September 10, 2021

Dear School Community Member:

Good afternoon. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend. The school year is off to a positive and productive start. There is definitely a sense of normalcy around the district and a genuine enthusiasm and excitement for life as an Owl. Please remember to thank our faculty, staff and administration for coordinating a smooth and seamless opening of schools.

Unfortunately, several members of the school community have recently tested positive for COVID-19. I want to advise everyone on the protocols we will follow this year when we are notified of a positive case in the school community:

• When notified of a positive case, the school nurse and building administration will complete the contact tracing;
• If your child is considered a close contact, you will be notified by the school nurse or building principal that your son/daughter will need to quarantine for a specified length of time;
• Please be reminded that in the K-12 classroom setting, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student, if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time;
• If your child is considered a close contact, it may take up to 24 hours to begin the virtual/livestream instruction;
• If your child was in the same classroom as an individual who tested positive, but is not considered a close contact, you will receive an email advising you to monitor your son/daughter for symptoms. No quarantine will be required.

In closing, I hope everyone is enjoying a smooth start to the school year. It is great to see the typical sights and sounds in and around our schools.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

Go Owls!

Sincerely,

Robert M. Gamper, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools