Students across Sidney head back to school Monday with some changes to the everyday routine.

With no school-to-school buses this year, there are more kids than normal walking or catching rides to school.

City and school officials have asked drivers to use extra caution due to the increased traffic.

The district is also taking precautions indoors due to COVID-19. Sidney is basing its plans off of what category Panhandle Public Health District's (PPHD) risk dial is in.

The dial is currently in the yellow. This means students need to wear masks while moving throughout the school, but can take them off while sitting at a desk.

PPHD updates the risk dial every Tuesday at the regional, county and community levels. 

According to the latest update from PPHD, Sidney and Cheyenne County have a risk value of just over 1.3. The yellow or moderate category on the risk dial ranges from 1-1.99. Anything 0.99 and below is considered in the green or low risk category.

Potter, Dix and Dalton are all in the green category this week with risk values of 0.9375.