ASHLAND – Ashland Middle and High School will move to a remote only learning environment for the remainder of this week, October 13- 17, announced its superintendent of schools Jim Adams tonight, October 12.
“As you may recall, last week I sent an email informing folks that a community member at AHS had tested positive for COVID-19. I am writing to let you know that after an extensive and exhaustive weekend of contact tracing by our local board of health and lead school nurse, Ashland Middle and High School will move to a remote only learning environment for the remainder of this week, October 13- 17. Each building principal will send out an email tonight with expectations for all students. Generally, students in each Group/Cohort can expect to be in-class at the same time,” wrote Adams.
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“We are taking this approach to ensure we have sufficient time to allow community members who have been identified as close contacts to be tested and report their results to Ashland’s Board of Health. Additionally, this approach will assist in reducing any further potential spread in the schools. If tests
come back positive, more contact tracing will be necessary and this takes time. At this point through contract tracing well over 20 individuals across cohorts at AMS and AHS have been identified thus prompting this response. All other schools in the district will be open as usual,” said Adams.
“Working collaboratively with the Board of Health’s COVID-19 Taskforce, we will move one step at a time through the school’s contact tracing with caution and efficiency, and anticipate working through the process the next few days. If you do NOT receive a personal call identifying you or your student as a
close contact, you are not a close contact. You do not need to quarantine or obtain a COVID-19 test,”said Adams.
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“We recognize this is a concerning development. It highlights the importance of taking preventative measures seriously. I want to stress that the event that led to this action was not a result of our students being in school, rather this occurred outside of school hours and off school property. The protocols of the Ashland Public Schools have been fully implemented and as a result we are able to keep our remaining schools open while we see information on the event impacting AMS and AHS,” said Adams.
“It is our sincere hope that we are able to fully resume our hybrid classes at AMS and AHS beginning October 19,” concluded Adams.
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