LVC will delay the 2021 spring semester by one week, with classes set to begin in-person on Monday, Feb. 1.

“Our healthcare partners advise us that COVID-19 cases will likely continue to rise, peaking in mid-January just before we planned to re-open campus,” LVC President Dr. James MacLaren said in a letter. “Therefore, we have adjusted the Spring 2021 academic calendar and pushed back the opening by one week.”

LVC’s return-to-campus plan includes “entry testing before students and employees arrive, and census testing regularly throughout the semester.”

For the Fall 2020 semester, LVC had originally intended to hold in-person classes until Thanksgiving Break, a plan that was nearly realized except for an additional week of virtual learning that was added prior to the break in response to positive test results on campus.

Read More: LVC ends in-person classes early; week-long closures in progress for schools in Northern Lebanon, ELCO districts

Prior to arriving on campus, all students and employees who will be on campus for the semester must complete a self-administered COVID-19 test. All tests will be mailed out to students and staff and will include instructions for completing them. In order to step foot on campus, a negative test must be proven. Students are asked to deposit their test in a FedEx box before 3 p.m. on the day they are tested.

Any student who refuses to participate in testing may not return to campus and must take all classes remotely. The costs associated with re-entry testing will be covered by LVC.

LVC will additionally conduct weekly census COVID-19 testing of students and employees for in-person classes, as well as enforcing the use of LVC’s daily digital symptom tracker. The symptom tracker helps to reveal any possible COVID-19 cases on campus. Daily results are either a green checkmark or a red X and students must report a green checkmark to attend classes in-person. LVC staff will monitor the data closely on a daily basis and contact students and employees accordingly. 

“Testing rates will be scientifically based and informed by our healthcare partners and public health guidance,” LVC mentions in the return-to-campus plan.

LVC’s COVID-19 dashboard displays testing data, specifically the numbers of positive cases, negative cases and those awaiting test results. The dashboard can be viewed here.


Read all of LebTown’s COVID-19 coverage here.

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