GCSC to change COVID-19 policies effective Jan. 5

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Positive changes to the COVID-19 situation both locally and nationwide have prompted Greencastle Community Schools to plan changes for second semester.

In a message to parents Monday evening, Supt. Jeff Gibboney announced, among other changes, that masks will be recommended, but not required, in GCSC facilities beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 5, the teacher work day following winter break.

The first student day with optional masks will be Thursday, Jan. 6.

Gibboney noted that recently falling COVID-19 cases as well as the approval of vaccines for children ages 5-11 helped prompt the changes to the GCSC In-Person Instruction Plan.

“Throughout the past couple of weeks, we have observed a steady decrease in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in our schools and the local community,” Gibboney said. “In addition, the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for individuals 5 years and older.”

Masks will still be required on buses as long as the federal mandate for such measures remains in place.

Schools with a weekly COVID-19 positivity rate above 5 percent will be required to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, until the weekly positivity rate drops below 4 percent.

The Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 recently received federal approval for all individuals five years of age and older, making the vaccine to a high percentage of the school corporation’s students.

GCSC opened the school year with masks optional, but amid rising cases, began requiring masks for students and staff in mid-August.

Aside from masks, Gibboney anouncerd some other updates to the plan.

On the subject of contact tracing, any individual within 3-6 feet of a person who tests positive for COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period will be considered a close contact.

In such situations, the parents or guardians of a student identified as a close contact will be notified of the students need to quarantine, unless they:

• Provide proof of being fully vaccinated, or

• Provide proof of an independent positive COVID-19 test within the past 90 days.

One change taking place sooner will be the availability of rapid COVID-19 testing in GCSC clinics.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 15, symptomatic students (with parental consent) are eligible for free rapid testing by GCSC clinic staff. Symptoms must be verified by clinic staff. Results will be availabe within 15 minutes.

Gibboney noted that this is a less invasive test, with the idea being to help reduce the spread of the virus within the school system.

Finally, GCSC will continue providing the weekly COVID-19 dashboard on the GCSC website. Beginning in January, the dashboard will be listed by individual schools.

As has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 is a constantly developing situation, so Gibboney appealed to parents to continue to monitor their students’ health on a daily basis.

“GCSC will continue following the other mitigation procedures established at the start of the 2021-22 school year,” Gibboney said. “We ask that parents/guardians continue to follow the daily screening protocol, keeping your students home when they are ill and/or waiting on a COVID test result.”

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  • Maybe Covid numbers dropped because of masking? Guess we will see in January.

    -- Posted by kbmom on Tue, Nov 9, 2021, at 10:59 AM
  • I would say there are multiple reasons.

    -- Posted by beg on Tue, Nov 9, 2021, at 1:29 PM
  • So, has GCSC had a mask mandate indoors at their schools ever since mid-August? Has it really taken almost 3 months for the positive cases to go below 4%?

    -- Posted by infiremanemt on Tue, Nov 9, 2021, at 4:10 PM
  • Informed consent should be part of this story.

    Here is October 2021 data from the CDC and VAERS reporting arm of the government.

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/vaers-cdc-adverse-events-deaths-covi...

    -- Posted by direstraits on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 11:53 AM
  • Childrenshealthdefense.org is a leader in spewing vaccine mis-information. In other words, they are intentionally deceiving you.

    -- Posted by Koios on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 12:25 PM
  • @kbmom for that answer perhaps we could look to the nearby schools that didn’t require masks and had a lower case rate than Greencastle.

    -- Posted by techphcy on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 2:35 PM
  • koios when exactly has the government told you and apparently only you God's gospel truth? as god of the axis of heaven around which the constellations revolved i guess you may be privy to information of which proletarians such as myself are excluded

    -- Posted by davide_norris on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 5:56 PM
  • No, Mr. Norris, it’s not that magical. I just don’t subscribe to propaganda and lunatic conspiracy theories. Plus I’m adept at detecting when a group inappropriately manipulates data to fit their agenda. I’m a statistician, by trade, so that helps with that.

    -- Posted by Koios on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 6:18 PM
  • david_norris-Mister Koios writes that he doesn't subscribe to lunatic conspiracy theories and seems to take a certain degree of pleasure in countering the opinions or comments of others with flat declarations of "LUNATIC, GULLIABLE, CONSPIRACY, and on and on and on."

    Indeed, he declares himself as "ADEPT" at detecting inappropriate data, yet rarely, if ever, offers an informative counterpoint for the commenting members review.

    He's also a statistician, by trade, not necessarily education, "so that helps with that", whatever all THAT means.

    Actually, KOIOS entertains me because as a youngster I worked in my parent's dairy barn, if you know what "THAT" means.

    -- Posted by Prince of Stardust Hills on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 6:45 PM
  • Prince, the counterpoint is stop believing lies that are being dispersed. I’ve always been really clear about that.

    -- Posted by Koios on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 6:49 PM
  • remember the Maine, loading arms on the luisitania, gulf of tonkin, mk ultra, ruby ridge, waco, wmd's, tuskogee, atomic testing on soldiers and civilians, operation midnight climax. it really goes on and on with the lies, the crimes, and the experiments performed upon the little people by our government. i'm 54 and when i grew up i was told about how noble the united states was and i believed it for most of my life. i am disappointed and extremely cynical based upon their track record. when i read that jfk wrote that ho chi mihn was the vietnamese george washington and was against the war in vietnam i began to doubt the veracity of anything coming from our government. i guess i have become a sad old man disappointed with the legacy which will be left for my children

    -- Posted by davide_norris on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 9:26 PM
  • *

    Ah yes, the good old "the government is always lying to you" standby. Funny how the left is lying if you're right leaning and the right is lying if you're left leaning. Sure would be a much simpler world if every right leaning person would just admit that they believe absolutely nothing the left leaning people in power have to say and if every left leaning person would just admit that they believe absolutely nothing the right leaning people in power have to say. Let's get real for a second. The only time people believe the government is lying to them is when the government says something that contradicts their beliefs. We unfortunately now live in a world where disagreement must equal deception.

    -- Posted by RSOTS on Wed, Nov 10, 2021, at 11:18 PM
  • RSOTS,

    you are spot on but be careful because the CLSP theologians and their lock step congregants are not going to be happy with you for speaking truth.

    I remember one time when I was on the Hill lobbying for my industry what a staff member of a well known Senator said to me- The definition of big government is spending I disagree with.

    I know you find (or at least express) disagreement with me often but when you speak practical sense and truth, we will find agreement and possibly decent solutions.

    Your words in the above post are enlightening!!!

    -- Posted by beg on Thu, Nov 11, 2021, at 12:18 AM
  • @RSOTS where do I sign up if I don’t believe anything any of them says?

    -- Posted by techphcy on Thu, Nov 11, 2021, at 7:16 AM
  • Isn't it telling that individuals rights as defined by our already established laws don't get much ink these days?

    The elites, (bgpharma, bgtech, bgmedia, bggov) have assumed the role of being our betters, they are taking over the day to day decisions, with bggov making sure that the new non legislative mandates are enforced.

    Outdated established legislation will be neglected.

    Do you see it happening?

    -- Posted by direstraits on Thu, Nov 11, 2021, at 10:10 AM
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