Below is a letter from Superintendent of Schools Julie Helber to the families of Chelsea School District students:
Happy New Year. I hope that the two-week break was enjoyable and offered you a chance to rest and relax. As promised, I have an update for you in regard to our return to in-person learning.
After reviewing the most current COVID data and consulting with the Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD), local health officials, our COVID Task Force, and the administrative team, we will move forward with our previously announced plan to bring our Y5/K-12 students to hybrid learning on Monday, January 11, 2021.
The WCHD supports this decision. We will continue to offer virtual learning for families who have requested that option. The COVID-19 numbers we are experiencing now are consistent with those observed when hybrid learning was operating in a safe and functional manner for our Y5/K-8 students and we were preparing to take another step on our COVID ladder to bring our high school back to hybrid.
Our experience shows that if implemented properly, mitigation strategies work.
As we return to hybrid at Y5/K-8 and begin hybrid at the high school, your building administrators will review the protocols and mitigation routines with you and your students. We remain focused on providing a safe environment for our students and staff and will continue to follow the direction of our local and state health counsel and the Return to Learn Guidelines. While we hope to remain in this mode, we will continue to monitor the data and adapt accordingly.
This pandemic has taught us to be flexible and adapt to our environment. The support you have provided to your student/s to persevere through challenging times has been more than inspiring. We couldn’t do this without your partnership.
Health officials are indicating that the roll out of vaccines for school district staff will occur in the very near future. To follow WCHD vaccine updates and access information that may be of assistance to you or someone you know, please visit this website.
Please look for additional information from building and department administration. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
