COVID-19 Cases Determine What Model School Districts Will Use for Reopening in the Fall

With the recent announcement that Governor Walz explained in yesterday’s press conference discussing K-12 schools reopening plans, the Bemidji Area School District is now asking for the community’s help.

Under the Safe Learning Plan, school districts will be able to start school under the Learning Model determined by the COVID-19 bi-weekly case rate by county of residence. As of right now, the bi-weekly case rate shows that Bemidji Area Schools would open schools for the fall under a Hybrid Learning Model for all students.

The Bemidji Area School District learned through a survey that majority of parents would like to see their students return to In-Person Learning. However, the COVID-19 bi-weekly case rate in Beltrami County must be reduced in order to do so. The district is then asking residents to do their part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 cases in the county. This includes hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask in public.

The Learning Model determined by the COVID-19 bi-weekly case rate could change from now to September, depending on the number of cases in the county. If the In-Person model is determined to be the method of Bemidji Area Schools reopening once school starts, parents do have the option to “opt out” and allow their student(s) to participate in a distance learning method.

The school district will be creating a form for parents who would rather go with the distance learning method that parents would need to fill out.