Health and Safety Plan

DCTS Adult & Continuing Education Current Status:  Open

We are following  CDC Guidelines by requiring face coverings and reducing classroom numbers for social distancing.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recognizes the role that postsecondary institutions play in the educational, economic, and social well-being of the commonwealth and is committed to supporting institutions as they transition back to in-person instruction while putting measures in place to protect their campus communities.

 

With this commitment in mind, PDE has developed guidance for safely resuming in-person instruction for Post-SecondaryEducation Facilities which include adult basic education programs across PA.  These guidelines will be used in addition to the plans established for the Dauphin County Technical School daytime 9th through 12th grade programs since many of these classes are held in the same facilities.

This document follows closely the content and guidelines from the PDE’s June 3, 2020; Version 1 “Preliminary Guidance for Resuming In-Person Instruction at Postsecondary Education Institutions and Adult Education Programs”.

Health and Safety Plan: Dauphin County Technical School Adult & Continuing Education

All decision-makers should be mindful that as long as there are cases of COVID-19 in the community, there are no strategies that can completely eliminate transmission risk within a school population. The goal is to keep transmission as low as possible to safely continue school activities. All school activities must be informed by Governor Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania.

Postsecondary Education Facility Phases

PDE has categorized reopening of postsecondary education facilities into three broad phases: red, yellow, or green. These designations signal a list of allowable instruction, operations, services, and activities for postsecondary institutions and adult basic education programs that are organized within each of the three colored phases of PA’s plan.

While institutions may choose to resume some level of in-person instruction and operations in the red, yellow, or green phases of the PA plan, the decision is ultimately an institutional one. Postsecondary institutions must consult state and federal guidance to inform their decision. It is possible that counties may transition from red, to yellow, to green, and back to yellow and red. Institutions should prepare for this possibility.

Red Phase

Yellow Phase

  • Telework should continue for faculty and staff where feasible, especially for populations at higher risk for COVID-19.
  • Limited in-person instruction that adheres to proper social distancing guidelines is permitted.
  • Clinical training and field experience allowed for all individuals preparing for licensure and certification.
  • Restrict gatherings of non instructional activities to no more than 25 people.
  • Continue to adhere to CDC, DOH, and PDE
  • Monitor public health indicators and adjust plans as necessary.

Green Phase

  • Institutions may more fully resume in-person instruction and other routine operations.
  • Restrict large, non-instructional gatherings to no more than 250 people.
  • Continue to adhere to CDC, DOH, and PDE
  • Monitor public health indicators and adjust plans as necessary.

Pandemic Coordinator/Team

Dauphin County Technical School (DCTS) has identified a pandemic coordinator and pandemic team with defined roles and responsibilities for health and safety preparedness and response planning during the phased reopening of schools. The pandemic coordinator and team will be responsible for facilitating the local planning process, monitoring implementation of our local Health and Safety Plan, and continued monitoring of local health data to assess implications for school operations and potential adjustments to the Health and Safety Plan throughout the school year. The DCTS Adult & Continuing Education Program has established a modified version of the 9th – 12th grade Health and Safety protocol for evening courses.  All adults involved in a daytime intergenerational program will follow the Health & Safety protocol established by DCTS for 9th – 12th grade school programs.

Health and Safety Plan Development Role Descriptions: Individual will play a role in drafting the enclosed Health and Safety Plan;

  • Pandemic Crisis Response Team: Individuals will play a role in within-year decision making regarding response efforts in the event of a confirmed positive case or exposure among staff and adult learners; or

Both (Plan Development and Response Team): Individuals will play a role in drafting the plan and within-year decision making regarding response efforts in the event of a confirmed positive case.