October 13, 2021
Dear students, staff, families and community,
Monday was Indigenous People’s Day. While we celebrate and honor all Native American peoples and commemorate their histories and culture on this federal holiday, I would like to express special gratitude for our neighbors, the Nooksack Tribe and Lummi Nations. Their enduring care and protection of our shared lands and waterways as well as their partnership in educating and caring for our students are greatly respected and appreciated.
There have been some questions about symptoms that children are sent home for such as a mild cold. In the past we have all been told to tough it out with colds and minor ailments. COVID-19 has made us take the opposite approach because even mild symptoms could mean a person has COVID-19. Please see the Symptom Decision Tree to better understand how these decisions are made. We now have the supplies and we are working on staffing to implement a test to stay in school program. My hope was to get that up and running this month, but our start date will be closer to November 1st.
The other thing people have been inquiring about is the threat regarding a school shooting on October 28th that was found on the wall of the men’s bathroom in our Field House. We have not uncovered any information about who made this threat. If you have any information, you can call our anonymous tip line at (360) 383-2093 or call the high school directly at 360-383-2015. We have increased security and will have a full-time police officer on campus for a period of time. Supervision has been increased and we know that adult relationships with students and daily interactions have the greatest positive impact on school safety.
As we move into colder weather, I want to let you all know that the Whatcom County Public Works Department contacted us this week to inform us that staffing shortages will likely impact their ability to respond during winter storms. This could impact our ability to transport students during inclement weather. Hopefully, this will not negatively impact our schools, but I thought it was important to give you a heads up as contingency plans may become necessary. District inclement weather information can be found here.
This week is homecoming at Mount Baker High School. Our ASB has done a tremendous job to make this a fun and festive week. Friday night will be our first home game at 7:00 PM. If attendance is 500 or over, masks will be required. The game can also be accessed virtually on the NFHS website. The link located on the Mount Baker Athletics webpage.
Go Baker!
Sincerely,
Mary Sewright, Superintendent | msewright@mtbaker.wednet.edu | (360) 617-4600