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Dear Coos Bay Schools Community,

 

In accordance with the OHA lifting of the state-wide indoor mask mandate, we will be lifting the mask mandate beginning March 12 in the Coos Bay School District. Masks will become optional at that time. Many people will choose to continue to wear masks indoors for a variety of reasons. There should be absolutely no judgment, ridicule, or harassment towards anyone who chooses to wear or not wear a mask. All other protocols and safety practices will remain in place.

 

OHA has also paused quarantines and contact tracing. We will continue to isolate positive cases and require them to remain home for at least 5 days in accordance with the current protocol. We will notify parents of any potential exposure so you can monitor symptoms with your child. If any symptoms arise we ask that you keep them home.

 

Case numbers in our region have fallen off significantly in the past couple of weeks. Although this is great news, I want to remind everyone that this is the current phase of the pandemic and not the end. Future changes to protocols may have to be implemented based on any spike in cases or outbreaks in our schools.

 

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

Dear Coos Bay Schools Community,

 

In a state-wide meeting yesterday with ODE, there was clarification on changes to the Resiliency Framework due to the Mask Mandate going away on March 12th. There are only a few changes that center around masking, quarantines, and other safety protocols. Most of the changes remove some requirements and make them a local decision. There is a special board meeting scheduled for Monday evening to discuss how these changes will impact our school district and to finalize our plan moving forward. There will certainly be some changes to protocols but the majority of the protocols we have in place now will remain. ODE and the Governor’s office wanted to make it clear that we are entering a phase of the pandemic and not the end. As we have come to realize, things can change rapidly. I will be releasing the updated plan on Tuesday morning to reflect changes to our protocols that will take effect on Monday March 14th in our schools. As this information has come rapidly and changed just this week, I ask for patience as we quickly develop a plan moving forward.

 

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

Dear Coos Bay Schools Community,

 

Governor Brown held a press conference this morning. She shared information from OHA and the CDC as well as announcing the Statewide mask mandate will go away on Midnight March 11.

 

I know, another change! I have a meeting with the Oregon Department of Education on Wednesday morning to get clarification on how changes to Ready Schools Safe Learners will impact our local decisions. I anticipate changes to quarantine and isolation practices, testing, and other protocols. I will be meeting with our Board in the near future to discuss our pathway forward with the lifting of the indoor mask mandate. I will share our plan with all of you once we have finalized it.

 

Have a great week and continue to practice the current health safety protocols so that we can ensure our community COVID case numbers continue to drop so we can move forward in a positive manner and get some much needed good news.

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

Dear Coos Bay School Community,

 

Since December, we have seen a dramatic increase in COVID cases in our county and state. As of yesterday’s report, all counties in the state remain in the high category of community spread. The good news is that over the last few weeks, we have seen a decline in both COVID cases and hospitalizations. The projected data, if the decline continues at current rates, is that our case numbers and hospitalizations will be down below where they were prior to the latest surge. 

 

Current data models and trends led to the Oregon Health Authority announcing last Monday that they are prepared to lift the indoor mask mandate by March 31st. For that to happen, the decline in cases and hospitalizations must continue. The State indoor mask mandate and the requirements from the Oregon Department of Education all remain in effect and will continue until the Oregon Health Authority officially lifts the mandate. This means that students, staff, and community members are required to wear a mask when in our schools. 

 

I would like to address some of the comments I hear about why we just don’t stand up as a district and reject the State mandates. I’ve explained in the past that if we were to do that, we would be jeopardizing essential funding for our district. Just recently a small district in Oregon made the declaration that they were no longer going to follow the State-wide mandates. That district is facing over $100,000 in fines in addition to having their $250,000 federal relief funding frozen by the Oregon Department of Education. Some of you may think that doesn’t seem like a lot of money. That district is very small. In our district, the federal relief funding for the next few years totals close to $13 million. There are indeed financial implications to not following State mandates and Oregon Department of Education requirements. In addition, we have dramatically slowed the spread of COVID within our schools and been able to maintain in-person education. 

 

I realize that everyone is tired of COVID-19 and all that comes with it. The past two years have been extremely difficult for our students, staff, families, and community. This week, the Oregon Health Authority showed us all some positive light at the end of the tunnel. I will be working with our Board of Directors and district leadership to develop a transition plan for when the mask mandate is projected to be lifted. Please help us all get to that point by continuing to follow the safety protocols. We need those case numbers to continue to come down. Parents, please do not send your students to school without a mask. They will not be allowed in class without one. We have been following that mandate for almost two years and our kids have been doing an amazing job. We must continue until the mandate is lifted. Let’s work together to make sure we get to that positive light and some relief this Spring. We all need it!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

Dear Coos Bay Schools Community,

 

This afternoon, the Oregon Health Authority released news regarding future changes to the indoor mask mandate. As part of this change, Oregon schools would no longer be required to mandate indoor mask wearing after March 31st. This decision is dependent on the COVID case numbers and hospitalizations continuing to decline at the current rate.

 

We will be working with all stakeholders to determine how we manage this potential change within our district. I want to remind everyone that the current indoor mask mandate is still in effect and required for all schools. You will get further information as we work out details and a plan for the possible transition in our school district.

 

The good news is that case numbers were down 40% in the state last week. Let’s keep vigilant with our safety protocols to ensure that those numbers continue to drop.

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

With the recent surge in COVID cases in our community, due to the Omicron variant, there has been concern about keeping schools open. Although we have seen an uptick in staff and student cases, we have not hit a critical point where we would consider the move to distance learning.

 

This school year, the Oregon Department of Education has placed a priority on keeping our students in-person. The old metrics that we once used to make decisions about closures are no longer in use. While the rise in cases in our state and community is alarming, we are still not seeing significant spread within our schools. The safety protocols that we have implemented throughout this pandemic have shown to be effective in slowing the spread of the virus in our schools. We currently have 35 known positive cases within our district. We currently have over 200 students in short term quarantine due to exposures. Many of those exposures are happening in our community. Some are happening in individual classrooms, but no spread is happening across cohorts in our schools.

 

While the number 200 may seem high, it represents approximately 8% of our student population. Schools and districts who are moving to remote learning are seeing over 25% of their students and staff out with illness. They are going remote mostly because they just don’t have the staff to keep their buildings open. We have a handful of staff across the district currently out, but that number is less than 2%. We have been able to cover classes and ensure that our students are able to continue to attend in-person. It has not been easy. Our staff are working extremely hard to cover classes as well as work with those students being quarantined.

 

This afternoon, the Oregon Health Authority has issued new guidance that will allow us to more easily track our exposures and ensure we are doing all we can to limit the spread within our schools. As always, the major strategies of vaccinations, wearing masks, hand washing, and social distancing when possible remain our best defense. I truly appreciate all of the extra hard work that everyone is doing to keep our doors open for those students wanting in-person instruction. I also want to recognize those of you who are working hard to support our families who prefer to stay home and do online instruction. Your efforts are important to a segment of our population and are ensuring that all of our students have quality instruction.

 

I hope you all have a great extended weekend! Allow yourself to disconnect from the grind for a bit. Getting outside, curling up with a good book, or binging a good Netflix series all sound good right now.

 

Bryan Trendell

Coos Bay Public Schools

Superintendent

Dear Coos Bay Schools Community,

                             I have not done an update for awhile due to the declining COVID cases in our schools and community. Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in both community cases and cases impacting our schools. We currently have 22 confirmed cases across the district. These confirmed cases have resulted in 8 elementary classrooms and a handful of secondary students being quarantined due to potential exposure. 

 

We understand that quarantines can place a burden on families. We have been working with the Oregon Health Authority and our Local Health Authority to begin the “Test to Stay” program in the month of January. The program will allow students who test negative after exposure to remain at school. This has the potential to drastically reduce the amount of quarantines for individuals and classrooms. 

 

Each school will be sending out information and parent consent forms as we get closer to the roll out. We are constantly adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 and working to keep our students in school whenever possible. 

 

Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent