East Michigan News

Shepherd Public Schools issued the following announcement on Feb 24.

Yesterday late afternoon Superintendent Starr asked the Board of Education to approve the  'COVID-19 Response Plan' that now replaces the previous Back to School Plan for the district - used to mitigate the spread of the virus.  Please contact Mr. Starr at the central office if you have any questions.  

COVID-19 Response Plan Moving Forward, Feb. 23, 2022

Introduction: It has been greatly appreciated that the Shepherd Public Schools Board of Education has provided help, guidance, and opinion to the ongoing work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Shepherd Public Schools throughout the 2021-22 school year.  

As the school year and the lessening severity of the COVID-19 virus progresses the timing is appropriate to condense restrictions and ensure measures are in place to keep students in school and learning at the greatest rates and frequency possible.  To this end, the following guidelines are proposed that will in essence serve as our COVID-19 Response Plan - thus replacing in whole the previous “Back to School Plan.”

1. Due to the February 16th MDHHS withdrawal of any masking mandates indoors for schools, masking for Shepherd Public Schools is now optional.

2. Any staff or student who tests positive for COVID-19 must not attend school and must isolate at home for five full days after symptom onset (or five days after the positive test if they do not have symptoms).  They may return to school on day six if they have no fever for 24 hours, resolving symptoms, and can choose to wear a mask for five additional days.

3. Close contacts will continue to be notified like any other “communicable disease.”  Parents have the choice to take any action they deem appropriate for their child to mitigate the spread of the virus.

4. Any future outbreak or situations deemed to be of a critical or emergency nature will fall under the overall guidance and counsel of the Shepherd Public Schools COVID-19 Response Team with ultimate decisions coming from the superintendent.

Original source can be found here.