Happy Friday Toppers,
I am ready to celebrate a weekend forecast without rain in it! Make sure to get outside and enjoy the beautiful days, whether it be working in the yard or just being with family and friends!
We are making progress with the pandemic as we learned this week that vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks outdoors unless you are in a large crowd. That is a small victory, but nonetheless a step in the right direction! I am also happy to announce that we are set to have an in-person graduation ceremony at the high school and an in-person promotion ceremony at the grade school. Not all details are available but we are optimistic that mitigations may change, allowing the school to further ease restrictions. As it stands now, each student will be able to invite a limited number of family and friends to the ceremonies. We hope the next few weeks allow for even more people to attend.
An announcement this week by the Illinois Department of Public Health did take us a small step backward. The Logan County Health Department reduced the length of quarantines to 10 days just a few weeks ago, but recently lengthened quarantine back to 14 days for students who come into contact during an athletic event. LCHD relayed this recommendation made by the IDPH and Illinois High School Association. This change in quarantine is a result of a recent increase in COVID-19 outbreaks in school- age people, especially students participating in athletics. A neighboring district recently had an outbreak of 10 students which quarantined over 150 students in all. Students who come into contact with a positive testing COVID-19 student outside of sporting events will still only quarantine 10 days.
On the positive side, we have been doing very well here in Mt. Pulaski and we are hopeful to have seen the last of our positive tests. We have now been over a month without having a staff member or student test positive. Let’s hope for a fantastic May as we wrap up school for the year!
Mask up, wash up and keep the distance!
Fred Lamkey, Mt. Pulaski Superintendent