ODE Recommendation to Pause Extra-Curricular Activities
By Paul Hall on Friday, January 7th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
WALLOWA – (Information provided by the Wallowa School District) Due to concern about the surge of COVID-19 cases and the contagious nature of the Omicron variant, ODE has come out with the following message:
*Schools and other organizations should pause extracurricular activities or ensure they follow the same layered mitigation safety protocols practiced during the school day (use of face coverings, screening, and diagnostic testing, encourage vaccination, frequent handwashing, etc.).
*If schools and other organizations proceed with extracurricular activities, especially as these activities move indoors and individuals are unmasked, they should expect rapid transmission of COVID-19 that will prevent students from participating in in-person learning due to isolation for those that contract COVID-19 and lengthy quarantines for those that come into close contact with infected individuals.
While there is a strong recommendation to pause extra-curricular activities, it remains a local decision.
We believe activities play a critical role in the overall school experience for students and in families and community members being able to attend events in person.
We also believe in the importance of keeping our kids in school and being taught by our regular teachers and staff.
Finally, we believe that our district needs to do its part to keep COVID-19 spread at manageable levels for our health care partners.
Regarding extra-curricular events, our district has the following options:
-Pause extra-curricular activities until the surge is over;
-Require proof of up-to-date vaccine status or negative test to attend events;
-Hold extra-curricular events without spectators, or;
-Hold extra-curricular events with spectators and with a renewed commitment by all spectators to observe masking and physical distancing requirements.At this time, our district will continue to hold extra-curricular events AND allow spectators. If you attend an event as a spectator, please do your part to help us keep this option available by observing masking and distancing mandates. We also ask that, to the maximum extent possible, you refrain from eating or drinking while attending events.
