COVID-related Operating Plans
Notice!
Reporting requirements
All MCS community members are required to notify the Health Office if they, or a member of their household, or a person with whom they have had close contact, tests positive for COVID-19. If a community member develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or is self-isolating due to suspected or known exposure (exposure of >15 minutes within 6’ distance) to COVID-19, he/she is required to notify the Health Office immediately at (714) 437-1700
How We Operate
Custodial personnel
- Custodial personnel increasing cleaning frequency of high-touch surfaces throughout the day and after school
- After school custodial team will clean classrooms to prep for following day
- Custodians, aides, and teachers have cleaning duties throughout the day
- MCS’s custodial staff and any other workers who clean and disinfect the school site will be equipped with proper protective equipment and proper ventilation while cleaning and disinfecting
Disinfecting products
- Disinfecting products used are approved for use against COVID-19 on the EPA list “N”: Disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2 and follow product instructions
- All cleaning products are kept out of children’s reach; storage has restricted access
Shared classroom supplies
- Students will have their own school supplies where practicable
Cleaning procedures
- Plan thorough cleanings when students are not present, airing out before students arrive
- Close off areas used by any sick person. Where possible, wait 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting before next use, otherwise, wait as long as possible.
- Using products from the EPA’s approved list “N”, MCS will continue its rigorous and frequent cleaning of:
- Door handles
- Light switches
- Sink handlesRestroom surfaces
- Toys, games, art supplies, instructional materials
- Playground equipment
- Using products from the EPA’s approved list “N”, MCS will continue cleaning between uses of:
- Student desks
- Tables
- Chairs
- Keyboards, phones, headsets, copy machines
- Students will be provided a disinfecting wipes to clean desks upon return from recess and lunch breaks
- Specialist class times reduced to allow for additional cleaning and decongested hallway traffic flow
- Lunch tables will be cleaned between groups
- Given that ~14% of our students have self-selected our remote learning only program, MCS has ~21-24 maximum students per classroom, which equates to ~35-40 sq. ft. per student.
- Grade level groups of ~21-24 students form a cohort. As much as possible, each cohort will do all classes, outdoor time, specialists, lunch, and dismissal as a group.
- TK - 2nd grade classes have an aide supporting the teacher
- Students remain in the same classroom with exception of a daily specialist block. Specialists consist of Makerspace, Spanish, technology, PE, music, and art; rotating on a 6-day schedule.
- Specialists’ classroom surfaces will be cleaned between rotating cohorts
- Specialist class times reduced to allow for additional cleaning and improved hallway traffic flow
- Specialist classrooms have designated one-way entrances and exits
- Adult contact with students will be minimized by both the number of adults with direct student contact and everyone physical distancing
- Cohorts on lunch breaks will be divided into 2 groups, where 50% of a cohort eats first, then switches to play time and vice versa
- Lunch tables will be marked for optimal social distancing
Parents and Visitors
- MCS is completely enclosed by an exterior fence, preventing unsolicited access to our field and buildings. Designed for safety, MCS has a single main entrance where guests enter and wait to be buzzed in through a man-trap vestibule.
- Parents and visitors will not be allowed on campus, unless special permission has been granted by Administration or if there is an emergency. In those instances, all approved visitors are:
- subject to temperature check with no-touch thermometer and COVID-19 health screening as designated by CDC
- mandated to use hand sanitizer
- mandated to wear a face covering at all times
- Designated area allows parents to stay in their vehicle to drop-off students. Parents picking up for students’ doctor’s appointments, etc, will call the front desk for student to be summoned to meet vehicle at the designated drop-off/pick-up area
School drop-off and pick-up
- Staggered grade-level arrival times
- Early arrival is discouraged. Any students arriving early will report directly to their cohort classroom.
- Designated grade-level entrances will disperse student traffic
- Students to report directly to classrooms; no morning play time allowed
- Morning ASP (After School Program) will be strictly reserved for dual-working and single parent families requiring morning care
- Carpool is an organized, designated, one-way flow around campus
- Students arrive and are picked up by vehicles only
- Families will perform a health screening each morning and evening
- Periodic health screenings via Titan app may also be conducted
- Students’ temperatures taken before exiting cars using no-touch thermometers. Students with temperatures of >100.4 degrees will not be allowed to exit the vehicle and will be referred to the home isolation protocol per CDPH’s guidance
- Designated grade-specific pick-up times
- Parents will stay in their vehicles during drop-off and pick-up. If need arises to leave the car, face coverings are required.
- Parents are prohibited from walking to pick students up at the carpool gate
- Once morning carpool has closed, late-arriving students will check in at the designated area. Staff will take student’s temperature using a no-touch thermometer, perform a COVID-19 health screening per CDC guidelines, check student in and provide a tardy slip. Parents will not be allowed to enter the school.
- Parents picking up students early will call the front desk so that the student can be summoned and ready to get into the vehicle at the designated drop-off/pick-up area by the front entrance
Interior movement
- Each of our two floors has dual hallways measuring between 9’ and 12’ in width, extending the full length of the building and creating a loop to enable unidirectional traffic flow for each floor
- Class exchange times have been adjusted by grade to minimize hallway traffic flow
- Students are lined up in a single file for staggered entry and exit at the first bell, recess, lunch, and dismissal. Students are led in and out of the building by staff and are provided hand sanitizer upon exit and re-entry into the classroom.
- Specialist classrooms have designated one-way entrances and exits
In the classroom
- Desks will be positioned 6’ apart
- Desk partitions will be placed at each student’s desk
- Face coverings and/or shields for faculty and students
- MCS Students and Faculty will wear cloth face coverings in accordance with the CDPH’s Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings
- Disposable face coverings will be provided when needed
- Unless medically exempt, those refusing to wear a face covering in accordance with the CDPH’s guidance will not be allowed on campus
- Students, Faculty and Staff will be required to keep additional clean face coverings with their belongings
- Hand sanitizing stations in each classroom, staff lounges, restrooms, offices, font desk, and throughout the school
- Personal belongings, tools and supplies will be kept at students’ desks or in students’ backpacks. Backpacks will be carried from class to class when necessary.
- For drop-off and pick-up, MCS Students and Faculty will wear cloth face coverings in accordance with the CDPH’s Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings
- Students with special needs will receive additional supervision/support to assist with safety practices
Offices
- All Office staff and desks will have protective shields
Face coverings around campus
- MCS Staff and Faculty will wear cloth face coverings in accordance with the CDPH’s Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings
- Face coverings must be used in accordance with CDPH guidelines unless a person is exempt as explained in the guidelines, particularly in indoor environments and areas where physical distancing alone is not sufficient to prevent disease transmission
- TK - 2nd grade - strongly recommended to wear face coverings
- 3rd grade and above - mandatary face coverings
- Visitors, when permitted on campus, will be required to wear face coverings at all times
- Additional disposable face coverings will be provided if needed
- Everyone will be required to carry additional clean face coverings with their belongings
- Students will be asked to purchase breakaway lanyards or neck gaiter style face coverings for the rare occasion in which masks may be removed. If students do not have either lanyards or gaiters, removed face coverings will be placed in a labeled brown paper bag and kept in the student’s designated cohort seating area
- Everyone wearing a soiled face covering will be asked to change to a clean replacement
- Soiled face coverings will be placed in labeled brown paper bag and immediately placed with personal belongings
- Our hot lunch provider will deliver individually-packaged lunches. Staff and volunteers distributing hot lunch will wear face coverings and gloves
Before school
- Each day, families will review health screening questions with each student before leaving for school and will comply by keeping students home if they present symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or if they have had close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19
- Each day, each person arriving on campus will have his/her temperatures taken using no-touch thermometers and asked if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or have been exposed to anyone who does. People with temperature readings >100.4 degrees or who answer yes to the health screening questions will not be allowed on campus
- Students with temperatures >100.4 degrees will not be allowed to exit car and can be driven to school’s front entrance to be re-checked and re-screened for false thermometer readings
During school
- Teachers will be trained on COVID-19 symptoms and will send students who exhibit symptoms to nurse for screening
- Nurse will further screen student for COVID-19 symptoms as consistent with public health guidance
- Students with symptoms will be immediately sent to the school’s isolation area
- Health office will have a physically distanced seating area for children waiting to be assessed. Temperatures and health screening will be performed before admittance to the Health Office.
Faculty and Staff COVID-19 testing
- Faculty and Staff will have temperature checks and daily health screenings (via Titan Health & Security Technologies) before entering the building
- Faculty and Staff will get COVID-19 tests taken according to the CDPH’s recommended schedule
- All staff being tested over 2 months, where 25% of staff are tested every 2 weeks, or 50% every month to rotate which staff members are tested over time
- Faculty, Staff and families will either go to their health care provider or a state-operated or other community testing site
- Upon any sign of illness presentation, student or staff will immediately be isolated in the designated isolation area
- Any Staff in contact with infected and/or confirmed COVID-19 positive people (exposure of >15 minutes within 6’ distance) should be tested
MCS Staff
- MCS has a registered nurse on staff and will hire an additional health aide
Hand sanitizing
- MCS has hand sanitizing stations in each room of the building, including classrooms and restrooms
- Arrivals, breaks, and dismissals are staggered to allow time for handwashing
- Students and staff should wash their hands frequently throughout the day, including when:
- leaving a desk
- entering or exiting classroom
- before and after eating
- after coughing or sneezing
- after classes where shared items are handled, such as outside recreation, art, or shop
- using the restroom
- Students and staff should wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap, rubbing thoroughly after application.
- Staff should model and practice hand washing. For example, for lower grade levels, use bathroom time as an opportunity to reinforce healthy habits and monitor proper handwashing.
- Teach students and remind staff to use a tissue to wipe their nose and to cough/sneeze inside a tissue or their elbow.
- Students and staff should use fragrance-free hand sanitizer when handwashing is not practicable. Sanitizer must be rubbed into hands until completely dry. Note: frequent hand washing is more effective than the use of hand sanitizers.
- Ethyl alcohol-based hand sanitizers are preferred and should be used when there is the potential of unsupervised use by children.
- Isopropyl hand sanitizers are more toxic when ingested or absorbed in skin.
- Do not use hand sanitizers that may contain methanol, which can be hazardous when ingested or absorbed.
- Children under age 9 should only use hand sanitizer under adult supervision. Call Poison Control if consumed: 1-800-222-1222
- Classrooms schedules have built-in hand washing and restroom breaks three times daily
Facilities
- 48 new HVAC units with maximum fresh air intake
- Merv 11 filters being used
- Windows and doors will be open as much as possible
- Doors will be open at the beginning and end of every class period to limit the touching of doorknobs
- Motion-sensor, no-touch light switches in all rooms
- Desk partitions at each student’s desk
- Restrooms with touchless faucets and paper towel dispensers
- Increased restroom cleaning frequency throughout the day
- No-touch bottle filling stations
- Drinking fountains have been turned off
- Non-porous restroom counters
- Students have their own school supplies and will not share (e.g. crayons, markers, personal supplies, etc)
- Desks spaced 6’ apart where practicable
- Limited visitors on campus
- No lockers
Shared classroom supplies
- Supplies that must be shared will be disinfected and/rotated through a 1-5 day isolation period between student usage
- Where possible, shared items will be laminated and sanitized between usage
MCS’s school nurse and her team oversee contact tracing. This team will be responsible for creating and submitting lists of exposed students and staff to the Orange County Department of Health as well as exposed persons as outlined in our communication plan.
Physical Distancing in the Classroom
- Desks, tables and chairs will be positioned 6’ from others
- Desk shields will be used when practicable
- Each TK - 2nd grade classes have an aide supporting the teacher
- Student property and tools/supplies will be kept at their desks within the 6’ space
- Procedures will be used to minimize contact when students turn in assignments
- Snack time will occur at classroom desks
- All music courses have been adjusted to meet CDPH requirements
Restrooms
- Cohorts have scheduled restroom breaks and designated locations
- Physical distancing floor markers placed inside and outside restroom doors
- Restrooms equipped with touch-less faucets, paper towel dispensers and hand sanitizer
Use of Outdoor Space
- Numerous outdoor areas across campus serve as additional open-air teaching spaces
- Dedicated outdoor area attached to TK and K classrooms
- Two open-air atriums with roll-up doors; fresh air circulates
- Atrium #1 - 1,162 sq. ft.
- Atrium #2 - 1,110 sq. ft.
- Outdoor rooftop garden 2,000 sq. ft.
- Upstairs outdoor learning area 6,286 sq. ft.
- Downstairs snack and lunch area 6,286 sq. ft.
- Cohorts have designated outdoor play areas
- Activities will be held outdoors
- Additional tables with designated markers to promote physical distancing will be added for recess and lunch
- Activities permitted limit face-to-face exposure
- Limited use of outdoor equipment; sanitized between use
- Increased supervision will encourage physical distancing
- Play structures will be assigned on a rotating basis to cohorts; sanitized daily
Staggered schedules
- Staggered breaks reduce traffic
- Grade-level staggered lunch breaks allowing half the students to eat lunch first, while the other group plays
- Student drop-off, pick-up, recess and lunches are staggered to accommodate for as few students on the playground at a time
Recess
- Staggered recess times
- Limited equipment usage:
- Students to sanitize hands before and after use
- Aides to sanitize all equipment between recesses
- Snacks will be enjoyed inside classrooms; students will sanitize then head outside
- Sports and activities with higher levels of contact will be limited.
- Afternoon/extra snack time will be in class, without an extra recess
Lunch
- Cohorts will eat together unless student needs to eat at a designated allergy table
- Cohorts will be dismissed after hands are sanitized and personal areas are cleaned
- Hot lunches will be individually packaged and increased distribution locations have been added
- Lunch cart drop off will NOT be used for the 2020-2021 school year. Emergency hot lunch (cereal, snacks and drink) will be provided.
- All personal lunch items will stay at their designated Cohort tables. Students will return after play time to sanitize, retrieve belongings and be led by teachers back into classrooms
- No food sharing will be allowed
Locker rooms
- Locker rooms will be closed until state guidance allows sports competition to resume
- PE uniforms won’t be used until further notice
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Faculty and Staff will get COVID-19 tests taken according to the CDPH’s recommended schedule
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All staff being tested over 2 months, where 25% of staff are tested every 2 weeks, or 50% every month to rotate which staff members are tested over time
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Students who present with >100.4 degrees temperatures and/or display COVID-19 symptoms will be isolated in our designated health office until parents arrive to pick up
- State guidance will be followed: if >5% of total school population (students, faculty and staff) within a 14 day period test positive at a single point in time, entire school shifts to remote learning
MCS uses Titan Health & Security Technologies (aka Titan HST), email, website and social media to communicate to our families and broader community for health-related matters and education.
Self-reporting to MCS
- MCS’s health office is responsible for COVID-19 contact tracing. This plan follows laws as required by FERPA and state law related to privacy of educational records and other privacy laws.
- All MCS community members are required to notify the Health Office if they, or a member of their household, or a person with whom they have had close contact, tests positive for COVID-19.
- If a community member develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or is self-isolating due to suspected or known exposure (exposure of >15 minutes within 6’ distance) to COVID-19, he/she is required to notify the Health Office and follow directions in Table 1.0 below :
- Self-monitor for symptoms
- Check temperature twice a day
- Watch for fever*, cough, or shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19
- Avoid contact with people at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19
- Follow CDC guidance if symptoms develop
- The following guidance is from the CDPH Schools Reopening Recommendations PDF dated July 17, 2020
- Self-monitor for symptoms
Table 1.0 - Measures to be taken when a student, staff, or faculty member has symptoms, is in contact with of someone infected, or is diagnosed with COVID-19
Communication plan if a Cohort Student tests positive
- Other Cohort Families will be notified of a positive case while maintaining FERPA and state law related to privacy of educational records to protect the person’s identity
- MCS will provide direction as to how to monitor your child and when they may return to campus.
- If able, Cohort student will shift to remote learning for the duration of his/her quarantine
- School community will be notified of known case as prescribed by CDPH in Table 1.0
Communication plan if a Student’s household member tests positive
- Cohort will not be notified
Communication plan if MCS receives notice of confirmed COVID-19 case
- In any of the instances below, a message will be sent to appropriate families, staff, faculty and local health officials about the confirmed infection, while maintaining Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) laws to protect the person’s identity
- If a student on campus exhibits COVID-19 symptoms (as outlined by the CDC), he/she will be isolated in the designated isolation area until he/she can be transported home or to a healthcare facility as soon as possible. He/she will be required to wear a face covering. Families will be encouraged to proceed with COVID-19 testing.
- If a staff member exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, he/she will be sent home and recommended to proceed with COVID-19 testing
- Cohort and any people identified as having close contact (within 6’ of a confirmed case >15 minutes) will quarantine at home for 14 days and shift to remote learning. MCS will notify affected individuals when it’s safe to return to campus
Clean and Disinfect infected areas
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- Areas used by the confirmed COVID-19 will be closed and remain unused until thorough cleaning and disinfecting
- Where possible, the area will remain untouched for 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting
Process to Return to School
- If a student exhibiting COVID-like symptoms is not tested for COVID-19 but provides an alternate explanation (strep, influenza, etc. as determined by a healthcare provider), he/she may return to school after 24 hours symptom free AND a note (including email or fax at (714) 437-7976) from provider stating the individual has an alternate diagnosis and is deemed healthy to return to school.
- If individual is not tested for COVID-19, does NOT provide an alternative explanation by a healthcare provider, and is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, he/she must
- remain home for 10 days from the first day symptoms appeared
- be fever-free for 72 hours without fever-reducing medicine
- show improvement of respiratory symptoms
- If individual has a known close contact (within 6’ of a confirmed case >15 minutes) he/she must complete a 14-day quarantine despite negative test
- If individual has tested COVID-19 positive
- he/she must remain home for at least 10 days from the date symptoms began
- be fever-free for 72 hours without fever-reducing medications
- show improvement of respiratory symptoms
- If individual has tested negative for COVID-19, he/she may return to school three days after symptoms resolve