Loyalsock Township School District
Statement on Wearing of Masks for Remainder of the 2020-2021 School Year
To Parents, Guardians and Staff of the Loyalsock Township School District,
Over the past 15 months, our students have sacrificed and missed out on extracurricular activities including the cancelling of all spring activities in 2020. This year, we’ve missed band and choral concerts, football games, wrestling matches, basketball games, Odyssey of the Mind competitions, after school events and many opportunities that we have taken for granted in the past.
Our team has worked diligently to keep our students in school for as many days as possible during the 2020-2021 school year.
We have endured some trying times as we transitioned to remote learning in December and January for a period of 13 school days, and, once again, we encountered some issues this spring as we had to transition both the high school and middle school to remote learning at times.
Because most K-12 students in Pennsylvania are not vaccinated and only a few weeks remain in the 2020-2021 school year, the Pennsylvania Department of Education recommends school entities continue to follow their current mitigation strategies.
You have trusted us with your students during the pandemic for 172 days. Our plan is to continue to follow our health and safety plan for the remaining 8 days.
We will require students and staff to continue to wear masks for the remainder of the school year. There are those that oppose the continued wearing of masks while others would like for this to continue.
We recently were able to hold band concerts outside! This was a great opportunity for our students to showcase their talents and share what they have learned this year. Our spring sports teams, both softball and baseball are competing at the District level while the track team is at state competition today.
We want to continue to celebrate our milestones with our students. Next week, we have senior awards night in the middle school/high school auditorium. We are fortunate to be able to celebrate our seniors and there will be no limitations on the number of parents and community members that can attend. We plan to have a 5th grade graduation and awards in the auditorium also and this will be open to parents and community members.
The class of 2021 will have their graduation ceremony outside and there will be no limitations on the number of community members who can attend.
Why do I share this with you? We are fortunate to be able to, once again, host these activities for our student and their families.
We want to finish strong and we do not want to cancel any of our planned activities for students. We want to celebrate our seniors one last time at graduation and want to ensure that all students are able to attend end-of-year activities without being quarantined!
We ask that you understand and know that our students have done a great job throughout this pandemic and have complied with the mask wearing. Our teachers have also worked with face shields and masks and have adjusted well.
As we come to the finish line, we ask for your cooperation during the last two weeks of school. We have worked together over the past 15 months and we have been successful in providing quality educational programs for our students.
These decisions are not easy. Rest assured, we want to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for students and staff.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and have a safe holiday weekend.
Jerry McLaughlin
Superintendent
