Message from the Superintendent
October 19, 2020
- All schools will return to Full Physically In-Person Learning on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
- Please complete School Pass prior to leaving for and arriving at school.
- Please reinforce mitigation strategies with your children – mask wearing, hand washing, and physical distancing, particularly when transitioning from one location to another.
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Dear Inter-Lakes Families,
I am writing to inform you that all of our schools will be returning to the Full Physically In-Person Tier starting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20th. All schools and impacted areas have been appropriately cleaned and are prepared for learners on Tuesday. Additionally, athletics will resume as well as scheduled local outdoor field trips.
Decision Making Process
In order to help you understand the decision-making process, I would like to remind our families, that the School District has an established advisory COVID-19 Team. On a weekly basis this Team reviews current COVID-19 data for our area and the State and recommends if staying at our current Tier for Physically In-Person School makes sense or if an adjustment is needed. Click here to access the COVID-19 Dashboard for details and information. Additionally, this Team was preplanned to meet in the event of confirmed cases of COVID-19; as a result of our recent confirmed case, this Team met on Friday, October 16th and again today, Monday, October 19th. On Friday, as the Department of Health and Human Services had not yet completed their contact tracing, the Team felt it was prudent to wait until that work was done. As of today, we have learned from DHHS that they have completed their work and determined the following:
- There is no evidence at this point to suggest the source of COVID-19 is school-based;
- The individuals who need to be in quarantine are and it is not necessary to take any further steps; and
- At this time there is no evidence to suggest the source is anything other than community spread.
As a result of this information and after reviewing current data, the decision has been made to return to our Full Physically In-Person Tier for tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
Athletics
The COVID-19 Team also reviewed the question of whether we should continue with our current athletics programs as scheduled. It has been determined that the remainder of the fall season will continue through the end of this week, unless, there are changes to the data or if there are additional confirmed cases within our school communities and/or other schools we are scheduled to play. The Team will meet on Wednesday and next Monday to monitor the situation and if needed, determine if an adjustment should take place. We will not engage in any season championships as this may cross into many other regions in our State and extend interscholastic play beyond what is comfortable at this point.
Health Concerns and Symptoms of COVID-19
As a reminder, if you have health concerns or possible symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your healthcare provider. Possible symptoms may include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Remember, it is important that anyone not feeling well not attend school; when in doubt stay out and contact your child’s School Nurse with questions. Also, as part of our efforts to monitor the wellness of our school communities, we will be randomly checking temperatures as an additional mitigation strategy. It is our hope by the end of each week all individuals will have had their temperature checked at least once at school.
Emotional Wellness
Certainly, the recent situation may have raised everyone’s level of anxiety around COVID-19. Our School District has been working with Lynn Lyons, LICSW, a specialist in the area of anxiety. There are a number of resources from Ms. Lyons available to you that can be found by clicking here. Additionally, Ms. Lyons will be providing support to families through two virtual meetings, November 4th and December 2nd both meetings are scheduled 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.; a Zoom Link provided by Lynn will be posted on the day of the event on the Inter-Lakes District homepage (www.interlakes.org). If you have specific concerns for your child, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s Guidance Counselor for assistance.
Thank you to our families and educators for adapting so quickly to meet the needs of our learners. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Principal. Be well, Inter-Lakes.
Respectfully,
Mary A. Moriarty
Superintendent of Schools
MAM/mgm
Please use the SchoolPass site to update your student's wellness status.