Nicholas County Schools

Just a reminder that school will be closed November 22-November 26, 2021 for Thanksgiving Break. Happy Thanksgiving!!

November 5, 2021 MASK REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WEEK OF 11/08/21-11/12/21 The following schools will require all students and staff to wear masks the week of 11/08/21-11/12/21. • Mt. Lookout Elementary (15% quarantined) • Zela Elementary (15% quarantined) • Richwood Middle School (27% quarantined) • Summersville Elementary (25% quarantined) Because Nicholas County is "red" on the WVDHHR map, all students and staff will wear masks on buses regardless of which school they attend. These results are based on percentages quarantined of 10% or beyond for the week of 11/01/21- 11/05/21. School mask requirements will be re-evaluated on 11/12/21

Since the beginning of the year 834 students and staff have been quarantined with 107 positive cases in Nicholas County Schools. Though the vast majority of those quarantined never contract COVID, many of our students are missing out on instruction due to quarantine. Due to the changes in state quarantine rules and the number of students who have had to miss school due to quarantining, I believe that a conditional mask mandate is in order to keep our students in school. The West Virginia Department of Education under the guidance of Dr. Ayne Amjad, MD, MPH, as State Health Officer and Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health provided new guidance to county school systems on Friday, September 3, 2021. Previously, students who were within 3 feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more were quarantined even if both students wore a mask. Those rules were relaxed. Now, quarantining will not occur in schools where there is a universal mask mandate. Through collaboration with Michelle Underwood at the Nicholas County Health Department, a plan was devised that will be implemented beginning Friday, September 10, 2021. When Nicholas County is Red or Orange on DHHR COVID map on Friday, all students and staff will wear masks on buses. In addition, students and staff in schools with a 10% or more COVID positive or quarantine rate will be required to wear a mask. Students and staff in schools below a 10% COVID positive or quarantine rate will not have to wear masks. Call outs, website, and social media posts will be made to keep students, staff, and families informed of the mask requirements for the upcoming week. When the map is Green or Yellow, Gold on Friday, no masks will be required the following week. If positivity or quarantine rates rise rapidly in a particular school, a mask mandate may be issued for that school regardless of the map color. I am highly recommending that everyone wear a mask at all times in all schools to keep quarantine numbers down and everything closer to normal. We will continue to work with Individual schools to prevent the spread at extracurricular activities and in the lunch setting. When a mask requirement is in place and if a student can’t wear a mask/shield for medical or psychological reasons, the student may be excused from mask use with appropriate documentation. Our community is deeply divided on the mask issue. I believe this plan strikes the proper balance between honoring parent choice and keeping our students in school. Please understand this is an ever changing process, when additional guidance from state health officials is provided, we will adjust according.

2021-2022 COVID Re-entry Guidance can be found here: https://5il.co/ye6q

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Don't forget to save the 2021-2022 School Calendar below: https://5il.co/x8q4