Good afternoon –
This email contains important information about several items related to COVID.
*COVID
- Reporting
- Attendance
- School Activities
- Backup Plans/Snow Days
*Superintendent Search
COVID
As the weather has gotten colder, COVID cases have increased. Add in Thanksgiving and we have had 80 COVID cases reported this week, as of 1pm today. Case numbers are updated, by school, Monday through Friday on the COVID Protocols page on our website.
Reporting
Thank you for contacting the school nurse with positive cases – it helps us identify areas of exposure. Hudson is one of the few districts in the area to do contact tracing, which allows us to find any hotspots. If you get a phone call from one of our school nurses, please be supportive. They are following public health guidelines.
Attendance
The nurses have reported this week of multiple people coming to school – staff and students – with COVID symptoms. While I appreciate that people want to be in school, it is important to stay home and get tested. Testing information is available at the bottom of this email.
School Activities
Yesterday we notified elementary schools that we are postponing winter concerts until after the new year. Decisions whether to hold activities will be made based on the size of the room, expected number of people in attendance and transmission. Our priority is keeping kids in school and co-curricular activities and outside events will be reviewed as necessary. This is not what any of us wants.
Backup Plans/Snow Days
Please make backup plans for childcare in case we have to quickly go to a remote learning day – just as you would for a snow day. As I mentioned, our priority is to keep kids in school. We want everyone to PREPARE for remote as a possibility. As far as snow days, we will most likely follow a blizzard bag concept – it will literally depend on the weather.
Superintendent Search Committee Update
The Hudson School Board was happy to receive a total of 78 submissions for the Superintendent Search Committee. After careful consideration, the School Board selected the following people who represent a wide variety of views including community members, staff, administrators, and parents.
- Ethan Beals
- Michael Campbell
- Tatenda Bomba
- Keith Bowen
- Jen Burke
- Maureen Dionne
- Len Lathrop
- Thomas Murphy
- Jeffrey Peterson
- Susan Vivian
The committee had its first meeting on Wednesday, December 1 and it was broadcast on HCTV. More details will be coming out early next week about the process.
Have a good weekend!
Larry Russell
Superintendent of Schools
Important Dates
December 6 – School Board Meeting
December 20 – School Board Meeting
December 23-31 – Holiday Break
Hudson School District - COVID Protocols page
Free COVID Testing
The State of NH has partnered with Clear Choice MD to offer four FREE testing sites around the state, seven days a week. More information is available here.