MATTAWAN – This week, the Mattawan Consolidated School District updated its mask status to strongly recommend for staff, students, and visitors in all grades, in all buildings, and at all events.
The move went into effect on Monday, Feb. 21, the district’s mask status will move to strongly recommended for staff, students, and visitors in all grades, in all buildings, and at all events. Masks were still required through Friday, Feb. 18, for students, staff, and visitors in all academic settings during the academic day. Masks will remain required on district transportation per Federal mandate.
Mattawan Consolidated School Superintendent Randy Fleenor said the rationale for this decision is rooted in the following reasons:
Positive cases have dropped substantially over the last three weeks from a seven-day rate of 120 positive cases a month ago to less than 40 (two weeks ago).
Vaccines/boosters are readily available. CDC states vaccines/boosters are available for ages five and up and are considered the most effective tool in protection against variants for all, especially vulnerable populations.
Focused Protection. CDC states that wearing a correctly fitted N95 mask does not rely on the behavior of others around you for protection. We provide N95 to all adults in buildings who want them. Experts suggest this protection likely applies to children, too. We will have KN95 masks available for students who would like them.
Natural immunity is likely the highest it has been in months as a result of the number of persons who’ve contracted the variant.
We will continue to follow the MDHHS recommendations on contact tracing and quarantining at this time. The protocols can be found here. Please be advised, under the current protocol, unvaccinated students in a partial mask environment, within six feet of a positive case for more than 15 minutes, will quarantine for at least five days if asymptomatic.
We will offer a ‘test and stay’ program as soon as our testing supplies are replenished by the State. This will allow unvaccinated, contact traced students, with parental permission, to test on site and stay in school with a negative result. We will communicate when this program is available.
Current cleaning protocols will remain in place. We will continue to monitor our district health data, and will reinstitute mitigation strategies if deemed necessary. At a five percent positive case rate (of our district population, students plus employees) within a seven-day period, the district would consider temporary, additional mitigation layers. The rate will be posted on our COVID-19 Dashboard here. Extra-Curricular and Athletic Events. We will continue to operate under a strongly recommended mask status for all after-school, extra-curricular, and athletic events for students and spectators as these are optional events for all participants and spectators. Transportation. District transportation remains under a mask requirement per federal mandate. Students and drivers must wear a mask while the bus is occupied by students. The importance of immunization is critical.
Health officials advise that vaccines offer the best protection against severe illness and the rise of new variants. Follow this link to learn more: www.vaccines.gov.
All children over age 12 who have had five months pass since their primary vaccination series are eligible and should get a booster. Learn more about boosters here.
Health officials recommend eligible adults should get their boosters too, especially high-risk individuals who are more at risk for severe illness and will be around kids going to school without universal masking. Free testing kits. There is now another opportunity to receive free rapid at-home COVID-19 tests delivered to your home for some Cass and Van Buren County residents. The Rockefeller Foundation has created the “Project ACT” initiative, which collaborates with the state, and local public health departments, CareEvolution, Amazon, and at-home Ag test manufacturers. The program offers free, at home delivery of rapid tests to consumers in participating locations through online ordering by consumers themselves. Only certain cities and townships are eligible to receive delivery of free at-home COVID-19 tests. This was established through a risk assessment based on the areas with the highest cases and low access to testing facilities. Most zip codes in Cass and Van Buren counties are eligible. Please visit https://accesscovidtests.org/ to order your tests.
Monday, September 16, 2024
