Students at Nevis School in grades K-6 returned to in-person learning Monday and those in grades 7-12 returned to hybrid learning. Practices have also resumed for all activities.
The decision to change the district’s learning models was made by the district’s COVID-19 crisis management team.
“The past two weeks have allowed for a tremendous slowdown in our cases of infected students and staff,” Superintendent Gregg Parks said in a letter posted on the district website. “It has also allowed us to improve upon our approach to mitigating risks within our buildings. As a result, Nevis Public Schools have experienced no new positive cases for the past two weeks.”
Parks noted that these learning models are a change to the original recommendations by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
Hubbard County cases of COVID continue to rise, climbing from 390 cases reported on the Minnesota Department of Health website on Oct. 26 to 518 cases on Monday, an increase of 128 cases in one week.
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“MDE released new guidance on Oct. 22 allowing school districts to make decisions on the appropriate model at the local level based upon a variety of factors,” Parks said. “Although there continues to be a trend upward in Hubbard County positive cases of COVID-19, we believe we can continue to offer a safe environment. Nevis Public Schools will continuously re-evaluate the learning models for students in grades K-12 and activities based upon district statistics with multiple data points to help guide the decision.”
Parks said the district will likely stay in this model until Nov. 23 unless they encounter a major impact of COVID-19 on staff or students.
