Sept. 10, 2021
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students, and School Board Members:
On Wednesday, August 18th, our School Board voted to open schools without a mask mandate. It was recommended that students and staff wear masks, but masks were not mandated in the school. At that time, it was determined by the School Board in a formal vote that: If infection rates significantly increase in our area or if we have infections within our schools, we will revisit the masking issue and may implement a mask mandate.
At the time of this meeting, our Washington County CDC Color distinction was Orange (Substantial Risk), and the Delta Variant was just starting to emerge in Washington County. Our County has fluctuated between Orange and Yellow (Moderate Risk) for the weeks that have followed that vote. We are now Red, which is classified as a High Risk. Our local community has seen a significant increase in positive COVID cases this week and we now have had positive cases in our schools. Starting Monday, Sept. 13, we are instituting a district wide indoor mask mandate. This mask mandate will be monitored, and it will be lifted when the conditions that caused its implementation have subsided. At this time, we are implementing an indoor mask mandate for the next two weeks (10 school days) as a minimum precaution. At the end of this time-period you will be notified if the mask mandate will continue or if it will be lifted.
Schools are remaining fully open with live instruction five days a week in all schools and in all classrooms. If COVID cases increase to the point that we must close schools, we have plans to implement remote instruction for all our students.
This has been, and continues to be, a most challenging issue that has resulted in major changes for all of us. No one has all the answers. Thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation as we work together to solve problems, find answers and work through this difficult situation. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Ronald Ramsay
Superintendent of Schools
MSAD #37