November 13, 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Thank you for your continued patience during this evolving situation. As with all our work, student and staff safety is our highest priority. Due to recent events with the increasing number of Covid 19 (CoronaVirus) cases at East Pike Elementary, we are taking the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of illness.
As we negotiate this uncharted territory, we believe that the time has come for our district community to make an important decision. With that being said, East Pike Elementary will be closed to in-person student instruction effective Monday, November 16, 2020. East Pike will reopen to in-person instruction on December 1, 2020. The rest of the District (Ben Franklin, Horace Mann, Eisenhower, Jr. and Sr. High) will remain open as we have zero active cases at the remaining elementary schools and only 1 case at both the secondary schools.
Great thought and research went into this decision; however, we regret the hardships this will cause for some of our families. At this time, we believe that is the right step to take for the health and safety of our families,staff, and the community at large, especially to protect our students and staff. This decision comes as a result of the District being notified this morning of yet another positive case at East Pike Elementary. Furthermore, we will be dismissing the students at East Pike Elementary at 11:30am today to help prevent the further spread of the virus. As you know, our students share the same buses and we are hopeful that we can mitigate the spread by conducting an early dismissal despite the severe inconvenience it causes our families.
We will use this time that school is closed to develop the following measures:
- Daily systematic approach to disinfect all schools and buses
- Continue flexible and remote learning options for all K-12 students
- Coordinate food service options for our children in need
Your child’s schedule for online instruction is available in the information packet that will be sent home with them today. Furthermore, all Special Education Services (Speech & Learning Support Services) will be provided remotely by your child’s teachers. During the closure, lunch pick-up will be available at the High School.
Meals are available for pickup while students are not physically in attendance. Distribution of meals takes place every Wednesday between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Indiana Area Senior High School. Parents are required to reserve meals, prior to pickup, by visiting the foodservice webpage (www.iasd.cc/apps/pages/foodservice), scrolling down toward the bottom of the page, and completing a short survey for each student who will be receiving meals. Please note that the survey closes first thing on Monday mornings in order to prepare for distribution. You will not be able to pick up meals if your pre-registration has not been confirmed.
Because of the magnitude of this decision, I ask that you please reach out to your building principal, Mr. Don Springer, with individual requests and needs. He will serve as the first contact for funneling communications throughout the district.
We are committed to providing you with timely and accurate updates on the best recommendations and guidance from our public health authorities. We’ll continue monitoring the situation weekly and proceed on a week-by-week basis.
In the meantime, we encourage everyone to access the latest, most accurate information about COVID-19 from the CDC (www.cdc.gov/covid-19) and the Department of Health (DOH) https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx
Sincerely,
Mr. Michael J. Vuckovich