August 5, 2022
Madeira Families:
We are excited to start a great 2022-2023 school year and wanted to provide the latest COVID-19 safety updates and protocols for the upcoming school year. Just as we have managed to attend school safely these past two and half years, our goal as a school district is to attend school as normally as possible while still also respecting the many differences of opinions and approaches that each family has made since March 2020.
Nearly two years to the date that schools across Ohio were ordered closed and mandates and safety protocols were developed, school districts received a significant update this past spring on March 11, 2022. Local health department guidelines were “shifting mitigation tactics toward allowing people to take personal responsibility for themselves and their families.” For now, we have received no other official guidance from HCPH related to any new requirements for schools. Notifications will be provided if there is a change.
Specifically in schools across Ohio, districts are no longer required to report positive COVID-19 cases to their local health department or perform contact tracing in schools. Just as we ended last school year with this guidance and the removal of requiring reporting and contact tracing, we will begin this school year in the same way until such time that our local health department would require a change. As of 8/5/22, Hamilton County Public Health (HCPH) recommends that people stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations and recommends wearing a mask indoors when local levels of transmission are high. Both of these decisions are recommended, not required, and are the responsibility of each individual family. Please see the HCPH website for more information. Any student or staff member who wants to wear a mask may do so, but Madeira City Schools will not require that masks be worn PK-12.
As we have continued to live and learn, COVID-19 is unpredictable and our willingness to remain flexible and responsive will help us rise and stay together as a community. We can accomplish so much more TOGETHER ….. and we are excited about another year of learning together, competing in sports together, eating lunch together, playing music together, singing together, having recess together and so much more - TOGETHER.
Thank you for your continued trust and support. We have so much to be proud of as a school community in navigating the challenges that have come our way. If you have specific questions, please reach out to your building principal or assistant principal. Let's rise TOGETHER again this year to make Madeira a great place for kids!
Go Madeira!
Kenji Matsudo, Superintendent