Each LEA plan includes, or will be modified to include, the extent to which it has adopted policies and a description of any such policies on each of the following mitigation strategies:

• Universal and correct wearing of masks;
• Physical distancing (e.g., including use of cohorts/podding);
• Handwashing and respiratory etiquette;
• Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving ventilation;
• Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the state, local, territorial or tribal health departments;
• Diagnostic and screening testing;
• Efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff and students, if eligible; and
• Appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect to the health and safety policies.

Any comments or feedback about the District's plan can be sent to ARPESSERFeedback@plsd.us.

USDOE Required Components

Safety Precautions for In-Person Instruction 

Update:

For the Pickerington Schools Flexible Learning 2.0 Plan, please note that at the beginning of all of the Status Levels, including Status Level Green, the protocols note the following:

“PLSD will follow mandates/requirements required by the Governor, Ohio/Franklin Department of Health, and Ohio Department of Education. These mandates/requirements may affect any/all proposed courses of action.”

We are aware that the Governor has rescinded nearly all health orders, including the mask order, and today he ended the declared state of emergency on June 18.

For the 2021-2022 school year, the District will allow parents to make the optional choice for their students to wear masks, and we do not anticipate requiring them unless the Governor’s orders, or additional orders from the Department of Health, require us to do so. We also know that physical distancing of 6 feet or more is not possible with fully in-person instruction. But we will still encourage and use our protocols for frequent hand-washing, cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, and other mitigation protocols.

But please also be advised that we do not know to what extent the Franklin County Public Health will still be enforcing quarantine protocols for COVID exposure during the 2021-2022 school year. The District therefore urges families to consider this as decisions are made about whether to wear masks or get vaccinations for the 2021-2022 school year.

As a final note, the federal government provided the ARP ESSER funds to schools throughout the nation, many of which did not end the school year with in-person instructional models. While Pickerington Schools were open for fully in-person instruction (Status Level Green) beginning April 5, masks were a requirement for schools for the duration of the 2020-2021 school year. The federal guidance required that plans included, or could be modified to include, guidance on masks, physical distancing, handwashing, cleaning, etc. Based on the Governor’s action, we are able to modify our plans accordingly. Our Flexible Learning 2.0 model was a comprehensive plan written to accommodate many different instructional models, and the protocols provided were designed to flexibly adapt to what was required, or not required, by the State of Ohio, the Department of Health, or other authorities.

The PLSD Flexible Learning Plan 2.0 can be accessed by clicking this link.

On April 5, 2021, the District resumed the Status Level Green – Fully Back to School Model.  More information about that transition can be found by clicking on this link.

For the 2021-2022 school year, Pickerington Schools will operate in the Status Level Green – Fully Back to School Model.  Instruction will be in-person, five days per week.

The Status Level Green – Fully Back to School Model health and safety expectations can be found by clicking this link.

Continuity of Services: Academic, Social/Emotional, Mental Health and More