With Governor Walz’s new Executive Order 20-99 released last week it has become very apparent the numbers are increasing at a rapid pace throughout Minnesota.  One significant impact this will have on schools is putting a “pause” on all school extracurricular activities for four (4) weeks.  This measure along with the rest of them listed in Executive Order 20-99 is intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

In Stearns County, our number has also increased significantly.  The number this week is 186.33.  Our Incident Command Team continues to look at all of the data points.  Our overall district number is now ranked 7th of 10 districts in Stearns County.  For many weeks we ranked in the top three. To be clear, ranking 7th in a county where the number now stands at 186.33 is not much of a consolation. However, our district number of 149.29 is considerably smaller than the county number. 

When the Incident Command Team reviewed the building numbers that you see above, it was decided to stay with the current learning models of hybrid in the elementary school and continuing with distance learning at the middle and high school.  However, we are hearing growing concerns from staff members in regard to the safety of our building. We will continue to monitor these concerns and make adjustments.  I think it is important to understand there is a shared level of increase in stress and anxiety amongst students, parents and district staff members. We will need to continue communication, cooperation and collaboration to get us through this pandemic. 

We do have a short week coming up due to Thanksgiving.  Please take this time in whatever form or fashion you choose is the safest for your family to celebrate on Thanksgiving.  In the end, we still have a lot to be thankful for during these very trying times. 

If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact me or any of the building principals.  

Greg Winter, Superintendent: gwinter@isd740.org

Chad Doetkott, High School Principal cdoetkott@isd740.org

Robert Anderson, Middle School Principal randerson@isd740.org

Terryl Pearson,  Elementary School Principal tpearson@isd740.org