Dear students, staff, families and community,
This week I have received a few questions around COVID protocols, quarantine and how parents and families can help in keeping our school open for students. I will address those topics tonight.
The administrators and COVID team members responding to COVID in the schools are still responding to a higher number of cases than we saw last year, and that is partly attributed to the Delta variant and its spread among children. Our COVID dashboard is updated weekly to keep everyone apprised of our current situation. Last week we reported 41 positive COVID cases, which counts staff and students who were on campus during their infectious period.
We continue to implement strong mitigation in the schools, such as universal masking, handwashing, cleaning and distancing to limit the number of students and staff impacted by close contacts to a positive COVID case. Those strategies continue to be effective. We know this, because there have been very few exposures identified in the classroom setting in our district. As we look at the operational aspects of COVID, the reality is that it is more likely a student will be identified as a close contact at the Primary School due to age appropriate behaviors of students that make maintaining distance for an entire day challenging.
Aside from our young learners, another area where we see the impact of contact tracing is on the bus, where spacing students six feet away from each other is not a realistic solution while continuing to provide the necessary transportation for students to get to and from school. If you have the ability to transport your students to and from school, this could help reduce the likelihood of your student being identified as a close contact, as well as provide additional spacing on the buses for those who may rely on that service as the only way to get their students to and from our buildings.
The other area where we have seen an impact is in the area of extra curricular activities, where students are in close proximity to others for longer periods of time. These activities are important to the growth and development of our students of all ages. We enjoy seeing our students be active and compete, but must also acknowledge it may have an impact on in-person learning for those students, due to the nature of the activities.
We have seen an improvement this week with students remaining at home when ill, and we greatly appreciate that. We will continue to communicate with families impacted by COVID and COVID symptoms. Please make sure you are checking your email daily before school, because in instances of close contact and school exclusion we may be communicating by email as the most timely manner to relay information to larger groups. Please take a moment to make sure your email address is current in Skyward Family Access, and contact your student’s school if you need assistance.
As with illness with students we also experience staff illness and are looking for substitutes in all work categories. If you are interested in serving as a substitute please contact Tanya Carter in our Human Resources Department. The additional support in staffing will help us achieve our goal of a full school year of in-person instruction.
One of the most common questions I hear is, “What do I do when my student is quarantined?” There are several factors that can impact the length of a quarantine period. We have addressed these scenarios on our COVID-19 FAQ’s page, and I encourage you to look there. You can also look to the top right of our website, from any page, and click on COVID-19 Info. We continue to work on access to COVID testing for those who need it based on symptoms or COVID exposure. Our nursing staff and COVID support team are working around the clock to support safe in-person learning for students and staff. In the event that your child is instructed to quarantine, they should be in contact with their teacher(s). They will primarily access their classwork and content through the Google Classroom. We have many families who have missed their chromebook appointments and may need to reschedule a time. We ask that you do that through our Tech Help.
I know we have been at this for a while now, and there are many unknowns surrounding COVID. We remain committed to the health and safety protocols that have proven to minimize the impact of COVID in the school setting, so we can remain focused on providing your students the best in-person instruction in the State of Washington. I care about each student, staff member, family and community member the Blaine School District serves. While we may not all agree on the methods or tools to move forward, I am confident we will see this through and come out of this with each of us having played a key role. If there is anything I can do to help, please reach out to me.
It is a great night to be a Borderite, and, as always, a great night to be your superintendent.
Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher Granger Every Student. Every Day. In a New Way.