November 14, 2020
Dear Families:
I wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update regarding COVID-19. On late Friday evening, the District was alerted that a third-party employee at the High School was identified as a positive case for COVID-19. This is the second confirmed case within the current 2-week window at IHS. It is our understanding that no staff and/or students will need to be quarantined as a result of the most recent positive case. This decision is reflective of the District’s Safety Plan and protocols. Specifically, students and faculty were adhering to the District’s safety plan by wearing masks and seated 6 ft. apart from one another.
According to our Board-approved Health and Safety Plan, we could be required to close the high school for possibly as long as a two-week period; however, after conversations with the health department, high school administration, and school health offices, I made the decision to keep IHS open. I believe these actions still fall in line with our approved plan. I made the decision to stay open for the following reasons:
- The cases were not connected to one another - not on the same sports team, extracurricular activity, and in different cohorts.
- No staff and students are being isolated and/or quarantined.
- It falls within the 2-4 range - still in alignment with our plan.
- This scenario reflects one of the benefits of the hybrid model.
Respectfully, the hybrid model allows us great flexibility to remain open while adhering to our safety plan. If we were fully opened, we would have to possibly close IHS for up to 14 days. I realize that these are difficult times with the increased pressures the pandemic causes, and there are no right or wrong answers at times due to the varying beliefs, attitudes, and opinions on the matter. On behalf of the entire District, please know we are doing all we can to remain open to provide educational programming to our students with safety at the forefront of our decision-making.
Our School Health Services staff has done an amazing job being proactive in monitoring for symptoms. We have continued to send students home for exhibiting COVID symptoms out of an abundance of care and caution. I fully support the school nurses taking an abundance of care in our daily operations and recognize the angst this can cause our families.
Respectfully,
Mr. Michael J. Vuckovich
IASD Superintendent