Independence School District adds days to Thanksgiving break for school cleaning
The Independence School District will extend the upcoming Thanksgiving break by two days to give students and staff extra time with families and so it can thoroughly clean its building, the district announced Friday morning.
“The Independence School District will not have school on Monday, November 23 or Tuesday, November 24th,” superintendent Dale Herl wrote in a post on Twitter. “Early Education, Kids Safari, and all programming will also be closed. Enjoy your extended Thanksgiving Holiday!”
The two extra days off will be treated as snow days and will be added to the calendar at the end of the school year with the last day of school being May 25, the district said. The cleaning will give the district the opportunity to have a “fresh start” when students and staff return.
Classes will resume Nov. 30.
The announcement comes at the time the Kansas City metro area is seeing an “uncontrolled spread” of the coronavirus. The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay, Platte counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte countines in Kansas added 1,035 new COVID-19 cases bringing its total to 63,172.
There have 866 people who have died from COVID-19 in the metro area.
The University of Kansas Health System began postponing non-emergency surgeries.
“We are deferring cases as of today because of the lack of beds because of the overwhelming numbers of COVID patients,” said Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System. “There’s uncontrolled spread in the community.”
Because the district started two weeks prior to most districts in the Kansas City area, it had the flexibility to adjust its calendar, said Jana Corrie, a district spokeswoman.
“We are going to use the extra two days to thoroughly clean our buildings and give our staff and students a couple of extra days with their families.”
In a letter sent to families Thursday, Herl said this school year has been unlike any they previously experienced.
“We have been extremely fortunate that since August 24th, our students have had the opportunity to safely attend school and take part in activities,” he said in the letter. “That is due to the incredible work and commitment of our staff.
“I hope you will share your appreciation with your student’s teacher and support staff. The safety and well-being of our students, staff, families and community is vitally important.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 8:47 AM.
