Superintendent Kyle Barrentine announced Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 24) that Nettle Creek Schools will have an eLearning Day on Wednesday, Aug. 25, followed by four days of virtual learning, because of COVID-19 case numbers.
He said the district plans to return to in-person instruction on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
“As a parent, I know this is FAR from ideal,” he told parents while updating them on procedures for the next few days.
Food will be distributed from 4-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26, on Circle Drive at Hagerstown Elementary School. That giveaway is for all students age 18 and younger.
Indiana Department of Health announced in Tuesday’s daily report that Wayne County had 79 new COVID cases.
All of Nettle Creek’s extracurricular activities will be postponed during this time.
Hagerstown Elementary staff shared on social media that the Tiger Cheer Clinic for grades K-2 that was to be offered Aug. 25 has been rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 17.
On Monday, Nettle Creek had announced that Hagerstown Elementary students would be required to wear masks indoors for two weeks, but that both of its schools would be open.
The number of positive COVID cases at HES had surpassed the district’s metric (7) to require masks for a two-week time period. That metric was approved Friday, Aug. 20, at a special meeting.
Northeastern, Centerville-Abington and Richmond Community Schools are requiring masks to be worn indoors.
In a social media post to families, Barrentine said, “I am not debating the effectiveness of masks because to be quite frank, I do not know. What I do know is that wearing masks can help reduce the number of students who would be identified as a close contact. Consequently, our quarantine numbers would be lowered, and we can keep more kids in school where they belong.”
HAGERSTOWN LIBRARY
After Nettle Creek Schools announced e-learning/virtual learning plans for the next week, library staff made these announcements:
“* As a reminder, if your child (or any member of your family) is currently in quarantine because of contact tracing, we do ask that they do not visit the library during their quarantine.
* We will once again be making porch pickup available for patrons who need items and are unable to come into the library to pick things up. Also, for our patrons who live within the town limits, we do offer a home delivery service. Contact the library for additional information.
* The library’s in-person programming will be on hiatus until September 1st. (This will specifically affect HAK Club and the Lego Events for the remainder of the month.) At this time programs will resume on September 1st.”
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With 200-plus students in quarantine, Centerville-Abington schools adds mask mandate