FROM OUR SUPERINTENDENT:
Good afternoon: We are working closely with public health officials to take precautions in regard to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). While there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Anacortes School District, we want to make sound judgments to ensure our community stays safe – especially those most at-risk. These include:
We made these decisions with two aims in mind: 1) to reduce the exposure of our school communities to visitors who may have been exposed to COVID-19 2) to conserve our resources, including cleaning supplies and staff time, to maximize efforts and resources to clean daily student learning and eating spaces Community Events & Student Activities As a result of the guidance, we are cancelling sporting competitions, concerts, dances, plays, and information nights from March 12 through April 12. This will impact both “home” and “away” activities – students will not participate in any of the above-listed events until April 12. At that time, we expect to have further guidance from health officials. We do not make this decision lightly. We know how hard our students work and how much our community enjoys their talents. However, we feel this precaution is necessary to reduce possible exposure to our school communities. Anacortes School District sports practices, rehearsals, and school club meetings will continue to be held, as we view those as extensions of the school day. Building use by community partners will also be suspended from March 12 through April 12. This includes all events led by community partners. We are thankful for the dedication of our custodians and want to give them extra time to complete the additional cleaning currently needed in our buildings. In addition, all overnight field trips have been cancelled through April 12. Currently, students may still be permitted to go on local field trips that do not require an overnight stay. Possible future cases in our schools While we have no confirmed COVID-19 cases in our schools at present, we are planning for such a possibility. If we receive confirmation from public health with a probable or confirmed case, we will close the school for 48 hours to do a deep clean. If we have evidence of potential spread to other schools, we will close all impacted schools. Per health department guidelines, our intent would be to open the schools after the thorough cleaning. Illness Students and staff with symptoms such as cough, fever, and/or difficulty breathing, or who have been contacted by public health because they are a close contact of a confirmed or presumptive positive case, should stay home from work, school and other activities. Do not have your student return to school (or staff return to work) until 72 hours after fever resolves or seven days after the illness, whichever is longer. Attendance We will follow our regular procedures for excusing work and/or permitting students a reasonable amount of time to make up any missed work for excused absences. If you expect that your student is going to be absent for an extended period of time (i.e. five days or more), please communicate directly with your student’s teacher(s). Stay Connected Our decisions may change as this situation evolves. All our decisions are guided by the safety of students, staff, families, and community. We will continue to update the Coronavirus (COVID-19) page on our website regularly. We want to express our appreciation for the patience of our Anacortes community as we work through the daily challenges of COVID-19. Thank you for your partnership. Sincerely, Superintendent Mark Wenzel
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFROM THE DESK OF YOUR PTA BOARD Archives
January 2021
District NewsThe ASD Weekly Community Bulletin is a great resource! It contains up-to-date info from the school district along with information and links to basic needs supports, volunteer opportunities in the district and community, family support groups and much more.
|