9.18.20 COVID Update

9.18.20 COVID Update
Posted on 09/18/2020
9.18.20 COVID Update

Families of Lake Geneva Schools,

 

I sincerely hope you and your student have settled into their chosen educational format (in-person, virtual, or blended) for the 2020-2021 school year. I want to thank you for your support of our schools and your students during these first three weeks of school. Our staff and students are making every effort to keep our environment healthy by doing their best to physically distance and to be conscious of the fifteen minutes of close contact limitations to best minimize their exposure to the COVID-19 virus. We have had great cooperation with our mask mandate which is of great importance to maintain a healthy environment and, therefore, keep our schools open for in-person instruction. Paying as close of attention as possible to these mitigation procedures will provide us with the most effective strategy to keep our schools open and, therefore, provide the best education possible to our students during these challenging times.

 

We have plenty of rumors floating around and if social media is your way to fact check, you, indeed, are sure to be misinformed. This e-mail is to bring you up to speed on where we are as we deal with the COVID pandemic issue as well as to inform you of future measures to give you accurate and up-to-date information.

 

As of 9:00 a.m. on September 18th we have had three students at Badger High School test positive for COVID since August 24th. Two of those students have returned to school and one case remains active. None are seriously ill. As of that same time, we have had two LGMS students test positive for COVID. Both of those cases are active. Once again, these students are not seriously ill. As of the same dates one staff member has tested positive in our districts and has returned to school. There have been no other confirmed cases of COVID in our schools at this point.

 

I have heard rumors and social media posts of outbreaks, etc., etc. Not true unless you view the above figures as an outbreak. In the future, we will be continually updating our official COVID information on our own dashboard located on each school's website and labeled COVID-19 Resource and Communication Center. There you will find up-to-date information and numbers of COVID-19 cases in our schools.

 

I briefly want to explain what happens when we have a positive COVID-19 case. We first confirm the positive result with the family. We cannot and will not share the names of any positive results with others. We then walk through the schedule of a student, talk to teachers and others to identify close contacts. The close contact is defined by the six foot and fifteen minute guideline or direct physical contact. Each close contact is then identified, their parents contacted, and they will be quarantined for 14 days. Parents are called and a letter follows up with information and their return date to school. Relevant staff are notified and we prioritize deep cleaning in classrooms where these students are attending. Only people with close, prolonged contact with the positive case must quarantine. The person who tested positive must remain quarantined for a minimum of 10 days from the onset of symptoms. If after 10 days their symptoms are gone and they have been fever-free for 24 hours, they can return to school. These procedures are in accordance with requirements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Walworth County Health Department.

 

I fully expect this to be a very challenging year. However, I would say that we have had a really good start to the year. Kids are very happy to be back in school. Our staff is truly happy to be working with our students again.

 

We will do our very best to keep you informed through our website. Once again, click on COVID-19 Resource and Communication Center and our dashboard. There you will find factual and up-to-date information on the COVID pandemic in our school.

 

We wish all a happy, healthy learning experience during the 2020-2021 school year. We appreciate your support and will do our best to make this a successful year for our students. 

 

Dr. James Gottinger

District Administrator 

Lake Geneva Schools


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