Dear students and families,
I want to thank you for your patience and cooperation as we have navigated through a world-wide pandemic together to deliver the highest quality education to our young people while keeping safety at the forefront of our thinking. Whitehall City Schools is currently working on a recovery plan which includes vaccinating our staff members to get us one step closer to offering a five-day-a-week in-person education.
Last week, some of our staff received the first dose of the COVID vaccine with very little interruption to the instructional day. This week, the rest of our staff will receive the first dose. Thanks to the Ohio Department of Health and our partnership with Heart of Ohio Family Health, we were able to offer the vaccines at our high school. Because side effects are rare and typically very mild after the first dose, most of our staff were able to get their shots without interruption to their workday.
The second dose will be administered to our staff on March 4th, 5th, 11th, and 12th. We have learned recipients of the second dose often experience some pronounced side effects which will likely cause a challenge for sub coverage. Because I recognize the importance of getting our staff vaccinated and my desire to move us toward an in-person education, I am going to make Friday, March 5th, and Friday, March 12th, remote learning days.
This spring, we will provide more detail about our recovery plan strategies which will include a timeline for a move to five-day-a-week in-person learning. Once again, I thank you for your flexibility, cooperation, and patience.
Sincerely,
Brian Hamler
Superintendent