Good Evening Hoopeston Area Families,
We are completing our 7th week of school already. We have experienced many changes in procedures of dealing with the pandemic. Through these logistical changes, our mission and focus have not changed; educating students while keeping the learning environment safe for both students and staff members is still what we are here to do. There have been multiple executive orders that have changed the procedures of handling the pandemic. We would like to take a moment and thank you families and students and staff for your cooperation and patience as we navigate through this always-shifting landscape of pandemic processes.
This has been our path so far: Executive Orders are handed down from the governor or state agencies, and we comply. Then challenges to the legality of the mandates occur, and the legal outcomes result in new guidance, and administrators make adjustments based on the new guidance. The cycle begins again each time schools face new litigation, new guidance, or a new mandate.
The latest mandatory Executive Order 2021-25 states in Section 1(b) All Schools must take the following measures to ensure the safety of Students and School Personnel. (i). Investigate the occurrence of cases and suspect cases in Schools and identify Close Contacts for purposes of determining whether Students or School Personnel must be Excluded pursuant to this Executive Order. (ii). Exclude any Student or School Personnel who is a Confirmed Case or Probable Case for a minimum of 10 days following onset date if symptomatic or date of positive test if asymptomatic, or as otherwise directed by the School’s local health authority. (iii). Exclude any Student or School Personnel who is a Close Contact for a minimum of 14 days or as otherwise directed by the School’s local health authority, which may recommend options such as Exclusion for 10 days or 7 days with a negative test result on day 6. As an alternative to Exclusion, Schools may permit Close Contacts who are asymptomatic to be on the School premises, at extracurricular events, or any other events organized by the School if both the Confirmed Case or Probable Case and the Close Contact were masked for the entire exposure period and provided the Close Contact tests negative on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 following the exposure. Click on this link to read the entire Executive Order: Executive Order Display
Hoopeston Area Schools are working to provide a safe learning and teaching environment for all students and staff, while retaining our recognition as a school district. We ask for your continued patience and support as we go through these challenging times, and as always, we will get through this together.