MHS suspends in-person learning due to lack of staff

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Empty quad at Maricopa High School

Starting Nov. 3, Maricopa High School will suspend in-person learning through Nov. 13.

According to communications sent to parents by Maricopa Unified School District, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing MHS to run short of staff. Currently 16 teachers and one non-teaching staff member are quarantined.

“Due to the current number of quarantined staff, we are unable to provide adequate adult supervision to support in-person learning,” the district stated.

All students will return to the distance-learning model. Students who are not in quarantine may still participate in sports and other extracurricular activities. Grab-and-Go meals will also be provided to all high school students.

Thursday, a 15th case of COVID-19 was reported in the district’s Transportation Department. In her weekly newsletter Friday, Superintendent Tracey Lopeman told parents the district is seeing cases reported daily. In last week’s board meeting she described the reporting as “rapid succession.”

“We anticipated this and have prepared for it,” she said. “It’s still not good news, but we anticipated this.”

An outbreak of cases at Saddleback Elementary School forced the campus to close until Nov. 12.

Besides an unannounced change by Gov. Doug Ducey to the state’s school benchmarks for in-person learning, MUSD has also adapted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “refined definition” of close contact. That relates to who is requested to quarantine.

The CDC definition now considers “close contact” as being within six feet of a diagnosed person for cumulatively 15 minutes within a 24-hour period, with or without a mask.

MUSD had been informing the entire district of each confirmed case of COVID-19, meaning families were receiving several notifications a day.

Board member Ben Owens said he received complaints the district was “over-communicating.”

Now, MUSD will announce each case on its website, MUSD20.org, but families will be directly notified only if it impacts their child.