PCPS Asking Parents to Help Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 at Home and at School

PONCA CITY-

Shelley Arrott, Ponca City Public School Superintendent, is advising parents that if their child is symptomatic, please do not send them to school, and take them for COVID-19 testing. If they have tested for COVID, please do not send them to school until the results are returned. PCPS will provide Distance Learning to your child while symptomatic, awaiting test results, test positive, or if they are a close contact. According to Arrott, in the first three days of school, most of the close contacts were family close contacts. The Delta variant is highly contagious, especially within households. The Kay County Health Dept. (KCHD) and PCPS recommend quarantine of ALL PCPS employees and student household close contacts.

Data from early July, when students were participating in activities to present, indicates there has been no spread with close contacts in school summer activities or during the first three days of school. School officials will continue to monitor the situation closely and will make safety protocol adjustments when warranted including transitioning classrooms to Distance Learning.

PCPS strongly recommends masking indoors, when distancing of less than six feet for 15 minutes or longer cannot be maintained. Arrott urges individuals to research and consider vaccination for all individuals ages 12 and up so students and staff can have the best chance of protecting everyone’s health and staying in school. A COVID vaccination can help protect those too young to receive the vaccination. PCPS students and employees can take their school ID to KCHD and walk-in for vaccination during business hours. Students under 18 must have a parent or guardian present for vaccination.

The district will continue to maintain the PCPS Contact Tracing Totals Spreadsheet on the homepage of our website at
www.pcps.us. Please stay up-to-date on trends by reviewing the informational link.