On Monday, Nov. 9, Westside Superintendent Mike Lucas announced that the district will move back into yellow mode in an email to Westside families and staff. According to Lucas, Westside Community Schools will remain in green mode, going at 100% capacity until Friday, Nov. 20. The district will revert back to yellow mode at 50% beginning Monday, Nov. 30 following Thanksgiving Break. Because of this change, students will now get the entire week of Thanksgiving off. 

“Through on-going consultation with medical experts, we feel a move back to 50% will help us de-densify our buildings, increase social distancing, and give us a better chance to slow down the number of cases we have within our schools,” Lucas stated in the email.

As a result of rising COVID-19 cases in Douglas County, Lucas stated that Westside has seen a majority of its current case count in the past few weeks. 

“Douglas County is going in the wrong direction and it is having a tremendously negative impact on our school district,” Lucas stated in the email. “As of this morning, November 9th, we have had a total of 57 student and 46 staff cases since school began. Our number of confirmed cases AND quarantines are increasing.”

Lucas also stated that he was grateful that more families have been keeping students home when they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. 

“We need ALL families to continue to help us,” Lucas stated in the email. “PLEASE make sure you keep your child(ren) home if they exhibit any symptoms.  It is simply not fair to send them to school if you think there is even a chance they might be sick with any ailment.  PLEASE screen your child(ren) daily.”