Thank you to everyone who participated in Spirit Night at Moe's. Save the date for the below listed upcoming events.
- October 6th - Walk to School Wednesday
- October 7th - Tiger Trek Walk-a-thon
- October 7th - La Fiesta de Grady 4-9 pm
- October 14th - Dad's Club Dinner 7-9 pm
- October 22nd - Fall Movie Night 6-9 pm
- December 3rd - Holiday Movie Night 5-8 pm
- December 4th - Grady Cleanup 9-12 pm
- March 5th - Auction Night 6-10 pm
On Tuesday, September 21st, individual Fall picture will be taken. Information will be sent home with your student. It will contain an envelope with information on the packages you may purchase. All pictures must be paid for in advance. Pay at Strawbridge.net using the Online Code: FM363261 or return envelope that was sent home by Monday, September 20th. Please make checks payable to Strawbridge and include your address, phone number, student's name and student number for identification.
Your child has the opportunity to wear something different, still school appropriate, for their school pictures. Please wear bright colored clothes and a big Grady smile on Tuesday, September 21, 2021.
Dear Families,
At this evening’s regularly scheduled School Board meeting, Board members voted to extend the existing mask mandate for an additional 30 days. The mask mandate is now in place until October 15, 2021. The Board allows for a medical exemption opt-out of the mask mandate.
Before this evening’s decision, the Board was presented evidence that suggests the mask mandate is helping to keep positive cases and quarantines lower in our schools:
- August 18 – Mask mandate instituted. 10,722 student/staff impacted by positive case or quarantine;
- August 20 – Greatest number of students and staff impacted. 13,485 student/staff impacted by positive case or quarantine;
- September 8 – 5,647 students/staff impacted - a 58% decrease from August 20.
The district will continue following other mitigation strategies on campus that are recommended by the CDC including having hand sanitizer in all buildings and encouraging hand washing throughout the day. The district will also work with our health partners to provide opportunities for vaccination clinics.
The Board and the District will continue to monitor the situation along with our local health partners.
Thank you,
Hillsborough County Public Schools
Parents and Guardians,
Our teachers, administrators, and support professionals are excited to welcome students back for the 2021-22 school year. I understand many of our parents remain concerned as COVID-19 continues to spread in our community, but please know that district leaders have been working tirelessly to ensure campuses are prepared to provide proper health and safety protocols when students and staff return.
On Friday, the Florida Department of Health adopted a new Emergency Rule, 64DER-21-12, which states “Students may wear masks or facial coverings as a mitigation measure, however, the school must allow for a parent or legal guardian to opt-out the student from wearing a face covering or mask.”
With that said, I am announcing today that Hillsborough County Public Schools will require face coverings but will allow parents or guardians to opt their child out from wearing a face covering or mask. This requirement will continue until at least September 3rd. We will continue to work with our health partners at TGH/USF Health to monitor conditions in our community at that time to make further decisions.
While the outcome may be the same whether we make face coverings optional or required with an opt-out, we believe this decision continues to illustrate that Hillsborough County Public Schools takes public safety seriously. We want to ensure we are doing all we can to help community wide efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. By taking this position today, we hope this provides our families time over the weekend to talk with their children before the start of school on Tuesday, August 10.
Parents will be expected to have conversations with their children so that students will follow through with their parents’ expectations regarding wearing masks while at school.
If you wish to opt-out your child, please fill out the HCPS Mask Opt Out Form here - web.hillsboroughschools.org/
We are excited for the new school year and we thank you for trusting Hillsborough County Public Schools with your child’s education.
Respectfully,
Addison G. Davis
Superintendent of Schools