The Thief River Falls School District has been notified by the Minnesota Department of Health of a lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the district.
In a letter to fourth grade parents and Mrs. Norlin’s class, the school district indicated that it has worked with MDH to identify those who had “close contact” with the case and have communicated with them individually. In this particular case, several CES teachers are considered “close contact” and will need to quarantine for 14 days and “work from home.” This doesn’t mean the child’s teacher is sick; it just means that MDH considers them a “close contact” of someone who was.
As a result, the following changes have been made for the start of the 2020-21 school year:
• Open house for the above classes has been changed to Thursday, Sept. 3, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. At this time, the student child will pick up his or her iPad and can drop off supplies in the classroom. The child won’t be able to meet the teacher at this time, but will be able to see the teacher the first two days of school via Zoom.
• For the first two days of school (Tuesday, Sept. 8 and Wednesday, Sept. 9) – Students will have a licensed teacher in the room with them. However, the child will receive instruction from their teacher, in the classroom, via Zoom.
In the letter, the school district wrote, “We understand that this may create unease in our community. We have taken action to clean and sanitize the facility and are working closely with MDH to monitor the situation.”