RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Area Schools Board on Monday passed a vote that identifies the district’s teachers and staff as ‘critical infrastructure workers.’
The vote will give the district’s employees the chance to continue to work in buildings with confirmed COVID-19 exposure, as long as they take extra precautions.
Board members felt the need to pass the measure because otherwise, they wouldn’t have enough staff to keep the school system operating.
Human Resources Director of Synova Nicolaisen favored the measure and says many of their substitute teachers have opted out of teaching this year due to the pandemic, leaving a strain on the district.
Superintendent Lori Simon says the substitute teacher pool is down about 30-percent this year.
The rule does not apply to employees who test positive for COVID-19, close contacts who are symptomatic or household close contacts who are asymptomatic. All three examples would mean the employee must quarantine, the district said in a memo.
