West Fargo Public Schools has a strong relationship with Fargo Cass Public Health and Essentia Health. We met with them weekly throughout the 2020-21 school year and have continued meeting with them biweekly over the summer. When the recommendations were released from the CDC and then affirmed by our local public health unit, the first thing our district administrative team did was meet with our healthcare partners. We discussed the intent behind the recommendations, as well as our desire to include community data relative to COVID when making decisions. We also polled our stakeholders. The data gathered through that survey was shared with the Board on August 9 and with all staff and families on August 10. You can see a copy of that message and the data HERE.    

Our healthcare partners affirmed that no one mitigation strategy could, on its own, prevent the transmission of COVID-19.  They provided us with feedback on the other mitigation strategies that help reduce the spread; you can see a list of those protocols HERE.

If we learned anything over the course of last year, it’s that decisions related to pandemic response need to be fluid and responsive. We will continue meeting on a regular basis with our healthcare partners to discuss research, recommendations, case data, and sentiment in our community, knowing how important in-person instruction is to the success of our students and the wellbeing of our families. We will share recommendations with our families and staff so they can make the decisions that are best for their unique situation and we will abide by mandates from our local health department. West Fargo Public Schools is prepared to adjust our mitigation strategies and pandemic response as needed throughout the year to ensure students are able to safely remain in schools.