School District Committed To In-Person Learning During Latest COVID Surge

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Area School District has changed some protocols to keep students in school during the latest COVID-19 surge.

District 742 Communications Director Tami DeLand says the changes aim to reduce staffing shortages and continue the district’s commitment to in-person learning.

St. Cloud schools have canceled or rescheduled district-level meetings to prioritize school needs. Staff meetings and professional developments meetings are canceled or rescheduled to allow teachers more time to prepare for instruction. Every day, school officials review staffing shortages to be able to spread out staff to schools most in need.

District 742 has also updated its COVID-19 isolation guidance for staff who have tested positive for the virus. Under direction from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Minnesota Department of Health, the district says to stay home and away from others (isolate) for at least five days after your symptoms start. Prior guidance called for ten days of isolation. Guidelines state if you do not have symptoms, stay home for five days from the date you tested positive, even if you are fully vaccinated.

The changes went into effect on Friday.

Sartell-St. Stephen Superintendent Jeff Ridlehoover, in an emailed statement, says District 748 continues to believe teaching and learning occur best through in-person interactions, and the district intends to remain in-person as long as it can. If staffing shortages persist or increase, the district may need to look at short-term alternative learning models, including temporary distance learning.

The district has been preparing to make any potential transition as seamless as possible if that happens.

Last week, CentraCare Health made a public plea to people in the St. Cloud area to wear a mask indoors for the next six weeks. Health officials say the local test positivity rate was more than 33% last week, the highest since the pandemic began.

CentraCare asked the cities of St. Cloud, Sartell, Waite Park and Sauk Rapids, along with Stearns and Benton County, to pass public mask mandates, but all declined. Officials instead signed a letter encouraging people to wear masks indoors over the next few weeks.

Health officials say the omicron variant is fueling the latest surge. According to local health experts, the variant appears to burn through a community fast, and while it seems to cause less severe illness, it appears to be highly contagious.

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