From the Desk of Dr. Davis, HPS Superintendent | January 4 - Back to School!
Face-to-face instruction will resume at all HPS schools on Monday, January 4, 2021 as planned.
Despite the obvious challenges we are all facing, I hope you and your family are still finding some joy during this special time of year. I look forward to celebrating over the next few weeks and to getting recharged for the start of the second half of the academic year.
Based on new data shared with area school leaders during meetings with the Ottawa County Department of Public Health this week, face-to-face instruction will resume at all HPS schools on Monday, January 4, 2021 as planned. This includes ALL students in the district, Pre-K through Grade 12. (Those families who have chosen online learning for their students will continue to receive online instruction at home starting January 4.)
This new data suggests that an increase in positive COVID-19 cases following the Thanksgiving Holiday did not materialize in our school community as anticipated. Additionally, the data shows our community is beginning to trend downward on many key factors. We know that this data can change, but we remain hopeful at this time that the trend will continue.
As always, we will continue to meet with OCDPH officials and follow their recommendations for keeping schools open as defined and approved by our Board of Education in our Return to Learn Plan and monthly review of our Extended Continuity of Learning Plan. We will also follow any orders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and possible extension of the order impacting Grade 9-12 education set to expire on December 20. We have and will continue to follow the science and recommendations from our lead health experts.
A special meeting is scheduled for December 30 with area school leaders and health officials to review the latest data/trend for any potential changes to our plan. If there is any change in our plans to return to school on January 4, it will be announced following this meeting.
To be ready for any possible changes to the plan for returning to school, your PreK-8th grade student(s) will bring home their learning devices during the holiday break. Please, keep these devices charged and ready for learning on January 4. Please also be sure to monitor your child’s activities online during this unstructured learning time at school. It is our collective responsibility to keep everyone safe as digital users.
While we celebrate the improving data in our community, we are still very concerned that positivity-rates could increase as a result of travel and celebrations during the holiday break. Any increase could impact our ability to open classrooms for students. That is why I strongly encourage everyone to follow the CDC guidelines for traveling:
The CDC recommends that individuals do NOT travel over the holidays, but if they do travel they are encouraged to be tested for COVID-19 1-3 days before travel and 3-5 days after travel, and are also encouraged to reduce all non-essential activity for a full 7 days after their return.
In addition, we are requiring any HPS student or employee who travels internationally over the holiday break to quarantine themselves for at least 7 days after arriving home and before returning to an HPS building.
We also also ask that if one of your children test positive for COVID-19 over the holiday break that you communicate that with us using the COVID-19 Email Hotline.
As always, please continue to check your email, the HPS website, social media channels, and HPS mobile text alerts during the holiday break for any updates to our plans and for the latest school information.
Happy Holidays,
Dr Brian Davis,
Superintendent
Holland Public Schools
P.S. A note regarding possible snow days.
If the district is in physical attendance for face-to-face learning, and weather conditions are such that we are unable to remain open due to the safe travel of students to/from school, we will have a “traditional” snow day. Students will not be required to participate in remote learning for that day. Students are always encouraged to remain active in learning activities.