CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) has plans to receive more than 1.4 million masks for students during the 2020-2021 school year.

The first half-day of school is scheduled for August 31 and approximately 20,000 traditional students will be physically going to school.

Montgomery County currently has more than 900 active cases  of COVID-19 and CMCSS is making sure they have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available.

The school district has purchased large quantities of PPE, including masks and received around 30,000 TN Sock masks, and anticipates receiving over 1,460,000 procedure masks and 30,000 cloth masks from the State of Tennessee over the school year,” said Anthony Johnson, Chief Communications Officer for CMCSS.

Currently, they have:  76,675 procedure masks for students, 34,625 TN Sock masks, 250 N95 masks, 1,000 K95 masks.

Gov. Lee announced a few days ago every teacher will be receiving a full-year classroom disinfecting kit from the state. The kits include hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, gloves and masks, Johnson said.

CMCSS has purchased hundreds of boxes of gloves, and has received thermometers from the State of Tennessee that will be utilized as needed, their reopening plan states.

In addition to the hand sanitizer the district already has in stock, the Operations Department has ordered over 700 half gallon bottles of hand sanitizer as well as 5 gallon refills, according to their reopening plan.

While hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes are on school supplies lists, some of the items may not be in stores due to shortages.

“The district understands that some parents/guardians may not be able to provide items like hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes due to availability,” Johnson said. “Whatever families are able to purchase and contribute certainly will be helpful, but the district will continue to monitor supply levels and purchase items as needed.”

As recommended by the CDC, washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds is the best way to get rid of germs in most situations.

Students and staff will be required to wash hands throughout the day. When soap and water are not available, hand sanitizer is an acceptable substitute. Hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout school buildings and in cafeterias.

Starting school the traditional way, has been suggested by leading institutions.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. However, an essential consideration as CMCSS developed reopening plans was to provide parents/guardians and students with options,” Johnson said. “…While the traditional model will provide some normalcy during the pandemic, there will be several district-wide and school-specific precautions and modifications in place to mitigate, not eliminate, the risk of COVID-19. Parents and guardians can review these guidelines by visiting cmcss.net/reopening.”

The CMCSS K-12 Virtual will have approximately 14,000 students and was created to accommodate the varying degrees of comfortability and underlying health conditions of students, faculty and staff during  the strategic planning.

Cleaning and Sanitizing the Schools

The CMCSS  Operations Department is continuing to make modifications to custodial procedures to reduce the spread of communicable diseases. For more information from the CDC on how COVID-19 spreads, click here. The following are some of the modifications that will currently be in place:

Custodial schedules will be adjusted to allow more custodians in the building during the school day and there will be an increased focus on two-step cleaning throughout the day and a decreased focus on window cleanings, floor buffing, etc. In classrooms, students’ desks will be oriented in the same direction.

All desks, students and teachers, will be cleared at the end of the school day to allow for proper disinfecting by custodians.

Deep cleaning with pressurized spraying of disinfectants will take place after school each evening by custodians and if there is a known outbreak in a room, the room will be closed and extensively deep cleaned to include increased air filtration.

Additionally, an enhanced two-step restroom-cleaning schedule will be in place during the school day with restrooms accessed through main hallways being cleaned every hour by custodians. At the end of the day and during the teachers’ planning period, K-2 restrooms in classrooms will be cleaned by custodians using : Super HDQ

For full details on the cleaning and sanitation plans and CMCSS Reopening visit their website at: https://www.cmcss.net/reopening/