Camas Superintendent: Goal To Keep School Buildings Open During COVID-19 Surge

Camas, WA — Interim Camas School District Superintendent Doug Hood released a letter today to all Camas families letting them know their goal is to keep school buildings open during this COVID-19 case surge, but is also preparing the community for a temporary transition to distance learning.

Dear Camas Community,

As you are very aware, the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant has contributed to a dramatic increase in absences of students and staff across schools locally, as well as statewide this month.

I want to be very clear: our goal is to keep our school buildings open and maintain in-person instruction to surround our young people with the caring educators and support services they need – as long as we can do so safely.

This increase in absences impacts our already compromised capacity due to the finite number of substitute teachers, principals, and central office staff available to fill the remaining unfilled positions. COVID-related absences are also impacting these groups of employees. The ability to fully staff and safely operate our schools is crucial as we determine the factors that may trigger a temporary transition to distance learning.

District leaders meet regularly with local health officials to monitor the COVID-19 situation, and we are closely tracking data to determine COVID’s impact on staff coverage in schools. If your student’s classroom or school cannot open safely due to COVID’s impact on staffing, we might need to make the difficult decision to transition to distance learning temporarily. 

Again, our goal is to continue in-person learning in the Camas School District! We appreciate your continued vigilance in maintaining the social distancing protocols and practices that help to keep our students safe.  We will continue to do all we can to sustain in-person instruction.  And once again, thank you for your patience as we navigate these challenging times.

Sincerely,

Doug Hood

Interim Superintendent