McKinleyville Union School District Home

January 6, 2021

 

Dear MUSD families, students, staff and community. Hoping that this New Year is already offering glimpses of hope and health to each of you!

As our country continues to make progress on combating Covid-19, we still are not quite where we need to be. We all need to remain vigilant and committed to reducing the spread of this insidious disease. We are all worn down and feeling the impacts of isolation but the finish line is close. Thanks for continuing to do your part to keep our community safe!

Our goal has been to offer a Hybrid reopening option beginning January 19th. We have asked all of our families to complete a Covid-19 Education Agreement indicating their preference for their children to either remain in Distance Learning, or return to some in-person instruction 4 days per week either in the AM or PM beginning January 19th. We have been working hard on trying to accomodate most of the requests while also trying to minimize the number of student/teacher transitions our kiddo’s will experience. We are ready to make this happen!

We however still need to be mindful of California and our local Public Health Departments recommendations. Currently, Humboldt County was recently reduced to the Red Tier which would have afforded MUSD to proceed with our reopening plan. However, Public Health Officer, Dr. Ian Hoffman is predicting that our county will move back  into the Purple Tier as early as next week. With the likelihood of being reassigned to the Purple Tier, we may not be able to proceed with our plan until we have met that criteria. The recommendation is that schools remain with their existing structures until we have successfully remained in the Red (or lower Tier) for 14 days or more. Also, MUSD worked hard in the development of a COVID-19 Data Team who collaborated with one another to develop a set of metrics to help guide our district in decision making as it relates to reopening. You should have received an email from Edlio Engage/ Living Tree on Monday that included a video link showing me explaining how our metrics work. This will afford you the opportunity to “watch the indicators” alongside us and to develop a better sense of what we are tracking.

In close, although we are still planning for a January 19th reopening opportunity, we are aware that the date may have to be postponed should we return to the Purple Tier. We will do our  best to keep everyone of you apprised of our status. If we are unable to return to a Hybrid model on the 19th, please know your child will continue with their existing Distance Learning program.

Some good news, the Governor is making educators a priority for Tier 1B vaccinations. The sooner we can get our adults vaccinated, the sooner it will be more safe to return to in-person education.

Also, if you did not receive Monday’s email, please check your SPAM and look for Edlio Engage and/or Living Tree. This is the platform that we have to directly communicate emails, texts and calls with you. Give your school a call if you do not appear to be getting those emails, so we can figure out how best to correct this.

In close, PEACE to each of you!

 

Warm Regards,

Heidi Moore-Guynup, Superintendent