Cavendish Update 2/25/22: GMUSD/News/Principal/Events
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VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS
2/18/22
1. Cavendish Info
2. Covid update
3. Events
FREE VACCINE/BOOSTER CLINIC Saturday, Feb. 26 from 10:30-1:30 at the Cavendish Fire Dept. Free KN95s for Kids and Adults available at the clinic.
1. CAVENDISH INFO
• Seymour Leven 1923 -2022: It is with sadness that we report the passing of Dr. Seymour Leven on Feb. 15. A WWII vet, he was a valued member of Cavendish. In 2013, he, Carmine Guica and Jim Hasson spoke to the 6th grade at Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) about their war experiences. At that time there were six WWII vets living in Cavendish, and eight from Cavendish who lived elsewhere. Seymour was the last of the 2013 group. A video of his presentation to the CTES students is available by clicking here.
• Changes to GMUSD district may include procedures, schedule, and class size: At the Feb. 17 meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUSD), a possible student vaping incident was discussed, along with a weekly early release day for all schools in the district, not just CTES, and a two to three-year plan for right-sizing classrooms at the elementary level with an ideal number of students, roughly 13–18 kids per class. Superintendent Fierman noted that class sizes of five, six, or seven kids was not a benefit to students nor fiscally feasible for the district. The plan would include multiple-grade classrooms as well as other options. She said they could make an option to move between schools as well. She made the point that, in a broader sense, GMUSD has two elementary schools and that the administration will be “making decisions about how to best use those two schools for all of the members who live in Cavendish, Chester, Baltimore, and Andover. VT Journal
• Meet the Finalists for the CTES Principal: On March 1 (Tuesday), from 6:00-7:30 pm, The Principal Search Committee will be hosting a Meet the Finalists forum in person at CTES and on Zoom at the same time. Ask questions, listen, and get to know each of the candidates. When interviews are completed on Friday, all information about the finalists will be posted on the TRSU website.
• Cavendish Collegiate Honors: Congratulations to the following Cavendish college students who’s GPA qualified for honors: Emery Benoit, Dean’s List Castleton University; Sarah Devereux, Emerson College; Keegan Ewald, President’s List VT Tech; and Annalise Watkins, President’s List Coastal Carolina University.
• Spotlight on Peter LaBelle's Stained Glass: Watch a fascinating video of Cavendish resident and stained glass artist Peter LaBelle, who is interviewed by Ralph Pace. Peter shares his hobby of creating stained glass windows.
• Fletcher Farm School announces classes, quilt winner, and tuition changes
• Poll shows more people dissatisfied with broadband service, even though more have it
• Want to support the people in Ukraine? Here's how you can help
2. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.
WEEKLY DATA:
Cavendish & Surrounding Towns For the week ending February 16, Cavendish continues to see a decrease in Covid cases. Cavendish had 1 new cases, 177 total; Ludlow 5 (329 total); Chester 11 (634 total); Springfield 38 (1,910); and Weathersfield 7 (260).
Schools: This week is winter break with no new data from the TRSU website. As of Feb, 17, cases have been recorded since January as follows: CTES 7 cases; Ludlow Elementary 9 cases; GMUHS 67 cases; Chester Elem 46 and Mt. Holly Elementary 12.
State: According to Tuesday’s Feb. 22 modeling report cases continue to drop and cases are the lowest since early November. Test positivity has also decreased to 4.9% yesterday versus 5.9% from Feb. 17.
At Tuesday’s press conference, health commissioner, Dr. Levine noted that the focus needs to be on hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, as the number of positive cases are skewed as many people are learning their status via a home rapid test and not necessarily reporting results. Hospitalizations hit a new low yesterday with 37 hospitalizations and only 6 ICU admissions. A total of 57 additional deaths have been reported in February, though some of them are delays in reporting from January. The current total of deaths is 593.
Dr. Levine noted that the pandemic is moving in the right direction and as case counts, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and death continue to drop, there will be a roll back in Covid 19 guidelines. While future variants could require the state to reinstitute stricter public health guidance, Levine said Vermonters should prepare for “deliberate and phased transitions” to a new COVID norm. “As we move forward in our planning, we will gradually shift toward fewer broad-based public health recommendations to a more individualized approach based on one’s own circumstances and health needs.” While eliminating masking in schools with 80% vaccination rates signals the beginning of that change, another change will come in the form of the state’s PCR testing. This will likely be reduced in favor of more distribution of home rapid antigen tests. “And when virus transmission decreases, Vermonters will not need to get tested as often, such as before and after social gatherings, as overall risk will be much lower.”
BA-2: One area of concern was the omicron sub-variant BA-2. There have been 10 confirmed cases in VT through Jan. 29. “We are still learning a lot about this variant, and any possible impact on transmissibility and severity, and there is not yet any definitive word,” Levine said.
Cases of BA-2 are roughly doubling each week in the US. While this is a small and slower increase, some experts warn that relaxing mitigation measures could help the subvariant to take hold. Data from Denmark suggests that BA.2 can reinfect people who have recovered from Omicron.
FREE VACCINE/BOOSTER CLINIC: The Cavendish Fire Department will once again host a vaccine clinic on Feb. 26 (Saturday) from 10:30-1:30. Free KN95s for adults and kids will be available at the clinic. They are also available Monday-Saturday from 9-4 at the Cavendish Fire Dept.
OTHER NEWS
• Vermonters with long Covid still face barriers to care
• More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries
3.EVENTS
FEBRUARY 26 (SATURDAY): Free vaccine/booster clinic at the Cavendish Fire Dept., 10:30-1:30
FEBRUARY 27 (SUNDAY): A visit with David Rosenfelt, 1 pm Cavendish Library. FMI: 802-226-7503
MARCH 1 (TUESDAY) Mardi Gras.
- Voting Day on school budgets for GMUSD (includes CTES & GMUHS) 10-7 pm at the Proctorsville Fire Dept.
- Meet the Finalists for the CTES Principal. 6-7:30 pm via zoom or in person at CTES.
MARCH 13 (SUNDAY): Spring forward. Daylight savings returns. Move clocks ahead one hour.
MARCH 28 (MONDAY): Hybrid Town Informational Meeting; 7 pm. In person at CTES multi purpose room or via zoom.
CA❤︎ENDSH VAXXING, BOOSTING & MASKING TO PROTECT SELF & OTHERS
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