August 17, 2021
BAK MSOA
CANCELED- AUGUST 19TH OPEN HOUSE
CANCELED- AUGUST 26TH OPEN HOUSE
YOUR STUDENT WAS NOTIFIED ABOUT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION DURING MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS AT SCHOOL TODAY.
PARENTS WERE SENT A PARENTLINK EMAIL, PHONE CALL AND TEXT MESSAGE WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TODAY AT 10:15 A.M.
Dear Bak Parents/Guardians and School Personnel:
This is an important message from Bak MSOA. After considering many factors, a decision was made that Bak MSOA will NOT be conducting Open House on August 19th and August 26th. Your Bak student has been informed of the cancellation of both Open Houses.
Again, BOTH Open Houses - August 19th and August 26th are being canceled.
Thank you for your continued support,
Sally Rozanski
Note: Teachers will be preparing presentations that will be shared at a later date.
Message from Superintendent Mike Burke (8.7.21):
Parents, Guardians, and Staff:
As you may be aware, the COVID-19 infection rate in Palm Beach County has been
fluid, with a rapid rise in confirmed cases and hospitalizations over the past few days.
On August 4, when I made the announcement that facial coverings for students and
staff would be strongly encouraged but not mandatory, that decision was based on the
Governor's Executive Order prohibiting our School District from enforcing a student
facial covering requirement.
As you may know, two major decisions, which impact Florida School Districts, were
made yesterday at the State level. The Florida Board of Education (FLDOE) adopted
emergency rules that impact the opening of our schools, specifically student attendance
and ensuring that homework will be provided to students who are under quarantine.
Additionally, the Florida Department of Health (FLDOH) also adopted an emergency
rule that was signed by the Florida Surgeon General mandating that parents must be
given an opt-out choice if facial coverings are required by a school district. FLDOH has
also added clarity regarding the quarantining of COVID-19 positive students.
Parents and guardians, I have heard your passionate pleas on both sides of this debate
during School Board meetings. I have also read your messages via email.
I have
considered all of your input, however, I must make decisions that safeguard the health
and wellbeing of our students and staff.
In determining how best to accomplish that, I have consulted with members of the local
and national medical community, I have considered the guidance from local
pediatricians who are extremely concerned about the health of our children, and I have
discussed this critical decision with our School Board Members.
After careful thought, I am exercising my authority as Superintendent to amend the
District’s COVID-19 policies.
This means, effective immediately, I am requiring facial coverings inside schools and on
buses for all students attending Palm Beach County District-operated schools, unless
the student’s parent/guardian chooses to opt-out of this requirement. In order to opt-out,
parents who do not want their student wearing a facial covering must send a signed
note to the school informing the child’s first-period teacher of this decision.
For efficiency, please follow the opt-out procedure for Bak MSOA:
You must submit a letter that includes the following information (printed or typed):
1. Student's name; Student's I.D. number; parent name; a statement that you are exercising the opt-out and you do not want your child to wear a mask; and a parent signature. Please have your child bring this letter to the Main Office upon arriving to school.
Additionally, effectively immediately, all District staff will be required to wear a facial
covering indoors and on District transportation with no option of opting out.
Visitors are also required to wear a facial covering while inside, on District property.
As a School District, we will continue to work closely with the medical community to
monitor the COVID-19 infection rate and level of transmission throughout our
community. As the landscape of the pandemic is continually changing, I will revisit the
facial covering requirement every 30 days and adjust accordingly.
Please know the School District remains committed to many other layers of COVID-19
transmission mitigation protocol which were also in place last year. We will do whatever
we possibly can to provide your children and our staff with a safe learning environment.
Finally, parents and guardians, please keep your children home when they are ill. We
must all work together to keep our community safe.
Respectfully,
Michael J. Burke
Superintendent