Unfortunately, we are seeing increased unsafe activities among our students. While we have had our share of successes and are grateful to be able to offer in-person learning, now is not the time to let down our guard. Transmission rates in the community are beginning to rise, and we are receiving reports of students gathering in both small and large groups, and not following the guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing. Sadly, information parents or students may have isn’t always being shared with our local public health agency, SJBPH, making the health department’s job of contact tracing difficult at best. When a student or a parent is not truthful with SJBPH, cases may go undetected putting families and community members at risk.
We must all do our part and remain vigilant in following health guidelines to reduce the spread of the virus: wear your mask, wash your hands, watch your distance. It is also imperative that we do not have large gatherings or parties, which also disregard the issued public health guidelines. If we all do our part, our schools will be able to remain open. We know access to schools and to education is critical for our families and our students; but if students and parents are not doing their part to reduce the spread of the virus, we are putting our schools and their ability to operate in-person learning at risk.
Please take a look at the recommended guidelines here, and have a conversation with your student(s) and your family about the importance of following these guidelines. We all want to continue with school operations and we all need to support the safety measures in order to do so. We appreciate all your support and efforts to date, and remain optimistic that we will continue to see success for all students no matter the model of learning they have chosen.
As always, feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns about school operations this year. Thank you again for all you have done to keep our schools safe and open.
All the best,
Dan Snowberger - Superintendent