SIOUX CENTRAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
4440 Highway 71, Sioux Rapids, Iowa 50585 (712) 283-2571
Website: www.siouxcentral.org
Elementary Principal: Kari Schmidt
Secondary Principal: Jeff Scharn
Superintendent: Kevin Wood
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We appreciate your ongoing support as we continue to navigate this pandemic, keeping student and staff health and safety in the forefront of our decision-making processes. Last week, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) made a change on quarantine recommendations for people that have been exposed to a positive case of COVID-19.
This guidance recommends that close contacts (less than six feet for more than 15 minutes) of COVID-positive cases will no longer need to quarantine for 14 days if a face covering was worn consistently and correctly by the positive case and close contacts. The positive case must isolate. If exposure occurs while a student is not wearing a mask (ie. lunch), they will need to quarantine at home for the entire 14 days.
With this new guidance, the type of face covering is also very important. Prior to these updates, any face covering including face shields, neck gaiters, and bandanas were allowed. As part of this new guidance, public health will not count face shields, neck gaiters, and bandanas as appropriate face coverings to avoid the 14 day quarantine. Therefore, we are asking all students and staff to wear only approved masks.
There could be some student separation in class if someone chooses not to wear a mask. This would lower the number of students needing to quarantine due to a positive case.
Close contacts will continue to be notified by County Public Health when there is a need to quarantine your student.
Thank you for your help with implementing these new changes.
Sincerely,
Kevin Wood, Superintendent