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Urgent News
Update Center
Coronavirus (COVID-19) information
July 28, 2020
Summer Meal Program Temporarily Suspended
The Polson School District summer meal program has been temporarily suspended effective immediately. A district food service worker tested positive for COVID-19. The district has notified the Lake County Health Department and will follow their guidance in responding to this incident and will restart the meal program on August 11th.
The food worker has been isolated, and contact tracing is ongoing. All food preparation staff wear masks and gloves, and we do not believe that anyone who received and/or consumed food products prepared by this worker is at an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. There is no evidence that food or food packaging is associated with the transmission of COVID-19 regardless of the status of the worker.
July 15, 2020
Guidelines for Reopening of Schools and Parent Survey
Greetings Polson School District Families. We’re excited to share these plans for reopening our schools on-site this fall. It is important, however, that we note that this is a draft plan and is subject to change as conditions with Covid-19 continue to change as we move towards school startup.
School leaders in the Flathead and Mission Valley have been meeting and discussing plans throughout the spring and summer for the opening of schools this fall. We continue to meet regularly and work closely with state leaders and the County Health Departments. As a result of these meetings, the Polson School District Administrative Team has developed the Polson School District Guidelines for Reopening of Schools included with this letter. Outlined in this document, you will find a plan for each phase, should conditions change for Montana or our community. Attached you will find supporting information from the Governor’s Office, County Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control, and other sources for your information.
Our plan is to have students return to school in the fall at 100% capacity (currently under Phase II). Phase II allows for groups under 50, which allows us to have regular classes, but does bring some changes throughout the school day to stay under that limit (lunch and assemblies would be examples).
At this stage in the planning, it is critical that we hear from you by July 31. Your information provided will help us make decisions as we move towards school startup. To finish the survey, please push DONE at the bottom of the page to submit.
Polson School District Family Survey
Know that the safety and wellbeing of our students, families, staff, and community continue to be our highest priority. In the governor’s guidelines and many of the other documents, you will note a number of recommendations to maintain community health. We encourage you to maintain proper handwashing, practice physical distancing, and consider wearing a mask in public when you cannot maintain social distance.
Throughout the COVID-19 event, we have appreciated your cooperation and understanding as we work through this together.
Sincerely,
Rex M. Weltz
Superintendent, Polson School District #23
Previous Updates
April 30, 2020
Board of Trustees Votes to Extend School Closure for the Remainder of the Academic Year
Polson School District Staff and Families,
Yesterday afternoon, the Polson School District Board of Trustees voted to extend the school closure for the remainder of the academic year. Their decision was reached after considerable discussion and deliberation and based on credible evidence from experts in various fields. Ultimately, the trustee’s decision was based on the safety of the students, families, and District employees.
We understand the challenges and hardships that school closure places on our families, as well as the social and emotional impact it may have on our students. Please know that we are committed to providing students and families with ongoing support. We will continue to provide distance learning opportunities to meet the students’ academic needs. We will continue to supply free-grab-and-go meals for all students. Also, we will continue to find ways to stay connected with students and families to help maintain our spirit of community and togetherness.
We will provide frequent updates as we navigate our way through these dynamic and unprecedented times. In the upcoming weeks, we will disburse additional information regarding how graduation, grades, transcripts, collecting personal belongings, and possible summer school will be handled.
Additionally, we have begun discussions regarding school start-up this fall. There are still many unknown variables that are ahead of us and starting the discussion now will help us be prepared as we move towards next school year. #Together
Most sincerely,
Rex
April 22, 2020
Important Information Regarding Governor Bullock’s April 22 Announcement
Good afternoon Polson School District Families,
Today Governor Bullock announced that he will lift the state-wide school closure directive as of Thursday, May 7 but also noted that he is not suggesting that schools return to normal for the remainder of this school year. Health Department officials will provide guidance and even possibly additional limitations as we look to make decisions. Polson School District will comply with local Health Department guidance and directives as we move forward. We are currently working with other school districts in the region in considering our safest options for the remainder of the school year. While we recognize the hardships remote learning has created, the health and safety of our students, families, and staff is our highest priority. We will share more information with you in the coming days.
Stay Well
Rex
April 9, 2020
Meal Service Statistics and Distance Learning Update
I have attached our meal count to date (Meal_Counts.pdf). Nearly 15,000 meals thus far. The picture and text following is precious and warms our hearts. The food delivery does more than nourishes the body, it feeds the mental well being for many of our students. This little boy can't wait to see the bus pull up with lunch and tomorrow's breakfast; the highlight of his day during social distancing and school closures.
Lori Miller (Food Services/Nutrition Director) is working on getting a little something special to our students for this weekend in the form of an Egg. Her crew is working from a perspective of love and care. We are very proud of her department's work and the drivers that are delivering meals to our families.
We have changed our "Learn from Home" page to "Distance Learning" as we shift gears to deliver our instruction predominantly through Google Classroom while keeping paper based work available on request. I would ask that you take a look at our new Distance Learning page to get familiar with the new platform and have some time to go over the instructions for getting connected. Our adminstrators, staff, and technology department have worked hard to pull this together and I want to thank them for their hardwork and ability to adapt and grow to meet our students needs with this ever changing situation.
Through adversity, character shines. When we are uncomfortable, we grow.
Hope you and your family are all well
Stay Well and Together... we got this.
Bests,
Rex
April 7, 2020
School Closure Update
This afternoon, Governor Bullock has announced an extension of school closures for another two weeks through April 24. We anticipated this extension and our staff has prepared and planned for distance learning when we return from Spring Break. On Thursday evening, April 9th we will have another update for students and families with details on how to access distance learning resources for each grade level.
Teachers and district staff are ready to support you through this time. We will get through this #together.
Always,
Mr. Weltz
April 2, 2020
Superintendent Weltz answers questions with PHS Student Body President Davis Smith
Concern or question?
Student and staff safety is our top priority. If you have a question, concern or comment about any health or safety issue, please let us know.
Email us at: covid19-team@polson.k12.mt.us
Lake County Public Health