March 12, 2020
Dear Rowland Unified Families,
We have been closely monitoring all information involving coronavirus/COVID-19 to provide for the safety and health of our students, staff and community, which is our top priority. To ensure that the Rowland Unified School District is responding and planning to this current and serious situation, our information and recommendations for action come from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH), and Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). We are taking logical, research-based measures to help mitigate the spread of the virus. At the same time, those concerns must be balanced against tradeoffs and unintended consequences for students, staff, families and the community at large.
On the evening of Wednesday, March 11, we learned that there are two cases of a community transmission of COVID-19 within Los Angeles County. While there are no known cases in our schools or District, we are following the recommendations and guidance of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and postponing some school and District events. Please know that the decision to postpone or cancel events is not taken lightly, as we know that our students and staff have worked tirelessly to plan and bring many amazing experiences to our students to enhance and/or showcase their learning.
All of our schools have shared events that are planned in the upcoming weeks and we are monitoring and making decisions in two week increments of time. The guidelines we are using in determining if an event continues as planned or be postponed include:
- How many individuals are participating?
- Are the individuals from within the school only or outside, including other schools in the District?
- Is the location or venue of the event large enough to allow for social distancing, which is allowing individuals to be 3-6 feet apart?
- Is participating essential to learning for our students?
District events that are being postponed at this time include:
- Orange County Debate League, scheduled for March 14, 2020, at Buena Park High School
- GATE Super Saturday, scheduled for March 14, 2020, at Giano Intermediate School
- Conferencía Familiar, scheduled for March 14, 2020, at Hurley Elementary School
- District Band Festival, scheduled for March 20, 2020, at Rowland High School
- Open Houses, scheduled for March 19, 2020, at Santana High School and March 24, 2020, at Blandford, Hollingworth, Jellick, Northam and Telesis schools
- District Music Rehearsal Nights
There may be other school site field trips or events that are being postponed. You will be receiving information from your school principal regarding these specific school events.
Thank you for support and understanding during this time of uncertainty. We will continue to keep you informed as any new information is known, including the dates of any events that are rescheduled.
Sincerely,
Julie Mitchell, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools