Be Prepared, but Not Scared
It is no secret that millions of Americans are a little on edge about the possibility of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 impacting their communities. People in our surrounding states have been diagnosed with the virus and there is always a possibility that someone in our community might be exposed to the virus. We have Spring Break coming and many of our families plan on traveling during this week. We also have a number of members of our community who travel for work to cities that have had reported cases of the virus. It has been common practice, and is the recommendation of the CDC, for those exposed to be quarantined as to not expose others. If this were to happen, we want to be prepared.
In Haleyville City Schools, we are also taking measures to ensure that we are educating students on washing hands and other measures to curb the spread of germs. We are cleaning schools thoroughly daily as well. We are also sending out a survey this week asking parents to help us by voluntarily sharing with us travel plans for Spring Break, sharing if anyone has family members who might travel out of state, and also letting us know what resources might be needed if we in fact have to quarantine for a period of time. Our goal is to always be proactive and to do what we can to educate students as well as to be prepared to help coordinate the supply of basic necessities if we are unable to attend school at some point.
The CDC, Health Departments, SSA, and the State Department of Education all have urged school districts to have a plan of action for this type of widespread illness. The goal of this blog and the survey is for us to be proactive in protecting our students. We want to be transparent that we are not scared of the Coronavirus, but we want to ensure we are doing as much as we can to teach students proper hygiene tips, educating our community on the possibility of the virus coming to Haleyville, and also developing a plan so that we are prepared if this were to impact our community.
Many concerns have been shared about upcoming trips and activities. We are monitoring areas like NYC where we have the Senior Trip scheduled for May. At this point, we are not canceling trips or extracurricular activities, but are closely monitoring the situation. We will let everyone know if anything changes. Below are some resources we wanted to share:
Coronavirus Facts Provided by the CDC
(website below as well):
What is the Coronavirus?
Who is at risk?
The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully known. Reported illnesses have ranged from very mild (including some with no reported symptoms) to severe, including illness resulting in death. While information so far suggests that most COVID-19 illness is mild, a reportexternal icon out of China suggests serious illness occurs in 16% of cases. Older people and people of all ages with severe underlying health conditions — like heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, for example — seem to be at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 illness.
You can find out everything you want to know at the CDC webiste: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Resources for Households: https://bit.ly/39vaq3f
Travel Information: https://bit.ly/2wHogAU
Preventing the Spread of COVID-19: https://bit.ly/2wF3CS2
If your child or any member of your family feels like you might have been exposed to the coronavirus, communication is key. We need to know immediately so we can start putting our plans into action to reduce the spread of this type of illness. Thank you for being our partners and working with us to prevent the spread of any illness within Haleyville City Schools!
Dr. Holly Sutherland
Superintendent
Comments
Post a Comment