What now ?

What a week!

I have read comments, talked with families over the phone, answered emails and returned texts but the questions just keep pouring in. It seems like there was some mixed opinions on schools closing so I would like to just provide some clarity where I can. Of course big decisions, like school closing, or stopping kids from playing in the commons or canceling events throughout town are made by a group of people. I cannot make decisions for everyone but I can provide some guidance on steps we should be taking. School, the library and the Senior Center will be closed for the next week, so it may sound like a great idea to have a play date or friends over but it's not.

We were hoping that we would receive some guidance either from Federal government or the State yesterday but we didn't, so the Health Department has put forth our own guidelines. We already know that social distancing measures are an important tool used to slow the spread of COVID-19. Why wait to implement them ?

I know that some people will say that this is too drastic and that we "aren't there yet" but I don't want to get to "there." I would rather our response to COVID-19 be PROACTIVE vs REACTIVE.

I hope that the guidelines will help people make some choices about events they will attend or host. If you are already doing these measures but another person, town isn't , maybe you could provide some education to them on why they should. This will eventually become a reality for most, we are just the first ones to say it.