JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Jamestown Public Schools is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases among students and staff.

Superintendent Dr. Rob Lech informed the school board that they continue to be challenged with the pandemic and providing the best quality education to students while prioritizing health and safety for all.

Dr. Lech says they continue to collect and analyze data daily from the state and parent notifications. Weekly COVID-19 reports are issued every Friday on the school’s website.

Dr. Lech says currently, the district is trending up in cases.

While the option to vaccinate is a parental and staff choice, Dr. Lech says they’ll continue to work with Central Valley Health to promote opportunities and education related to vaccination.

As of September 3rd, there have been 17 students who have tested positive with COVID-19, with 0 presumed in school transmission. 2 staff have also tested positive with 0 in school.

Dr. Lech added that if current trends continue, the district could expect October and November to be similar to 2020, when COVID-19 cases were highest in Jamestown and North Dakota.

You can watch the entire school board meeting below courtesy of Jamestown Video: