Dear Richland R-IV patrons,
I wanted to let you know that our district is taking the Coronavirus situation very seriously and we are continually monitoring the situation and trying to use best practices in trying to combat its spread. At this time we have no plans to close our schools and will continue to operate as normal. No local health agencies, the CDC, DHSS, or the Governor’s office have suggested closing schools. However, as we have learned in the last couple of days, things can change quickly so we will continue to be in contact with those groups.
We have looked at what our options would be available if things develop to the level of closing schools. We will be looking at putting together a survey to see what portion of our students have internet connectivity at home and formulate a game plan after seeing the results.
Our students who attend Waynesville Career Center have been told to stay at home for a 14 day quarantine period if they went on a cruise or visited one of the level 3 health threat counties according to the CDC. This means that any Richland student who traveled under these circumstances during the break will not be able to attend there during that time. Waynesville is in a different situation with the unique issues of Fort Leonard Wood and we will honor their wishes.
During our spring break, we sanitized and disinfected all of our campus areas and buses and will continue to do so, especially high traffic areas, to help combat the spread of the virus. We have already been doing this to combat the flu. If your students have to be absent we will work with you to not hold that against them. Please do keep them home if they have a fever of 100 degrees or more or show symptoms or a cough or difficulty breathing, per CDC guidelines. This goes for our staff as well.
We will continue to look at what changes, if any, we need to make for our activities. The MSHSAA has adapted and cancelled some events so far through at least March 21. We will inform you of any updates of our schedule as soon as possible.
You can check our websites for updates as well, but a few good sites to check out for I formation are the cdc.gov and the covid-19 Information page at health.mo.gov
There is also a DHSS hotline if you would like information on the Coronavirus at 887-435-8411 that is available 24 hours a day.
I didn’t want to panic anyone but wanted you to know that we are doing all that we can to prepare for any eventuality. I wanted to have as much information as possible before reaching out but it changes so often that became impossible. We will continue to update you as things change and develop. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Brian Lee
Superintendent
Richland R-IV Schools