Community Update- November 4, 2020
We have officially made it through the first nine weeks of school, completed a fall activity season, and remain full steam ahead at this time! We consider that a major achievement under the circumstances, and we’d like to thank you all for the support you’ve offered to get us this far.
We are writing to update you on a few items pertaining to the upcoming holiday and winter activity season.
First, we wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
We know how important it is for our families to be families, and we want our parents and students to enjoy the time they have together. As you may have heard, we recently had a very transparent discussion with our Board of Education about what some other schools are considering for the week following the Thanksgiving holiday. Health officials have advised that there is a high likelihood of a spike in exposure to the coronavirus over the break, and our thoughts at the time were that an additional 3-5 days off might prevent a surge in cases that could jeopardize our in-person schooling. Thank you to our Board of Education for your listening ear, willingness to contribute and engage in open, honest discussions. This is the type of dialogue we need to have.
However, we also know that it’s our responsibility to look at the impact our decisions have on students, families, and the Beatrice community. So we have decided that although there may be a higher risk, we do not want to overreact to something that may never come to fruition. The costs of having kids out of school, forcing remote learning before it’s absolutely necessary, and upsetting the general flow of all those schedules may outweigh a proactive measure that might not be appropriate at this time. Therefore, our current plan is that school will be IN PERSON the week of November 30 - December 4 as normal.
We continue to encourage families to have back-up plans in the event that we do see substantial increases in Covid cases following the holiday. And we ask that everyone take appropriate preventative measures in the community to ensure we can return to in-person learning as planned. It could very well change in a big hurry and may be necessary to implement remote learning, but we will make that decision when necessary.
Lastly, as we transition into winter activities, the NSAA has laid out specific guidelines for participants and spectators at all NSAA and school sponsored events. Those guidelines are:
• Student participants are permitted, but not required, to wear face coverings during competition.
• Coaches and non-active participants are required to wear face coverings at all times.
• Spectators are required to wear face coverings at all times while attending indoor events.
All participating schools, officials, judges and spectators are expected to adhere to these requirements, and the host school is further expected to make every effort to mitigate risk and provide adequate opportunities for physical distancing for everyone involved. This may necessitate further restrictions as deemed appropriate by our local health officials.
In order to continue hosting in-person events, we ask that you please take note of these requirements and abide by them. We know everyone is thrilled that we’ve been able to continue our activity schedules with limited interruptions, and these measures are being put in place statewide to give us the best chance at keeping it that way. So please show your support for the students by adhering to these policies so we can keep these events happening.
Thank you for your continued support, and for helping us keep kids safely in school and doing what they love!
Again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!
Sincerely,
Beatrice Public Schools
Administrative Team