Welcome to Lincoln Consolidated Schools

Covid Protocols & Testing Permission Forms

Permission to Conduct Covid-19 Testing Form 

Permission NOT GIVEN to Conduct Covid-19 Testing Form 

Dear Lincoln Families,

Please read the following information regarding Covid testing options at school, and return the attached form, or copy of vaccination card to your school no later than October 29. 

In an effort to keep students in school as much as possible this school year, in light of the Covid rates and working with the MDHHS through their school related Covid case guidelines, please be aware of the following: 

If your student is identified as a close contact in a classroom, you will be notified directly from your child’s school. There are three options available to you:

• Keep your child home for the full 10 day quarantine. (Day 0 is the close contact day). 
• Keep your child home for a 7 day quarantine, have them tested on day 6 or 7 by a doctor, urgent care or testing site, and provide a negative test result they can return to school on day 8. 
• Sign a parental consent form, allowing the District Nurses and/or staff to perform a Covid Antigen test on your child every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the first 7 days during their 10 day quarantine period, and as long as they remain negative, they may stay in school. 

*If your child is fully vaccinated, there is no need for testing or quarantine, but you must monitor for symptoms. Please provide a copy of their card for our files. 

As we work to make this a smooth process for testing students, there are a few things we are requesting from parents. 

• If you would like your student to be able to have Covid testing done at any point this school year where they are identified as a close contact at school, please return the attached Parental Consent form for testing to the school by October 29. 
• If your student has been vaccinated for Covid, they will not need to be tested and can remain in school, however we will need a copy of their vaccination card for our records. Please send in a copy of the card by October 29. 
• If you chose not to have your child tested and keep them home for the 10 day quarantine period, please complete the second form, indicating that you are NOT giving consent for testing and will be keeping your child home for 10 days should they be identified as a close contact. Return the form by October 29.

If you choose the Antigen testing, here is some helpful information about the testing: 

• You only need to complete the consent form once to cover the 2021-2022 school year. 
• The Covid Antigen test is NOT the same as the PCR you would receive in the hospital or doctors offices. This test does not require a q-tip to go deep into the nostrils, the q-tip is only inserted about half an inch, no further than the bridge of the nose. Very easy and not painful, please make sure your child knows this so they are not fearful of testing procedures.
• Your child may NOT ride the bus to school during their 10 days, a parent must drive them to school for testing at the beginning of the day and remain there until results are in. Results take 15 minutes. If the test is positive, the student must return home with the parent and begin their 10 day quarantine. If the test is negative, the parent will be notified, and the student may head to class. 

Testing window for each building are as follows: (District Nurses will only be available during these times, you must arrive during the testing window or will have to wait until the next testing day to return to school) 

• High School: 7:00-7:30  
• Middle School: 8:00-8:30 
• Childs Elementary: 8:05-8:30 
• Bishop Elementary: 9:10-9:40 
• Brick Elementary: 9:10-9:40 

We thank you for your cooperation to help make this a smooth process to ensure we keep our students in school as much as possible this school year. 

Together We Can!

Parents/Guardians:

Please review this short list each morning before your child leaves for school. This is for home use. You DO NOT need to turn into your school. 

COVID-19 Daily At Home Screening for Students

3-Tier School Schedule FAQ

At last Monday's board meeting, the board approved the 3 tier start times. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide community feedback on the three-tier proposal. We’ve put together a document of FAQ’s to address the questions and concerns that were raised.

FAQ on Three-Tier School Schedule

What time will my student be starting school? 

        *LMS and Childs students will ride separate buses.

I have children at different buildings that will now be on different tiers. It would be more convenient for my kids to ride the same bus and start/end the day together.

While we completely understand the desire of families to have their children riding the same bus and/or starting at the same time, we have a significant shortage of bus drivers. We need to change our start times for our schools so that we can safely and efficiently transport our district children to and from school. 

High School start times are too early. Research shows that older children need to start later, not earlier. 

We are aware of the research showing later start times are optimal for teens and older students. However, for our families who rely on the older students to provide after-school care, we need to have our older students released earlier so they’re home to be caregivers of their younger siblings. Also, for every minute that we push back the start of school in the morning we have to add to the end of the school day for elementary students, which will push their return home later in the  evening.

The three elementary schools should be on the same tier with Model students on a separate tier. 

In order to reduce the number of buses needed for each tier to a number that can be met by our transportation department, we need to move one of the elementary schools to a separate tier. We considered each building and found that the one that allowed for the most efficiency was Childs Elementary. This is because Childs would already have a staggered start time from any of the other schools. 

Model students need to be included on the third tier because there are limits to the number of preschool students who can ride a bus without additional adult assistance being required. By including them on a bus with elementary students, we are able to transport those students without adding additional adult support to those buses. The staffing shortage would be made worse, not better by moving Model to a separate tier. 

Families with students on different tiers will either need to return to campus multiple times or wait around to pick up/drop off their students.

We understand that there are challenges for families who have students on separate tiers. We are working to identify before and after school opportunities that will help families with this issue. 

There will be too big of a break between the end of the day and the start of athletic/extracurricular activities. What are students supposed to do?  Will they be supervised? 

We are working to identify before and after school opportunities that will help with this issue. In some cases, students that participate in athletics have been getting out of school during their 5th and 6th hours. This plan will eliminate or minimize the loss of education hours while still completing the athletic event.

How are working parents supposed to get to work on time with the later start times?

We understand the challenge the new start times may have for families. We are providing advance notice of the change to three tier with the new school times so that families have time to make arrangements for childcare and transportation before the start of school. 

Volunteers/ Building Access 

District visitors, including parents/guardians, will only be able to enter buildings by appointment only. The District has to limit visitors to the buildings, and as a result, visitors and volunteers will only be permitted when necessary. 

Following these procedures will ensure the safety of all of our children. 

We are following the CDC/health department color system, the current protocol level/color will be determined and communicated by the district.

Thank you!