Dear Students & Families,
We are excited to welcome students and staff back to school this fall and want to share some updates about what to expect.
School Days & Instructional Time
Brookings-Harbor School District will operate five days each week, serving all students full-time, in-person this fall. Wednesdays will be early release days as was typical in recent years. View the adopted 2021-22 Academic Calendar.
Online Learning
Our district will continue to provide a fully online learning path via the Brookings-Harbor Online Academy in addition to our in-person learning path. Register for in-person or online pathways. We will also provide remote learning support for any students who may need to quarantine due to COVID exposure.
Health & Safety in Our Schools
As our schools plan for the fall 2021 in-person school year, it is important to remember our communities will be living with the virus until there is widespread immunity. COVID-19 continues to change with new variants, and our knowledge of mitigation efforts grows over time.
ODE’s Resiliency Framework for the 2021-22 school year focuses on advisory health and safety recommendations. The majority of health and safety protocols are advisory, meaning school districts, public charter schools and private schools will have the option to implement, as appropriate. This will allow flexibility for school districts to design their own return to school plans that best meet the needs of their community.
Right now, the best tools to protect ourselves, classmates, colleagues and neighbors are vaccination for those eligible, face coverings, physical distancing, ventilation and airflow, hand hygiene, and staying home if you feel sick or you know you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Mask Requirement from State
On July 29, Governor Brown directed the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create a rule requiring face coverings in all indoor school settings including classrooms and buses, both public and private, for all individuals two years and older, including all students, staff, contractors, volunteers, and visitors. The Resiliency Framework was updated on Aug. 3, 2021, to include the new rule.
This requirement reinstates the rule that was in place for all in-person learning last school year (20-21). BHSD will provide masks free of cost for students and staff.
Cleaning and Air Quality
BHSD has used a portion of the Federal CARES act allocation to update and improve air quality in our school buildings. We are pleased to announce that during a busy summer of construction, HVAC systems across the district were updated to provide improved ventilation -- including special filtering for virus and smoke particles.
We will continue to work with the Local Health Authority (Oregon Health Authority - Curry County) to manage the response to individual cases and exposures to COVID-19.
It is our priority to create a safe environment where each child is welcomed, cared for, and can thrive.
You can find more information and register your student(s) for 2021-22 on our webpage: www.brookings.k12.or.us.
David Marshall, Superintendent
August 5, 2021