A Message from Mr. Dan Wessel, Lansing USD 469 Interim Superintedent
Lansing Families,
This time of year in all of our schools we continually talk about preventing the spread of disease like the flu in all of our schools. As the nurses sent out earlier this week, it is extremely important to follow our policies on communicable diseases to help prevent more illness in our schools. The front lines of fighting the spreading of disease start at home with keeping students home when they are sick and keeping them out for the required time to not spread disease.
As many of you have read or heard in the past few weeks there is a new virus, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. I believe it is important for us to be prepared as a school district with the knowledge of exactly what it is and best ways to prevent its spread if we would happen to be exposed. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has compiled a FAQs page that can be found at http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus/download/Novel_coronavirus_FAQ.pdf. In addition the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set up a website for updated information as it comes available, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. It is important to note that Kansas has no confirmed cases of this new virus and our public health officials are actively tracking the spread of the disease. We have a communicable disease policy in place and we would take guidance from the health department on the time required to be missed and readmittance of any student or adult that would be diagnosed with the virus. The health department has not come out with specifics for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus as the CDC is still studying the way it is traveling between people.
We have been in contact with our local health department and the biggest thing we can do as a community is be diligent on handwashing, stay home when sick and clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs. During these times we increase our cleaning cycles in the schools to make sure that we are doing our part to keep everyone healthy. We encourage parents to reinforce good hand washing techniques with their children. We would recommend printing one of these posters out and place it on the mirror in the bathroom. https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/posters.html.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.