Dear Students, Families, and Staff,

We were notified by Douglas Public Health Network and Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, our Douglas County Public Health Officer, that we have had one student test positive for COVID-19 at Oakland Elementary School. We are also working very closely with local public health and The Oregon Health Authority to notify parents of the children in the cohort that the child that tested positive was in and are asking them to quarantine for 14 days and monitor for symptoms.  If you have not been contacted, then your family is NOT at risk.

“We’ve had a lot of outbreaks lately, but this is an example of a district and a school that has gone above and beyond to prepare and protect students. They have instituted student cohorts to reduce risk and transmission of COVID-19. Their administration is working very closely with DPHN and myself to care for the one positive case and advise parents, families and staff that are close contacts. We deem that the risk is low to the school community and DPHN continues to be available to support the families that are quarantining.” Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Douglas County Public Health Officer.

If your child was in the same cohort, or a staff member in the same cohort, and need to quarantine, you will be notified by school officials this evening. If you have concerns or questions about COVID-19, please call the Douglas Public Health Network hotline at 541-464-6550, 7 days a week between 8-5:00 pm.

Sincerely,
Patti Lovemark
Superintendent Oakland School District

Dear Oakers,

I would like to give you a bit more detail than my phone call.  

Technology:  It used to be my friend but my friendship with it is getting frayed. We finally got our Learning Management System (LMS) synced with our Student Information System (SIS). So, CANVAS and ALMA are talking and updating nightly. We have run into obstacles for our video conferencing tool in CANVAS which is Big Blue Button (BBB).  Many families do not have the internet bandwidth to sustain their students being on video. Many students live in an area where there is no solid cell phone service,and their internet service is also limited.Hot spots work off cell phone towers and if there is not one close by even a hot spot will not work well. When your student is doing online classes make sure all other browsers, websites, and applications are closed. If your student struggles with getting bumped off, try doing audio only. Unfortunately, the district has no control over your personal internet services and we are doing all we can on our service end.

Covid-19: As noted in weekly updates from our Douglas Public Health Network cases have been on a significant rise in Douglas County.  

For schools that have in-person instruction occurring, if one or more of the following county metrics are met for more than one week in a row, planning for Comprehensive Distance Learning should occur, including training of all staff and communication with school communities. 

• Case rate: ≥20 cases per 100,000 population in the preceding 7 days*
• Test positivity: ≥7.5% in the preceding 7 days

For schools that have in-person instruction occurring, if one or more of the following county metrics are met for more than one week in a row, Comprehensive Distance Learning should be initiated.  

• Case rate: ≥30 cases per 100,000 population in the preceding 7 days 
• Test positivity: ≥10% in the preceding 7 days

Reopening:  We have a meeting with ODE this week to understand the mixed messages given to various school districts regarding reopening to full in person learning.  At the time of their reopening none of the county metrics were met. One district is open to grades K-3 (like all of us) and grades 7-12 but NOT grades 4-6. Another district is open to students but NOT students who live in a neighboring county (public charter school). Two medium sized districts were given special permission to open contrary to county metrics. I am hoping to advocate for Oakland SD opening since we are small and have worked hard to revise our schedules to put students into smaller class sizes and are working hard at social distancing, mask wearing, sanitizing schools, handwashing, etc etc. We have solid blueprint plans and staff are very sincere and cautious in their duties and responsibilities. 

I will let folks know next week regarding the outcome of our meeting.  This is a time for our community to wrap around each other and help us advocate for our public schools to serve our children in person and rebuild our personal relationships with our students.

Thank you all so much for your support,

Patti