Lake Chelan School District cancels all indoor sports, events, and meetings involving the public held inside school District facilities effective immediately

COVID-19 UPDate: Wednesday, March 11

Dear Parents, Staff, and Community Members,

CHELAN- The health, safety, and well -being of our students and our community are of paramount importance to the Lake Chelan School District .
In response to this growing health concern, the Lake Chelan School District has made thedecision to enact several new safety measures to balance the recommendations from Chelan County Health District with continuing regular operations of our schools to reduce the risks to our learning community.
Due to the spread of the COVID - 19 virus to our region, the Chelan -Douglas Health District has advised schools and other organizations to avoid bringing groups of people together and to consider postponing public events and gatherings. Therefore, effective immediately, we have cancelled all indoor sports, events, and meetings involving the public held inside school District facilities. The cancellation will be in effect through April 12 at which time we will reassess the situation. Outdoor events (including athletics) will not be affected by this cancelation.
We will continue to monitor the situation as information is made available.

This cancellation impacts:
• Athletic and extracurricular indoor practices and competitions
• Parent-teacher conferences (scheduled for March 16 - 21) - Schools will communicate alternative meeting and conferencing plans with parents
• All non-school organized indoor activities
and gatherings
• Public meetings scheduled in school facilities
• Public events and functions (dances, plays, concerts, festivals)
• Afters Program and Family Night scheduled for March 11
•Community user groups (youth sports organizations, churches, non-profits)
We recognize the inconvenience and impact that this decision has on the community, however, this action will
contribute signific antly to the region - wide effort to mitigate social contact and minimize the spread of the illness.
These steps align with precautions being implemented by our neighboring districts, and continue to support normal school day operations, per Public Health recommendations
. While the information on COVID-19 is changing day - to - day, our schools will remain open
. We are working directly with state, regional, and local epidemiologists, doctors, and other public health officials to make the most informed decision for our students, staff, families, and the community. Currently, the Department of Health is not recommending that schools proactively close, and we need to do our best to remain open for students to continue learning.
We are taking steps to ensure that our school facilities are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis.
We have also taken proactive measures to minimize the spreading of germs and are continuing to encourage students and staff to regularly wash their hands with soap and water throughout the day.
We believe the Lake Chelan School District plays an important role in limiting the spread of this virus, and this is the best decision in light of COVID-19 information we have available to us at this time. More information is available on the District’s COVID-19 updates page www.chelanschools.org