Meade Patrons: The Meade Gating Task Force met this morning to determine gating levels for each building and the district. The gating data has improved significantly for the grade school and as a result the grade school will resume FULL ON SITE instruction starting TOMORROW, Wednesday, 9/30/2020. Students still in quarantine will not be able to return until their release date. Attached is a gating chart which will be used in the future to indicate risk levels for each building and the district. Also a table has been included showing current numbers as of 9/28/20. There will be a large number of GS students who come out of quarantine tomorrow and another large group on Thursday which will drop those quarantined to below 10% from a high of over 30%. A BIG THANKS goes to parents for helping out during these challenging times. Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
The Meade USD 226 Gating Criteria which was posted earlier today had a number reversed. The correct version has been posted.
Order of Play for Volleyball @ South Central
Good Luck, Lady Buffs!
#WeR226 #MHSBuffaloes #MHSVolleyball
The USD 226 Board of Education approved new "gating criteria" last Thursday. "Gating" refers to when students may be moved (gated) between on site or remote instruction. A task force made up of 2 board members, 2 teachers, the health department administrator, and the school administration was created to look at the criteria each week to determine the risk level for the district and each building. Each risk level is color coded to make it easier for everyone to identify levels (green - low; yellow - moderate; orange - moderately high; red - high). All criteria will be used as a whole to determine risk levels, but one exceedingly high level may be used as a determining factor. The task force will also look at grade bands and specific activity groups to see if they might be able to be at school when other grades or activity groups cannot be on site. If the task force recommends that a building and/or district go fully remote, the board of education will make the final decision. If risk levels change, information will be announced when available. Hopefully this information will be helpful to patrons when certain restrictions are put in place or eased. Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
Results of the second coaches poll for 1A XC are in and the girls (6th) and boys (tie-7th) teams are both ranked in 1A. Keep up the hard work Buffs!
Meade USD 226 was notified today, 9/25/20, by the health department that there was another COVID positive student at the GS. Some additional quarantines will be required as a result. Kenneth Harshberger, Supt.
USD 226 Student Meal Count Survey.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11JDNLb9ZXAWrhUJgC2E0yfDKwwWYRLlpbdCGqeeTPKA/edit
Curbside Meals for students enrolled in the high school and grade school will resume on Monday, Sept. 28th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Students in the building will eat as normal, but meals for students quarantined at home or in remote learning may be picked up at the main GS front entrance and the HS west entrance. Meals for those students required to stay home will continue throughout the rest of the year. When lunch is picked up, a breakfast for the next day will be sent home too. Remember these meals are FREE to ALL students through December. A survey link will be sent out soon to help determine the number of meals to be picked up. Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
The Meade Board of Education tonight approved reopening the High School for on site instruction in the building starting tomorrow, Sept. 25. Activity practices may also begin for High School. Because of staff availability, high numbers of quarantines, and positive cases moving to on site instruction in the Grade School building will NOT be considered until next week. The board also approved new Gating Criteria and created a task force to make decisions in the future about when instruction will be on site or remote. When changes are finalized, this information will be placed on the district website and Facebook page.
Special Board Meeting - September 24, 2020 @ 5:30 PM at the MHS Library.
Reminder: There will be NO school tomorrow, Sept. 24th, for PS-12th grade due to a Teacher In-service.
Meade USD 226 was notified today, Sept. 23, 2020, by the Meade County Health Department of 2 new students that tested positive for COVID-19: one at the high school and one at the grade school. Those requiring additional quarantine will be contacted by the health department. Fortunately since the district was in remote learning additional quarantines should be limited.
Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
Meade continues to have new positive cases of COVID-19. If you have some of the following symptoms, please seek medical advice.
Symptoms: fever, chills, headache, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, nausea, diarrhea, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell.
Meade USD 226 Patrons:
The district was notified this morning by the Meade County Health Department that they had received new information regarding contact tracing of possible exposures at the high school. As a result 19 HS students and 2 HS staff members listed yesterday as being quarantined will in fact NOT be quarantined due to COVID-19. This is very positive news for our students, staff, high school, and community.
Below is a new graphic that shows information about positive cases and quarantines at both the grade school and high school as of 9/21/20. With the new information today, the number of new students and staff expected to quarantine at the high school went down by 21 individuals. This information will be used by the administration and board at a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24th to examine the possibility of returning to in person instruction soon at the high school.
The number of students and staff out at the grade school is significantly larger than the high school, so hopefully these numbers go down soon. Factors to be looked at include staff availability, number of students quarantined, positive COVID numbers, county positivity rate, and possibly other factors. New positive cases and quarantines continue to show up almost daily. Any information to resume in person instruction at either building will be announced as soon as available.
Kenneth Harshberger Superintendent
Meade Patrons:
Meade USD 226 was notified today, 9/21/20, by the Meade County Health Department of new positive COVID-19 cases: 2 staff members at the grade school and 1 student at the high school. County health officials will contact additional individuals who need to be quarantined. The chart below shows the number of positive cases and quarantines that have been required just today for staff and students. The district plans to provide additional information later this week to help everyone better understand all the quarantines and positive cases the district is facing. Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
We Need Your Help
Meade School Patrons: The district was notified today that another high school student had tested positive for COVID-19. The Meade County Health Department will contact students and other individuals who may be required to quarantine. As always, if a student shows symptoms of COVID-19, please seek medical attention immediately.
Parents are asked to call the Meade High School (873-2981) by 11:00 AM this morning if they have no home internet access. Hopefully the district can get routers in place by Monday as we move to Remote Learning.
Meade Community: Due to the high rate of positive COVID-19 cases in Meade, additional staff members who have tested positive or are in quarantine, students in quarantine, and now a positive student from each building, Meade Schools are forced to make a difficult decision. On Friday, September 18th there will be NO SCHOOL for ALL students. On Monday, September 21st remote instruction with teachers will begin for PS-12th grade. Teachers will connect with students through Zoom, Google Classroom, Seesaw, or some other means. Be on the lookout for further announcements. Remote instruction will continue at least through next week and possibly longer based on the number of positive cases and quarantines that continue to impact students, staff, and the community. Students are being asked to take home necessary materials, books, and Chromebooks today to prepare for Monday. If a parent does not have internet access, they are asked to contact the school. All activities and practices have been canceled until at least through next week and possibly longer. Individuals who need to be quarantined will be contacted by the Meade County Health Department. It is recommended that other students stay at home as much as possible and not congregate to help reduce the chances of further transmissions. We understand this will be difficult for many, but based on state and local health officials’ guidance, this is in the best interest of our students, staff, and community to help mitigate the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in Meade. Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent
The Jr. High Volleyball and Football game at Kiowa Co. tonight September 17th has been canceled.
