MERIDIAN, Idaho — The West Ada School District will resume sending notifications to parents about positive COVID-19 cases in the schools -- but only to parents who want to receive the notifications.
In a letter to parents this week, district administrators said a modified version of notifications will be offered on an opt-in basis.
Previously, school officials emailed parents and guardians if a confirmed positive case was present in one or more of their children's classrooms. However, the West Ada School District Board of Trustees in January voted to discontinue those notifications.
The board's vote was 3-2. Parents were also split on the decision to discontinue the notifications. Some said the notifications were too vague or stoked fear about COVID, or they simply didn't want school officials involved in health decisions at all. Parents critical of the board's vote said it's important for them to know if their children have been exposed to the virus, particularly in situations where a child or members of a child's family have medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe illness or death from COVID.
The recent letter to parents states, "Based on feedback from our community, we will be offering a modified version of the notifications on an opt-in basis."
The notifications will be grade-specific for students in Kindergarten through Grade 5, and school-specific for students in middle school and high school.
The West Ada School District directs parents wanting more information about the opt-in process to visit its website and complete the online form.
The district also continues to maintain a COVID-19 case data dashboard on its website.
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