The Ponca City Public School Board of Education has adopted School Safety Protocols for Instruction, Health Protocols including Face Coverings, and Activities. Protocols are correlated with the Oklahoma COVID-19 Alert System, which provides new data regarding the county risk level of a 7-day rolling average of new cases of COVID-19. With weekly cases on the rise, this protocol was approved based on the current situation and is subject to change at any time. Please see the attached written protocol.
It is the goal of the District to keep students, staff, and community as safe as possible. The District also wants to mitigate the spread of the virus to keep students in the buildings for interactive learning. We want to avoid short, intermittent closure due to quarantine, avoid alternative schedules allowing for a minimum number of students in the buildings, and avoid going to full remote learning.
A major component of the Health Protocol portion is the use of face coverings. Face coverings are required for all students PreK-12, staff, and visitors. Frequent breaks from face coverings will be taken when distancing is possible at all grade levels; we understand our younger students will need even more frequent breaks. We also understand this is a new procedure, and we will approach it by educating our students as to why they are wearing the face covering and how to wear it as they are learning. Teachers will coordinate mask breaks throughout the day as long as social distancing requirements can be observed.
If students/parents would like to change from Learning Option 1 to Learning Options 2 or 3, or from Learning Options 2 or 3 back to Learning Option 1 due to this change, please refer to the make-up enrollment press release. It may be found at www.pcps.us, the Ponca City Public Schools Facebook page, or the PCPS App Notifications.
Plans almost certainly will change as the school year progresses, and the Board could make changes to decisions at any time as new information becomes available and the situation continues to evolve. Thank you for your patience, and we will continue to keep you informed regularly.
