Once again, COVID-19 hit the Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District and community hard and caused a short pause in the school year for more than 300 students.
The district health department worked overtime to test hundreds of students and community members over the past few weeks. At one point during the past two weeks, one-third of Hayden High School students tested positive for COVID and were in quarantine. Similar, but slightly lower positive numbers were recorded for the lower grades as well.
“The good news is that there was a significant decrease in active cases from last week to this week based on the school district COVID testing results,” said Leonor Hambly K-8 Principal Pam Gonzalez.
Superintendent Jeff Gregorich said, “On Wednesday, Jan. 19, the Governing Board has approved the return of students back to school on Monday, Jan. 24. We need to get our students back in school and continue to monitor and isolate positive cases to avoid outbreaks.”
“The district is one of the only area school districts testing onsite for COVID. It allows us to know who is positive and can help us better manage any outbreaks like we experienced this past week. We feel the omicron variant has likely peaked and we can more safely return back into our classrooms, where we certainly want our students,” stated Pam Gonzalez.
Gregorich added, “The Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District greatly appreciates our parent support throughout the pandemic, and we will continue to take needed precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 virus and ensure we continue in person learning.”
Principal Pam Gonzalez waits for Covid testing results.