Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King
Local classrooms are shutting down again.
With a substantial county-wide spike in COVID-19 cases, the Coupeville School District announced Wednesday that it is returning to full remote or distance learning.
This will go into effect immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday, and is scheduled to last from Monday, November 30, through Friday, January 8.
Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King issued the following statement:
Over the past few weeks we have been closely monitoring the rising COVID-19 rates in our state and county.
Up until recently our county was considered either moderate or low-risk when it comes to in-person instruction.
Over the past couple of weeks we have become a high-risk county for in-person school according to the chart on page five of the Washington State Decision Tree.
In fact, we have now more than doubled the high-risk threshold of 75 per 100,000 with the most recent time period (11/08/20 – 11/21/20) showing 152.09 new cases per 100,000.
We were provided with this most recent data in the past 24 hours and this morning we consulted with Island County Public Health, area superintendents, school board members, and our District Leadership Team, and the clear consensus was that we need to prioritize the safety of our staff, students, and community and go to 100% distance or remote learning.
For those students and families who have been able to have in-person services this fall I am sorry that we are having to make this change.
Your teacher(s) will be in contact with you in regards to what your fully remote learning program will look like.
Please know that our teachers have done an outstanding job of improving and implementing a very improved remote learning program for our students since last spring.
This was a complex decision for us as we know that for many families this will be extremely difficult to lose the in-person services.
Families who are having their schooling impacted by this decision should contact their teacher(s) or school office if they have any specific questions or concerns.
Our current food service program will continue for our families with weekly ordering and pick-up on Wednesdays and Thursday mornings.
We are thankful for our food service team providing this very important service during these difficult times for our families.
Staff who continue to work onsite will still be able to purchase daily lunches as well.
I am encouraging all staff members to work from home during this period of time if they are able to do so.
Having fewer staff members in the building on a regular basis will help reduce the risk of spreading COVID.
If you do work onsite please make sure you sign in as you enter the building and also on your classroom door if you are a teacher.
This will help us with contact tracing if needed and also with our efforts to efficiently sanitize our schools on a daily basis.
I know this has been a very difficult time for all of us but as we go into the Thanksgiving holiday I want you all to know that I am truly thankful for you.
I appreciate our students, staff, and families navigating these difficult and complex times with us.
I hope you can join me in being optimistic and hopeful in regards to our future.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you,
Steve King
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