Superintendent's Message: October 1

Juab School District Families,

We are now seven full weeks into the school year. I feel fortunate our COVID-19 case counts and quarantines have been minimal, but we are now seeing positive cases within our school buildings. I recognize that you and our educators are working tirelessly to follow the directives and protocols our health departments and others have given us. There’s been a lot of discussion about school masks and closure scenarios at other schools and districts across the state. Each district was tasked in July with determining thresholds relevant to their unique needs. At JuabSD, we will continue to follow guidelines made by the County and State Health Department. Although the Utah governor's office, health and education officials have the statutory authority to close schools in response to a public health emergency, the preference is for local school officials to make such decisions collaboratively as described. The Juab School District Board of Education has determined to amend the guidelines to better suit the makeup of our surrounding communities. I feel it’s important to reiterate those guidelines and amendments and we intend to implement them if need be:

• Quarantine is for people who may have been exposed to COVID-19, but aren’t sick yet.
• Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, with or without wearing masks. Specific to school settings, both preventative measures, wearing a mask and being at least 6 feet apart, must be in place to prevent an exposure.
• If a school in the district reaches a total of 20 positive COVID-19 active test results, that entire school will quarantine and shift to online learning for a period of two weeks.
• If a classroom in the district reaches a total of 3 positive COVID-19 active test results, that entire classroom will quarantine and shift to online learning for a period of two weeks.
• If a sports team or extracurricular activity program within the district reaches a positive number of COVID-19 cases in excess (3), program closure will be reviewed by district administration in collaboration with the Central Utah Health Department to determine quarantine periods.

Juab School District will also continue to follow state health department protocols and quarantine individuals who test positive and conduct contact tracing to quarantine those who meet certain criteria. I thank you all for the part YOU have played in keeping students and educators safe. I encourage you to continue to make that effort by following basic protocols in ALL of your daily activities which include distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, sanitizing, and most important of all, keeping children home when they exhibit ANY questionable signs of illness. We are in this TOGETHER – keep up the great work.

Respectfully,

Dr. Kodey S. Hughes, Ed.D

Superintendent of Schools

Juab School District