Reminder: Update needed to your Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Service Plan

To: Superintendents, Charter School Leaders, Reopening Advisors
From: Kati Moseley, Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Manager
Date: January 19, 2022
Subject: Reminder: Update needed to your Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Service Plan

Dear Colleagues,

On January 4, the Oregon Department of Education sent out a message regarding important updates needed to the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Service Plans by school district and charter school leaders. This message serves as a reminder that the due date is February 25, 2022 for all school districts and charter schools to complete and submit updates to their plan.

With the Omicron variant present in Oregon, with changes from the CDC and OHA in relation to isolation, quarantine and test to stay and with changes from ODE and the State Board of Education to the Individualized COVID-19 Recovery Services, tools like the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Services Plan are instrumental to our work to support all learners and ensure students can access in person instruction.

Districts and charter schools should gather public input, comment, and feedback to inform needed changes and use their current Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan or the revised Plan template for School Districts or Charter Schools. All school district and charter school leaders must update their Plan to include the following: 

1. Update Planning Mental Health Supports 
   • Revise responses related to ARP ESSER & OAR 581-022-0106 to reflect new strategies and recommendations related to Care and Connection. Refer to Appendix A within the instructions which provides resources, ideas, and recommendations for districts in addressing mental health needs of school community members. 

2. Update Link to Communicable Disease Management Plan
   • Hyperlink to communicable disease manage plan.

3. Update Health & Safety Strategies
   • Revise responses related to OHA testing programs to reflect new mitigation strategies related to COVID-19 such as implementation of test to stay protocol.

4. Add Individualized COVID-19 Recovery Services Section
   • Revise to include policies, protocols and procedures for individualized COVID-19 recovery services offered by the district. OAR 581-015-2229 
     • If using the fillable pdf or the one in Appendix B combine the page(s) in which you have described the policies, procedures and protocols developed for provision of individualized COVID-19 recovery services into your Safe Return Plan before posting the plan and submitting the link. 
     • If using the revised Plan District template, or the Charter School template, the individualized COVID-19 recovery services section is already included at the end of the template. You will need to copy your plan content into the new template, including additions needed for this update, before you post the plan and submit the link.   
5. Updates to this Plan
   • Revise the Date Last Updated field to reflect the current date.

6. Post to a publicly accessible place for community members to access and review.
7. Submit to ODE
   • Once your plan update is complete, use the Safe Return Plan Update form to submit to ODE a functional link to where the updated plan is publicly posted and complete all requested elements no later than February 25, 2022.

Please reach out with questions about this update, by contacting the ODE COVID-19 inbox at ODECOVID19@ode.state.or.us. Thank you!