The Main Things
An MSD Family Communication that Cuts out the Clutter!
January 14, 2022
Main Thing 1 - Operation Keep Our Doors Safely Open
We know families are nervous at the thought of returning to distance learning and we want you to know our goal is to keep our doors safely open. As predicated, we are seeing an increase in staff and student cases of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant. We’re closely tracking those cases with our partners at Jackson County Public Health and cases are expected to peak at the end of the month. Hopefully cases will decrease drastically in February!
While some districts across the country, including here in Oregon, have made temporary shifts to distance learning, this is not a plan Medford is exploring. There may be times when a single class needs to shut down due to exposures or staffing shortages, but we are making every effort to continue in-person learning because we know students need to be in school.
We have made some temporary changes (through Feb. 4) to support our efforts to stay open, including:
No unnecessary in-person staff meetings or community events
Dispatching district staff to help at schools
Testing qualifying employees & students to keep them at school when they’ve been exposed (as allowed by state guidance)
The Oregon Department of Education announced today new contact tracing rules. Oregon will no longer consider masked contact in K-12 settings (including on school buses) to be an exposure regardless of distancing. We will be focusing our contact tracing on times when students are unmasked for long periods of time, such as in certain extracurricular activities or in classrooms where individual accommodations to the masking policy are required to support students with disabilities.
The number one way you can help is to keep your student home if they are sick! If your student is sick, please call the school and let them know.
In addition, support for members of school communities who test positive for COVID-19 can be accessed through the COVID-19 Case Support Hotline, 866-917-8881, or Positive COVID Test website. OHA is also identifying resources to add a school-specific support team to the hotline.
MSD also opened a hotline for COVID questions, you can reach us at covid@medford.k12.or.us; 541-842-3806.
We appreciate you very much as we navigate this most recent challenge in the COVID era.
Main Thing 2 - 2022-2023 School Calendar Changes
We have made a change to the previously adopted 2022-2023 school year calendar. The newly adopted calendar is linked, here. After feedback from staff and families, we’ve shifted the start date from Friday, August 26 to Monday, August 29, and the last day of school has moved from Wednesday, June 7 to Thursday, June, 8..
Starting on Monday the 29th:
Some Kindergarten Soft Start
1st through 6th Grades
6th Grade Academy
7th & 9th Grade Orientations
Starting on Tuesday the 30th:
Kindergarten Soft Start Continues
Everyone Else!
Why the Wednesdays off? Those are grading and professional development days, which currently fall on Friday this school year. It was recommended to move to Wednesdays for next school year because we want to maximize our time with students. Wednesdays are shorter days already with elementaries releasing early and secondary starting late.
Main Thing 3 - Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This Monday, January 17, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and there will be no school for students. Please join us as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. King. We encourage students and families to tune into our partner BASE Southern Oregon’s live-streamed video “Martin Luther King Jr. Our Voices.” This event is a great opportunity to learn about Dr. King’s influence on racial equality and the achievements he made during his life. You can watch the video live at 2:00 pm on Facebook here, Rogue Valley Community Television Prime (RVTV), and on channel 15 or 82 in the area. We have touched base with our technology department and approved Facebook access for students through Monday so they can watch the event on their Chromebooks.