Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have tried to stay open as long as we possibly can without putting any students or staff at risk during this pandemic. At this point in time with the increase in community spread of COVID 19, we are at the point where we feel we can no longer do this. After consulting with our principals and medical staff, we have decided in an abundance of caution to temporarily close both buildings at the end of the day today (Tuesday 11/17/20). Students will be asked to take their Chromebooks and chargers home because they will be taking part in online instruction from now until next Tuesday. Teachers will be asked to work from home on Wed., Thurs., and Friday of this week. That will give us five days to completely disinfect both buildings and will allow time for anyone who is infected to become symptomatic. We will open for teachers again on Monday, November 23rd. We will be training on our new classroom cameras with the plan to make Tuesday the first online day that can be done synchronously.
Our reopening plans will be determined by the infection rate. I believe the earliest we can have students in safely is December 7th. That will allow any students or families who travelled or had family visits over the holiday time to become symptomatic if they have been infected, and we can exclude those students when we return. Whether we can go back to face to face or begin in hybrid will be determined by the local infection rate. Our nurses will continue to monitor students over the break and should have a good idea where we stand. Our desire is to get back to face to face instruction as soon as we safely can. We believe that students should be in school, and we will work tirelessly toward that end.
Please take care of yourselves and your families.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Shoemake - Superintendent