Moving forward after the Holidays - change is in the air

The Governor Order issued late in the day on Wednesday, December 16th has changed any January plans for all schools in Minnesota. Schools were not given any prior notice that this proclamation was coming. Pierz, like all schools, is waiting to see the details on what all these changes mean and how we are supposed to proceed. This is what we have been told at this time:

• We can (and will--barring any unforeseen circumstances) continue to bring in our K-4 children on January 4th.  
• We apparently cannot officially change to hybrid or in-person with any other grades until January 18th.  
• We can start our high school sports teams practices on January 4th.

There is a list of possible changes or constraints that we are just learning about, that may impact how our staff and schools manage the school day and what we are allowed to do.  We will need some time to sort through those items that are rules, those that are recommendations, and to what degree we have to change from things we are already doing. After we work through those details at the state and regional level, we will keep parents informed about any of the mandated changes we have to make.

We pledge to explore every possibility that is allowed to bring students back into our schools as soon as we can reasonably do so.  We are confident we can continue to reach out to students who are struggling and find creative ways to help.