Sequim School District

Health and Safety FAQ
Nurse Sonja Bittner and Clallam County Department of Health Environmental Health Specialist Jessica Pankey answer questions received from staff members.




SEQUIM SCHOOL DISTRICT REOPENING GUIDE Sequim School District Reopening Guide Sequim School District Reopening Guide ~ Spanish
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2021 Capital Projects Levy
Join Dr. Pryne as we tour across the Sequim School District.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Pryne shares tentative dates students will be returning to campus, Nurse Bittner shares helpful mitigation reminders, food services will be changing delivery soon, no school for students January 25 as teachers will attending professional development, the district is looking for bus drivers, coaches and substitute teachers, and please listen to our new podcast.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming important school and Levy dates, vaccine information, a warm welcome back to our Public Information Officer Megan Lyke, as well as an invitation to join our transportation service team are included in this message.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acting Superintendent Jane Pryne invites you to attend upcoming Levy Informational meetings or schedule a virtual meeting with your own group. Please call 360-582-3260, or 360-582-3262 or email tnorman@sequimschools.org.


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Levy Question? Please submit to tnorman@sequimschools.org and Dr. Pryne will answer them live January 11 at 1pm on KSQM Radio.


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YMCA of Sequim partners with school district to deliver meals over winter break!
 
The YMCA of Sequim is partnering with the Sequim School District to help distribute meals to students while schools are closed over the winter break.

Starting Monday, December 21 through Wednesday, December 30, YMCA of Sequim staff and volunteers will deliver meals on Mondays and Wednesdays to students who are not able to pick up meals at central pick-up locations.

“The YMCA recognizes that providing meals to families during this time when schools are closed is important,” said Gail Sumpter, YMCA of Sequim Branch Executive. “We are fortunate to be able to collaborate with the school district to assist where we are needed,” Sumpter said.

Meal deliveries will be made on modified bus routes on Monday, December 21, Wednesday, December 23, Monday, December 28 and Wednesday, December 30. Meal deliveries include 7 days of meals. While pre-ordering meals is not required, it is encouraged and families in need of home delivery can make that request.

YMCA home meal delivery routes are as follows:
Route 1: 7 Cedars Casino Parking lot stop at 9:15 a.m. Critter Country stop at 9:40 a.m. Many Feathers & Woodcock stop at 10:50 a.m.

Route 2: N. Barr Soccer Field stop at 9:20 a.m. Agnew Grocery stop at 9:35 a.m. Ridgeview Drive & Ridge Place stop at 10:10 a.m.

Route 3: Gravel Area at Fish Hatchery Road stop at 9:50 a.m. Sequim Little League stop at 10:25 a.m.

Route 4: Mountain View Court Apartments stop at 9:10 a.m.
Route 5: Elk Creek Apartments stop at 9:10 a.m.

Regular bus routes will resume on Monday, January 4, 2021. The meal pre-ordering form can be found on the district’s website at: sequimschools.org/departments/nutrition_services.
For more information about delivery routes, please contact Gail Sumpter, YMCA of Sequim Branch Executive at gail@olympicpeninsulaymca.org or 360-504-0538. For media inquiries, please contact Erin Hawkins, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at erin@olympicpeninsulaymca.org or 360-504-0530.


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November 23, 2020
Dear Sequim School District Families, Staff, and Community,

So much has transpired locally in the last week around the uptick in COVID-19 cases. After thoughtful deliberation, coupled with rising increases in COVID-19 cases in Clallam County, and Governor Inslee’s Travel Advisory issued, the Sequim school District will transition to 100% remote learning beginning Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. We, the Board of Directors, the Leadership Team, and I, did not make this decision lightly and understand the hardships it places on our families.
The factors that we evaluated in making this complex and difficult decision included:
• The safety and security of our students and staff, first and foremost.
• We are currently experiencing a shortage of substitutes for all positions such as teachers, paraeducators, transportation, food service, and custodial/maintenance.
• We believe transitioning to remote learning will allow us the time needed to return our students and staff to quality in-person learning safely. We anticipate Kindergarten-5th grade students returning to in-person learning at the start of second semester, and at a future date, bringing back secondary students.

To be clear, we are not making this decision based on positive cases within our schools, or because Dr. Unthank has said we must. It is an individual school district decision based on what is best for our students and staff safety and health.

Finally, as we are planning for this holiday which is often filled with large gatherings of family and friends remember to Give Thanks, Not COVID. (brought to you by the Snohomish Health District)
Wishing you and yours all the best this coming holiday week,
Dr. Jane Pryne
Acting Superintendent

FREE Breakfast and Lunch Food Service for Students 2-18 Years of Age
Monday & Wednesday Location pick-up: 11:00am-12:30pm-GreyWolf Elementary & Sequim Middle School
• Receive 2 days of meals Monday
• Receive 3 days of meals Wednesday
Wednesday Curbside pick-up: 4:30pm-6:00pm-Drive thru at the Sequim Central Kitchen Monday & Wednesday Bus Route pick-up: To select which bus route best fits your family, visit our website at: www.sequimschools.org 
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There has been some significant changes coming through the pipeline the last couple of days that affect HS athletics.  Here are the major changes:

Sport Seasons have been moved back

The WIAA has decided to push the start of sports back to Feb. 1^st.  There was a lot of discussion about swapping the order of some sports or even condensing down to 2 sport seasons, but it was ultimately decided to leave the 3 remaining sports seasons as is with the start date pushed back.  Here is the new schedule:

• Winter Sports:  Begin Feb. 1^stand end March 21^st. 

   

• Fall Sports:  Begin March 15h and end May 2^nd.

   

• Spring Sports:  Begin April 26^thand end June 13^th.

Each season allows for 1 week of practices (football/gymnastics require 2 weeks and will start 1 week early) followed by 5 weeks for league competition and a 1 week “postseason” (format TBD).   You can find the link to the full schedule here:  https://wiaa.com/News.aspx?ID=1743&Mon=11&Yr=2020.  The Olympic League AD’s will start reworking schedules to fit into these timelines right away with the understanding that we may not be able to squeeze in a full league schedule as you are accustomed to.

It is worth noting that by the time Feb. 1^st rolls around we will likely still be battling Covid numbers, but the WIAA is allowing flexibility for local leagues to have the option to offer seasons that may be cancelled in other areas of the state.  If other areas are still high in Covid numbers and need to re-schedule winter sports once again, it is possible that our area may be cleared to resume play amongst our local schools with the understanding that there will be no big playoff event to look forward to at the end.  More to come on this later.

Off-Season Workouts

Under the Governor’s new proclamation, all indoor sports and activities are cancelled through Dec. 14^th.  Outdoor activities are still allowed through the WIAA with a 100% mask requirement, but with Clallam County just moving up to the “High Risk” category we have decided to finish up our outdoor practices this week and then shut down outdoor activities through the holidays.  The “Out-of-Season Coaching Period” has been extended through Jan. 23^rd, so if we can get our numbers under control, we may be able to resume indoor practices after the new year for a few weeks. 

I’m very appreciative of our coaches who ran practices these past several weeks and your strict adherence to the guidelines in an effort to keep our athletes safe.  While we may not have been able to continue practicing and start our seasons on time, we were able to provide some crucial time for our kids to be active, healthy, and back practicing with their friends and teammates.  This was not the case in most areas of the state.

Thanks for all you do and hope you and have a wonderful and safe holiday season. I will send updates as I get them.

Dave Ditlefsen
SHS Teacher/Athletic Director

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Happy Tuesday to All of You!

Here is the latest update on COVID-19 information from Dr. Unthank and Department of Health.  As we are all aware, this is a very fluid, flexible time in our school community.  If there are any new updates we will be notifying all of you expeditiously.

 News from the Department of Health -November 17, 2020

There has been a dramatic rise in POSITIVE COVID-19 cases, faster than before.
Locations of rise in cases that we have been notified of are:

• Long-term care facility
• Two health care facilities
• Church in Sequim
  • With an approximate of 70 contacts per person
• Nearly all the primary contacts are traced to traveling outside the area

Department of Health’s Position at this time is:

• Pause on further reopening of grade-levels currently
• No indoor athletics
• Maintain current in-person learning at this time
• Individuals that have traveled to another state and are coming back to WA need to Quarantine for 14 days

Communication from Department of Health Officer Dr. Allison Unthank:

• There is NO call to schools for quarantine
• “If I tell your staff and students it’s safe to attend school, I want them to know it’s the truth.” – Dr. Allison Unthank
• There have been NO reports of in-school transmission of staff or students in Clallam County. The transmission risk is very low when we follow the protocols that we currently have in place.

Why is the tolerance higher now than in August, per cases?
Dr. Unthank shared the following answers:

• “We know more now, and it’s not as likely to spread in schools.”
• “Students and staff are as safe in school as anywhere else within our community, including our own home if parties and family gatherings exist without measures.

When will schools need to be closed?

• “When we can no longer contact trace known cases in the school or community.”

Stay Safe and Healthy as we enter this Holiday Season,
Jane S. Pryne, Ed.D.
Acting Superintendent

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