• First day of school for grades 1-12 is Tuesday, September 8, 2020
• Kindergarten starts on Thursday, September 10, 2020
• ECFE and Preschool starts on Monday, September 14, 2020

Remember, all students will be in the distance learning model to start school and then we will slowly phase elementary, secondary/CLC, early learning and Adult Basic Education (ABE) students into the hybrid model, following this schedule.

SSP will begin the school year in the hybrid model with a four-week soft opening plan. Our Safe Return to School Plan includes intentional and deliberate steps to prepare students, families and educators for a safe return to school. 

During the first two weeks of the school year all students will be in the distance learning model and then we will slowly phase elementary, secondary/CLC, early learning and Adult Basic Education (ABE) students into the hybrid model, following the schedule outlined here. As a reminder, all families have the option to choose full-time distance learning if they prefer to keep their children home for medical reasons or if they are simply uncomfortable with sending them to school.

Yes, a full-time distance learning program is being offered for any families who prefer to keep their children home for medical reasons or if they are simply uncomfortable with sending them to school.

Whichever learning preference you chose, will be the learning scenario your student will participate in through November 24, 2020 (Thanksgiving). At that time, families will have the opportunity to select a new learning preference. With outstanding circumstances, please contact your building principal.

The decision for returning to learning this fall was complex and must balance the current COVID-19 cases in our county, input from our community and staff, and the operational implications such as staffing and busing within the recommended guidelines.

In late June, Governor Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) shared the Planning Guidance for Minnesota Schools, which our District Pandemic Advisory Committee and program-specific Design Teams (i.e.. Elementary, Secondary, Learning, Technology, Health, Finance, etc.) used to begin planning for the school year, along with the guidance available from Minnesota Department of Public Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and several other evidence-based sources of guidance.

The district planning groups were tasked with designing comprehensive plans to meet the needs of each and every learner in South St. Paul Schools, while at the same time, being sensitive to the difficulties and challenges faced by families, students and staff. As the pandemic continues to change and evolve, our teams continue to adapt plans for schooling this fall. 

SSP plans are based on the following guiding principles: 

• Safety: Student and staff safety is a top priority in our planning.
• High Quality Instruction: As they return, our students will need the support of both high quality instruction and strong social and emotional behavior support systems.
• Accurate and Timely Communication: All students, employees and families will be provided safety details and we will keep all stakeholders up to date with important information throughout the school year.
• Educational Equity: All students will be provided quality grade-level instruction and social-emotional support, with a focus on removing and ending racist practices.
• Flexibility: With the uncertainty and changing landscape, the district's plans will build in flexibility, so we're prepared to adjust based on the needs of stakeholders and changes to medical circumstances and public health guidance.
• Data and Decision Making: Our decisions will continue to be informed by health data, funding, workforce and educational agency guidance and with feedback from our families, students, employees and community members.

On Thursday, July 30, Governor Walz shared the Safe Learning Plan and made the announcement that Minnesota school districts will utilize the different scenarios of distance, hybrid or in-person learning based on the number of COVID-19 cases in a county over the past 14 days. The district partnered with MDH and MDE to review our county health data and the plans our district planning groups had developed to determine a learning scenario to begin the school year.

Throughout the school year, the district will continue to partner with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to monitor COVID-19 cases in our schools and community. If the number of COVID-19 cases in Dakota County increases, the scenario for how we teach school will change, becoming more restrictive.

If the number of COVID-19 cases in Dakota County increases, the scenario for how we teach school will change, becoming more restrictive. Similarly, we may move from distance learning to a hybrid model after consulting with health officials to assess the level of disease spread and the impact on the school community.

We are taking a number of precautions in our food service department and cafeterias. Students participating in breakfast will now have grab-and-go breakfast bags/baskets they can eat in the classroom in order to reduce the number of students in a cafeteria space. Lunchroom capacities will be reduced to 50 percent and boxed meals may be provided to allow for students to eat in classrooms or alternate locations as needed. Lunches may also still be brought from home.

Schools may increase the number of lunch periods in order to reduce the number of students in the cafeteria at a time and allow for cleaning in between. Lunch menus may also be modified to help speed up the service lines. There will also be signage and visual reminders on tables, hallways and in the serving lines to maintain proper social distancing guidelines.

Elementary

• Breakfast will be delivered to classrooms
• Students will notify their teacher at the beginning of the day if they need a hot lunch
• Students will be served their lunch in individually wrapped selections or it will be pre-plated
• Lunch will be delivered to classrooms and students will have 30-minutes to eat
• Students will be responsible for wiping their desk/table prior to eating, cleaning up after meals and depositing trash and recycling in the proper containers located outside their classrooms

Secondary

• Students will eat in the lunchroom, which will be at half capacity or less
• Two students are allowed at each round table and four students at each rectangle table
• Students will have access to handwashing and hand sanitizer before lunch

School meals will be available at no charge to students enrolled in SSP this fall, including hybrid learning and full-time students. Free meals begin September 8 and temporarily run through December 31, 2020, but could end earlier. Please note, this is a change in original plans thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture waiver allowing school meals to be served free of charge to all students.

The free meals are temporary and all families are still encouraged to complete an Application for Educational Benefits, since any approval will carry over after this waiver expires through the 2020-21 school year. Once the free meal waiver expires, the price of school meals will depend on your eligibility status of your Educational Benefits (Paid, Reduced or Free).

South St. Paul Schools will be providing school meals in accordance with the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program during the 2020-21 school year. SSP will provide meals for students participating in hybrid learning and distance learning. For students participating in hybrid learning, on days they are learning at school meals will be provided at school and on days they are distance learning families can pre-order boxed meals. Students participating in full-time distance learning will also have the opportunity to pre-order boxed meals. All boxed meals will be picked up on Wednesdays. Hybrid students will receive 3-day meal boxes (three breakfasts and three lunches) and full-time distance learning will receive 5-day meal boxes (five breakfasts and five lunches). Learn more here.

During the four-week soft opening when hybrid students are distance learning, families can also pre-order and pick up five days worth of meals.

Given the length of time students have been away from school, we recognize the potential for significant student needs in the area of social-emotional learning and wellbeing. The district intends to provide culturally responsive social-emotional resources in the following areas: 

• Food insecurity, clothing and or homelessness assistance 
• Mental health services in the community for families 
• Managing stress and loss, coping and building resiliency 
• Health and safety needs to positively impact learning

Counselors will continue to be available to support students. At the elementary level, counselors will lead weekly check-in meetings, will provide video lessons about guidance topics, and will directly support families as needed. At the middle and high school level, counselors will be checking attendance and will be offering social-emotional support for students daily.

Bus routes will look a little different this year because the busing capacity will be limited to 50 percent. Students will be loaded back-to-front, and unloaded front-to-back, and students may have assigned seats. Bus riders will also be limited to one student per seat, except siblings are allowed to sit together.

Students and bus drivers will be required to wear masks at the bus stop and on the bus at all times. The buses will be thoroughly cleaned on a nightly basis and common touch surfaces (handrails, tops of seats, etc.) will be cleaned between all routes.

At Kaposia and Lincoln recess will be offered once or twice each day and will be supervised by their homeroom teacher. Areas outside each school will be sectioned off so that small groups can use them and stay with the same group of students in their class without mixing with other students.

To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, parents, guardians, family members and others are discouraged from entering school buildings. We are requiring that student drop-off/pick-up are done from outside the building. In the event a situation arises for someone other than a student or staff member to enter our building, prior approval from the Building Principal or Department Leader is required. Pre-approved visitors are required to check in at the office. All visitors are required to wear a face covering at all times when in our district buildings. If a visitor does not have a face covering, masks are available in each building office. Visitors who are unable to wear a face covering due to a medical condition should speak with an administrator.

No field trips will be offered this year.

Following the Governor's Executive Order, face coverings are required for all students, staff and other persons present in any school buildings or district offices or riding on school transportation vehicles. Students and staff in certain situations have flexibility to wear face shields instead of face coverings, which allows visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception. Children younger than 5 years of age are not required to wear face coverings.

Students and staff are expected to conduct a temperature screening each day at home prior to arriving at schools, and students/staff are not allowed to attend school if their temperature is 100.4 or above.

Read more about our health and safety protocols here.

Custodians conduct a deep cleaning of each school nightly using hospital-grade disinfectant that can have a residual effect of up to 24 hours. They will also increase the frequency of cleaning common touch surfaces, including handrails, door handles, etc. and restroom checks to ensure hand soap and paper towels remain available.

The first step in the process of responding to a confirmed COVID-19 case in a school is to conduct contact tracing to identify close contacts of anyone with a confirmed case who attended school while infectious. Close contact is when someone is within 6 feet of the ill person for at least 15 minutes. All close contacts of a confirmed case will be notified of their exposure and asked to stay at home for 14 days since their last exposure to the confirmed case.

The decision to close a classroom or school is made on a case-by-case basis and depends on the length of time the ill person spent in the space, whether 6 feet of distancing was maintained consistently, the extent of the ill person's activities while infectious in the school facility, and the extent to which all close contacts can be identified. Schools will work collaboratively with local and state health officials to identify close contacts of a case and evaluate the extent of the exposure to determine if a full classroom or school closure is warranted.

School health offices have designated a separate space for the care of students who have COVID-like symptoms, while having another space to serve the general health and medication needs of students.

Drinking fountains will not be operational, but the water bottle filling stations will be accessible. We encourage students and staff to bring a water bottle with them each day.

If your student starts to feel unwell while in school, they will go to the building Health Office where they will be assessed by the Licensed School Nurse according to CDC and MDH guidelines for COVID-like symptoms. If the nurse determines that the student meets the criteria for symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the student will be brought to a special room called an isolation room. This room is designed with a special HEPA filter that vents outside the building. There will be a place for the student to rest while they wait for their parent. This room will be constantly monitored by qualified staff to make sure your student is safe while they are with us. Parents or emergency contacts will be called to come pick up their student. Parents will be instructed to stay in their vehicle and call the health office when they arrive. Health Office Staff will escort the student to the car and you will be given instructions for follow up, who to contact, and when your student may return to SSPPS activities.

If you or a member of your household is tested for COVID-19, diagnosed as COVID-19 positive, or has been told they are a close contact of someone positive with COVID-19, please contact the SSPPS COVID Coordinator at 651-457-9424 or email skrueger@sspps.org. Thanks for helping keep the South St Paul Public School Community healthy and safe!

SSPPS will share updates to all families via emails, voicemails and/or text messages. Please make sure your contact information is up-to-date on the parent portal to receive these updates. The updates will also be posted on the district’s website at www.sspps.org/backtoschool, newsletters and social media platforms.

This spring and early summer we asked families to share their experiences during distance learning in March-May and their comfort level with a range of options for starting school this fall. Our District Pandemic Advisory Committee and program-specific design teams (i.e. Elementary, Secondary, Learning, Technology, Health, Finance, etc.) then reviewed the feedback and used it to guide their planning for the year. Staff have been meeting since early June to redesign their distance learning plan, focusing on correcting some of the inadequacies that were identified by students, staff and families this spring.

When weighing the decision of how to return to school this fall, the district also balanced this valuable feedback collected from families and staff, the current COVID-19 cases in our county, and the operational implications such as staffing and busing within the recommended guidelines.

We will receive assistance from our Regional Support Team that will help us determine appropriate next steps, such as how to communicate with our communities, contact trace and notifying close contacts. Regional Support Teams are a partnership between MDE, MDH, regional service cooperatives and local public health to support school districts and charter schools in navigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 school year.

Schools must report all confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the MDH or their local public health agency. MDH or the local public health agency conduct a case investigation and identify anyone who potentially has been exposed to the confirmed case. MDH or the local public health agency notifies those who have been exposed and provides them with information about how to protect themselves, their families and their communities. Schools will assist in the notification process of all close contacts within the school community.

When a confirmed case of COVID-19 is identified at a school, MDH or local public health staff members will work with school officials to identify anyone who has had close contact with the confirmed case while they were infectious.

All close contacts will be notified that they have been exposed to a confirmed case and provided with instructions about what they should do to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. Public health officials will work with school officials to prepare notification letters that will then be provided to everyone who is a close contact. We will also notify all members of the classroom that there is a positive case in the classroom but they are not considered a close contact and do not need to quarantine, just so they can be aware and alert of possible symptoms.

No. While people who are considered to be a close contact will be notified of an exposure and given guidance on how to protect themselves and others, officials will not provide identifying details of the person who was found to be positive for COVID-19. Sharing that kind of identifying information about the positive case violates the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and may also violate other privacy laws. It is also important to avoid potential discrimination against someone who tests positive. 

The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Board of Directors voted on Tuesday, August 4 to move forward with the following MSHSL sports on August 17: Boys and Girls Cross Country, Girls Tennis, Girls Swimming and Diving, and Boys and Girls Soccer. The Volleyball and Football​ seasons have been moved to the ​spring​. Further details are not available at this time. For those sports starting on August 17, our athletic and activities administrative team will be working collaboratively in the next couple weeks to make necessary game schedule adjustments, along with creating plans and protocols that safely support our student athletes and coaching staff through their engagement in fall athletics and activities participation.

Background on MSHSL & Decision-Making Authority

The MSHSL Board, along with MSHSL staff, commissioned a “Return to Play Task Force” that made formal recommendations to the MSHSL Board of Directors on August 4, 2020. The plan approved by the Board includes starting some fall athletics on August 17, 2020 as planned, but with modifications, safety recommendations for practice and game play, crowd limitations, guidelines for transportation, and season/game reductions. The MSHSL is asking all schools to follow the​ COVID-19 Sports Guidelines for Youth Sports​ created by MDH​.

“Quick Look” Summary of MSHSL Return to Fall Sports Decision

Fall athletics were approved for play with reductions to the total number of games and the length of the fall season. The graph below demonstrates a 30% reduction in the total number of events and a 20% reduction in the number of weeks to the regular and postseason. Games and travel will be limited to “Conference/District” schedules only. Participation in tournaments and invitationals is prohibited. Sports will be allowed 1-2 games/events per week. Section and State playoffs will be modified, including reductions in participation and in number of weeks. More information on what postseason will look like for each fall sport will be shared at a later date.

• Cross Country: 10 weeks of season, 7 maximun number of regular season games and 2 postseason weeks
• Soccer: 10 weeks of season, 11 maximun number of regular season games and 2 postseason weeks
• Swimming and Diving: 11 weeks of season, 9 maximun number of regular season games and 2 postseason weeks
• Tennis: 9 weeks of season, 9 maximun number of regular season games and 2 postseason weeks

Our SSP Activities Department has secured safe options for fans to watch athletics this year. They are partnering with School Space Media or prepspotlight.tv this fall, winter and spring to live stream Packer home events. This fall they will stream Girls’ Swim & Dive and both Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer. The Activities Department focused on these items while looking for a media partner:

• Safe way for parents, families and friends to watch South Saint Paul events
• Student/athletes knowing they are playing for an audience
• Continued revenue source like selling tickets at the door – affordable price point
• Access to home/away events – partnerships with other Metro East Conference schools

In-person spectators will also be allowed for some home events, including the following:

Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer

For each Metro East Conference boys/girls soccer doubleheader in Fall, 2020, the home school shall be allotted 150 spectator admissions between boys and girls teams and the visiting school shall be allotted 100 spectator admissions between boys and girls teams. Each school shall determine the list of names who may purchase a ticket or provide a pass to enter the stadium. Soccer families need to get their two names to their varsity Head Coaches by 9 PM the night before the game. If there are still tickets available we will open these up with an email to families to add family members – this will happen between 8 AM and Noon of the game.

Each school's athletic director shall notify its fans that they are only eligible to enter the stadium upon purchasing a ticket if their names are on the provided list. Should either or both schools provide fewer than their allotment, tickets may be sold first-come, first-served basis at the discretion of the home school. In no case may the home school admit more than 250 total spectators. Any additional spectators must provide their names to purchase tickets.

Girls’ Tennis

Open for family and friends for no entry fee. Social distancing guidelines are expected to be followed.

Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country

Open for family and friends for no entry fee. Social distancing guidelines are expected to be followed.

Girls’ Swim and Dive

No spectators are allowed in the pool to watch girls’ swim and dive. Please cheer them on by utilizing the School Space Media (prepspotlight.tv) streaming option.

Decisions for winter and spring athletics will be shared at a later date.

If a case of COVID-19 is reported to school personnel, we will contact the Minnesota Department of Health. MDH will interview the case or parent/guardian, determine the dates when the case was infectious, identify anyone that may have been exposed, and collect contact information for those individuals. Exposed persons (close contacts) will also need to quarantine for 14 days from the last contact with the COVID-19 case. Coaches will keep accurate rosters, including who was at practices and games each day so we can do contact tracing quickly and provide necessary communication that could include individual, pod, and/or program quarantine.