USD #333 No School

Unified School District 333 administration had made the decision to cancel school on Monday as more information is gathered on the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Students in the district were scheduled to return to school Monday following Spring Break.

A release sent out by the the school district stated:

Late yesterday, District Administration met with Cloud County Health Department and Cloud County Health Center representatives including local doctors and nurses to discuss a plan of action related to coronavirus and COVID-19.

District administration have been attending virtual meetings throughout the weekend with KSDE, Governor’s Office, and KDHE so as to have further guidance regarding that plan of action.

As many of you know, KSDE and Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson have broad authority to waive public school laws if health officials choose to close schools because of coronavirus. Again, that authority only exists if health officials make the choice; not school officials.

Please know the information and actions below are based on current information. This is a very fluid situation and new information is presented daily and sometimes hourly. This information comes from the best medical advice in the state and in our community.

What has USD 333 Decided?

• As of now, we have decided to cancel school and all activities for Monday, March 16. This will allow us time to gather more information regarding the travel patterns of our staff and students during spring break and plan for other contingencies and preventative measures in the schools that have been put in place by KDHE. Essential personnel (administration, operational department heads, custodians, and office staff) will be in the buildings on Monday. The district office will also be open.

• It is not the recommendation from KDHE, however, to close for an extended period of time. Of course, that is the information we have as of today.

• Social Distancing- It is recommended to maintain a social distance of 6 feet between students. We will do our best to adhere to this recommendation. We are working to adjust daily (lunch times, passing periods, recesses, larger class sizes such as band, choir, and physical education etc.) schedules to help meet those recommendations during the school day.

• School officials will be meeting throughout the afternoon today to devise a plan for extracurricular activities, practices and schedule banquets this week.

• Our staff will have daily procedures to clean our schools and buses using approved disinfectants and decontamination systems that sanitize surfaces and kill viruses and bacteria.

• As many of our students and staff have just returned from spring break trips, we strongly urge any staff and students to contact their respective school if they have traveled outside of the U.S. or to any cities/states known to have community-spread COVID-19. A travel form will be emailed to USD 333 families later this afternoon.

• Any students or staff who are ill or have been ill (fever of 100.4 F or greater) recently should stay home until cleared by a physician to return to school.

• In general, the decision to send your student to school is up to you, the parent. Please let the school know if you are keeping your child at home.

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Next Steps

We will continue to work closely with our local health professionals, Kansas State Department of Education, and Kansas Department of Health and Environment regarding the status of school openings/closings or other related events. Again, please understand this is a very fluid situation and will likely change based on developing information and suggestions from these entities. USD 333 will utilize our website, local media, and social media to notify stakeholders of any decisions made.

We appreciate your help with keeping our community healthy! We will provide updated information as it becomes available. Please refer to www.usd333.com for further information.