Coram Deo Health Safety Policy

Coram Deo desires to provide a safe environment for in-person classroom instruction. As such, we will be implementing the following safety protocols.

• Symptomatic students, teachers, and volunteers must stay home: Under no circumstances should anyone attend Coram Deo with any COVID-19 symptoms.
• Minimize classroom changes for students: When possible, students will remain in one classroom for extended periods of time, and teachers will rotate throughout the day.
• Disinfect desks and chairs when students change classrooms: Teachers and volunteers will be responsible for disinfecting desks and chairs if students are moving after their class.
• Hand sanitizer and other adequate hygiene supples available in each classroom: Teachers and students will be encouraged to use hand sanitizer upon entering a classroom. Bathrooms will be equipped with adequate soap and paper towels.
• Bathrooms will be checked and disinfected each hour: Teachers and volunteers will wipe down commonly touched surfaces in bathrooms (doorknobs, toilet handles, faucets, etc.).
• Increased spacing between students in the classroom: Desks and seats will be spaced apart to allow for adequate social distancing.
• Contactless check-in: The check-in process will be managed by a volunteer so students will not need to touch anything upon entry.

Masking policy

Since the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Michigan, many parents are curious about the best health policies for students, teachers, and volunteers at Coram Deo—in particular, the use of non-medical cloth masks coverings, or NMMs.

The basis of our decisions regarding masking comes from “COVID-19: Guidance for School Reopening,” published July 29, 2020.

This publication was written by authors at many top-level medical facilities, including Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, and the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre. This back-to-school plan was authored by dozens of pediatricians, infectious disease physicians, and epidemiologists, as well as school principals and teachers.

The authors state, as far as children and youth, there are limited data on the effectiveness of NMM use for source control (preventing someone from spreading a virus). However, the authors note several European countries have had children successfully return to school without NMMs.

As such, the authors recommend the use of masks for high school students, with consideration for middle school students, “whenever physical distancing cannot be maintained.”

Given the size of our facility, and the number of students enrolled in our program, at this point, non-medical masks are unnecessary—physically distancing can easily be maintained by minimizing classroom changes for students and increasing spacing between desks or seats in the classrooms.

The authors state, “the school setting is different from most settings where indoor masking is mandated where large numbers of strangers interact…physical distancing is difficult and contact tracing is not possible.”

As such, while facial coverings are encouraged, they are not required for attendance at Coram Deo.