26 July 2021

Bullhead City School District Parents and Guardians,

Bullhead City School District is looking forward to opening our school sites on 4 August 2021 to as “typical” a school year as possible.  We will continue to rely on science and the advice of Mohave County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) for updated cleaning and hygiene protocols as well as procedures for cases of COVID-19 among our students and staff.

As you may know, schools can no longer require students, staff, or visitors to wear masks on campuses, on buses, or at school events.  As the number of COVID-19 cases in Bullhead City have reached their highest number per week since January, we are concerned about having lost the most effective mitigation tool, particularly for those who have not been vaccinated.

Thus, I reach out to BCSD parents and guardians.  Please consider these evidence-based ways to keep your students and families safe and our schools open:

• Have students 12 years or older vaccinated. Infectious disease and pediatric experts as well as ADHS continue to advise that the best way to stop COVID-19 and the delta variant is to be vaccinated.
• Send students to school with masks and expect that they wear them. Reopening our sites to all students means that we cannot accommodate 6-foot social distancing. “Typical” school means 20-30 students per classroom, bigger groups in the cafeteria and on the playgrounds, and more students on buses.
• Talk with your children about how to respond to “Why are you wearing a mask?” “Because I am helping to keep myself and my friends from getting sick.” Also ease your children’s insecurities about wearing mask ~ you are having them do so to protect them and everyone at home.
• Talk with your children about other families making a different decision. Each family can decide and no student should belittle or harass another student for his/her family’s decision.
• If your child has been exposed to COVID-19, please do not send him/her to school. While we might not quarantine entire classrooms due to one student’s exposure, some students might be quarantined. We would rather not have to face that decision. And other families will appreciate that you have been proactive in keeping your child home until s/he can be tested a few days after exposure.
• If your child has two or more COVID-19 symptoms, please do not send him/her to school. Have your child tested 4-5 days after known or suspected exposure.
• Learn about COVID-19 testing availability. In most cases, testing is free and the turn-around time is short.

Parents and guardians, you helped us keep the total number of COVID-19 cases among BCSD students and staff to 119 last year.  This year you have the ability to keep your children, their classmates, and their teachers safe and to keep our classrooms and school open. 

We thank you for your trust and your support.

Carolyn W. Stewart, PhD
Superintendent,
Bullhead City Elementary School District
[email protected]