February 24, 2021
Dear BPS Families,
It has been over three weeks since the start of the second semester and I am pleased to report that even with some minor bumps and setbacks, BPS students and staff are doing very well in our new learning programs. As a district, we will continue working to meet the challenges that are before us. However, I am very optimistic regarding our recent state and local community COVID-19 data. The current data within the county and township are at levels that we have not seen since the start of the school year. This is also reflective in the reduction of cases affecting our students and staff members within our buildings. All in all, I am extremely proud of the work being done across the district to ensure that health, safety, and learning have all increased. Our district staff members are working very hard to ensure that BPS is a safe, successful, and fun place to learn. Please do not let up and continue to be vigilant so that our leaders in Lansing can continue the process of fully reopening our state for all of us.
One of the steps that the district has focused on throughout this winter is ensuring that interested staff members are able to successfully become vaccinated for COVID-19. As of today, over two hundred staff members have received at least one of the required two vaccine shots and many have already completed the full sequence. This has not been an easy process as vaccine distribution has been slow to arrive in the county. I cannot tell you how valuable our local Monroe County Health Department has been in assisting with this process. I know that a number of these health professionals are members of our Bedford Community and if you know any of them personally, please tell them thank you for their ongoing support. I would personally like to thank Bedford’s own Mrs. Bridget Huss, who serves as Personal Health Director for MCHD, as she has worked hard to ensure that educators from across the county have had access to vaccines as well as supporting our contact tracing protocols. She, and her colleagues, have created an extremely well-organized vaccination process that far exceeds what I have seen in other local counties. The final steps in the process for completing our staff member vaccinations will include holding two additional vaccination clinics (one for each shot) specifically for completing all countywide educational staff members vaccines. This was wonderful news to local educational leaders as it will ensure that our building and department staff members have an additional layer of safety and thereby helping to keep our classroom doors open to students.
The Bedford Public Schools process for handling the upcoming two district staff vaccination clinics will be to hold remote learning days for all students on Thursday, March 4, 2021 and Thursday, April 1, 2021. These two remote learning dates will count as formal school days for the district. Individual building principals will be sharing additional information with families prior to the first scheduled remote day on next Thursday. This is a process that I have written about previously during my emergency weather related updates. While we have not been able to utilize this type of transition day yet for weather, these two dates will be great practice for the future. After the conclusion of the second of these clinic dates (April 1, 2021) over 75% of BPS staff members will have received their full vaccinations. Please ask your child’s building principal if you have any specific questions regarding the process. As always, I hope that this update finds you and your family safe and well and I look forward to being able to share additional positive news over the next couple of months.
Respectfully,
Carl Shultz, Ph.D
Superintendent, Bedford Public Schools