Superintendent Web Message

January 20, 2021

Dear GUSD Family (Students, Staff, Parents, and Community),

We are back in the swing of things after the mid-winter break and GUSD is facing the same challenges as the rest of the community, state, and country in dealing with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.   GUSD COVID-19 data shows a significant increase in positive cases.  As of this writing today the district has 78 students and 6 staff members with positive COVID-19 tests.  In addition, there are 29 students and 2 staff members in quarantine.  These numbers however, continue to be well below the community numbers at large with all of our buildings having a positivity rate of less than 5%.  At this point, GUSD continues to try to keep from quarantining entire classes as we work with the state to do the contact tracing after positive tests.

The GUSD governing board met last evening, January 19, 2022.  There were no changes recommended to our district COVID-19 responses.  GUSD will continue to operate with the following protocols in place. 

  • Recommend, but not require face masks.  GUSD will still observe the following prevention protocols:
  • Recommend, but not require COVID-19 vaccination for those students and staff that are able to be vaccinated.
  • Cooperate with the Arizona Department of Health Services to follow their quarantine procedures whenever recommended.
  • Encourage frequent hand-washing, use of hand sanitizer when available, and continued use of air purifiers in classrooms.
  • Encourage students and staff to stay home when they are exhibiting signs of illness.

I will continue to update and keep you informed about any new information related to the district COVID-19 response plans.  Thanks for all you do to support our school district in its ongoing efforts to live up to our vision statement “Capturing Hearts, Empowering Minds”.  Please feel free to give me a call at 928-402-6013 if you have questions about any of this information.

Sincerely,

Jerry Jennex, Superintendent