Ridgemont Families,
First, thank you for your patience and understanding as we moved into our first week of face to face instruction in the building, as well as, providing online instruction. The students have been great as they settle in and adjust to classes, and the teachers and staff have worked hard to make adjustments throughout the day and week. A big thank you to everyone!!
Second, as of September 17th, Hardin County has moved to yellow or Level 1 on the Ohio Public Advisory Level System. This is good news and means that we will be able to continue with face to face instruction.
Lastly, I want to share some important information with regards to student and staff health. As we move into fall and eventually winter, it can be expected that there will be instances of respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses and possibly some positive cases of COVID-19.
Please be aware that Ridgemont will not make calls or send letters for every incident involving children or staff that demonstrate any number of respiratory and/or gastrointestinal illness symptoms that lead to being excluded from school. This is no different than what we have done in the past; this letter or call is purely an effort by the school to be transparent, as there is no further action step for your child or you as a parent.
In the event of a positive case of COVID-19 in the district, only students who have been in close contact with the student or staff member that tests positive will be notified. These students/families will be contacted by the Hardin County Health Department for more information and if quarantined, the health department will provide you with a letter stating that your child will be quarantined for a 14 day period following their exposure to the virus. Families with no connection to the matter will not receive a letter or notification from the Hardin County Health Department.
Students/Families who did not have direct contact, but who are in the same class, will however be notified through FinalForms or a call that there is a positive case. All families of the district will be notified when there is a positive case. District COVID stats will also be posted on the district COVID web page.
As the district continues to provide in-person instruction, we ask our parents to help us by committing to the following actions:
Keep children home if they are sick. Please include their symptoms when you call in their absence.
Keep children at home and inform the school if someone in the home tests positive for COVID-19.
Keep children at home if they are waiting on COVID-19 test results for any reason.
Report positive test results to the school immediately.
Ridgemont is committed to providing students with the best education possible in a safe and healthy environment.
Thank you for partnership,
Sally Henrick