Sparta Area Schools issued the following announcement on July 21.
We hope you have all enjoyed the first month of your summer, and have had some time to get out and have fun with your family!! We are less than six weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 school year so we wanted to share the latest information with you on our plans for our return to school this fall.
After navigating a very challenging and ever-changing school year in 2020-21, we are hopeful things will be much more “normal” when our students return to school on August 24th. Currently there are not any orders from MDHHS or the Kent County Health Department that require us to implement any COVID mitigation strategies this fall, but there are several recommendations to keep our staff and students safe. Below is a summary of how we are currently planning to begin the 2021-22 school year based on these recommendations:
Facial coverings (masks) will be optional for staff and students. While it is recommended by the CDC and MDHHS that unvaccinated staff and students continue to wear a mask while in school, the decision will be left to families to decide what is best for their child(ren). Current federal regulations require a mask on public transportation, including school buses. We will provide any updates to this as they become available.
COVID vaccinations will continue to be a personal choice. No staff or student will be required to receive a COVID vaccination to attend school. We will continue to share information on any local vaccination clinics, should they become available, for those that may be interested. All other school-required vaccines remain mandatory, unless there is a signed waiver on file from the health department. These vaccines can be found at the following link: Vaccines Required for Schools in Michigan
Daily health screenings will not be required, but we strongly encourage all families to screen their children for symptoms of illness each morning before sending them to school. Any child who does not feel well in school or that displays symptoms of illness will be isolated in the office until a parent can come to pick them up and will not be allowed to return to school until they are symptom free.
We will not require any students attending school, participating in athletics, or any other extra-curricular activities to test for COVID on a weekly or regular basis, but do hope to be able to offer testing to any family that would like their symptomatic child to be tested. We will provide more specifics on any available testing once we have more information.
We will continue to report any positive or probable cases of COVID to the Kent County Health Department, as required. The health department will be responsible for any quarantines, and our district will assist with any required contact tracing. While it is our hope to limit any isolation or quarantine requirements, we will follow all mandates from the health department to limit the spread of the virus in this area.
We will continue with many of our upgraded cleaning protocols, hand washing and sanitizing stations, and improved air flow strategies to keep our buildings, staff, and students as safe as possible. We will encourage our staff to utilize our outdoor learning environments and opportunities as long as the weather cooperates.
We will continue to provide free school breakfast and lunch for all students during the 2021-22 school year. K-5 students will eat breakfast in their classrooms and lunch in the cafeteria. MS & HS students can grab their breakfast and take it with them to their first block class, and lunches will return to the cafeteria as normal.
Our Board of Education has waived athletic participation fees for the 2021-22 school year for all middle and high school students. We would like to encourage students to participate in athletics as much as possible. This will be a great year to get involved!!
If any parent is interested in a fully virtual option for their child for the 2021-22 school year, please contact (email or phone) your building principal as soon as possible. We will assume that all students will be returning for full-time face-to-face instruction unless we have received communication otherwise. All requests for virtual learning must be received no later than August 2, 2021.
Please continue to share your questions or concerns with our school board members and our district leadership team. We will remain nimble in our approach to limiting the spread of COVID while in school and will make any necessary adjustments, should they be needed. Our Board of Education is committed to keeping our staff and students safe while also providing flexibility for parents to decide what is best for their child(ren).
Also, attached to this communication, is the school calendar and start times for each building for the 2021-22 school year. The first day for students will be Tuesday, August 24, with the last day set for June 8, 2022. Our principals will provide families with building-specific information as the start of the school year draws closer. We hope to see everyone at our district-wide open houses (Aug. 19) next month. Thank you for your patience and support as we prepare for another school year!! We are really looking forward to our kids returning to school and experiencing a much more “normal” environment in 2021-22!!
Original source can be found here.
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