GALION — There will be no changes to the Galion City School District’s COVID-19 policy at this point in time.
Superintendent Jennifer Allerding confirmed that in an informational video posted to the district’s Facebook page and website on Friday, Sept. 3. She said, based on the district’s current COVID-19 data, she believes following the current plan is the wise approach to take.
“We are so lucky that so far this year we have had a great start to the year,” Allerding said. “Things are going well. Our students are doing well and I’m hearing lots of great things that are happening inside of our buildings. So I’m very thankful for that. But I’m also well aware of things that are taking place in our community and surrounding us that has certainly created stress and anxiety for all of us.
“We’ve seen schools close. We’ve seen schools that have moved to remote instruction,” Allerding noted. “We’ve seen schools that have started to implement new protocols such as masking and other things in an effort to try to keep students, staff, and the community safe. I continue to monitor all of those things and see all of those things going on just like all of you.”
Like all school districts in Ohio, Galion City Schools is required to maintain a COVID-19 dashboard to monitor the number of cases and individuals in quarantine. According to the district dashboard as of Monday, Sept. 6, there have been nine total cumulative COVID-19 cases reported in the district since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Seven of those cases have been reported at Galion Intermediate School and Galion Middle School and Galion High School have reported one case each.
Allerding said as of Friday, Sept. 3, district officials had recommended a total of 83 quarantines based on contacts both inside and outside of the school buildings. She said 52 quarantines have been recommended based on contacts within school buildings. She said none of the students went on to develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.
Allerding said the district will continue to take a “collaborative approach” to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to the district’s policies regarding the pandemic.
“We included the thoughts and the feelings of our families, our students, our staff, our administrators, Galion City Health Department, and a wide variety of others,” she said. “And that worked well for us, so that is the approach that we continue this year, working together collaboratively. We did release our plan here earlier this year, which, again, was created by numerous groups of individuals and people assisting with that.”
Allerding said she believes the district has been successful in implementing and executing its COVID-19 plan based on the data from both last school year and early in the current year.
“The combined efforts of all of our protocols, all of the things that you’re helping us with as families, has led to a positive experience on our campus,” she said. “We continue to disinfect. We disinfect and sanitize hands. We disinfect classrooms with spraying. We scrub down desks. We utilize dividers in kindergarten through fourth grade just as an additional barrier and we continue to encourage individuals to wear masks. I’m also so very thankful for our families and the commitment that you’ve made to us, to keep your children home when they’re not feeling well, to report concerns to us, and just to continue to comply with different requests that we have (made).
“All together, this team approach, I think, has got us to a point where we’re doing well.”
To view Allerding’s informational video in its entirety, go to the Galion City Schools Facebook page or district website at www.galionschools.org. The district’s COVID-19 return and reset plan can also be viewed on the district website.
