I just got off of the call with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Dept. There is not much new to report, which impacts Pierce County schools. A few items to consider for our general community, however:

• The percent positive rate is at over 5% currently, which is double what it was in September. This shows the prevalence of COVID in our greater community.
• Two of our highest daily rates have happened this past week: 214 on Wednesday and 187 yesterday (Thursday). Those are daily rates for ONLY Pierce County.
• Our case rate per 100,000 in the last 14 days is 168 with an average daily rate of 108.
• If you are curious, you can check out where outbreaks (by job/industry) are happening by scrolling to the bottom of the following webpage: https://www.tpchd.org/healthy-people/diseases/covid-19-pierce-county-cases You will note that K-12 schools only account for 3% at this time, far less than settings such as: retail (18%), transportation (18%), and even food service/restaurants (6%).
• There is no further discussion about adjusting the Decision Tree, which indicates schools should go remote (with the exception of cohorts and in-person learning for at risk students) when cases are above 75/100,000 (we are now at 168/100,000).
• Any discussion about statewide shutdowns or partial shutdowns is handled at the governor's office. There has been a little chatter about the possibility of something along these lines, now that the election is over. Stay tuned for more on this in coming weeks if the cases remain high and/or continue to climb...

So, the short version is that we are in this hybrid situation until further notice and I do not see that changing in the coming couple of weeks (especially with the flu coming, people moving indoors due to the weather, and holiday get-togethers). Please continue to do your part:

• Mask up
• Stay away from parties and other gatherings lacking social distancing
• Stay home when you (or the kids) are sick

One last item...we have a newly updated flowchart to follow from the Dept of Health. This breaks symptoms down by Class A symptoms and Class B symptoms. Please read through this carefully. The important item to remember is that Class B symptoms MUST be resolved within 24 hours. If you'd like a copy of the flow chart to keep at home, you can pick one up from the office.

We are pleased to report that we have not had any positive cases in the student body or staff. We have had many people tested in the 10 weeks since school began and all have come back negative. Please know that we follow the protocol very seriously and do not take chances, whether with staff or students. To that end, please remember that we need to know if your child is having ANY of the symptoms when we are doing the health screening (temp check) at drop off. If so, please keep them home and follow the flow chart. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe and keeping the school open to the best of our ability.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Katie Dempsey