Operations Update 9.17.21

 Lewis County Metrics

Cases are predicted to decrease, but still the highest ever seen in Lewis County. Vaccination continues to be the strongest weapon against hospitalization and death. There will be a vaccination clinic at TMS on Saturday October 2 at 10 a.m. The Pfizer vaccine will be available to all who wish to be vaccinated.

School Operations

School remains in session with 100% in-person learning. While we receive daily reports of isolated COVID+ cases, there is no in-school spread indicated. In other words, students and staff are becoming infected outside of school. Staff and students who are identified as close  contacts are quarantining for 10 days. Siblings and family members are quarantining for 10 days after the end of the COVID+ patient's infectious period. This means that a close contact family member must quarantine for an additional 10 days after the infected person recovers and is asymptomatic. This means that the close contact is quarantining for a minimum of 20 days.

Close contacts who are vaccinated do not need to quarantine at all unless they become symptomatic.

Staffing is an issue for our schools both for substitutes and for supervision. If you are available to assist and have been vaccinated, we are hiring for paraeducators, custodians, emergency substitute teachers and bus drivers. Check with your child's principal for more information or call the district office at 360.864.6325.

Toledo High School

When you come to the high school during school hours, please park in the new parent and visitor parking area. Please do not park or drive in the bus loop. Any vehicles in this area block the entire loop to our busses. Thank you. 

We know that parking is at a premium right now as we work to increase the number of spaces available on the  north and west sides of the building. We ask for your patience during construction. When the project is completed, there will be more parking places than we had prior to construction!

TSD Operations Update 9.10.21

 Lewis County Metrics

Cases continue to increase in Lewis County. TSD has recorded 16 positive cases in September. Quarantines for staff coupled with a shortage of qualified substitutes are impacting our operations. 

Operations Update

We continue to serve all students in-person. Masking, distancing and hand hygiene continue to be our program for slowing the spread. We encourage students 12 and over to get vaccinated to limit the requirement for them to quarantine. We encourage all parents and community members to get vaccinated to help slow the spread. 

TSD is sponsoring a vaccination clinic from 9-12 on Saturday October 2 at TMS. In addition to the Johnson and Johnson (1 dose) vaccine, the clinic will be able to provide all vaccinations for children and adults. This is a great opportunity to fill in any "blanks" in your child's immunization record. It is also an opportunity to get a shingles vaccine if you are a senior citizen. Rite Aid is providing this service to our community and we are excited to be able to offer this opportunity to our neighbors.

Please note the changed traffic patterns at TES and THS when picking up and dropping off students. Please observe slower speed limits and watch for pedestrians when you are near schools.

First Week of School

 Lewis County Metrics

The fifth wave of COVID has pushed cases to the highest levels ever. Here is the current data for Lewis County. DOH indicates that they are hopeful that we're seeing a plateau in the number of cases.

We are doing our part to mitigate the spread of the disease by masking at school, practicing distancing, hand hygiene, and air purifiers in all classrooms. Staff and contractors are required to be vaccinated or have medical or religious exemptions prior to October 18.

We need your help. If you or your child have any of the COVID symptoms, stay home until they resolve without medication. If you get tested, stay home until you confirm that you are negative for infection- even if you do not have symptoms. This prevents you from spreading the virus if you are infected.

Working together, we believe that we can keep our schools open to in-person instruction in spite of increased cases in the community, but it will take all of us being diligent with the tools that we have.

Sunrise, sunset

Morning and afternoon student deliveries are always difficult during the first days of school and this year was no exception. As drivers, staff, parents and students get used to new routines and schedules, plans lurch and falter until everyone hits their stride. As I was directing traffic at TES this morning a parent said, "It went too smoothly today! We need to do it again!" We send our thanks to all of the parents, grandparents and students for being on time and following new traffic patterns. Our goal is to create a safe and efficient transition for families each day.

Assessment

Our first assessment window will begin next week. We need to find out where our students are with respect to their achievement and skills so that we can begin work right away to recover from the disruption to learning. Please encourage your child to take these assessments seriously. It is our best way of meeting our mission of empowering students to achieve their goals.

Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Curriculum

Senate Bill 5395 was passed by the Legislature and Washington voters in 2020 and went into effect on December 3, 2020. It requires all public schools to provide comprehensive sexual health education by the 2022–23 school year, with some requirements beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

    Instruction must be consistent with Health Education K-12 Learning Standards, which provide a framework for comprehensive instruction and the provisions of the law. Instruction must also be age- appropriate, medically and scientifically accurate, and inclusive of all students, using language and strategies that recognize all members of protected classes.

    Toledo educators have been reviewing curriculum approved by OSPI and consistent with the law. We have included only those lessons that we believe are necessary and consistent with the sensibilities of our community. In many cases, they are topics that we have been covering with students already (particularly in the primary grades). We invite parent input to these materials prior to bringing them to the board for adoption. As with HIV/AIDS curriculum, parents may choose to opt their children out of this instruction if they choose to do so. For copies of what is proposed for each grade level, please click.

Parent and community forums will be held on Sept. 7 and 9 from 6-7 p.m. at TMS to answer questions and hear input from families.