Exposure Notices
On Monday, the district announced changes to several components of our pandemic response plan. One key change was the discontinuation of exposure notices in response to middle and high school positive COVID cases. After further review of the data and discussion with our building leaders, WFPS has decided to discontinue exposure notices in response to all positive COVID cases, regardless of level or activity affiliation. This change is effective immediately.  

Data has indicated a significant increase in average daily cases as the highly transmissible omicron COVID variant has entered our region and is prevalent in all parts of our community. As such, it is not unreasonable to assume all stakeholders would experience some level of exposure any time they are outside of the home. This understanding, coupled with the data that the district will continue to monitor and share, makes now the right time for the district to ensure it is responsibly balancing safety with a focus on learning. 

West Fargo Public Schools will continue to monitor COVID data for the purposes of implementing additional mitigation strategies in classrooms, for a grade level, or across an entire school when certain data points are reached. We will also begin sharing data on our webpage every day that school is in session versus only twice a week.  

Masking
Currently, both the ND Department of Health and Essentia Health remain supportive of the district utilizing masking as an additional mitigation strategy in response to classroom or schoolwide case counts as defined in our thresholds document.

If a student is unable to mask, virtual learning can be made available to them while their classroom or school is in a period of required masking.