Masks Become Optional Next Week

March 8, 2022

Dear Santiam Community,

With the lifting of the statewide mask mandate timeline changing to March 12, this is the last week that masks are required to be worn in our schools AND on the buses. As of next week, Monday, March 14, masks will be optional for everyone in all locations.

As mentioned before, lifting the mask mandate does not mean masks will be gone. It simply becomes optional. We will continue to keep masks readily accessible for anyone who chooses to wear one, and we will support all our students’, staffs’ and families’ decisions to wear one or not. In the Santiam Canyon, we STAND TOGETHER. We may not all choose the same option, but we can STAND TOGETHER as a community, in support of each other’s choices.

The latest guidance and COVID modeling from OHA supports this change, yet we still need to continue to do what we can to limit COVID spread in our schools, to keep kids in school and learning. We will continue to exclude students who are COVID positive and we recommend families keep students home while ill. If you have questions about the exclusion process, please contact your child’s school office.

Thank you and please reach out if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Todd Miller, Superintendent