Leadership Team Reopening Information

Preparing to Reopen – FAQs and Resources for Supervisors

Clarke will post resources for the Leadership Team’s planning efforts here.

Staffing for On-site, In-person Work with Students, Families and Patients

If an individual has a legitimate medical concern or care provider reason for not being able to complete their essential work in-person and on-site, options available for reasonable accommodation will be reviewed with Human Resources.

Clarke recognizes varying degrees of risk involved in essential work. If an individual reports discomfort regarding their ability to execute their essential work in-person and on-site:

• Clarke will aim to provide as much remote flexibility as possible, taking into account the employee’s concerns, recognizing risk and seeking alternatives to minimize risk.
• Clarke will evaluate any additional steps we may be able to take to address the individual’s concerns and ensure we are taking all measures to minimize risk.
• If an individual’s work is essential and cannot be conducted remotely to meet Clarke’s service delivery obligations, we will need to discuss if there are continued employment opportunities available at Clarke.

Clarke’s Approach for On-site, In-Person Work with Students, Families and Patients

Q: If a state/district/agency directs Clarke to deliver services on-site and we do not think it’s safe, will we still follow the directive?

• A: Clarke will continue to prioritize the health and safety of staff, students, families and patients. If compromised, Clarke would prioritize pursuing alternative service delivery methods if/when possible.
• If a safer service delivery method would jeopardize funding, Clarke will present the scenario to the Board of Trustees for approval.

Q: If a district is offering on-site, hybrid and virtual options, must a Clarke location follow suit?

• A: Yes.

Q: What is the role of the Board of Trustees in approving Clarke’s reopening plans and operations plans during COVID-19?

• A: Reopening plans are based on guidance from the CDC, Departments of Education, Departments of Health, districts and state/local agencies.
• Clarke will keep the Board of Trustees informed of reopening plans.
• If Clarke is considering a program delivery option that compromises a state/district/agency directive that could jeopardize funding, the CEO will present the situation to the Board for approval.

Liability

In order to be liable under tort law, there needs to be a duty of care owed by the business to the person. If the person is an employee, generally workers compensation will apply. If the person is a student or a vendor, typically, the business would need to have breached a duty of care owed to the person. More importantly, that person must have suffered a harm and that harm must have been caused by the negligence of the business. Causation may be hard to prove in this situation.

Under tort law, a business can be sued for negligence or intentional misconduct (e.g. if the employer knew of an employee’s exposure to COVID-19 and allowed the employee who tested positive to continue working in close contact with others, including vendors/customers/visitors without masks).

If a teacher becomes exposed to COVID-19 at school, the teacher may have a workers compensation claim if the COVID-19 illness is determined to be work related. The teacher would be entitled to leave under FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Act).

Forms/Logs for Reopening

• Site logs: Use one version of the log document below for staff and visitors to sign in and out of a Clarke location. This log will be referenced for contact tracing if there is a COVID–19 exposure at a Clarke site.
  • Site Log Form (web-based) for Contact Tracing (clarkeschools.org/c19sitelog)
    • View the Excel Sheet with site log entries here
  • Site Log Form (PDF) for Contact Tracing
  • Site Log Form (Excel) for Contact Tracing
• Employee Self Certification to Return to Work – All team members must complete this form and return it to HR before working at a Clarke location for the first time since pandemic closures and before returning to on-site work after testing positive for COVID-19.
• Form to Report Cases of COVID-19 – Completed by a supervisor if a team member tests positive for COVID-19.
• Contact Tracing Log for Employees Testing Positive for COVID-19 – Completed by a team member who tests positive for COVID-19.

Training Materials

• Coughing and Sneezing
• When and How to Wash Your Hands
• Risks and Preventative Measures

Resources

• Reopening Policies (ongoing updates)
• Planning resources by topic (ongoing updates)
• Reopening FAQs for Clarke team members (ongoing updates)
• Reopening signage (social distancing, wearing masks, etc.) to use at Clarke sites

Exposure Protocols and Communications Templates

• Action items and messaging for potential exposures

Planning Template (5.22.20)

• planning template for Clarke programs and sites (Word Document version)
• planning template for Clarke programs and sites (Excel version for multiple programs/services)

Meeting Recordings

• Planning for reopening 5.15.20 – Meeting Recording

Waivers

• Acknowledgement Regarding COVID-19 (Clarke Hearing Center)
• Acknowledgement Regarding COVID-19 (Clarke)