All Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) elementary students (kindergarten through sixth grade), except those enrolled in the district’s remote academy, will move to in-person four days each week on Monday, October 26. Under this new model, students will go to school every day except Wednesday, which will remain dedicated to remote learning.
Accompanying this change in schedule will be a change to the district’s morning screening routine. A weekly bulletin released by district administrators on October 19 stated that Thatcher Brook Primary School would be the first to try a new off-site screening option this week.
Off-site screening means letting children answer daily coronavirus screening questions electronically. The district will use the app Pick Up Patrol, to let families answer questions about their child’s recent travel history and coronavirus symptoms.
If questions are not answered daily by 7:10 a.m., however, students will be asked to answer the questions in person when they arrive at school. Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren Elementary Schools will start using the app on October 26.
“In-person temperature checks will continue to be required of everyone, following the state-mandated protocol,” Superintendent Brigid Nease wrote in the bulletin. “Implementing this advance screening option, already being used at HUMHS, should help to speed up the morning screening process.”
Bus routes are under revision as well. “Look for updated bus routes, which move away from cluster stops and closer to prior year's routes, to be shared this week,” said Nease. Updated bus routes will also go into effect on October 26.
Many of these buses will be staffed with bus monitors to speed up the coronavirus screening process. As noted in the bulletin, “using the bus system reduces traffic congestion in school parking lots.”
