Parents/Guardians,

With the holiday season upon us, I want to wish each of you a wonderful time celebrating with your family.  The COVID-19 pandemic has been very stressful to all, and the holidays are a time to reconnect. 

The District has carefully monitored the numbers of positive cases within our schools for the past fourteen weeks. We are very thankful and blessed that our schools have had lower numbers of positive cases when compared to surrounding areas.  I greatly appreciate the hard work and assistance our employees, parents and students have put forth to help us keep our schools open.  Distancing, regular hand sanitization, thorough cleaning of schools, and altered lunches and class schedules have been beneficial in keeping the positive cases low. 

During our monitoring of first semester, we have noticed that after time off, such as summer break and fall break, the numbers were slightly higher approximately ten days after our return and then steadily decrease.  This trend has been observed by other districts as well. We cannot monitor where people go during their breaks, or who they are exposed to; however, in an effort to protect everyone, we are asking and strongly recommending that all students and employees wear a mask for the first two weeks after returning from Thanksgiving break and Christmas break.  

We realize there are some individuals that are unable to wear a mask.  No one will be punished or criticized for not wearing a mask; however, if possible, we want everyone to do their part in keeping our PSD family healthy.  In addition, we want to make sure we do everything possible to continue the face-to-face instruction, extra-curriculars, and athletic opportunities for our students.  

Once again, I wish you all a blessed holiday season.  I hope you all make a lot of wonderful memories and enjoy the time with your family.

Respectfully,

Laurie Atkins
Superintendent