Update Center

February 15th, 2021

Face Coverings in Polson Schools

Dear PSD Families and Staff,

As you are probably aware, Governor Gianforte recently announced that he would be making changes to the statewide mask mandate.  Additionally, we received confirmation from the Governor’s Office that "the upcoming directive allows local jurisdictions, including local school boards, to implement their own mask requirements."

As previously approved by the Board of Trustees in our reopening plan, we will continue with all COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including the face covering requirement.  We recognize and respect that there are varying viewpoints on this issue.  As school leaders, we are in a very challenging and sensitive position when making decisions concerning the health and safety of our staff and students. We view requiring face coverings within our schools as an issue of public health and safety.

Our rationale for continuing all mitigation efforts include:

• Student and staff safety continues to be our number one priority. Mitigation of spread allows our schools to remain open, allows our parents to work and keeps our economy up and running.
• School staff, as essential workers, are no longer included in tier 1A and 1B for vaccinations.  Removing the mask mandate when our school essential workers have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated presents additional risk to staff and students.
• Current school district data demonstrate that the mitigation efforts significantly reduce the spread and transmission of the Coronavirus when compared to the County.
• According to the Health Department, almost all cases of COVID in schools represent transmission from outside of the school setting due to the mitigation strategies that are currently in place.
• Schools often have “captive” audiences and difficulty maintaining social distancing.  In addition, students and staff have a prolonged exposure time, which separates schools from regular businesses. 

Thank you for continuing to support our efforts to keep our schools open and keep our students and staff safe.  The risks associated with COVID-19 are continually being weighed with the potentially greater consequences for our students, families and community if our schools are closed. Therefore, we are doing everything we can to safely keep our schools open.

Sincerely,

Tom DiGiallonardo
Interim Superintendent
Polson School District

Download this Message in PDF Format

November 19th, 2020

Updated Covid-19 Communication Methods

Polson School District Community,

Effective Thursday, November 19th Polson School District will be updating our communication methods for sharing information related to COVID-19 within our school system.  Our goal as a district is to be transparent, accurate, and timely in our dissemination of information while also respecting the right to privacy of our individual students and employees during this pandemic. With these goals in mind, the district will communicate COVID-19 information as listed below:

Active Case Data on Website
The district will provide a counter on our district and school websites and update it at least once a week with the following information:  Count of Active Student Cases, Count of Active Staff Cases, and Count of Active Students and Staff that are currently Quarantined.  This information will include district data as well as statistics for each school.

Email/Website/Social Media Notifications to Parents/Community
When a new active case is reported that impacts students or staff in one of our school buildings we will email a letter to all of the parents at that school.  In addition to sending an email, we will post a copy of the message on our district and school websites and social media channels.  Due to the importance of these messages, please contact your child’s school to verify that we have your correct email address on file.  We will no longer be mailing letters home as they do not arrive in a timely manner.

Contact Tracing
If your child is identified as being a close contact to an individual who has a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, you will be contacted via phone call by the Lake County Health Department, CSKT Tribal Health Department, or in some cases by a school official with additional information and instructions.

Questions or Concerns
If you have any questions or concerns specific to COVID-19 you can send them via email to covid19-team@polson.k12.mt.us or reach out by phone to the district office or the administrator at your child’s school.

I would like to thank all of our students, staff, parents, and community members for your continued cooperation in following our social distancing and mask-wearing policies while in our school facilities and staying home when experiencing symptoms of illness.  By following these simple protocols we have so far been able to safely keep our school system open to in-person instruction for our students and we hope to continue that trend for the rest of the school year.

Sincerely,

Tom DiGiallonardo
Interim Superintendent
Polson School District