North Tama County Community School District

North Tama Parents,

With Tama County’s 14-day positivity rate for COVID-19 presently exceeding 15%, the district has initiated the consultation process with the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Public Health to consider a possible temporary, short-term closure accompanied by a move to Remote Learning for all students during the period of the closure.  

North Tama’s administration will continue to monitor positivity rates over the weekend and will collaborate with the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Public Health to assist these state agencies as they make their decision.  

The district’s text/email notification system will be used to make an announcement concerning classes on Monday, November 2 no later than 6:00 p.m. Sunday. 

Dear Parent:

        The recent cold temperatures and changing weather serve as a good reminder that Iowa’s school schedules are often affected by hazardous weather/road conditions such as ice, fog, snow, and extreme cold temperatures. We’ve been blessed with relatively good weather since the beginning of the school year; but, of course, this can change at any time. The purpose of this letter is to remind parents about our district’s procedures for notifying parents of weather-related delays, cancellations, and early dismissals AND to inform you of a few minor changes regarding the use of social media for weather announcements as well as a new procedure that may affect the school schedule on Wednesdays. 

Text Message & Email Notifications: 

• All parents are signed up to receive a text message and/or email message notifying them of any weather-related delays, cancellations, and early dismissals.  Parents were able to provide contact numbers and notification preferences during the back-to-school registration process in August.  Parents who would like to make a change in preferences can do so by contacting the school, at (319) 478-2265.
• Today, October 23, 2020, at approximately 1:00PM, we sent a text message alerting parents to this information. If you did not receive this text, please call or email, so we can check your preferences.
• Community members who are NOT parents wishing to be added to the text message notification system can sign up on our website under “Text Alert Sign-Up” which can be found in the “District” pull-down menu. Community members who have previously requested to be included in this system do not need to ask again. 
• School employees will also automatically receive a text notification.

Broadcast Media & Social Media: 

• We often post weather-related announcements on KWWL and other broadcast media; however, we encourage you to not rely on these systems and to consider our text/email notification system to be your official notification from the school. There are several issues with the radio/TV notifications that make them unreliable. This includes significant delays in
• getting announcements on the air, “dropped” announcements, and the TV stations’ occasional choice to only post announcements on their website rather than on the air. 
• North Tama will NOT post delay/cancellation/early dismissal announcements on our social media outlets this year.  We feel it is more reliable to use direct-to-parent text messages and emails rather than trust the social media algorithms to get this information to the people who need it most. 

Reminder: Remote Learning on “Snow Days”: 

• Just a reminder that if school is canceled for a weather-related reason, that day will become a remote learning day for all students. Teachers will send instructions home so that students know how to engage in that day’s learning. 
• It is rare for school to be canceled for a reason that is not weather related, but this does occasionally happen.  Examples may include a disruption in water service, a power outage that isn’t weather-related, or other facility problems/issues. If school is canceled for a non-weather related reason, remote learning will NOT take place that day. The governor’s proclamation allowing remote learning on cancelled days ONLY applies to weather-related cancellations.   
• Our school calendar (adopted in March, prior to the governor’s declaration) includes three “built-in makeup days” on January 18, February 15, and May 7.  Because this year’s “snow days” will become remote learning days, it is very unlikely that these three days need to be used as makeup days. However, in the unlikely event of one or more cancellations for non-weather related reasons, these days may still be used as makeup days.  We will send reminders as these dates approach.
• We know this is new and may be confusing. To help make things clear, any text/email notifications will clearly state whether or not that day will be a remote learning day.  Watch for text messages such as these: “No school today due to inclement weather. REMOTE LEARNING DAY,” or, “No school today.  NO REMOTE LEARNING TODAY.” 

Wednesday Early Dismissals: 

• You are aware that North Tama’s 2020-2021 school calendar includes a 1-hour early dismissal each Wednesday to allow time for teacher professional development (PD).  This replaces five of the full days of PD included in previous school years’ calendars and allows us to offer five five additional days of instruction over the course of the year. 
• As you know, dangerous road conditions, extreme cold, or foggy mornings sometimes warrant a delayed start to the school day.  As a general rule of thumb, if a 2-hour delay occurs on a Wednesday, the early dismissal for PD will be canceled that day.  School will be dismissed at the “normal” (Monday-Tuesday; Thursday-Friday) dismissal time of 3:20 (elementary) or 3:25 (secondary). 
• There may be rare exceptions to this rule; for example, if that afternoon’s PD is being facilitated by an out-of-state presenter who can’t be rescheduled to another date. Again, the general rule of thumb that will be used in virtually all circumstances will be NO early dismissal on a Wednesday if there is a 2-hour delay that morning. 
• For clarity, the school will be sure to include this information in any notifications.  Watch for text messages such as these: “2-hour delay due to fog.  NO EARLY DISMISSAL.”

We thank you for understanding that while we don’t like disrupting the schedule and taking away scheduled learning time due to severe weather, there are times that safety simply must come first.  Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have about these procedures. 

Sincerely,

North Tama Administration

Dear Parent,

At last night's school board meeting, the board approved several updates to North Tama's Return to Learn Plan.  As part of this process, it was decided that North Tama's Jr./Sr. High School Building (grades 7-12) will return to 100% capacity this coming Monday, October 19. 

In addition to the return to 100% capacity, the changes in this updated plan include recently-released state guidelines related to confidentiality, parent notification, and modified quarantine requirements based on whether the individual(s) in close contact were wearing a mask. The updated plan now includes a measure that may return the whole district or an individual building to the 50% capacity hybrid plan for a two-week period depending on the number of active positives within the building. Additionally, the document provides clarification and updates to several components of the district’s plan including the selection of a learning model, parent notification of positive cases, face covering requirements, and procedures that will be followed when students and staff exhibit possible symptoms of COVID-19. 

Please keep in mind that additional guidance or directives from the state and our continually-changing local context may necessitate additions or changes to the district's plans.  It continues to be North Tama’s goal to follow practices and offer models of learning that will both educate our students and keep our students and staff healthy and safe during the current global pandemic.  

The updated Return to Learn Plan, approved by the North Tama Board of Education on 10/12/2020 is attached as a PDF for your review and can also be seen here on the website: Return To Learn Plan.  

Admission:  

• Will be taken for North Tama Events at follows:
  • High School Sporting events - $5.00 for Kindergarten through Adults
    • North Tama Athletic/Activity Passes honored – See the Main Office to Purchase
  • JV Football Games – No Admission
    • Please note when attending away games that some schools may charge admission
  • Junior High Sporting events – No Admission
    • Please note when attending away games that some schools may charge admission
  • Concerts – all ages - $2.00 for Adults, $1.00 for Students
  • Plays/Swing Show - $5.00 for Kindergarten through Adults
• Gates open at 45 minutes before event start time
• Gym capacity is limited to 325 people, which includes spectators, players, coaches and officials. 
  • North Tama will have a presale of tickets for the Janesville contest (1st home contest) on September 10th. Further information will come from the athletic department as soon as possible. 
  • Presale tickets will be guaranteed for parents/guardians of players and North Tama Athletic ticket holders(purchased only)

Seating:

• FOOTBALL:
  • Bleachers will be available – social distancing is expected
  • Social distancing from those not in your immediate family group is expected
  • Feel free to bring your own lawn chair
  • Fans MUST STAY BEHIND the white dashed restraining line
• Volleyball:
  • Social Distancing from those not in your immediate family group is expected
  • No seating in the first TWO (2) rows on both sides
  • Please allow Two (2) rows of social distance space behind player benches
  • Score Table and Tech Team areas will be marked – please allow 6 ft of distancing from their designated area
• Other Events in the Gym:
  • Social Distancing from those not in your immediate family group is expected
  • Tech Team areas will be marked – please allow 6 ft of distancing from team members

Concessions:

• Concessions will be available and will follow safety protocols customary to licensed food service entities.  North Tama Concessions is licensed under the North Tama Lunch program.
• Social Distancing while waiting to be served is expected

Restrooms:

• Restrooms are available and will be disinfected according to North Tama Cleaning Guidelines

Personal Protective Equipment:

• FOOTBALL or Other Outdoor Events:
  • Masks are highly recommended but not required and can be removed after spectators are situated and socially distanced from others.
• All Events located inside the North Tama School building:
  • Masks are required while entering, exiting and anytime you are moving around the facility and social distance can not be achieved.  Masks can be removed after spectators are seated and socially distanced from others.

Spectators are asked to do the following:

• Accept personal responsibility for following public health guidelines
  • Please remember these events are for the students – their health and safety are our priority when making decisions
• Practice social distancing (limit your group to your immediate household)
• Be patient and kind
• Abide by posted signs and all guidance
• Stay home if you have been in contact with someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days. 
• Stay home if you have any one of the high risk symptoms listed below or two or more of the low risk symptoms listed below:

High Risk Symptoms (Have one of these?  Do not attend.)

• New cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
   
• New loss of taste or smell
   

Low Risk Symptoms (Have two or more? Do not attend.)

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle and body aches
• Fatigue
• Sore throat
• Runny Nose
• Congestion
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea