During the Aug. 10 Catasauqua Area School District Board of Education meeting, board members unanimously approved the 2021-22 CASD health and safety plan, in accordance with updated Pennsylvania Department of Education requirements and guidelines.

The plan, as well as the 2021-22 return to learn plans for each of the district’s schools, can be found on the district website, cattysd.org.

The plan reports CASD will continue to offer five-day in-person instruction for the 2021-22 school year, during which it will implement prevention and mitigation policies per the most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The district is implementing “essential and mitigation strategies in order to prioritize the health and safety of all students and staff,” according to the plan.

Essential strategies include staying home if sick; contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine; masking in accordance with CDC, Pennsylvania Department of Health and PDE mandates or in response to local data; and hand washing and respiratory etiquette.

Mitigation strategies include physical distancing to the greatest extent possible; adjusting ventilation systems to introduce additional outside air exchange to reintroduce fresh air; and cleaning, disinfecting, sanitizing and maintaining health facilities.

CASD is recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

“State orders and/or local data may result in modifications to the district’s face-covering practices,” the plan states.

School facilities have been modified to allow for physical distancing, and employees and students are encouraged to maintain that distance to the maximum extent feasible.

Proper hand washing and respiratory etiquette will be reinforced, and access to soap and hand sanitizer will be ensured.

“Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting will be performed in accordance with current CDC and DOH guidelines,” the plan states.

High-touch surfaces and objects will be routinely cleaned, and there will be an increase of outside air introduced through the HVAC systems.

According to the plan, parents and guardians should be conducting a wellness check on each student before they get to school. If a child is sick, the school nurse, as well as the child’s health care provider, should be notified. The online plan includes a link to the CDC COVID-19 symptoms Web page.

Similarly, employees should also be conducting their own wellness checks before reporting to work each day.

CASD will continue to notify PDE if someone in the district is confirmed positive, or presumed positive, for COVID-19. The district will work with PDE on matters related to risk assessment, isolation and quarantine recommendations and other infection-control recommendations.

The plan reports the goal is for all the district schools to remain open for instruction, but “COVID-19 transmission levels will be monitored regionally and locally on a regular basis” if steps need to be taken.

“COVID-19 cases in schools, evidence of transmission within schools, staffing levels, data related to community spread, etc., will be considered when making decisions related to school or district closure due to spread of COVID-19 within the school(s), district and/or local community,” the plan states.

While the district believes the best educational option for most students is the traditional five-day in-person learning, CASD continues to offer a fully online educational program. This program is managed by CASD teachers and directly relates to the CASD curriculum and what is simultaneously occurring in traditional classrooms.

A third learning option is home education.

In regard to the social, emotional and mental health of students, CASD educational staff have been trained in trauma-informed practices. This will help district personnel to recognize the impact of trauma and pathways to recovery, trauma signs and symptoms, the need to integrate knowledge about trauma into the educational program and the need to resist retraumatization by decreasing the occurrence of unnecessary triggers and by implementing trauma-informed procedures and practices.

Trauma-informed practices include creating predictable routines, building strong and supportive relationships, empowering students’ agency, supporting the development of self-regulation skills and providing opportunities to explore individual and community identities.

In preparation for the new school year, the district is offering counseling services, as well as mental and behavioral health services for students. Employees have access to mental health resources as well.

Food service mitigation strategies include extra hand washing and cleaning of high-touch services, serving grab-and-go individually packaged items or meals, using disposable items and using gloves with nondisposable items.

In regard to transportation, masks must be worn by passengers and drivers on school buses. Students will also be physically distanced when possible, and the windows will be open to improve ventilation when feasible.

CASD has facilitated employee vaccination efforts and will continue to provide the community with information on vaccine clinics.

Equity considerations will also be implemented, such as individualized approaches for students with disabilities consistent with an IEP or Section 504 plan. Adaptations or alternatives to prevention strategies will be considered while maintaining efforts to protect students, teachers and staff from COVID-19.