| November 17, 2020 Parents and Guardians, I hope that this communication finds your family healthy and safe. For many of us the holiday season is typically a time for family gatherings and celebrations. This year will no doubt look very different as we continue to navigate these challenging times. I do hope that you will be able to make the most of the upcoming time off while remaining safe. As we pass the midpoint of the second quarter, I wanted to provide a couple of updates as they relate to the current health metrics released by the Arizona Department of Health Services last week. Due to increases in the benchmarks, there have been some questions regarding whether or not MUSD would be returning to remote learning in the coming weeks. These questions are mainly due to the increases relating to COVID-19 cases that were observed in Pima County. As we monitor the metrics as they relate to the benchmarks being used for return to school decisions, we are anticipating some continued increases in the coming weeks. In a meeting with Pima County Health Department officials last Friday, it was noted that we are currently experiencing an accelerated transmission of COVID-19. With that said, the recommendation from the Pima County Health Department is to remain in a hybrid model during this time. This recommendation is based, not just on the critical role of in-person instruction, but also on the low number of transmissions being observed in our schools. This is not to say that we are not experiencing our own positive cases here in MUSD. We continue to see positive cases, but the vast majority of those cases originate outside of our schools through social gatherings and home transmissions. This is consistent with what the Pima County Health Department has observed throughout our area. As we look to remain in a hybrid education model for the coming weeks, we will continue to monitor and evaluate unique circumstances at each school site. This includes ensuring that we have adequate staff, due to quarantining and isolation guidelines, to maintain safe learning environments. Any decision to return to a remote learning environment will be made on a case by case basis with a focus on our ability to provide a safe learning environment. We will continue to communicate as we have been doing these past few weeks. This includes notifying staff members across the District and families from the impacted school each time we have positive case. An additional measure of transparency will be the release of our own MUSD COVID-19 Dashboard, which is a live, real-time tracking system of active and resolved cases giving you a snapshot of COVID-19 at MUSD. Again, this is designed to be an additional way to maintain accurate and timely communication and transparency about COVID-19 caseloads and the subsequent impact. We are anticipating the Dashboard being available before the end of this week. Once again, I thank you for being a part of our educational community. I continue to be incredibly proud of the work that our teachers, staff, students, and families are doing together. Thank you, Daniel Streeter, Ed.D.
Superintendent | 
