March 9, 2021
Dear Parents/Guardians:
On behalf of the Board of Education and staff, I want to thank you for your flexibility throughout the school year as we managed our district’s Reset/Restart and Reopening Plan to support in-person learning with our hybrid learning plan. This letter is intended to communicate that we are going to make some changes in our instructional delivery plan under COVID.
Effective Monday, March 15, we will be bringing our student back to school full time, four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Fridays will remain reserved to support our remote learning students and families. Effective Monday, April 12 the school district will transition to all students in session, five days a week. The remote learning option will be discontinued on April 12.
The first round of the COVID-19 vaccination was administered to all staff members agreeing to receive them on Thursday, February 25. The second dose will be administered on Thursday, March 18. Schools will be closed on March 18 and our students will be supported by teachers with our remote learning system to allow staff to make their second vaccine appointments. These vaccines will provide our staff members with a significant level of protection against contracting the COVID-19 virus. The efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine after 14 days following the first dose is 82% and the level increases significantly after the second dose.
Other supporting elements that we considered when making the decision to return full time, four days a week, include the fact that there has never been a person to person transmission among our students or staff members of the virus within our schools since the very inception of the virus. In addition, there have only been 26 students and 11 staff members that have tested positive for COVID-19 during the current school year.
To prevent the spread of the virus, everyone in our school system will continue to observe and practice all of the safety protocols included in the school district’s Reset/Restart and Reopening Plan adopted by the Board of Education. That protocol includes prohibiting visitors from entering the building, answering daily health questions, conducting temperature checks each morning, frequent washing of hands and sanitizing surfaces, mandatory wearing of masks, and social distancing. We may not always be able to achieve CDC’s six-foot social distancing recommendation, but we will social distance to the greatest extent possible.
We are very excited about returning to school and working to return to a more traditional school experience. As we work to bring our students back to school, we ask for your continued support and patience. You can expect additional communication from our school principals.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Johnson, Superintendent