21-22 Back to School Plan

By Press release submission

Aug 10, 2021

Cedar Springs Public Schools issued the following announcement on Aug 6.

We’re excited to welcome our Red Hawks back to school on the 23rd of this month! We hope you have taken an opportunity this summer to enjoy spending time with family and friends. As we look forward to the start of the new school year, we know COVID-19 is still impacting people in our community, and want to take a moment to share our plan for the 21-22 school year.

The safety, health, and well-being of our students and staff are the three highest priorities for Cedar Springs Public Schools (CSPS). Our team has maintained contact with local health officials at the Kent County Health Department (KCHD) throughout the summer. We have closely monitored all communications coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). These efforts were taken to help us welcome students and staff back to their classrooms in person for the 21-22 school year.

In our recent meeting on Friday, July 30, the KCHD provided an update with recommendations to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 considering the new Delta variant. At this time, the CDC, MDHHS, and the KCHD are recommending the following mitigation strategies for school districts to begin the new year:

Vaccination of all eligible persons
Consistent and correct mask use by all persons indoors in the PreK-12 setting (ages 2 years and older) regardless of vaccination status
Physical distancing of at least three feet
Handwashing and good hygiene
Staying home when sick
Contact tracing in combination with quarantine of close contacts and isolation of positive cases

The above are recommendations and not public health orders. Cedar Springs Public Schools has consistently adhered to all public health orders required by law and will continue to do so. After reviewing recommendations, Cedar Springs Public Schools will:

Not require masks when in school buildings but encourage all students and staff to use one
Request students and staff stay home when sick or feeling ill,
Continue to social distancing of at least three feet within the classrooms,
Promoting handwashing and good hygiene,
Require masks to be worn on school buses due to the January 29 CDC Order (view below)

On January 29, 2021, the CDC issued an Order that required face masks to be worn by all people while on public transportation (which included all passengers and all personnel operating conveyances) traveling into, within, or out of the United States and U.S. territories. From the CDC’s website, passengers and drivers must wear a mask on school buses, including on buses operated by public and private school systems, subject to the exclusions and exemptions in CDC’s Order. A bus driver does not need to wear a mask if they are the only person on the bus.

We want to thank all the parents who have taken the time to reach out over the summer with their comments, concerns, questions, and thoughts regarding this topic. Our Board of Education along with the administration has read and taken your feedback into consideration.

We will continue to work with our public health offices and make any necessary adjustments based on the CDC, MDHHS, and KCHD guidance to continue to keep our students and staff safe, and following all legal mandates that may be put in place moving forward.

I cannot find the words to accurately capture the level of excitement we have to reconnect with our students on August 23! We can’t wait for the start of a new year and look forward to everything 2021/22 has to offer.

Original source can be found here.