Dear Coos Bay Schools Parents and Community,
As promised, I am updating everyone on the weekly metrics as they are posted by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Today’s two-week lookback numbers climbed from 202 to 248 cases per 100,000 in our county. We continue to remain in the Orange zone which goes from 200-350 cases per 100,000. It is disappointing to see the increase in cases as we would like to see those numbers drop below 200 cases per 100,000 to move forward with bringing our 8-12 grade students back to in-person instruction.
At this point, our target date is Feb. 16 to bring 8-12 grade students back, but that won’t happen unless we get a two-week case number below 200. I will wait to see next Monday’s report from OHA to see the numbers and then make a decision to either continue on the trajectory for a Feb. 16 high school re-opening or to push that back one week to Feb. 22.
With the vaccine coming online, it might be tempting to relax our efforts in practicing public safety health guidelines. I urge our community to not relax and to continue to work hard to bring our case numbers down so our high school students that need in-person instruction can get it.
As always, I will update you all as new information comes in. Have a great week!
“One Team, One Goal”
Bryan Trendell
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent