North Chester Today

Chester County Intermediate Unit issued the following announcement.

A Message from Dr. Fiore on the Reopening Timeline and Plan for the CCIU

I hope this finds you and your families well as we begin to transition into the next phase of reopening Chester County and the CCIU. Thank you for your patience, flexibility and willingness to work throughout the pandemic. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, we were able to provide services to our students and our districts throughout the COVID-19 mandatory stay-at-home orders with minimal disruption. Your ingenuity and your persistence continually amaze me!

As you are all aware, as of June 5, 2020, Chester County transitioned to the Yellow Phase of Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to reopen the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As a result, we are preparing to return to our facilities in a safe manner that follows guidelines issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Department of Health and the Governor's Office.

Given the restrictions still in place during the Yellow Phase and the evolving guidance being provided by county and state agencies, CCIU's reopening will happen in stages.

Last week, we re-opened our CCIU Driving Testing Centers. On Monday, June 15, we will re-open the CCIU Early Learning and Child Care Centers, and the Practical Nursing Program will welcome back faculty and adult students. On Monday, June 22, all CCIU administrators and designated supervisory personnel will return to our facilities followed by the the remainder of our 12-month employees during the week of July 6. While I know we all may be a little apprehensive to return to in-person operations, bringing in staff over the summer months is critical to our being able to welcome over 4,000 students back into our buildings on August 31, and to begin in-person operations once again. Without this phased-in reopening, starting school with students in the fall would be almost impossible.

For details on returning to our buildings during the summer, please see the CCIU Phased Reopening Timeline.

During June and July, we will be staggering the use of our facilities to ensure proper social distancing. Supervisors and division directors are finalizing seating plans and work schedules, and will be providing you with this information during the week of June 15. The Educational Service Center and our school buildings will welcome visitors by appointment only. Staff will need to wear face masks when interacting in-person with their colleagues, students and visitors, and when in all common areas (hallways, bathrooms, meeting rooms, etc.) Wellness screening procedures are required for staff, students, and all other visitors to our facilities.

During the closure, all of our facilities have been and will continue to be deep-cleaned to maintain the safety of students, staff and visitors at all times. We will continue to monitor and follow health department and state guidelines, procedures and policies.

As this is a phased reopening, we are asking that all staff follow the procedures and safety measures that have been developed and that are outlined in the Chester County Intermediate Unit Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Phased Reopening June 2020. I ask that all staff carefully review the plan, and direct any questions and concerns to their immediate supervisor.

Please click on the link to download the CCIU COVID-19 Phased Reopening Plan.

Although a comprehensive plan, the CCIU COVID-19 Reopening Plan is not an exhaustive plan. Each program may have to adapt procedures to its unique circumstances. Also, please know that the plan is subject to change based upon new information, new guidelines, new developments and new understandings of COVID-19.

At CCIU, we remain committed to creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. Thank you for your continued understanding and flexibility. Please reach out to your supervisor and/or division director if you have any questions, concerns or would like to talk about these procedures in more detail.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not thank all of our essential staff who came into our buildings to ensure programming for students, to sanitize our buildings, and to continue the necessary and vital operations of our organization throughout the pandemic. The work of our essential staff was vital to our continued operations and our ability to return to our buildings.

I look forward to seeing many of you beginning in June and July, and everyone in August!

Have a safe, healthy and happy summer!

Original source can be found here.