Today, Governor DeWine announced that Portage County had moved to Red status on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. This means that starting next Monday, September 21st JAG will be moving to our Hybrid model for two weeks. We will monitor cases closely in our area over the next two weeks and make a determination as to whether it is safe to return to in person learning five days a week.
Our plan allows for flexibility within the Advisory System but leans heavily on consultation with the Portage County Health Department. Data currently shows that cases at Kent State University have contributed greatly to Portage County’s rise in cases and this move to Red status. In consultation with our county health department we felt it best to move to hybrid as a precautionary measure to ensure the spread does indeed remain at Kent State. We will monitor this data closely and may return to face to face learning if our local spread remains low.
So, what does this mean for the next two weeks?
Learning for students in our online academy will not change.
Athletics practices and games will not change.
All in person students will report to school tomorrow, Friday, September 18th.
All families should follow the A/B calendars found on the District website. Monday will begin as a “B Day” with only students in Group B attending.
Because of limited class size in our Preschool classrooms, our preschool program will continue to operate five days a week for all students.
Finally, students will have a typical schedule when they are in person but receive work to complete the following day while at home.
In closing it is important to know that this temporary move to hybrid learning should not be viewed as a loss. From the start we have been thoughtful and responsive in an effort to keep our students and staff safe, and today is no different. Through the first two weeks of school our plan has been implemented extremely well. We have had no cases and everyone has done an excellent job following the safety procedures we have in place. We will continue to follow our plan, evaluate local information as it becomes available and do all we can to keep our kids and staff safe.
As we monitor cases in Portage County and, more importantly, our local numbers we will continue to be transparent in our communication with you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.
Have a great day. Go G-Men!
Ted