Dilley reviews school COVID guidance with DD board as Angeline students return

By CALLAN PUGH 

City editor 

The Wyandot County Board of Developmental Disabilities heard updates about Angeline as the school year gets underway.

Dilley said both school-aged and preschool parents were informed about the current masking guidance Angeline is following. Dilley said the CDC is recommending kindergarten through 12th grade students observe masking while at school regardless of vaccination status. Dilley said the CDC, Ohio Department of Health and Wyandot County Public Health all are recommending masks but are not requiring masks. He said the situation will continue to be monitored by the school.

“In particular our preschool students did not have masks mandated all along (last year) and it went very well,” Dilley said. “Not saying we couldn’t change that. We may pivot based on something that Wyandot County Public Health lets us know. There’s going to be another call next Wednesday just to kind of see if things level out. But certainly, if things get worse or spike, we’ll reevaluate that.”

Dilley said if a change is made parents will be informed promptly.

Preschool parent orientation was Thursday evening. Dilley shared preschool parents will be well informed this year through an app, a newsletter and a daily notebook that goes back and forth from school to home. The Monday, Wednesday preschool students begin Monday. Tuesday, Thursday students will start Tuesday.

Dilley said the school-age program began Wednesday and already has had a fog delay.

Also discussed was the upcoming hosting of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Accreditation team. Dilley said the work staff members have been putting in to prepare for the virtual visit is appreciated and noted that it’s much more labor intensive preparing for virtual accreditation processes than in person.

Also at the meeting, the board:

— Approved a resolution for vehicle routes required by the Ohio Department of Education. Dilley said routes, as much as possible aim to have pickups on the right side of the bus, with routes sometimes going an extra county block to allow students to get off directly at their address without crossing the road. In rare cases there back-ups are required of bus drivers on one-lane roads which also come with specific rules that keep students in their homes or on the bus until it is done backing up. Dilley said the bus drivers are one of the most highly trained and most held accountable drivers on the road and are well liked by families they serve.

— Approved revising the 2021-22 program calendar to including the observance of the Juneteenth holiday on Nov. 12 to coincide with Veterans Day, which is Nov. 11. At the same time the board also recognized the addition of the 11th observed holiday moving forward to be observed yearly on June 19 or the work day before or after if the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

— Discussed the ongoing need for the direct service professionals and providers. Dilley said creative ways of partnering with local providers is ongoing to recruit and maintain the levels of the service workforce. Dilley thanked Amanda Rowlinson, director of service and support administration/ home and community-based services and the SSA team, along with the Wyandot Chamber of Commerce for working together to put together a job fair specific to direct service professionals. Rowlinson said the event didn’t see much foot traffic but offered an opportunity to speak with local providers about deficits in workforce and to brainstorm next steps. Rowlinson said ideas are in the works to start additional recruiting efforts.

— Heard an update on the Ohio ISP, which still is being worked on. Rowlinson said Wyandot County will join in the second quarter to allow the first quarter to work out the kinks.

— Heard an update from Rowlinson on the reviews of caseloads to make sure that individuals who wanted a more hands off approach were placed on inactive allowing SSA workers to provide the support and case management to the individuals who really are in need and desire the help.

— Reviewed and approved financial reports, bills and donations shared by Amy Traxler, director of finance and operations. Traxler said donations came from the estate of Richard Gibson, a few donations from the Carey Conservation Sportsman Club dedicated to the preschool and from the Eyestone family.

— Reviewed the enrollment and leadership report as outlined in the strategic annual plan.

— Tentatively planned a board member training for immediately following the September meeting with Hancock County Board of Developmental Disabilities for a presentation regarding what they are doing to support providers in Hancock County.