Partnership Educators,
Henry Ford said, "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself." This is the time to help each other and support one another and focus on our passion, teaching and loving our children. Please heed the words of William Wordsworth, "The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
Redding School District Loss:
A long-time employee of the Redding School District, Kathy Kuhn, passed away last week. She worked for Redding for more than 20 years and will be missed very much. Her bright and happy smile and open and honest demeanor were ever-present. She will have a private family ceremony within the coming weeks.
Appreciation Item:
As we do every year, we have an appreciation item for all of our employees. You should be receiving it at some point within the next week. Enjoy the cup that was designed by Seth Hemken and thanks for all that you are doing to keep kids in school and make a powerful day for them each and every day.
Letter Message:
All of you should have received a letter in the mail this week. It explains our need to address the California State Public Health Officer Order from August 11, 2021, around mandated testing. As the letter stated, we are preparing to roll out the testing across our district in October but that it is important to note that 'fully vaccinated" individuals can choose to opt-out of the weekly testing protocol. I encourage you to opt out by using the verification process. We will not be collecting cards but just verifying that you have one. Verification can be done in person at the district office or faxed directly to the HR department or via email to Jennifer Parra or Sarah Sevilla. Please see the letter for complete details. We ask that you do this before October 1, 2021.
Testing Protocol:
Redding, Shasta, and Igo Districts will be utilizing the Rapid and simple Antigen test as the weekly testing protocol. This test gives same-day results and utilizes an online program that informs you privately. We will have windows of times at every campus every day and it should take no more than 5 to 10 mins to test once a week. We are working to make it convenient and easy for all involved. We have also built a relationship with the COVID Clinic at 1055 Dana Drive if you are in need of a PCR test. They have assured me that you can walk or drive up and tell them that you are from Redding School District and you need the free PCR test and you will get served free. There should be no reason for them to gather your insurance information as all tests are free for you. There will be more details about times and locations for staff once we are closer to the October 15 deadline and we have received our first kits. We want this to be smooth, convenient, confidential, and not a distraction to our real purpose of teaching children.
BinaxNOW Test Information:
Abbott's BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag Card is a rapid antigen test for the detection of COVID-19. It is a reliable, highly portable tool for detecting active coronavirus infections. BinaxNOW uses proven Abbott lateral flow technology, used in a number of our rapid tests including strep, flu and legionella – as well as HIV and malaria. The visually read test is about the size of a credit card and requires no equipment and provides results in 15 minutes.
In data submitted to the FDA from a clinical study conducted by Abbott with several leading U.S. research universities, the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card demonstrated sensitivity of 84.6% (positive percent agreement) for the entire study population, 95.6% for those with PCR cycle threshold (Ct) of <33 and specificity of 98.5% (negative percent agreement) in direct nasal swabs from individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider within the first 7 days of symptom onset.
Have a fantastic weekend,
Rob