Hopewell City Public Schools Statement on Building Maintenance and COVID-19
Recently, there have been some concerns and inaccuracies raised that, in full transparency, we would like to address and clarify. We are here to serve our students and our community in honesty and sincerity.
There has been some concern regarding the state of AC units. This is something we have under control. In any organization, parts will occasionally require repair or replacement. Rather than there being only one, there are many HVAC units at each of our buildings. At DuPont Elementary, one of those units that impacted a few classrooms failed at 2:30 on Monday afternoon, and was repaired before school the next day by 7:30 a.m. At Hopewell High School, a few rooms have been affected while we wait on the delivery of replacement part. For these few rooms that are waiting for a fix, accommodations have been provided including alternate locations in the building with regulated AC to provide instruction as well as a number of fans being supplied. The rest of our buildings are in good order.
There has also been a concern expressed regarding COVID transmission at one of our schools. There are no causes for alarm. We adhere to state law, Virginia Department of Health (VDH) recommendations, and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations and our full health mitigation strategies, health plan, and other COVID-19 information can be found on our website. If there is a positive case, there is still a plan. In addition to these plans and requirements, we are all safest when we choose to go beyond minimum requirements and regularly wear masks and wash hands.
Safety is our number one priority, followed closely by instruction. We will always do everything in our power to keep students safe and to provide high quality instruction. We will continue to communicate and share information with our community to keep them informed.