McDonald County goes to virtual learning for Jan 14

McDONALD COUNTY, Mo. – McDonald County R-1 School District goes to virtual learning for Friday, Jan. 14.

“Due to a rising number of our staff and students being out of school because of sickness, the McDonald County School District will not be in session on Friday, January 14.

This will be an AMI (virtual learning) day for students. They will have instructions on how to access the online learning platforms from their teachers.

We are considering this a wellness day, and our custodial staff will be on-site cleaning and sanitizing the buildings across the district.

We appreciate your understanding of this situation.

Since school will be out on Monday, January 17 for Martin Luther King Jr Day, students and staff will report back to school during regular times on Tuesday, January 18.”

Related:

Supreme Court halts COVID-19 vaccine rule for US businesses

WASHINGTON (AP)  — The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.

At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.

The court’s orders Thursday during a spike in coronavirus cases was a mixed bag for the administration’s efforts to boost the vaccination rate among Americans.

The court’s conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees. More than 80 million people would have been affected.

“OSHA has never before imposed such a mandate. Nor has Congress. Indeed, although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here,” the conservatives wrote in an unsigned opinion.

In dissent, the court’s three liberals argued that it was the court that was overreaching by substituting its judgment for that of health experts. “Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the Court displaces the judgments of the Government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies,” Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a joint dissent.

When crafting the OSHA rule, White House officials always anticipated legal challenges — and privately some harbored doubts that it could withstand them. The administration nonetheless still views the rule as a success at already driving millions of people to get vaccinated and for private businesses to implement their own requirements that are unaffected by the legal challenge.

Both rules had been challenged by Republican-led states. In addition, business groups attacked the OSHA emergency regulation as too expensive and likely to cause workers to leave their jobs at a time when finding new employees already is difficult.

The vaccine mandate that the court will allow to be enforced nationwide covers virtually all health care workers in the country. It applies to health care providers that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding, potentially affecting 76,000 health care facilities as well as home health care providers. The rule has medical and religious exemptions.

Decisions by federal appeals courts in New Orleans and St. Louis had blocked the mandate in about half the states. The administration already was taking steps to enforce it elsewhere.

In the healthcare case, only justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito noted their dissents. “The challenges posed by a global pandemic do not allow a federal agency to exercise power that Congress has not conferred upon it. At the same time, such unprecedented circumstances provide no grounds for limiting the exercise of authorities the agency has long been recognized to have,” the justices wrote in an unsigned opinion, saying the “latter principle governs” in the healthcare cases.

More than 208 million Americans, 62.7% of the population, are fully vaccinated, and more than a third of those have received booster shots, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All nine justices have gotten booster shots.

The justices heard arguments on the challenges last week. Their questions then hinted at the split verdict that they issued Thursday.

Related: 

Missouri AG Responds

Earlier this afternoon, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Missouri and other plaintiffs in halting the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s vaccine mandate on private employers. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released the following statement: “Earlier this afternoon, the United States Supreme Court halted the OSHA private employer vaccine mandate, a massive win for millions of workers and businesses across the country, including Doolittle Manufacturing here in Missouri, who would’ve had to shutter their doors if this mandate was not halted. Missouri was the first state to file suit against the OSHA private employer mandate, and I’m proud to have delivered this critical decision for Missourians and Americans, and to hand the Biden Administration its biggest loss to date. While we’re disappointed in the Supreme Court’s ruling on our lawsuit against the health care worker vaccine mandate, that fight is far from over, and the case is still ongoing. We’re committed to ensuring that rural hospitals and nursing homes continue to stay open and provide critical care to Missourians, and we will not give up this fight.”

Oklahoma AG Responds

“The State of Oklahoma is pleased the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the states challenging the OSHA vaccine mandate on private businesses. Now, individuals who work in the private sector can make healthcare decisions for themselves and their families – as it should be. This is a major win for job creators and their employees.

“However, we are disappointed with the Court’s decision to allow the enforcement of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. The State of Oklahoma is already suffering from healthcare staffing shortages and the CMS vaccine mandate will only make matters worse, especially in rural Oklahoma. Not only does the CMS mandate threaten the healthcare interests of countless Americans, but it also puts state funding at risk. My office will continue to fight for the rights of Oklahomans and defend the rule of law against the Biden Administration’s heavy-handed tactics,” said Attorney General John O’Connor.

Kansas AG Responds

The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the Biden administration’s mandate that most private employers with 100 or more employees require their workers to be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 but also let a separate federal mandate that healthcare workers be vaccinated go into effect, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.

“Today’s rulings are a mixed bag for Kansas,” said Schmidt, who had challenged both mandates together with separate federal mandates covering federal contractors and Head Start childcare programs. “Blocking the illegal OSHA mandate gives welcome relief to thousands of employers and employees throughout our state who now will not lose their jobs because of their healthcare decisions, but the disappointing decision to uphold for now the mandate that healthcare workers be vaccinated is likely to aggravate the shortage of nurses and other healthcare professionals that already is causing serious disruption to the delivery of care throughout our state.”

Joplin Schools cancels classes for Friday, Jan. 14

JOPLIN, Mo. – Joplin parents get an automated message saying school is canceled for Friday, January 14, 2022.

Joplin Schools sent the following message to media:

“Due to staff shortages, Joplin Schools will cancel all classes tomorrow, Friday, January 14, 2022. This day will be made up on May 25th. We are extremely proud of our Joplin team for making the best of what has been a difficult week. Buildings will undergo deep cleaning and sanitization before classes resume Tuesday, January 18, 2022.”

Related:

Parsons Police enter Covid Protocol, what this means for residents

PARSONS, Kan. – The Parsons Police Department enters COVID Protocol again, with staffing levels at a critical state.

“If we can get our staff out of the red and healthy, we can return to a sense of normalcy,” According to Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks. “We want what is best for all parties involved. So if you see an officer keeping their distance or asking you to step outside or out of a vehicle please comply and know that we are just trying to stay safe but still be effective.”

The Police Department had a spike and logged 6 positive COVID cases in the last week. In a release, the department says it put their already minimal staffing levels to a critical state. They want to keep the public safe from sickness as well as crime.

Starting today, January 13, 2022, the department will make changes to its call responses for the next 30 days.

With the department considered a hotspot for COVID cases, they say it’s “imperative that we keep staff and citizens safe.”

Covid Protocol Guidelines

The Parsons Police Department will implement the following guidelines (same as implemented in March 2020):

  • The lobby at the police department will remain open, the Records Window is closed, and all business is transacted through the dispatch window, which, is bullet-resistant glass with a speaker. All requested documents will be delivered through electronic or other non-interactive means.
  • Rather than officers coming to the location for reports involving ‘cold calls’ and crimes against property without evidence, officers will take those reports by phone when possible. This would only apply to calls that are not in-progress, not violent in nature and where a suspect(s) has already left the scene.
  • Instead of coming to the police station, we encourage people to phone into police dispatch at 421-7060.
  • Fingerprinting for licensing and employment purposes has been temporarily suspended for the general public.
  • VIN Inspections will also be suspended for the time being.
  • We will only respond to medical calls for service at the request of EMS.

The Parsons Police Department hopes that this will only be a temporary change to the way it operates.

Nursing homes see spike in COVID cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nursing homes see spike in new COVID cases due to omicron surge in the general community.

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living released a report about nursing homes experiencing an alarming spike in COVID cases.

The data shows COVID cases in both staff and residents in nursing homes are rapidly increasing. The AHCA/NCAL says this trend mirrors the general U.S. population due to the highly contagious omicron variant.

“As soon as news of Omicron broke in December, we were very concerned this variant would lead to a surge of cases in the U.S. and therefore, an increase in cases in nursing homes and unfortunately it has,” stated Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of the AHCA/NCAL. “We urged members of the public to help us protect our nation’s seniors ahead of the holiday season, and we reiterate that plea today. Help support our frontline caregivers and safeguard our most vulnerable by getting vaccinated, boosted and masked.”

The report shows that COVID-related deaths have increased. However, the rate of death is 10 times less than in December 2020.

According to the AHCA/NCAL, prioritizing long-term care for testing, treatment, and workforce support will help assisted living communities during the omicron surge.

 

Local school districts move to virtual learning

School districts across the four states are facing the tough decision to temporarily go back to virtual learning.

The Carthage school district announced Monday night they would be transitioning virtually for the rest of the week.

“We anticipated numbers to increase once we returned from Christmas break. It’s just an obvious thing. However, the numbers for being quarantined and positive cases just were higher than we anticipated,” said Carthage Superintendent Mark Baker.

Absences among staff and students played a large role in the decision to move to AMI learning.

“We had 104 staff members absent yesterday morning and a group as the day continued. Obviously, we had a lot of kids gone also, and it just had to happen. We needed to cancel school. We also do not have school on Monday, so this is going to give us about five days separated to hopefully slow the spread down.”

Carthage isn’t alone in this decision, other four state schools like Miami, Commerce, Grove, Pittsburg, Neosho, Webb City, Riverton, and Frontenac will be virtual for the remainder of the week.

For more information on local schools going virtual, click here.

KOAM reached out to Grove Public Schools for comment, and they sent us a statement that reads:

“We decided to transition to distance learning due to a high volume of sick students, 94 of which are COVID related. We also are experiencing a high volume of sick teachers (6-7 at each site) and not enough substitutes to cover classes. I believe in-person learning is our best option when available, however, the past two years have prepared us to continue student learning virtually on a short-term basis and allow time for teachers and students to get well. Our maintenance staff will conduct deep cleaning and disinfectant fogging the next few days to sanitize our school. We will resume our regular schedule on Tuesday, January 18 as Monday we will observe Martin Luther King Day. ”

-Pat Dodson, Superintendent, Grove Public Schools

While some schools have decided to go virtual due to cases in the district, others districts like Mcdonald County say they haven’t met the numbers needed to go virtual.

“So right now, where it’s school, as normal as it can get during these situations, we’re still doing in-school learning,” said Ken Schutten, Media Communications Coordinator for McDonald County Schools.   “We do have some issues with several people and kids being out of school due to sickness and other things. But as it stands right now, as we’re talking, we’re still in school learning.”

Schutten also added that the option to go virtual remains on the table, but staff are stepping up to ensure that won’t have to happen.

“What our administrators have been doing all day and we’ll continue to do is to check in with the schools to find out what their attendance is, and really the issue now with many of these schools is staffing the schools because it seems like that this round of sickness and not only COVID but also different things had really affected the staffing of a lot of these schools.”

Schutten said the district is thankful for its staff for being flexible. 

“Our dedicated staff has done a fantastic job of covering what we’ve got now, situations we have now in certain buildings as we have, they’re pulling staff from like reading coaches and paraprofessionals that we have in those buildings, as well as principals are helping to fill the positions in these classrooms so that these kids can continue to get the education that they really need.”

The Joplin school district will also be open for the time being and made the announcement on their Facebook page 

“School is Open on Thursday, January 13, 2022!

Again, the first three days of school that are canceled, regardless of reason, will be made up at the end of May. And make-up days four through eight will initiate AMI. Students will be expected to complete work on AMI days.
We had 15% of staff and 17.5 % of students out today. We have been able to remain open and plan, at this time, to be in session tomorrow, January 13, 2022. Should the District make a decision to close school anytime between now and the remainder of the school year, we would make up the first three days on May 25, 26, & 27.
Additional make-up days (days 4 through 8 ) would initiate Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) days. Your students’ teachers should be communicating AMI expectations to you.
Again, the first three days of school that are canceled, regardless of reason, will be made up at the end of May. And make-up days four through eight will initiate AMI. Students will be expected to complete work on AMI days.”

Freeman briefs media on new COVID numbers

JOPLIN, Mo. – Today, Paula Baker briefed the media on the latest COVID numbers and answered questions.

According to Freeman Health Systems, the omicron variant caused an increase in COVID cases. As a result, more patients have been hospitalized.

Freeman’s Director of Internal Medicine Rob McNab said that the omicron variant is less severe but more contagious. McNab noted that patients dealing with more severe illnesses are usually unvaccinated.

 

 

More schools close this week due to Covid (Jan. 13-14)

NEOSHO, Mo. – Pittsburg, Fort Scott and Webb City public schools join others in canceling classes for the rest of the week, through Jan. 14, 2022. They each cite illness or Covid-19 reasons. Some other schools are opting to go virtual for the remainder of the week.

Below is a continuously changing list of the latest from local schools for this week. Many districts are monitoring the Covid-19 illness situation and point out that decisions could change day-to-day. A number of schools have a notification system for parents or post updates to social media.

KANSAS

Pittsburg USD 250

Pittsburg USD 250 closes for the remainder of the week (Jan. 13-14). The district sites staff shortages due to Covid-19 as the cause. You can read more here:

Fort Scott USD 234

Fort Scott public schools is closing for the rest of the week (Jan. 13-14). On the district’s website, it states, “Due to high student absenteeism and high transmission of the COVID-19 virus in our school district, USD 234 – Fort Scott Schools will be closed on January 13 and 14, 2022.”

USD 234 lists the number of students absent. You can find it by clicking here.

MISSOURI

Webb City School District

The Webb City School District canceled for the rest of the week as well.

“Due to the continued increase in student and staff illness across the district, Webb City R7 Schools will be closed on Thursday, January 13th and Friday, January 14th to deep clean buildings and give everyone time to recover. Thursday will be an AMI (Alternative Method of Instruction) day for students and staff members. The work for your student will be sent home or made available to them online. We appreciate your cooperation as we continue to navigate each situation as it arises.”
“As a reminder… Monday is a professional development day. Students WILL NOT be in school. We will see students back on Tuesday, January 18th.”

McDonald County R-1 School District

“As of today, Tuesday, January 11, our staff and student COVID positive numbers are not at the point to cancel classes in the McDonald County School District.
Of course, we are closely monitoring the situation and if classes were to be canceled, we may need to use AMI (virtual learning) days in the event of closure.
We appreciate our dedicated staff and substitute teachers and all they are doing to keep students in classes during this challenging time.
We will keep parents, staff, and students informed if conditions warrant a change.” – Ken Schutten, Communications/Media Specialist

Neosho School District

“Wildcat Nation parents, you should have received official notice by this point that we will be canceling school beginning tomorrow through Friday (Monday there will be no school for students in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) due to illness among the NSD Team. For more information, please check your email, text messages, NSD app notifications, or https://www.neoshosd.org/Page/4487.
A list of event cancellations will be updated and can be found on the top of the NSD homepage at neoshosd.org.
Thank you for your cooperation and support.”

Carthage R-9 School District

“Our number of positive cases and quarantined students and staff continue to increase to the point we need to start AMI days tomorrow through Friday. I will send a more detailed post later.” – Carthage R-9 School District

Superintendent Mark Baker says unless the district has an outbreak of positive cases and quarantines, activities and games can still happen.

“I will send a robo call later tonight. Sorry to do this but it is the right thing to do for our children, staff, and community.” – Mark

Oklahoma

Miami Public Schools

“Miami Public Schools will move to distance learning for the remainder of the week of January 12-14, 2022. School will also remain closed on Monday, January 17, 2022, in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Monday will not include instruction.”

Grove School District

“All Grove Public Schools sites will be transitioning to DISTANCE LEARNING starting Wednesday, January 12, 2022 due to the rising COVID exposure in our community and schools. We will return to IN PERSON learning on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 following the MLK holiday. Please stay tuned to our social media outlets for more information.”

Despite the district going virtual, the High School will continue to have athletics.

In the comments section, the school district continued answering questions, “Sporting events are optional events for participants and spectators. If you typically attend these events we ask that you weigh the pros and cons of attendance and take all of the precautions available to you to protect yourself and make the best decision for you.”

Pittsburg USD 250 cancels school for rest of week

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Pittsburg USD 250 closes for the remainder of the week (Jan. 13-14). The district sites staff shortages due to Covid-19 as the cause.

According to an email sent to parents,

“Due to staff shortages, USD 250 will be closed on Thursday, 1/13/22 through Friday, 1/14/22. As a reminder, Monday is a scheduled day for No School. Students and staff will return on Tuesday, 1/18/22. Please see the attached letter for more information.”

Monday is a holiday, so students and staff will be in school again on Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

USD 250 is not requiring students to engage in school work in an online format during cancellation. “This will provide us with a five (5) day period to help our
positive students and staff recover and diminish the chance of person to person transmission in our school buildings,” states the district in a letter attached to the email.

The school district states that a high number of teachers, paraprofessionals and classified staff members are positive or in quarantine as of today, January 12, 2022.

Extra-curricular activities that are able will continue as scheduled. The district is asking those involved to wear masks while in school facilities. Students who participate in extra-curricular activities will need to continue to “Test to Play” (if already in the Testing Program) to be eligible for participation.

You can read more from the email below, or click here.

Pittsburg USD 250 Cancels school Jan. 13-14, 2022 – 1_12_USD_250_COVID_Update (1)

Related: 

Pittsburg school’s testing policy causes issues for some

PITTSBURG, Kan. -The parking lot of Pittsburg Community Middle School has been more full than usual lately.

It’s not just Middle School students and staff, rather families from all of USD 250 as it has become a testing site for the  school district

“So we got the call on Friday, a little after lunch that she was going to have to be tested until the 14th for the next ten days, or she was to stay home. And on Friday, since it was after lunch, we drove around here. There was already a line. I was like, what’s the point? you know, the day is almost over. So Friday we didn’t get tested,” said Pittsburg parent Richelle Molina.

It’s part of Pittsburg school’s test-to-stay program, where students who were a close contact with a Covid-positive person and want to attend school that week, will need to be tested at the school’s testing site.

But parent’s like Molina say it’s been a challenge.

“They open at 6:30 am. I got here at 6:35 this morning. There was already four lines, so I knew it was going to be an hour and a half plus, and I have three other kids to get ready for USD 250, so I was like, there is no way,” Molina said. 

KOAM reached out to the school district for comment, but were told they were too busy and directed us to a board of education meeting from Monday.

“The other piece is because of the amount of testing that is out there, other entities in our community are either stop testing, and by appointments only, or have run out of tests, so the only place for some of our families to get tested now, is with us,” said a USD 250 board member at Monday’s meeting.

Molina says as a working parent, she doesn’t have the time to wait in line that long.

“I mean, missing two hours, you know, work time just standing in this line.”

Their aren’t too many other options–as the school is not accepting at-home tests as proof of being negative. 

“Thank goodness for at-home tests, but we have already seen false positives and false negatives off of that home test, they are not near as accurate as the antigen test given, and certainly not as accurate at the PCR, which is why we are verifying,” said another USD 250 board member at Monday’s meeting.

The school district says currently their testing site is overwhelmed, as parents like Molina say wait times exceed two hours.

Testing Policy

USD 250 COVID-19 TESTING DOCUMENT JAN 2022

 

Join the discussion on the KOAM News Now Facebook page.

(Previous USD 250 Article: Election nears on $16.5 million Pittsburg school bond)

School Board Meeting on Testing Policy

You can watch the School Board Meeting from January 10, 2022, below, or click here.

1/10/22 USD 250 Board of Education Meeting from Pittsburg Community Schools on Vimeo.