From the superintendent’s desk

Schools continue to deal with the pandemic

Hello Stockbridge Families,

I can tell you the last semester was hard on families, staff and students. After last spring, we thought the summer would bring an end to COVID-19. We planned for a great start to the year, which included activities of a normal year. We found out on Day One and Day Two of school that we were still in the middle of a pandemic. Now at the beginning of the new year 2022, we find ourselves still in the middle of a pandemic and still struggling with the various expectations that this health crisis brings to our community.  Although hard, it was a great start to the school year. Students are in school with face-to-face instruction and are still able to participate in most of the activities that we have offered in the past.

Throughout the first semester we have been learning to manage the various issues related to COVID that our county requires. We have been writing grants to help bring other resources into the district to support students and relieve staff members that are overloaded. I feel like we are finally getting the staff in place to deal with the expectations that COVID has placed upon us. We have added multiple mental health care providers to help meet the needs that students have in general and because of the pandemic-laden world in which we live. We also have been able to acquire nursing services and health liaison support to help address our COVID response of testing, contact tracing, communicating, reporting, Testing to Stay programming, and athletic testing. We also have hired two college students to help get us caught up with our COVID response and they will only be with us for two weeks as they are working around their college schedules. These new supports are helping to ease the load on our administrators and support staff who have been managing multiple job duties in addition to their own.

We are grateful for the tools and resources that have been provided. The COVID testing and Testing to Stay programs have provided us with a much better picture of how COVID is moving throughout our community. Testing to Stay has allowed us to preserve over 2,200 days of instruction by allowing students to stay in school as opposed to quarantining.

The holiday gatherings have us concerned as there is a potential for spread with the new omicron variant becoming the dominant strain across the country. We saw a significant increase right after Thanksgiving, but then it dropped after the first day. Last year, we did not see the anticipated spike after the new year, so I am not sure what to expect.

We are ready for the students’ return and we do have support in place to address students’ needs as they arise. I am looking forward to this new year and the continued movement toward normalcy in our school community. If your student/s show symptoms of sickness, please keep them home as we start school. If you are concerned that your student/s may have COVID and would like testing, please contact the school on Jan. 3 and we will make testing available for them before they return to class.

We are looking forward to a great year in 2022. Happy New Year!

Brian Friddle

Superintendent of Schools