Avon Lake City Schools: K-6 Face Mask Requirement Effective

Press release from the Avon Lake City Schools:

Dear Avon Lake School Families and Avon Lake Community Members,

I am so happy to have our students and staff back to school! It has been wonderful to see our students and staff back in the classroom. I could only smile as a first grader introduced me to his three new friends. We have an exciting year of learning ahead of us, but last year reminded us that school and education is much more than what is contained in the pages of books.

Keeping students safe and in school every day has always been our goal and continues to be our goal in these very trying times. Earlier this year, when we released our COVID-19 protocols for the school year, we did so knowing that we had to be flexible. From experience, we know that we have to make changes in order to keep the number of positive cases at a minimum and to keep the number of students required to be quarantined at a minimum. As circumstances change we need to be nimble enough to change and give us every opportunity possible to meet our main goals.

We review data and confer with medical professionals daily on current trends and implications for schools. That data is at the national, state, and local levels. This past week we have focused on school districts in Northeast Ohio that have been in school a week or more with protocols similar to Avon Lake City Schools. Most important is the data that comes from inside our schools. Our safety protocols released on August 11th lacked one piece of data which we could not get until Avon Lake students were in the schools and the protocols were being implemented by Avon Lake staff.

After observing our schools this week it is imperative that we take further steps to minimize positive COVID-19 cases and student/staff quarantines. To keep as many students in school as possible every day we need time to be able to establish procedures in each building that will make the protocols more effective.

Beginning on Monday, August 30, 2021, through Friday, September 24, 2021 face masks will be required for all students inside all K-6 (elementary and intermediate school) buildings. At that point in time, we will re-evaluate the requirement.

Masks may be removed at lunch and during all outdoor activities, including recess. For our students, we believe that mandatory masking will allow the district to operate in-person learning with the least amount of impact from COVID-19. Exemptions will only be approved through the Office of Pupil Services for physician documented medical reasons. At the present time, we are not changing protocols for grades 7-12; masks continue to be highly recommended.

It is important for everyone to understand that this decision was not made lightly. As a community, we need everyone to work together for the good of our students and for the good of Avon Lake.

We will continue to monitor current conditions and case data. Protocols may be revised at any time as warranted.

Sincerely,
Bob Scott, Superintendent

This press release was produced by the Avon Lake City Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.