November 9, 2020
Dear Independence Local Schools’ Families,
As a district, we are at a point where Covid-19 and the impacts of infections and quarantine are creating an increasing amount of challenges for the operations of our schools. Just today we found out, in unrelated cases, that a member of our maintenance team and a 10th-grade student have tested positive for Covid-19. The member of our maintenance team was not around students however two other staff members must begin the quarantine process. The 10th-grade student has been determined to have had close contact with 16 students and one staff member. These individuals have already left school and begun the quarantine period. As a reminder, these occurrences are all tracked and reported on our website under the Covid-19 dashboard. We do not have reason to believe there has been school-based transmission of Covid-19, however our increase in infections is following state and county data trends.
When we opened on September 2, we did so with confidence that we could provide the services and environment that made for a successful year amidst the pandemic. With our current amount of infections, staff members and classes in quarantine, correlating staffing shortages specifically in the transportation and custodial/cleaning departments, and pending test results of students and staff, I do not believe we can provide that environment for the short-term time being.
With all of these factors considered, starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10 and for the remainder of the week, our schools will be placed in a remote setting. This remote designation will very likely continue into next week. By the end of this week, I will have more information and know the target date for returning to in-person learning. We are awaiting the return of a number of quarantined staff members along with staff members who have pending test results.
Your building principals and teachers will connect with you about the specifics of your student’s remote learning and assignments. Hopefully this is for a short period of time and we can return safely by the end of next week. I will provide an updated plan for next week by Friday. During this remote time, all of our school buildings will receive deep disinfecting.
Most importantly, keep sending those prayers to family, friends and our Independence Local Schools’ staff and students who are sick and fighting the virus. The little things we all do to stay distanced, keep masked, and avoid crowded areas really do make a difference.
Sincerely,
Ben Hegedish
Superintendent
