MADEIRA, Ohio — All Madeira City Schools will shift to remote learning on Tuesday and remain remote until 2021, superintendent Kenji Matsudo announced Sunday night. Rising numbers of sick or quarantined students and staff have made in-person instruction untenable.
“As we have worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for our in-person and at-home learners this school year, we are needing to be flexible and responsive to our situation and make the necessary adjustments needed on behalf of our students and staff,” Matsudo wrote in a notice to families.
At the start of the weekend, only one group of students was meant to shift to remote learning: fifth-graders at Madeira Middle School. One staff member interacting with them had been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a separate letter from Matsudo. Two more had been quarantined.
But by Sunday, Matsudo wrote, the district and Hamilton County Public Health had determined all classes needed to move online.
Fifth-graders will start remote learning Monday. All other grade levels will have the day off while teachers prepare for the switch.
All athletics and extracurriculars will be suspended from Monday to Sunday “to understand any other additional impacts based on our current positive case rate,” Matsudo wrote.
In his letter to the families of fifth-graders, Matsudo urged families to be resilient.
“We can do hard things and get through this together,” he wrote.
