Central Lee Update

Central Lee Family,

We are rapidly approaching the start of the 2021-22 school year! I wanted to take a few minutes to communicate some important items as you prepare to send your children back to school.

Registration

We will once again host an in-person registration event on Monday, August 2, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at our PK-8 building. We ask that you follow these health and safety protocols during registration:

• Please have just one adult per family attend. Students are allowed in the building, but we would encourage you not to bring kids, if possible.

• Come prepared so that you can register quickly. This link will take you to the registration website to assist you with all parts of registration. Payment for registration is accepted in the form of check, cash, debit, or credit card. Any outstanding fees from the previous school year will be collected at registration.

• Hand sanitizer will be available for our guests and staff.

• If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, DO NOT come to registration. Instead, call us and we will assist with registration at another time.

• We may limit the number of adults in the building at one time. If we do, we will kindly ask individuals to wait outside for a short period.

• Please enter through the southwest door of the multipurpose room and exit through the K-8 main entrance.

We plan to conduct athletic physicals at registration. This will be completed in the K-8 special education rooms, next to the MPR. Follow the appropriate signage to find this location. Physicals are $25 and are required for all 7th-12th grade students taking part in athletics.

We are also hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for anyone interested in the Pfizer vaccine, the only one currently approved for those 12-18 years old. The Lee County Health Department will provide this clinic in the PK-8 office. We encourage all eligible members of the public to consider getting the vaccine to help protect themselves and their family members. If you are concerned about aspects of the vaccine, please do not hesitate to stop in and speak with members of LCHD.

The vaccine clinic and physicals are available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the registration event.

COVID-19/Return to Learn

Unfortunately, COVID-19 remains a factor as we prepare for the 2021-22 school year. We aim to publish our new Return to Learn plan next week. This plan will include procedures the district will put into place in the event COVID-19 cases rapidly increase.

At this time, we are seeing an increase in the numbers of COVID-19 cases in Lee County and across the country. However, it is still premature to predict what the situation will be on August 23, the first day of school.

It’s important to understand that, due to legislation in Iowa passed last spring, the district does not have the authority to mandate masks. Staff and students are welcome to wear masks if they choose to do so. We will work to create a respectful environment in our schools and classrooms so that individuals can feel free to make the choices that make the most sense for them.

After all the work we put in last school year, we are confident we can tackle any future curve balls thrown at us by COVID-19. We hope to be able to communicate more information in the days ahead.

Construction

We are actively working to complete construction at the PK-8 school and high school. Our new preschool rooms are completed and the PK-8 commons area is nearing completion. The high school is on track for completion before August 23.

However, some areas may open up a few days after school starts due to materials being unavailable because of COVID-19 complications. One of these areas is the new gym. We are expecting our bleachers to be installed the weekend before school or possibly during the first few days of school. We are confident the gym will be completed before the first high school volleyball game this fall!

There will be a number of small aspects of the construction process that will take 2-3 months to complete through our “punch list” system. While some construction frustrations may linger into the school year, we anticipate a much smoother year, with many fantastic new additions to our buildings.

We are excited to welcome our students back for another great school year! Please enjoy the final days of summer. We will see everyone on August 23.

Sincerely,

Dr. Andy Crozier

Superintendent