The Park County School District Re 2 is located in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in the historic mining town of Fairplay, Colorado. Elk, deer, antelope, as well as other wildlife, are abundant in beautiful South Park. The area is a sportsman's paradise with hiking, camping, fishing, and skiing only minutes away.

The Fairplay campus is home to Edith Teter Preschool, Edith Teter Elementary, South Park Middle, and South Park High School, "Home of the Mighty Burros." The Fairplay campus educates approximately 500 students Preschool through twelfth grade. Along with students from Fairplay, students from the surrounding towns of Alma, Como, Jefferson, Hartsel, Guffey, and Lake George attend our schools. Our schools offer a comprehensive educational experience supplemented by many extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities. School hours are Monday - Thursday, 7:30-4:30 pm.

The Park County School District Re 2 authorizes two charter schools: Guffey Community Charter School in Guffey, Colorado, and Lake George Charter School in Lake George, Colorado. Both charter schools operate under their governing boards.

An award-winning and dedicated staff is ready to serve the students and the community. "Elevate" your school experience at the Park County School District

February 9, 2022

Families,

I was out of the office for two weeks when my father passed away. I returned last week and was busy playing catch up with day-to-day business that I missed. I reached out to you last week but it was primarily to address the pick-up situation. Although I mentioned masks, it was not my primary focus as I was looking into the situation but was not ready to communicate things at that point.

As promised, I have been continually monitoring the situation and observing what is going on around us. At the end of November, I sent out a survey to parents and staff about the mask requirement. The response was split, right at 50/50. If the results had been significant either way, it would have given me better direction on decision making but because of the results, I felt the appropriate action was to maintain until things around us changed. Recently, the guidance around quarantine changed which lessened the amount of time students and staff would need to be out of school. This was great news.

The state, and Park County, witnessed a spike right after the holidays but that spike has receded and numbers are looking much better. This is evident as many entities and schools around us are lifting the mask requirement. I have said, all along, that educating with masks is not how we want to do education but we will do whatever it takes to keep our doors open and to keep kids in school. As we move along the COVID continuum, we simply must get to a place where we establish the new normal. I do not believe trying to teach, especially young children, while wearing masks will ever be best. I believe it was important for a time but I hope that time is behind us.

Park County RE 2 schools will lift the mask requirement starting tomorrow, Thursday, February 10, 2022. At that time, mask wearing will be personal choice although encouraged. We will adhere to the most recent guidance from the CDC for our quarantine procedures, which I have included below. This is the guidance for unvaccinated people. Those who are vaccinated still do not need to quarantine if exposed to a positive case.

Additionally, CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for anyone in the general public who is exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.  For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.

Unvaccinated, exposed individuals will either need to quarantine for 10 days, or quarantine for 5 days followed by 5 days of mask wearing or if unable to quarantine, must wear a mask for 10 days.

Thank you for your patience!

Cindy Bear, Superintendent