According to the ADPH electronic dashboard, for all of August 2021, Pike County has been rated as high for the overall level of COVID community transmission.  There has been a total of 3,778 COVID cases and 81 deaths in Pike County. There is currently a 24% positivity rate and 28% of the population in Pike County is completely vaccinated. Given the county’s current status, the Pike County Schools will continue to require or recommend certain steps be taken to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID among students and employees. Students and employees have been asked not to report to any campus if they are experiencing any COVID related symptoms.  Otherwise, students, teachers, and staff are screened in the mornings for the basic temperature checks and are asked several COVID related questions as part of the screening process. When students pass the screening, they are given an armband as proof that they passed screening and have met the screening criteria. Teachers and staff also have temperature checks and are asked the same questions. Once the screening process is complete for teachers, they are given a day of the week sticker to wear as proof of screening. Other steps include that students in grades Kindergarten through second grade are self-contained. Students in grades 3-6 are departmentalized. However, our strategy is to have teachers rotate through the classes instead of having the students move from room to room.  Media specialists, music teachers, and counselors also rotate to the classes being served. Physical Education serves one homeroom at time to reduce the chance of cross contamination.   Moreover, Pike County Schools follows the ADPH's guidance on quarantines.  All students ages 12 and above, and all employees are encouraged to get vaccinated. The school system has and will continue to partner with local health agencies to offer free vaccination clinics. Masks are not required for students, employees, and visitors who attend outdoor events/activities. Masks are strongly encouraged but not mandatory for all unvaccinated students and employees when inside schools and other Board facilities. • Masks are required students and employees when inside schools and other Board facilities. Masks are REQUIRED for all visitors wishing to enter schools and other Board facilities regardless of vaccination status. This includes all events held inside a school facility. Masks will be provided to students, staffs and visitors who request them. Schools and worksites will continue with all social distancing protocols in place last year. However, the previously recommended spacing of six-feet has been reduced to three-feet. When three-foot spacing is not possible, schools will continue to use clear physical barriers. Also, the school year will begin with students eating breakfast and lunch in their individual classrooms as not to congregate in the cafeteria. Transportation Services School buses will operate as normal and specialty routes in the same manner they did pre-Covid. Special Events, After School Activities, School Day Activities, Field Trips, etc. will be approved on a case-by-case basis depending on the threat level associated with each activity/event. Students participating in Academy Programs are expected to follow the Covid Protocols specific to the post-secondary institutions in which they are enrolled when on their campuses and/or participating in their activities/events. All schools, buses, and worksites within the school system will be sanitized using the same protocols established last year. Hand sanitizer will be provided throughout all schools and workplaces. Drinking fountains will remain closed. Water stations are being installed in selected locations within each school.

To ensure that the evidence-based interventions will address the academic impact of lost instructional time and ensure that those interventions respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of ALL students, Pike County Schools has taken several steps:

-The school system has invested in rigorous intervention programs in grades K-8.

-PCS has invested in the proper professional learning for teachers implementing the interventions.

-PCS district administrators have assisted school administrators with building teacher schedules inclusive of specific intervention times for ELA and math.

-PCS district administrators will participate in school data meetings and building walkthoughs to observe the implementation of and offer corrective feedback on intervention efforts.

-PCS has been approved for a grant that will place one transition coach/mental health counselor on each campus in addition to school counselors to support students during designated times each week or when an issue presents itself.  To support SEL, Evolution360 will be purchased to address social and emotional learning concerns and build self-worth and resilience in students.

-PCS will employ two family support specialists to assist families with enrollment and accessing student resources needed for successful participation in school.

-Eighth, Pike County Schools has a partnership with East Central Health Center to support students in need of Tier 2 counseling services. 

-PCS is committed to uninterrupted instructional times and before and after school tutoring is provided for students to lessen the academic loss they sustained during pandemic.

-PCS is offering a virtual/homeschool option for parents who wish to participate.

-PCS will provide summer learning programs during the summer to help close the learning loss gap that is a result of the pandemic.

Pike County Schools make every attempt to remove any known barriers for students, parents, teachers, and other program beneficiaries to fully participate in any and all ARP ESSER educational opportunities.  PCS provides coordination and assistance to its schools in planning and implementing activities by creating opportunities for parent meetings, setting agendas for those meeting, providing parent resources on student achievement, ensuring Title I Parent meetings are held, providing parent newsletters, and providing family with school supplies through a drive through Parent Expo.  In addition, Pike County Schools employs a full time EL Coach. The EL Coach serves all schools. She is a liaison to Multilingual Learners families and attends all meetings with those parents to ensure an understanding of education requirements. She works with general classroom teachers to ensure they understand how to provide interventions to ML students and connections to parents. She assists teachers and administration with transferring documents into the native language of the parents. Each school employs special education teachers and paraprofessionals to assist students with disabilities and their parents. The district employs a part-time psychometrist to assist with referrals and reevaluations. Each high school utilizes the services of family support specialists to assist families with any needs they may have. During the fall and spring, parent conference nights are held and parent are provided with resources to help students at home.  The federal program coordinator serves as the homeless and foster care liaison.  She works with schools, families, and social service agencies to insure needs are met for homeless and foster care students.

Pike County Schools’ CSFO will provide financial reports to program administrators to include detailed expenditure reports, budget analysis reports, and financial statements monthly or as requested.  All requisitions for expenditures will be authorized by both the Deputy Superintendent and the Superintendent prior to purchase.   All payroll related expenditures will also require their signatures. In addition, the CSFO performs random audits of expenditures for the purpose of monitoring and compliance. The program budgets will be monitored by the CSFO and the Program Specialist for reasonableness and accuracy.  Financial statements are readily available for public review upon request to the office of the CSFO as well as on the system and SDE websites.  Program Specialist will collect data from CSFO to put into designated programs for reporting.  The data and monies spent will be checked against the budget and guidelines for ARP ESSER. An electronic management system has been purchased to store organize ARP ESSER spending.

Pike County Schools will meaningfully engage with families and communities by doing the following:

1.            Employ two family support specialists to assist families with enrollment and accessing student resources needed for successful participation in school.

2.            Employ staff to issue, support and coach technology and its use

3.            Hold meetings in a variety of formats including face-to-face, remote and telephone.

4.            Local schools will invite all families to participate in parent involvement activities including transition programs to parents and children entering kindergarten and those progressing to the high school campuses.  An emphasis will be placed on families of homeless, Multilingual Learners, and special needs students to participate in trainings, activities, and events to equip them to understand and address identified academic needs.

In addition, parents may access current information on school and systems websites.  They can sign up for electronic notifications/reminders of school events and activities through the “Notify Me” system on each school’s webpage.    They can also elect to have notices, including academic, sent to email accounts or as a text message.    The School Messenger system is used to contact parents in emergency and system-wide notification situations.   In addition, parents may download the Pike County Schools app on Apple and Android devices and/or follow Pike County Schools on Twitter and Facebook.