By Dr. Daryl Hagan
Superintendent of Catholic Schools
On behalf of Bishop Joseph M. Siegel, the Catholic Education Office has released “Creating a Path Forward: Catholic Schools’ Considerations for Learning and Safe Schools” – with the intention of providing guidance to Catholic schools for preparing school operations under the current pandemic environment.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the newly released guidance document “Indiana’s Considerations for Learning and Safe Schools” (IN-CLASS) guided the creation of the plan, along with diocesan directives and the work of our local committee. The full document is available at evdiomessage.org.
The plan includes where and how to get started at the school level, areas for consideration prior to and on/after the first day of school, considerations for future school events and steps to ensure accountability. Schools will make every reasonable effort to provide a safe environment, including specific measures to guard against the spread of a contagion such as COVID-19.
As schools begin to formulate their individual plans based on guidance and direction provided in the diocesan plan, local communities should expect to hear more in the next 30-45 days. The Catholic Education Office will be holding an informational session on the plan for school advisory council members in July.
On July 6, school buildings re-open and extracurricular activities – including athletics – will resume. Please follow all new protocols and procedures when visiting our schools and be supportive of the changes that allow us to begin student activities while reducing the spread of the virus.
Together, we can create a path forward that welcomes our students, families, teachers and staff back for the new school year.
