News
Ensuring Accurate COVID-related Information
Dear Manheim Township Parents/Guardians and Staff;
As you know, each time the district receives verification of a positive or probable case of COVID-19 in any of our schools, we notify all families and staff in order to promote open communication and ensure accurate information from the district. We recognize that we have sent quite a few notification letters; sometimes it may seem as if these letters are coming daily. Our goal for today’s communication is to provide updated information on the total positive and probable COVID cases in our buildings. We’ve recently learned about misinformation being spread regarding our COVID cases. It is important to us that our families and staff have accurate information at all times. If you hear or see information related to our cases, educational programming, etc. that appear exaggerated, skewed, or inaccurate, please reach out to your student’s principal for clarification. We are trying to prevent the spread of misinformation that may invoke confusion or trepidation.
We are closely monitoring the cases in each school with the advice from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, while also recognizing that every COVID-related incidence is unique. One positive case may affect a very small number of people, while another case may involve a larger spread. We are continually balancing confidentiality requirements with the provision of information about cases, contact tracing, and quarantine. We continue to follow the guidance provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Department of Education, and Penn Medicine Lancaster General regarding contact tracing and the appropriate next steps.
To promote our provision of timely, accurate information regarding our cases, we are pleased to introduce the new MTSD COVID-19 Dashboard that will be updated daily on our website under the COVID-19 Resource page. This will be another resource for our families to gain accurate information related to our schools. The design of the dashboard is still under construction, but the data is up-to-date and accurate as of today.
One final important note: there may be times when students or staff members are absent due to reasons unrelated to COVID-19. As we head into flu season, we expect to see absentee rates increase. We encourage everyone to not to make any assumptions or judgements about individuals who are absent from school. There will also be times when absenteeism is unrelated to COVID-19.
Our staff continues to work diligently each day to keep students and staff healthy, and our school buildings safe and open for students. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and keep our families updated as needed. Thank you for your continued support of our district.