Message from the Superintendent 9/17/21
Dear Parents, Patrons, and Staff;
COVID-19 numbers across the district continue to fluctuate from day to day and building to building. In the last week we have seen larger numbers at the elementary level. We currently have
SFTHS
- 0 positive
- 5 test to learn
- 2 quarantined at home
- 2 home due to household positive
- 1 out due to pending test results
CAC
- 2 positive
- 10 test to learn
- 5 home due to positive household member
OAC
- 10 positives
- 54 test to learn
- 12 quarantine at home
- 5 home due to positive household member
- 3 out due to pending test results
SAC
- 1 test
- 2 home due to positive household member
Data and research from the CDC and KDHE continues to tell us that the most effective ways to stop the spread of COVIN-19 is get vaccinated, wear a mask, social distance when possible, and practice good hand hygiene. If you or your children develop symptoms please get tested and stay home.
I was asked by a parent this week about the criteria we use to identify a close contact to a person that has tested positive for COVID-19. The criteria is as follows:
A close contact is defined as someone who:
Was within 6 ft. of a COVID-19 positive person for 10 consecutive minutes or more or
Had contact with the person's respiratory secretions.
We also consider the environment where students were exposed, for example:
The chance of spreading the virus is greater the longer an infected person or persons are close to someone. It also matters if the infected person is coughing, sneezing, shouting, singing, playing a musical instrument or doing anything else that produces more respiratory droplets that contain virus or if there are exposures to more than one infected person. Under these higher risk situations, we consider a close contact as someone who has been within 6 feet of an infectious person or persons for 10 cumulative minutes or more in a school day.
The County Health Department has asked us to do contact tracing. We consider all of the possibilities before turning over names of students or staff who we believe have been exposed to COVID-19 to the Health Department. We may recommend that parents quarantine their students until they are contacted by the County Health Department but the actual right to quarantine rests only with the County Health Department.
Our current policy of Test to Stay, Learn, Play and Participate applies to those students who have been identified as a close contact and/or are quarantined by County Health. If parents choose not to have their children tested they can keep them at home and learning packets will be provided.
Our school received a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to provide free COVID-19 testing to anyone in our district. The free testing is available at all four of our building sites. For more information please see the attached letter here.
High School Homecoming is Next week. Stay tuned for more information regarding the full list of activities and events that will be happening across the district.
Quote for the Week:
“Someday I will or someday I’m going to are the cries of the residents of Someday Isle. Never in history has a situation improved on its own while people sat basking in the sun, doing nothing on Someday Isle.”
David Cottrell
Have a Great Week!
Jim Lentz
Superintendent
Inspiring and Empowering Every Charger Every Day