Mammoth School District Closing Jan 10-Jan 28 Due to High COVID-19 Case Rates

Mammoth Unified School District sent out this urgent notice on January 7th, 2022.

Dear Parents and Students,

This morning MUSD met with local Public Health officials and the California Department of Public Health to discuss the rapidly increasing COVID cases in MUSD.

• Student and staff COVID cases have doubled in one week.
• We have had nearly 3 positive cases an hour during each school day this week.
• We have several small outbreaks with classes that have 3 or more positive COVID cases.
• Husky Club has also had 7 positive cases with exposure to other students.
• 23% of our students have been absent every day since Tuesday.
• 19% of our staff has been out this week.

We are lucky to have a strong collaborative relationship with our local Public Health Department to support our school district and the community. The CDPH provided us with much-needed information this morning.

Mono County currently has the #1 highest COVID rates in the state. Rates are so high that the National Guard has been dispatched to Mammoth to help support COVID testing. Hospitals in Mammoth and Bishop are impacted with COVID cases. Models show that COVID positivity rates in Mono County are predicted to climb for at least 2 weeks and then will hopefully begin to decrease.

After serious consideration and guidance from local and state public health officials, we have come to the conclusion that we need to take action for the health and safety of our students.

For this reason, a Public Health Order will be issued saying Mammoth Unified Schools will be temporarily closed from Monday, January 10th to Friday, January 28th.

We will return to school on Monday, January 31st.

Please see your child’s school plan for remote learning which will be issued by next Monday afternoon.

In general:

1. Asynchronous Learning only will occur on Monday, January 10th. A full program of Remote Learning (Zoom) will begin on Tuesday, January 11th. Our remote learning program will likely look a lot like what we did for a week back in September. Principals and teachers need Monday to plan and implement the remote learning program starting on Tuesday. Look for an announcement from your school on Monday afternoon.
2. All school-related activities are canceled in order to avoid further transmission of COVID. No athletics. No school events or meetings (except on Zoom). No school programs of any kind can meet in person at this time.
3. Husky Club is closed and will also go remote during this time.
4. Lunch distribution: Students & parents can pick up meals at the MHS MPR or at the front of MES from 11:30 am-1 pm every school day.
5. iPads and Hotspots may be distributed as needed on Monday. Please communicate your technology needs to your school.
6. Students and staff are highly urged to avoid all public gatherings and exposure to others within Mono County, especially indoors. Please stay home and wear your mask if you have to go out into the community.

This has obviously been an extremely hard decision and is not what we wanted to see this week. However, we believe it is the right thing to do for the health of our students and staff.

Please know that this school closure is only temporary. We know that the next three weeks will be filled with hard work and determination to help keep our kids motivated and engaged. We appreciate your patience, understanding, and support as we move forward together.

News Staff