October 26, 2021
Dear Sandy Valley Local Schools Community:
We are constantly and continually researching and re-evaluating our COVID protocols. Starting tomorrow, October 27th, Sandy Valley Local Schools will be returning to mask optional. *Please note: masks are still required on all school transportation, including school buses, due to federal public transportation requirements.
Yesterday, the Ohio Department of Health announced their Mask to Stay/Test to Play quarantine policy in a school environment. To summarize, if there is a close contact exposure to COVID-19 in a school setting, the contact may now remain in school during the 14 day quarantine period but must wear a mask while remaining symptom-free. In addition, new guidance has been provided for those participating in extracurricular activities. More in-depth details of the Ohio Department of Health notifications, as well as our COVID-19 reporting dashboard, are available here on our website.
With these new guidelines from the Ohio Department of Health and the current Sandy Valley Local Schools data regarding COVID cases and quarantines, masks will be optional but are still strongly encouraged. We are pleased that COVID-19 is on a downward trend across our three counties and hospitals. Although the current data looks promising, we will continue to monitor the situation and watch the data to guide informed decision-making.
We respectfully ask that you please keep students home from school and activities when sick, showing symptoms, or awaiting test results for COVID-19. When in doubt, please keep your student at home and contact the school nurse or family health care provider for guidance and direction. And, as always, please remember to promote proper hygiene and physical and mental wellness.
Thank you for your understanding, flexibility, and support as we maintain an open campus. As we have stated previously, Sandy Valley will continue to take care of Sandy Valley, and our focus will always be on keeping our Cardinals in school.
Thank you, Cardinals!
