Dear Munising Public Schools Students, Staff and Mustang Families,
I hope all of you are having a great summer spending time with your family and friends. Over the past few weeks, we have been busy planning for the 2021-2022 school year, which will start on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. In early July, school administrators from Marquette and Alger counties, along with health directors from the Marquette County Health Department and the LMAS District Health Department, met to review the current recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services as they relate to K-12 students and COVID-19. As long as the current levels of COVID-19 transmission and conditions in our local area remain low, Munising Public Schools will be implementing the following protocols to begin the 2021-2022 school year:
- Based on the current level of community transmission of COVID-19, and high vaccination rates in Alger County, masks will be recommended but not required for students or staff. We will respect the decision your family makes to either wear a mask or not. We ask that you do the same for your fellow students and staff. This protocol could change at any time depending on transmission rates and recommendations from our local health department.
- While we recommend that you consider being vaccinated, the immunization status of staff and students will not be a condition of returning to school or participating in activities.
- If a student or staff member contracts COVID-19, we will require that they follow the protocols put in place by our local health department.
Several of our safety protocols will remain in place to continue keeping our students and staff healthy:
- Hand sanitizing stations will still be available in school buildings and on buses.
- School buildings will continue to be cleaned and thoroughly sanitized on a daily basis.
- Social distancing will continue where feasible.
- Athletic events and other activities will be live streamed when possible to accommodate those that cannot attend.
We have also made the decision to continue our Mustang Online program for students who prefer to continue learning remotely. However, we strongly encourage students to enroll in face-to-face instruction, as we feel in-person learning gives students the best opportunity to succeed academically.
Thank you to all of you for your continued support and cooperation as we work our way through these challenging times. The safety of our students and staff will continue to remain our top priority. We will provide further updates in the event things change prior to the start of the school year.
Sincerely,
Pete Kelto
Superintendent