Nov. 17 Taft Elementary COVID-19 update from Superintendent Dr. Larry Washington

Dear Parents/Guardians of Taft Elementary School:

Today, Nov. 17,  we were alerted to two separate cases, a student and a staff member, who tested positive for COVID-19 at Taft Elementary School.

While this information has not yet been confirmed to us by the Orange County Department of Health (DOH), we are being proactive and immediately initiated quarantine requirements for all students we believe had contact with the infected individuals.

District administrators are in the process of contacting students, parents and any additional staff who are required to quarantine for 14 days.

We believe operating Taft now requires an even greater abundance of caution, given the increasing positivity rates we are seeing within our area. Because of this, we are temporarily shifting to remote instruction for all Taft Elementary students beginning tomorrow, Nov. 18 through Tuesday, Nov. 24.

While learning remotely, students will log into a Google meet on the days they were to be in-person. Classes will be live streamed via a Google Meet with their classroom teacher following their regularly scheduled classes. Students will have lunch and specials at their designated times. More information will be shared out through the classroom teacher and special area teachers. Cohort 1 students will log in for live instruction tomorrow, Nov. 18 and Tuesday, Nov. 24. Cohort 2 students will log in for live instruction on Thursday, Nov. 19 and Friday, Nov. 20. On the days that students are not in person in school they will follow their normal asynchronous schedule and complete lessons that have been shared with them through the learning platform of Seesaw or Google Classroom.

Beginning on Nov. 18  through Nov. 24, meals for Taft students can be picked up at the front entrance. Please be sure to place your meal orders each day by 11 p.m. In addition, backpacks for our students that participate in our weekend Food for Kids Backpack program can be picked up on Wednesday, Nov. 18 or Friday, Nov. 20 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. More information will be forthcoming about the distribution of meals for the week of Nov. 23.

Please know that when in our building, all students and staff are required to comply with CDC guidelines, including mask and social distancing mandates.

To help mitigate the spread we need your help, and our expectation is that students and families follow all COVID-19 protocols while not in school. The safety and well-being of our students, staff and community is always our first and top priority. Please call the Taft Health Office at 497-4000, extension 22531 if you have any further questions.

Thank you for your continued support, patience and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Dr. Larry Washington, Superintendent of Schools

Mrs. Christine Williams, Principal of Taft Elementary School