Ada schools will continue to go "remote" according to Meri Skilliter, superintendent. She updated the school community on several aspects involving covid-19 in a letter posted Friday afternoon on the school website. That letter follows:
We just completed our second week of remote learning, and we appreciate our students and staff who have adjusted once again.
Please know our goal is to get students back in the classroom as soon as possible. At the time we made the decision to go remote, we had so many teachers with cases, or quarantined due to exposure, that we didn’t have enough substitute teachers to cover all the classes.
Since we went remote, we have had a couple of new cases discovered and/or reported each day.
Current cases
• Currently, we have 8 active staff cases, with 4 recovered, for a total of 12 cumulative staff cases.
• We have 5 active student cases, with 6 recovered, for a cumulative total of 11 student cases.
• In this period of time, we have had 193 total students quarantined (that we know about), with some having completed their quarantines now, and others just starting a quarantine period due to this week’s cases and exposures.
• We’ve had 23 total staff members have to quarantine during this short time frame.
In talking with the Hardin County Health Department, we know that there are layers of safety and prevention, though clearly this virus is potent enough that it is impossible to fully prevent spread.
In one case we had, a person was tested as part of routine presurgical testing, and the person tested positive without any symptoms. That is what makes this virus harder to avoid.
However, there are things that have proven to reduce the chances of contracting and/or passing the disease.
Students and parents should practice frequent hand washing and sanitizing, decontaminate frequently touched surfaces with cleaners that kill this particular virus, socially distance from others, and wear a mask when around others.
As many cases have been contracted in social gatherings where no masks were worn and no social distancing took place, it is important to keep the family home when it is not absolutely necessary, and refrain from any group gatherings.
Mental health issues
One last note, we know that social isolation is difficult for many students. Current mental health issues can be exacerbated by the isolation, and new issues or symptoms can emerge during these times of quarantine and caution.
We want to remind our families that we are still working at school, and we have social workers and counselors that see students in person (with masks, socially distanced, and one at a time) on our campus.
We can arrange an electronic meeting as well. Our school counselors can make those connections for you if you think this might be helpful.
Just call the school, and we will connect you with the proper personnel (419-634-6421). In the meantime, spend more time talking with your student about how they are doing, have family movie or game nights, take walks as a family when the weather is good, and encourage creativity in maintaining their relationships with friends (though exercise caution with social media) via FaceTime, Zoom or other collaborative programs.
We want nothing more than to have everyone back as soon as possible. We know that what happens outside of school will determine when that will be.
With the holiday coming up, families may have to reconsider plans to protect one another. Together we can get back to the business of in person, public schooling, which we believe in whole heartedly.
• If you have any questions about Covid, you can go to https://coronavirus.ohio.gov.
• If you have any other questions, you can email Superintendent Skilliter at [email protected], or call her office at 419-634-6421
.
