatives of nonpublic schools to participate in the development of a plan for providing special education services to children with disabilities who attend nonpublic schools and home schools which are within the Sheridan County District #3 for the 2021-2022 school year. Parents of a home-schooled child identified with a disability and attending a nonpublic school within the boundaries of Sheridan County School District #3, are urged to attend. If you have further questions pertaining to this meeting, please contact the office at (308) 638-4434.

The following is the latest up-date from PPHD concerning COVID positive cases:

We have learned that our recommendation for school-aged children identified as close contacts to stay home, does not align with state truancy guidelines; hopefully, more to come from NDE.

We are changing our recommendation based on this information:  Public Health will encourage school-aged household close contacts to wear a mask and monitor for symptoms for 14 days.

Below is our script when we talk to parents with school-aged children identified as a close contact of a household member.

According to DHHS school guidance, school-aged children are required to self-monitor for fever or other symptoms for 14 days.  Public health recommends that your child wear a mask at school for those 14 days.  Your child does not need to stay home unless they develop symptoms or test positive.  If they have symptoms or test positive, they will need to isolate at home.

Adults and younger children will need to quarantine at home.  Vaccinated people do not need to quarantine; they will be asked to mask and monitor for 14 days.

We are sending this information out to parents so you have the latest PPHD guidance. We are finding that some parents are choosing to keep their school-aged children home when there is a positive household contact; we as a school district will support you in that decision. Please keep the school office informed if you have ill family members or positive test results and continue to monitor your children’s temp before they come to school.

See also the Contact Tracing Packet sent to positives that are not school-aged.  As cases increase, we are asking non-school-aged positive cases to notify their close contacts.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us, or PPHD if you experience confusion, challenges, or need clarity with a situation.  I am sure we can get through another year working together.

Sincerely
Mr. Lechtenberg

The Freshman class fundraiser store is now open.  Please look it over and get your orders in soon.  You can sleep at night knowing you helped out the freshman class!

https://stores.inksoft.com/hay_springs_freshman/shop/home

Hay Springs Public School
Return to Learn Plan 2021-22

This plan will address plans and procedures that we will follow at Hay Springs Public School while doing everything possible to keep our children and staff safe and healthy and yet address the desires of you the parents/ guardians have directed by our parent survey results from last year.

Our students will be back in school on a regular basis with as limited restrictions as possible. Our focus will be doing what we believe is necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy. The last thing that we want is to have any of our students, parents/guardians, staff or patrons of our community, ill with COVID because our students are back in school.

Currently there are concerns about the new variants, but as your superintendent, I truly believe that our students deserve to remain in school and receive person to person education. I am sure as school begins we will be having bi-weekly or weekly meetings with PPHD, the ESU #13 administrators, the Commissioner of Education and the Governor to receive guidance and create an ever changing plan if cases increase. We will continue as we did over the past year follow guidance from Panhandle Public Health District. For that reason, this plan is going to be very general and allow for adjustments and changes as the circumstances in our school change. Know that as your superintendent I am working with my administrative team and the board of education in this process. I will make the best decisions that I can while following the guidance from PPHD. Know that the health of your children is my top priority. Having children back in school is not only my second priority, but I believe in person education is not only academically necessary but also beneficial to the health of our children. With these things in mind I will outline some of the precautionary measures we will be taking at Hay Springs School.

HEALTH AND SANITATION PROCEDURES

• Custodians will be receiving online training on building cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting
• Surfaces will be cleaned throughout the day using soap and water, followed with disinfectant and sanitizing material
• Deep cleaning of classrooms will be conducted on a daily basis
• Daily cleaning and disinfecting of all transportation vehicles will take place after every use
• Additional sanitizing dispensers will be utilized in the building for staff and students
• Students will be instructed to wash their hands and utilize the hand sanitizer frequently throughout the day
• All staff will be expected to assist the custodial staff in disinfecting and sanitizing the building throughout the day

HEALTHY HABITS TO HELP PREVENT STUDENT ILLNESS

• Social distancing- keep your distance from others to protect them and you from getting sick
  • We have arranged classrooms to create the greatest possibilities for social distancing
• PPE we support students and staff that choose to wear masks but it will be optional unless conditions change
• All water fountains have been converted to fill water bottles. We will not have any drinking fountains

• Student Cohorts
  • We will be having student classes/Cohort in groups as much as possible to limit contact across the student population.
    • Elementary will learn, eat, and attend their specials as one class
    • Middle school will learn, eat, and maintain in their classes/cohorts throughout the day.
    • High school students will learn, eat and participate in activities as cohort as much as possible, with more mixed student involvement in the classroom and activities.
• STUDENT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR STUDENT MITIGATION OF COVID IN OUR SCHOOL
  • PARENTS MUST SUPPORT KEEPING OUR STUDENTS AND STAFF SAFE BY SCREEENING STUDENTS AT HOME AND KEEPING STUDENTS WITH FEVERS OR ANY COVID SYSMPTOMS HOME FROM SCHOOL. Flu-like Symptoms include:
    • Temperature above 100.4
    • Difficulty Breathing, Sore Throat, Cough,
    • Loss of taste or smell
    • Diarrhea or vomiting
    • Chills or headache
  • Students exhibiting any of these symptom or if any member of the household has tested positive the student should remain home and please follow-up with your medical health provider.
  • ANY STUDENT AT SCHOOL WITH A FEVER OR COVID SYMPTOMS AT SCHOOL WILL BE SENT HOME IMMEDIATELY. WE REQUEST YOUR COOPERATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT SENDING YOUR STUDENT HOME MAY NOT EVER BE CONVENIENT TO YOU AS PARENTS/GUARDIANS, BUT WE WILL NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN THIS PROCESS.

TRANSPORTATION

• All student should be screened at home before meeting the bus or coming to school
• Regular bus route
• Sanitize as they board the bus
• Load from the back to front
• Download front to back
• Wearing Face masks will be supported by our staff but is totally optional
• Bus sanitized after each trip

ENTERING THE BUILDING

• Wearing of Face mask will be supported by our staff but is totally optional
• Students are to arrive between 7:30 to 8:00 am NOT EARLIER THAN 7:30 AM

• • PLEASE UTILIZE THE STAFF PARKING LOT if necessary, there will be NO PARKING FROM 7:30 – 9:00AM or from 3:30 – 5:00 PM in the red marked curb area. This area is reserved for safe student pickup and drop off area before and after school hours. This area is in the front of the building, from the cafeteria entrance door, to the Auditorium entrance door.
    • Parallel parking for curbside student drop-off and pickup only in this area
    • When approaching the school from North 4^th street please turn north and drop students off curbside on east side of the street
  • All students will enter the building THROUGH THE OFFICE ENTRANCE, between 7:30 and 8:00 am
  • Utilize hand sanitizer when entering the building
  • Practice social distancing whenever possible
  • Wearing of Face masks will be supported by our staff but is totally optional
  • PARENTS/GUARDIANS/GUESTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE BUILDING WITHOUT HAVING AN APPOINTMENT, WITH STAFF MEMBERS, PRIOR TO ARRIVAL.

STUDENT INSTRUCTION

• Face to face student instruction
• Three to six-foot distance as much as possible
• Wearing of Face mask will be supported but is totally optional (subject to change as deemed necessary)
• Continued compliance with IEP’S and 504 plans
• WE WILL BE CONDUCTING OUR “AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM”
  • Please make arrangement to pick up your students at the end of the school day or at the end of the “AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM ” to help prevent the number of contacts a student has on any given day

FOOD SERVICE

• Hand washing and sanitizing before eating
• Social distancing as much as possible, in the lunch line and while eating
• No special meals with guests
• Lunch will be served to classes/cohorts

ACTIVITIES

• Attendance at school activities will be following NSAA guidelines
• Social distancing whenever possible
• Normal practice with focus on sanitation and safety

As parents, know that the administrative team, the teaching staff and the support staff will be doing everything possible to keep your students safe and healthy. I appreciate your support and cooperation as we continue through this process. We must all realize and acknowledge, that what is working today may not work tomorrow. Please if you have questions give us a call and remember if and when we get positive individuals connected to the school be it a student or staff member we will remind everyone we work with, to treat each other with KINDNESS, GRACE AND RESPECTFULNESS. Together we are going to have a great academic year in 2021-22.

Sincerely,

D. Russell Lechtenberg

Superintendent

Hay Springs Schools received $191,916 through ARP Act ESSER III. Hay Springs Schools has held public hearings and had discussions during board meetings. The staff has had discussion on the use of the money as well.

Describe how the District engaged stakeholders in meaningful consultation on the Plan for Use of Fund. Answers must be detailed. Stakeholders must include, but are not limited to: students, families, school and district administrators (including special education administrators), teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff and their unions, Tribes, civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations), and stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities, English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are incarcerated, and other underserved students.

1. The district held a public stakeholder meeting in conjunction with NASB. The multiple board members were involved as well as parents, students and local business owners. The information gathered at this meeting was shared with the entire school board and administration for guidance on the use of the ESSER Funds.

How will 20% of the allocation be used to address student learning loss?

The focus of our program is to improving curriculum for our students. The district will evaluate programs that fit our needs. Hay Springs Schools will work with ESU and stakeholders to develop the best solutions for our school. The school system will continue expand the summer school program to address any possible learning loss.

How are these resources providing support for students that missed instructional time?

High Quality Instructional Materials will be sought after to improve our curricular offerings for our all students.

Summer school will be run to help continue to focus on addressing learning loss.

How are these resources providing support for students that have been historically marginalized? (ie: students of color, students who are economically disadvantaged, English learners, and students with disabilities).

Students who have been historically marginalized will see the benefit of quality curriculum and summer school opportunities to increase learning. The district is also providing free lunches during summer school to all students regardless of economic status.