Superintendent's Message
April 13, 2021
Superintendent Update: Latest County Case Counts and Community Notification – April 13, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Schools Families and Community,
The latest COVID case numbers were published by the Oregon Health Authority. The good news is that the case numbers for our county are continuing to decrease. That is great news as we begin transitioning our 8th-12th grade students back to campus.
As we move forward we will continue to watch case numbers and school impact cases. Last night we were informed of a PM cohort at Millicoma school that needed to be quarantined due to exposure. We also have had to quarantine a bus route due to this same exposure. We are working closely with Coos Health and Wellness and all of the potential exposures and quarantines have been communicated with. We also have become aware that there is potential exposure within a local youth soccer program. If you are a parent of a youth soccer player and have questions, please contact the director of your program. The district does not have specific exposure information in this case.
As we see our case numbers come down, I want to encourage everyone to not let our guard down. Please keep practicing the public health safety protocols so we don’t see the case numbers begin to rise again. This is not over and we need to all do our part until it is. Thank you for working with us to support our kids, staff, and each other.
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
April 5, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Schools Families and Community,
The latest numbers have been released and Coos County continues to trend in the right direction. We have dropped to 170 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks with a test positivity rate of 5.8%. Those are encouraging numbers as we look to add our High School students back to in-person hybrid instruction beginning on April 12th.
I also wanted to give a shout out to our Assistant Principals in the district as this is officially National Assistant Principal Week. Carli Ainsworth, Casey McCord, and Greg Mulkey are an extremely valuable part of our Coos Bay team and they have done a tremendous job during this difficult year supporting kids and staff. Join me in thanking them for all of their hard work.
Have a great sunshine filled week!
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
March 16, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Schools Families and Community,
The latest case numbers are out and they have been applied to the new metric explainer that was released by ODE yesterday. Our case numbers in the county have come down and are at 335 per 100,000 residents. That is down from 377 a week ago.
The new metric chart released by ODE places us in the yellow zone where we are required to have elementary in-person instruction and we can have 8th -12th grade as long as we are not seeing spread of cases within our schools. I am hopeful that the county numbers will continue to come down.
We will remain on track to bring our High School students back to hybrid in-person instruction on April 12th. Nothing in the revised guidance changes our plans at this point. I will continue to update you all as new information comes in.
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
March 11, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Families and Community,
It seems like a long time ago that we began preparations to bring our 8-12 students back to hybrid in-person instruction. Our first target date was in early February and due to the rising COVID-19 case numbers in our county, we have been pushing that date back week after week.
Last Friday, Governor Brown released an Executive Order requiring school districts to offer all grade levels at least a hybrid in-person model by April 19. This is great news for our 8th -12th grade students who want to get back in the classroom.
In conversation with our School Board this week, there was optimism about getting our kids back on campuses, but also some hesitation due to the high cases numbers in our county. In order to comply with the Governor’s Executive Order, the Coos Bay School district will begin to offer hybrid in-person instruction to our 8th -12th grade students beginning April 12th.
This date makes sense for the following reasons:
- It is the beginning of the 4th quarter and many students will have new classes.
- It provides time for our county to work together to get the COVID-19 case numbers trending downward.
- It allows for the potential to bring our 8th grade back a few days early to orient them with the High School campus, plus gives our teachers and students time to practice the protocols with a smaller group before bring all students back.
- It provides time for our county to work together to get the COVID-19 case numbers trending downward.
- It allows for the potential to bring our 8th grade back a few days early to orient them with the High School campus, plus gives our teachers and students time to practice the protocols with a smaller group before bring all students back.
While I am excited for our kids and families who wish to come back to in-person school, I am cautious about the rising case numbers in Coos County. I realize there is fatigue out there and resistance to public safety protocols. But I want to plead with our community to become more vigilant in practicing these safety protocols. The vaccine alone will not bring down our case numbers in the near future. We need those numbers to come down so the risk of cases impacting our schools goes down. I do not want to send our High School students back to campus only to send them home again because our case numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate.
This school year will go down as one of the most difficult years in history. We have done some really great things during this time with some in-person instruction, distance learning, and sports/activities for many of our kids. We now have an opportunity to provide even more for our kids in-person instruction as we close out this year. Let’s work together as a community to make sure we end this difficult year on a positive note. Thank you Coos Bay community for your support of our schools and our kids.
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
March 2, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Families and Community,
The latest case count is in for last week and in Coos County we unfortunately had an increase in cases. This increase pushed our two week look back up to 335 cases per 100,000 residents. This is disappointing news as we were trending downward last week and I was holding out hope to return to in-person for our 8th-12th grade students on March 8. These new numbers will push our target date back to March 15 at the earliest.
We will monitor this weeks numbers closely and hope for a dramatic shift in case numbers for our county. Although the latest numbers are higher, they are still within the range for us to continue with our K-7 in-person as long as we are able to mitigate cases that impact our schools, which we have been able to do so far. I will keep you all updated as I get new information.
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
February 23, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Parents and Community,
The latest two week look back was released yesterday afternoon. The case count in Coos County has gone down some, but still remains well within the High Risk orange zone. The good news is that case counts have come down some in our county. We hope to continue this trend moving forward. The actual number of cases is down to 168 from 188 from the previous two week period; this calculates to 265 cases per 100,000 residents in our county. Although this number is down, it is still a high number. We will be postponing our target date for return to in-person instruction for our High School students to March 8. With the numbers coming down this week, I am encouraged that we will continue to see the case numbers decrease and I’m optimistic about that target date of March 8.
The question has come in about why we offer in-person instruction for grades K-7, but don’t for 8-12. The difference is in the advisory metrics. K-6 and 7th grade (in our current cohort model) are recommended to be in-person at this time. At the High School, due to four classes and multiple cohorts, it is recommended that that the case count be close to the yellow zone (under 200 cases per 100,000 residents) before returning 8-12 to in-person instruction. As I have said before, we are looking for those case numbers to be decreasing and be close to that 200 per 100,000 mark to bring our High School students back to in-person instruction. After this week's report, I am optimistic that the case count will continue to go down and we will be looking at a realistic target date of March 8. I will continue to update you all as I get new information.
Have a great week!
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
February 16, 2021 Update:
Dear Coos Bay Schools Parents and Community,
The latest two-week totals were posted for Jan. 31-Feb. 13. Unfortunately, the case numbers are continuing to trend the wrong direction. The latest two-week look back is up eight additional cases which pushed us up to 297 cases per 100,000 residents in Coos County. Last week’s two-week total of actual cases was 180, while this week’s two-week total was 188. This will cause us to postpone the return to in-person instruction for 8-12 to at least March 1. This decision follows the ODE and OHA guidance which states that when cases are trending up that we pause adding our High School students back in-person. The numbers do not require us to pause the grades that we already have in-person. As long as we are able to handle cases that impact our schools by using the safety protocols we have in place and isolating them to prevent spread between classes or cohorts then we can remain open at the K-7 level. We continue to monitor cases daily and I am hopeful that we will soon see a decrease in cases in our county. I will update you again next Monday or if there is new information to share.
Stay Safe, Stay Healthy,
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
February 11, 2021 Update:
Dear Coos Bay Schools Parents and Community,
Well the weekly numbers have come in and the two week combination for Coos County (1/24-2/6/2021) has climbed to 284 cases per 100,000 residents. That is up from 248 last week and 202 just two weeks ago. The Oregon Department of Education guidelines state that if case trends are on the rise that we are to consider pausing implementation of our High School in-person instructional model. Our original target date to bring our High School kids back to in-person was Feb.16th. Due to the most recent data, we will postpone that date until at least February 22nd.
Next week we will once again look at the case numbers and make a decision on that date. As I have stated before, once we rolled out our plan with target dates we would essentially be on a week to week pattern for a decision to bring our High School students back to in-person. Also over the past two weeks we have had a few community cases impact our schools. We have had to quarantine a few classroom cohorts and bus cohorts. The good news is that, like all of the previous cases impacting our schools, we have been able to isolate the cases and control any spread between classrooms or around the schools. Due to the complexity of the High School schedule and the amount of students, this becomes more difficult when we bring them back to in-person classes. That is why we need the community cases to be on the decrease and we would like to see those cases much closer to 200 per 100,000 residents before we bring back our High School students.
I encourage you to keep up the fight against the virus and keep practicing good public health protocols. Please wear a mask, wash your hands, and social distance when at all possible. With the rollout of the vaccine and Pandemic fatigue, it is tempting to relax on these protocols. Please stay vigilant for the sake of our community.
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
February 1, 2021 Update:
Dear Coos Bay Schools Parents and Community,
As promised, I am updating everyone on the weekly metrics as they are posted by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Today’s two-week lookback numbers climbed from 202 to 248 cases per 100,000 in our county. We continue to remain in the Orange zone which goes from 200-350 cases per 100,000. It is disappointing to see the increase in cases as we would like to see those numbers drop below 200 cases per 100,000 to move forward with bringing our 8-12 grade students back to in-person instruction.
At this point, our target date is Feb. 16 to bring 8-12 grade students back, but that won’t happen unless we get a two-week case number below 200. I will wait to see next Monday’s report from OHA to see the numbers and then make a decision to either continue on the trajectory for a Feb. 16 high school re-opening or to push that back one week to Feb. 22.
With the vaccine coming online, it might be tempting to relax our efforts in practicing public safety health guidelines. I urge our community to not relax and to continue to work hard to bring our case numbers down so our high school students that need in-person instruction can get it.
As always, I will update you all as new information comes in. Have a great week!
“One Team, One Goal”
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
January 20, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Schools parents and community,
After a late afternoon meeting with the Oregon Department of Education and some time reading last night, I would like to share two key changes to the Ready Schools Safe Learners guidance released yesterday which impact our schools and families.
Key Change 1: Governor Brown returned the decision for operating schools in-person to the local level on January 1, 2021. This guidance provides local leaders with guidance, information, and resources they need to make informed decisions.
The guidance outlined the multiple factors to consider when making decisions to transition between learning models or bring in additional grades to hybrid learning. I shared most all of these in a previous letter last week. Case numbers are one factor, but there are others we need to consider when we make a decision to change models of instructions.
Key Change 2: Updated advisory metrics aligned to the Harvard Global Health Institute recommendations. These metrics allow for a return to in-person instruction for elementary students at higher levels of community case rates than previously recommended.
This is the biggest change to the guidance. The metrics for schools have been aligned with the Harvard Global Health recommendations. These metrics use the same color-coded scale, but the numbers have shifted. The green zone has not changed. The yellow zone goes up to 200 cases per 100,000 in the county over two weeks. The orange zone now goes from 200-350 cases per 100,000. The red zone is over 350 cases per 100,000. Another part of this chart which can be found in the guidance under “metrics explainer”, is the blue section in the bottom right corner. This section explains that if cases are trending upward that we pause adding any grade levels to in-person instruction. It also states that we should not move elementary grade levels that are already in-person to CDL in this case. The new metrics specifically call out elementary (K-6) as the priority for in-person instruction.
With the information from this latest guidance, we are planning to move forward next week with bringing grades 4th - 6th back to an in-person hybrid instructional model beginning Monday, January 25, 2021.
Our case numbers in the county remain over 200 per 100,000 but they are trending downward as we look at last week and the numbers for this week so far. We will continue to monitor case numbers weekly and apply the new metrics as one of the factors as we make decisions moving forward.
As a reminder, to give families and staff the opportunity to plan, the Coos Bay School District has established the following “target dates*" to begin in-person instruction for the different grade levels:
-January 25 - Grades 4-6
-February 1 - Grade 7 (This date is selected because it is the beginning of the third quarter for our secondary students)
-February 16 - Grades 8-12
*All target dates are subject to a one-week delay if factors are not in our favor. You can expect weekly communication from me as we get continue this process.
-February 1 - Grade 7 (This date is selected because it is the beginning of the third quarter for our secondary students)
-February 16 - Grades 8-12
*All target dates are subject to a one-week delay if factors are not in our favor. You can expect weekly communication from me as we get continue this process.
There is one thing I want to make perfectly clear to everyone. Now is not the time to relax on public health safety protocols. The vaccine is encouraging, but will not bring case numbers down immediately. We need to have our community case numbers trending down so that we get under the 200 cases per 100,000 to bring middle and high school students back to in-person hybrid instruction. This is going to take all of us continuing to practice public health safety protocols. Keep wearing face coverings, washing hands frequently, and social distancing when feasible. These are the things that have shown to slow the spread better than anything else.
As always, if you have questions, reach out to your teacher and schools. Also, you can report anonymous concerns to the district regarding the health and safety protocols within our schools and buildings using our Anonymous Concern Reporting Form under the COVID-19 resources tab at CBD9.net. I have included links below to the Ready Schools Safe Learners guidance, the Metrics Explainer, and an informational video from ODE Director Colt Gill.
I will continue to push out information as I get it. Have a great rest of the week!
Stay Safe, Stay Healthy,
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent
LINKS