Safety First
To ensure the health and safety of our Choristers and their community, Young Voices of Austin staff continues to listen, learn, and plan to adjust to the public health guidelines. As we prepare to open our program virtually on September 14th, We know that as a community, we will rise to the challenges this season may bring.
The plan that follows encompasses what Young Voices of Austin intends to do based on the most current information regarding the health condition of our city. As we receive guidance from our federal, state, and local government, please know that these plans will be modified in accordance with updated recommendations.
Attendance
Attendance is important to promote student engagement in learning. Every week, YVA Staff will take attendance to indicate students were “present” to reflect participation. In order to be counted as “present” students MUST turn on the video and actively participate in group activities!
Physical Environment Protocols
YVA is working to maintain the health, wellness, and safety of our program. Although for the upcoming fall semester, all of our activities will be hosted through virtual meetings, We are preparing for the spring of 2021 to slowly incorporate in-class activities based on local health orders. Our team is working with several school districts and the local community to create a safe environment for the future. Below is a list of choices that our program will actively participate in.
– Ensure our venues and facilities are equipped with PPE and cleaning material
– Provide each classroom with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes
– Conduct temperature checks
– Modify daily cleaning schedules with our facility provider
– Follow social distancing recommendations
– 50% occupation for each room
– Install plexiglass
– Conduct daily health screenings for students, staff, and visitors before entering our facility
– Use markers in each classroom to ensure social distancing
– Adherence to one-way traffic on each side of the hallway
Cleaning Protocols
Our cleaning protocols will implement and follow based on local health measures
– Clean high touch surfaces multiple times a day to include doorknobs, push bars, front office countertops, desktops, classroom, washing areas, restrooms, etc.
– Provide disinfection stations to be located at facilities entry points
– Continue to educate our staff, ourselves to cleaning procedures
Visitors
Virtual meetings will be used whenever possible in order to limit any visitation.
Symptoms:
You will not be allowed to join for our weekly program if you have the following symptoms:
– Temperature that is 100.0 degrees or above
– Fever
– Chills
– Cough
– Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
– Fatigue
– Intense Headache
– Loss of taste or smell
– Sore throat
– Congestion or runny nose
– Nausea or vomiting
– Weak immune system with high levels of fever
Criteria for returning to school or work after a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19
Any individual who is has been confirmed to have COVID-19 or experienced the symptoms that could be COVID-19 related must stay home throughout the infection period (whether symptomatic or asymptomatic), and cannot return to school or work until either meeting the symptom-based or testing-based criteria for returning, and provide documentation of negative test results and/or a doctor’s note giving clearance to return.
Additionally, any individual who is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 but is asymptomatic must follow the criteria below
1. Must receive negative COVID-19 test results from your recent visit
2. 2 weeks have passed since receiving COVID-19 results.
Transportation:
Once we receive a clear sign from our Federal, State, and Local government to resume our normal activities, YVA will collaborate with our transportation team to accommodate safe procedures to ensure we meet every criterion of health guidelines.
– Follow local health authority, state, and CDC guidance and recommendations
– Adhere to AUSTIN ISD and other school districts protocol
– Require all students and the driver to wear a face covering.
– Implement social distancing seating assignments whenever it’s feasible.
– Provide hand sanitizer station on buses
– Implement procedures for health check of employees
– Allowing only eligible students to ride their assigned buses due to capacity
– Keep windows open as much as possible
– Encourage families to drop off students
– Thoroughly clean buses, after each bus trip.
Moving forward: Final Thought
While we can’t be certain of what the next few weeks or months ahead hold for our choristers and community, we want to ensure that YVA becomes a place of comfort and safety for all. It is our responsibility to listen and adjust to what our health officials and governmental bodies as many more changes will soon follow.
For now, we know that COVID-19 will continue to be present, so we will continue to modify our program while encouraging our community to do their part to keep the virus as limited as possible. We hope that these guidelines will highlight our commitment to protecting our choristers and keeping their safety as our number one priority. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns following our program guidelines.