November 11, 2020
Greetings,
As someone who enjoys a good long run there have been a few times when I’ve reached that point where I wasn’t sure if I could push on. They call that “hitting the wall.” It’s that point when your body feels it can’t go any further. There is a physical component that allows you to get past that point and continue, but your mind, your will, your mental determination to overcome plays a much greater part in conquering the wall.
We as a community, as a state and nation, have seemed to hit the wall in our fight against the spread of COVID 19. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of covid cases over the past several weeks and the term “COVID fatigue” has been heard more and more to describe just one of the reasons why this is happening. After eight months of cancelled plans, uncertainty, worry, and continuous efforts to mitigate the spread, we are all just getting tired of “dealing with this.” We are all hitting our wall. But now is the time where we must dig deep and conquer the wall. We must help each other, remind each other, and continue to work together to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Last week the District took steps to help mitigate the community spread of the virus by suspending our remaining in-person learning labs. Since infection rates in the community, and in the state, continue to increase we feel the responsible action at this time is to take further steps now rather than later to help slow the spread of this virus.
The District will be reducing the number of staff in buildings and encouraging students, parents, and community members to help support these measures.
School offices will remain open, with minimal staff, during normal school hours. We highly encourage parents and community members to communicate with staff electronically to avoid entering the building. It is understood that in some cases it may be necessary to enter a school in order to address an issue or concern. In these instances please contact the school to set up an appointment.
The Administration building will be open for public access by appointment only during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please call (313) 827-3005 for Student Services, (313) 827-3002 for Human Resources, (313) 827-3100 for Payroll and Benefits, and (313) 827-3006 for all other questions.
The District has been following very stringent mitigation strategies that have proven to be effective in our schools. We are taking these additional proactive steps to help slow the spread of COVID- 19 and to keep our staff, students and the community safe.
We have been wearing a mask, washing hands, social distancing, and for the most part avoiding large crowds. The increase in the number of cases is driving our decision making on school operations and our concern for the safety of students and staff. Many health experts are attributing part of the increase to extended family and friend gatherings. These events tend to create a false sense of safety and therefore people become more relaxed about following the rules. This may play an even bigger role in the spread of the virus as we move into a holiday season centered around family and friends coming together. I encourage everyone to do their part and remain committed to following safe practices and protocols that we know are effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and helping all of us as a community to overcome the wall.
Please avoid large gatherings and Mask Up Dearborn!
Regards,
Glenn M. Maleyko, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Dearborn Public Schools