Greetings Comet Families!
This is Superintendent Erik Weatherwax with a couple of messages about COVID protocols as it relates to our upcoming school 2021-2022 school year and band camp.
The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have both provided their recommendations for the upcoming school year. Many are just that, recommendations. The county superintendents met with with the Branch-Hillsdale and St. Joseph health officer to determine protocols for the upcoming school year. It was determined by the superintendents that masks would not be a requirement at this time due to current cases. As of July 20th, Hillsdale County has reported 5 positive cases. We will be running after school programs and athletics as usual. With that said, students may wear masks and we will have them on hand. We will also continue our Pathways virtual program for families wanting that option.
Consequently, band camp participants will not be required to wear masks at this time. We have been running our athletics all summer with no quarantines. We do understand that some families may still want to wear masks and we support that choice. There will be masks provided at the camp. We ask that you monitor your student for any symptoms (runny nose, fever, headache, etc.) and keep them home if they have them.
Understand, this is what we can do and feel comfortable with right now. COVID is still here and there is a new Delta variant that has shown to be more contagious. This may change our approach as the data changes. We will continue to monitor the rates and make adjustments accordingly. I encourage you to educate yourself at the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Health Dept. at bhsj.org/coronavirus. It has information on COVID cases, updates from the CDC, and information on vaccinations.
I hope you are all having a wonderful restful summer! We still have quite a bit left but I am eager to begin in the Fall. Go Comets!
Sincerely,
Erik Weatherwax, Superintendent Jonesville Community Schools