Important Kent County Health Department Public Health Order Update

August 20, 2021

Dear Parents:

This week we celebrated the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, and it was great to welcome students back across our campuses for in-person learning despite the many challenges that COVID continues to present. We are firmly committed to creating an educational environment that promotes the emotional, mental, and physical health and well-being of our students, staff, teachers, and community.

As we have consistently communicated in the GRCS Health and Safety Plan and various emails over the past 2 weeks, we have been closely monitoring the latest data regarding COVID transmission throughout our region. In addition, our position on health and safety protocols has been and will continue to be aligned with public health orders that may be issued related to masking and other health mandates.

Today at 2:00 pm, the Administrative Health Officer of the Kent County Health Department (KCHD) issued a Public Health Order with new masking requirements for schools, effective immediately. In light of this significant development, GRCS will implement the following protocols as required by this new Public Health Order beginning Monday, August 23, 2021:

• Educational Institutions shall ensure that people in pre-kindergarten through grade six consistently and properly wear a facial covering while inside any enclosed building or structure of the institution.
• Educational Institutions shall ensure that all persons, regardless of vaccination status, providing service to any persons in pre-kindergarten through grade six properly and consistently wear a facial covering while inside any enclosed building or structure of the institution.

The order does not expressly speak to mask requirements for students in 7th — 12th grades. Therefore, we will continue with the mask protocols outlined in the GRCS Health and Safety Plan as approved by the Board of Trustees and communicated to families on August 17, 2021.

The order shall not apply to the following Persons:

• Persons in the act of eating or drinking
• Persons under the age of four years; however, supervised masking is recommended for children who are at least two years of age.
• *PLEASE NOTE: At Grand Rapids Christian Schools, we will require all preschool students to wear masks and provide supervision as recommended.
• Persons with developmental conditions of any age attending school for whom it has been demonstrated that the use of a face covering would inhibit the person's access to education. These are limited to persons with an Individualized Education Plan, Section 504 Plan, Individualized Healthcare Plan, or equivalent.
• Vaccinated teachers who are working with children who are hard of hearing or students with developmental conditions who benefit from facial cues.
• Persons who have a medical reason confirmed in writing from a Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) currently licensed to practice medicine in the State of Michigan.

The order will remain in effect until 60 days past the date:

1. The COVID-19 vaccine is authorized or approved by the FDA and available to persons in pre-kindergarten through grade six, or 
2. Community transmission for Kent County is categorized as “Low” by the CDC for at least seven consecutive days, or 
3. Until further notice from the Administrative Health Officer.

As always, we will continue to be in close communication with public health officials in the coming days and will provide updates whenever needed. 

Many parents have already let us know their students’ vaccination status. As previously communicated, having that information tremendously assists our administrative team in ensuring in-person learning may continue and not be disrupted due to unnecessarily quarantining fully-vaccinated students who do not need to be quarantined. If you have not already done so, please complete the student vaccination form for your child(ren) ages 12 and older. Again, this information will be held in strict confidence and only used if contract tracing is required.

Student Vaccination Status Form

Please join me in praying for your child(ren), our staff, and our schools as we work together implementing these new county health requirements. May God continue to be with us in these challenging times, and may we be faithful in our mission to prepare our students to be effective servants of Christ in contemporary society.

Tom DeJonge
Superintendent, Grand Rapids Christian Schools

2021 Back to School