With many students back in the classroom across the state, the South Dakota Department of Education has developed a toolkit to help families, caretakers and staff navigate the 2020-2021 school year.
State Secretary of Education Ben Jones says that families and caregivers are a large piece of the puzzle to help face-to-face learning be successful this school year. He said that for most students, it’s more of a concern to not have them in the classroom than the risks of COVID-19. Jones said, students gain a lot from face-to-face learning. It provides them with vital academic, emotional, physical and nutritional benefits they may not get outside the school system.
So, as a parent or caregiver what can you do to help this school year be successful? Jones says that parents should keep their children home if they are sick. He also stressed the importance of teaching children healthy hygiene habits. His hope is that the parents employers would work with the employees when it comes to having sick children at home.
Jones said that school districts have been working hard all summer to put together a plan to help protect not only the staff and students, but the community as well. The South Dakota Department of Education has put together a toolkit that they hope will help many families with everything going on.
This toolkit can be found here. There are resources for parents, staff and community members to help them teach children healthy hygiene habits and how to monitor children for potential symptoms. There are also resources to help adults talk to children about COVID-19. It is suggested in this toolkit that you have a plan for if someone in the family was to get sick. You can check out these resources by clicking here.
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