Quaker Valley school board approves 2021-22 health and safety plan

The Quaker Valley school board voted unanimously 8-0 with one board member absent to approve the school district’s 2021-22 health and safety plan on July 27.

The plan will take effect at the start of the school year on Aug. 25 for students in grades K-9 and Aug. 26 for students in grades 10-12.

“Our steadfast goal has always been and will remain to bring students back to school in an in-person learning environment. I am proud of the work our students, faculty, staff and families did last year to make it such a successful school year, given the constraints. We are optimistic this year will resemble a much more normal school year,” said Quaker Valley Superintendent Tammy Andreyko.

Assistant superintendent and pandemic coordinator Andrew Surloff did a 14-minute presentation about the health and safety plan to discuss what the upcoming school year would like for students.

Surloff said a survey was sent to parents in May to receive feedback on the learning model and safety measures from the 2020-2021 school year. Parents were able to provide suggestions on safety plans to consider for this year. The survey had 1,200 respondents and 535 comments.

There will be two educational models options — full-time in-person learning five days a week or online learning via Quaker Valley Online Academy through a partnership with Waterfront Learning.

The plan also highlights continued mitigation strategies, including social distancing, hand washing, respiratory etiquette and a recommendation for face coverings for everyone, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated.

The plan will be updated every six months or sooner if necessary – or anytime the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a significant guidance update.

“Our plan includes layered mitigation strategies, which can be flexibly applied to adapt to ever-changing pandemic conditions. This is our best planning as of now, one month out from the start of the school year,” Surloff said.

Parents will soon receive a form to choose on-campus or online learning for the upcoming school year.

The health and safety plan presentation is available online on Quaker Valley School District’s Youtube channel.