KCSD Moving to a 4-day school week

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Tonight, Klamath County School District sent out an update to parents announcing that all KCSD schools will be moving to a 4-day school week Effective immediately, students will not be attending school on Fridays.

A copy of the update is below.

Dear KCSD community,

Klamath County’s COVID-19 case rates are among the highest in the state, and have been climbing for the past three weeks. The county’s risk level is extreme, which means we have widespread transmission of COVID-19. Counties qualify for extreme risk when their case rates are more than 200 cases per 100,000 population. Last week, our county’s rate was 892 cases per 100,000.

This continued spread and high number of cases in the county is impacting the district’s ability to do business. As expected, we have had to quarantine students when a positive COVID-19 case is reported within their cohorts. This process is working, and so far there have been no reports of spread within our schools. However, these quarantines also include teachers, bus drivers, and other employees, and the continued community spread is putting a major strain on staffing resources throughout the district.

KCSD and Klamath County Public Health agree that our students need to remain in school as much as possible. To avoid returning to comprehensive distance learning for the remainder of the school year, the district will move to a four-day school week for students. This will allow us to concentrate our resources and maximize our ability to cover classes, bus routes, and other services.

Starting this week, students will no longer attend school on Fridays. There are five Fridays left in the school year -- May 7, May 14, May 21, May 28, and June 4. Friday, May 28 is already on the calendar as a no-school day. The last day of school for students is Thursday, June 10.

With this change, most of our students will attend four days of full-time, in-classroom instruction at school. Mazama High School students will continue on their hybrid schedules Monday through Thursday, but 9th- and 10th-graders will no longer attend on Fridays. Start and end times and bus schedules remain the same.

Among factors that contributed to our decision is not having an adequate number of substitute employees to cover for staff who must quarantine or who are ill. We are advertising to fill open positions, but are not getting many applicants.

We need our community to do its part to stop the spread of this virus if we want our schools to remain open. Please wear a mask, keep children home if they are not feeling well, and limit social gatherings. If you have not yet done so, consider getting vaccinated.

We understand this is one of many adjustments we have asked our families to make, and we appreciate your ongoing support. Together, let’s finish this year strong.

Respectfully,
Glen Szymoniak, Superintendent
Klamath County School District

(https://www.smore.com/03re4)