February 23, 2021
Dear Coos Bay Parents and Community,
The latest two week look back was released yesterday afternoon. The case count in Coos County has gone down some, but still remains well within the High Risk orange zone. The good news is that case counts have come down some in our county. We hope to continue this trend moving forward. The actual number of cases is down to 168 from 188 from the previous two week period; this calculates to 265 cases per 100,000 residents in our county. Although this number is down, it is still a high number. We will be postponing our target date for return to in-person instruction for our High School students to March 8. With the numbers coming down this week, I am encouraged that we will continue to see the case numbers decrease and I’m optimistic about that target date of March 8.
The question has come in about why we offer in-person instruction for grades K-7, but don’t for 8-12. The difference is in the advisory metrics. K-6 and 7th grade (in our current cohort model) are recommended to be in-person at this time. At the High School, due to four classes and multiple cohorts, it is recommended that that the case count be close to the yellow zone (under 200 cases per 100,000 residents) before returning 8-12 to in-person instruction. As I have said before, we are looking for those case numbers to be decreasing and be close to that 200 per 100,000 mark to bring our High School students back to in-person instruction. After this week's report, I am optimistic that the case count will continue to go down and we will be looking at a realistic target date of March 8. I will continue to update you all as I get new information.
Have a great week!
Coos Bay Public Schools
Superintendent