Thu, Oct 5th, 2023 - 9:43am
October 13, 2020 - 11:08pm | By Chris Larson
A Cass County school district is making citizens aware of a rise in positive cases and close contacts.
Superintendent Morgan Forness tells WZFG News that the district's positive cases went from just under one percent to just under four percent in its high school, which is approximately 10 total positive cases.
However, Forness says, the biggest impact is in close contacts.
"Kids can be identified as being exposed both outside of a school setting as well as in school, which we have few," Forness says.
A change in Governor Doug Burgum's close contact allows students to continue attending school if they wear a mask. Forness says the district wants students in school, as it is the most controlled environment they have. Students also want, and need, to be in school, he says.
"We are trying to be proactive to keep as many kids in face to face learning as possible while preparing our families for possible changes," Forness says in an email to WZFG News. "We've been careful in releasing numbers because of the size of our community and with respect to confidentiality. The last week in our county, state, and school has given us a more data to consider as we try to provide the best learning experience for all of our students and the teachers and families that support them."
A recent communication highlighted the district's current situation, and explored what the near future could look like if trends continue "in a direction we'd rather not see," Forness sais.
"We have a lot of stakeholders to think about and we may have to make some quick decisions," he says. "We don't want them to feel like quick decisions as a lot of time, thought, and action is taking place to ensure we are doing the right thing each day."
