Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor-In-Cheif Mount Pleasant Community School District Superintendent John Henriksen sent a letter to parents explaining the Iowa Department of Public Health’s new guidelines for close contact exposure.
The new guidelines state that if both the positive person and the person in close contact are wearing face masks, the person in close contact will not have to quarantine. The guidelines also specify that if both persons are wearing a face mask that tightly covers the mouth and nose they will no longer have to quarantine if they come in close contact with an infected person. The new guidelines specify that if a student or other person is wearing a face shield without a mask or a neck gaiter they would still have to quarantine for 14 days. The person in close contact would be encouraged to self monitor their symptoms and the district will still be informing students who come in close contact with infected students. The letter also stated that if a student’s family member or some other person in their household is positive and they are in close contact with them, they would have to quarantine for the required 14 days. Dr. Caitlin Pedati, the state medical director, acknowledged that the state's new recommendations are not in line with the CDC guidelines.
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Liam Halawith Maroon Echoes Editor-In-Cheif Mount Pleasant Community Schools’ superintendent John Henriksen announced that 76 quarantined students will return this week due to a change in the official close contact protocols.
According to Henriksen, the Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Public Health modified their close contact protocols for public schools on Monday. The old protocol stated that if students were within six feet of an infected student for 15 minutes or more, the student in close contact would be quarantined for 14 days. The newly revised protocol states that if both students are wearing masks, correctly, then the students previously considered in close contact would no longer be quarantined. According to High School Principal Todd Lichety, 76 out of the 96 quarantine students would be able to return to school as soon as Tuesday. School Board President Jennifer Crull expressed her frustration with the revision, asking to see the data that supports the change in protocol. According to Lichety, they have seen no cases in the high school where a student tests positive while in quarantine for close contact at school. Meaning that spread of the virus is not happening in the school building amongst students. Crull however would like to see more than anecdotal evidence to support the modification. She is frustrated with the state for treating education like “Guinea Pigs”. “I want to see it statewide. If this is the change then it should be the case for everything the state does. What’s bothering me is the changes being made on education are not being made everywhere else in the state,” Crull said. In other news, the board discussed changes to the district’s hybrid plan. The district’s new plan will now have grades 6-12 in 50% face to face learning when the hybrid plan is in effect. The student body will be split alphabetically in their grade level and put into Group A (gold) and Group B (maroon). Each group of students would then attend every other day or 5 days in a two week period while continuing to complete work online or at home. The board also clarified that the metrics outlined in their return to learn plan would be a minimum for them to consider the district’s move to a hybrid model and that our positivity rate is greatly impacted by the Mt. Pleasant Correctional facility that does not affect community spread as they are isolated. However, Public Health Director Shelly Van Dorin has stated that community spread is occurring in Henry County. The district has stated that they will continue face to face learning at this time. Liam Halawith Maroon Echoes News The Panther Varsity Football Team defeated the Fairfield Trojans, 21-6, Friday night in the rain and mud. The Panthers worked a strong defense with a formidable offensive ground game to push the trojans right into the mud defeating them by 15 points. The Panthers are now 1-0 in conference play and 2-1 overall for the season.
Quarter by Quarter breakdown: Neither team scored in the first quarter, both teams ran up and down the field for the entire 12 minutes of play, kicking off 3 times each. In the second quarter, both teams locked horns for another 9 minutes of play until quarterback Jack Johnson broke through the Trojans defense and scored a touchdown with 3:05 left in the half. Panthers were ahead at half time with a score of 7-0, giving them the lead they kept the entire night. In the third quarter, the Panthers scored two touchdowns right off the bat. Both were carried into the endzone by quarterback Jack Johnson giving the Panthers a strong lead ending the quarter 21-0. The Trojans finally made a break for it, scoring a touchdown in late in the fourth quarter. However, they failed the conversion ending the game 21-6 with the Panthers on top. The Panthers face off against Washington this Friday, the 18th at Maple Leaf Athletic Stadium for the MP homecoming game! |
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November 2020
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