August 3, 2021

Dear Raider Families, 

 

On behalf of the entire Reynoldsburg City Schools staff, I wanted to let you know we are so excited to welcome our students back in person, five days a week starting August 19!

 

Below is an update about the use of masks and our safety protocols for the new school year. Please read it carefully.

 

As you know, the Centers for Disease Control, Ohio Department of Health, Columbus Public Health, and Franklin County Public Health are strongly recommending universal masking policies for all students, teachers and staff regardless of their vaccination status.

 

Using their guidance, Reynoldsburg City Schools is also strongly recommending that students wear masks when in school buildings and classrooms. An order issued by the Ohio Department of Health on June 2, 2021 clarifies that masking is still required on “buses, and other forms of public transportation.”  As a result, students will be required to wear masks when riding school transportation. 

 One of the best ways to keep our students in school is by getting the COVID-19 vaccine if we are eligible. We are currently working with our partner, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, to set up additional vaccination clinics prior to the first day of school at our high school’s Livingston Campus, to make it more convenient for those who want to receive the vaccine. We hope to have firm dates to share by the end of this week.

 

Additionally, frequent hand washing and hand sanitation will be encouraged and our maintenance and custodial staff will continue to clean and sanitize our classrooms and common areas regularly. Most of our buildings are also equipped with air filtration systems and we will also continue to use those to eliminate airborne germs. 

 

All of those steps are important but we also need your help to keep our students and staff healthy and keep our students in school this year. We can all do our part to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants by getting vaccinated if we are eligible, staying home if we are sick, and getting tested if we have COVID-19 symptoms. We will have more information about our vaccination clinics soon.

 

For more information, you can visit the Renew, Recharge, Restart webpage on reyn.org and make sure you download the REYN app for updates and a health screening that you can use before sending your child to school if they are displaying any symptoms or not feeling well. Also, please know that conditions, requirements, and expectations may change based on public health updates. We will communicate those in as timely a fashion as possible. 

 

Our priority is to ensure our staff and students work and learn in an engaging, safe, and healthy environment. We cannot wait to welcome everyone back to school!

 

I am, and remain always, #REYNproud
 
 Sincerely,
 

 

Dr. Melvin J. Brown
Superintendent
Reynoldsburg City Schools

 

Dr. Brown has 22 years of school administrative experience. Formerly, he served as the Deputy Superintendent for the Cuyahoga Falls City School District and prior to that as its Director of Human Resources. He has also served as Regional Vice President for Mosaica Education, Inc. and as an Associate Superintendent for Prince William County Schools in the state of Virginia where he supervised 20 schools and more than 22,000 students. Additionally, he has six years of experience as an elementary school principal and two years of experience as a middle school principal. That experience includes four years at Enterprise Elementary School in Dale City, VA which was recognized by Standard and Poor’s for successfully closing the achievement gap in 2005. His non-administrative experiences include teaching middle school language arts, teaching high school English, and coaching track and boys’ basketball. Dr. Brown holds an Ed.D. in Educational Studies, Educational Administration from The Ohio State University. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and a Bachelor’s Degree in English from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.