COVID cancels classes today

Positive cases involving two students leads to 250 other classmates being quarantined

Classes at Madison High School will be canceled Sept. 3 to ensure that contact is made with all of the approximately 250 students who’ve been quarantined because of two other students testing positive for COVID-19.

Details regarding the closure were explained in a Sept. 2 letter to parents in the Madison School District from Superintendent Angela Smith.

“(On Sept. 2) we are in the process of quarantining approximately 250 high school students due to two positive student cases and the

tentacles of a high school schedule,” Smith wrote in the letter, which parents districtwide could access through the Infinite Campus web portal.

“Due to the number of students impacted, there will be no school (Sept. 3) at Madison High School,” Smith stated. “This will give us time to ensure all the impacted students have been contacted.”

Letters, including additional instructions, were being sent home to the parents and guardians of all students who were quarantined.

Madison High enrolls a total of 960 students.

Meanwhile, teachers at Madison High School are required to report on Sept. 3, and all other buildings in the district will be open.

In addition, Smith stated that as of the evening of Sept. 2, the Madison-Perry high school football game on Sept. 3 is still scheduled.

“(Madison Schools) students who are not quarantined will be able to attend (the football game),” she stated.

Football players and band members who are not quarantined also will be allowed to participate at the Sept. 3 game.

Smith explained in the letter that whenever a COVID-19 case is confirmed in any Madison School District building, close contacts of the affected person must be quarantined.

“For the first two weeks of school, the quarantines have been in small groups,” she wrote.

Madison Schools started the 2021-22 academic year with an optional masking policy that was approved by the School Board.

Board President Shawn Douglas said on Sept. 2 that the policy “was supported overwhelmingly by our community.”

However, Smith, in her districtwide letter, personally urged parents to have their children wear masks to Madison Schools.

“I know there is much disagreement on this, and I respect the diverse opinions on both sides,” the superintendent stated. “But from an educational perspective, in order to keep the focus on teaching and learning, wearing a mask is our best option.”