[MASTA Board] COVID-19 Pandemic and MASTA Camp

[Michael Hopkins]

Dear Caitlin,

Thanks for sending this email. We all share your concerns. My 
understanding is that Governor Whitmer will be issuing an update on the 
status of the remainder of the school year next week which should be 
very informative and provide additional guidance. The executive board 
will set up a virtual meeting next week to discuss your proposal and Dan 
will be in touch. For now please hold on to the applications you have 
not processed.

Thanks,

Michael

On 3/27/20 11:19 AM, Caitlin Mihalko wrote:
> Hello MASTA Board members,
>
> I was hoping I wouldn't have to send this email yet, but with the news 
> that keeps coming out each day and the information from medical 
> professionals and public health professionals, I feel a responsibility 
> to bring this forward to the board. I have been talking with Ted about 
> this and it is our recommendation that we cancel our 2020 camps. We do 
> not take this lightly because we understand the many ramifications of 
> this. However, the health of our community, our students, and our 
> staff are more important than any of those things. Governor Whitmer 
> has communicated that there is going to be a communication coming soon 
> about school being closed through the end of the year. It is my 
> understanding that most universities are moving summer classes all 
> online. The Olympics in July have been canceled. This virus is not 
> going away any time soon and as long as it is active, and there is no 
> vaccine or treatment, we CANNOT have camp.
>
> Whatever your personal feelings may be about the situation, the 
> science all points to this virus being around for several months. At 
> this point we cannot hire staff and the longer we wait the more checks 
> we have to write to refund people. Also, the sooner we can notify the 
> Howell Nature Center the better. I told Dan I would wait until April 
> 1st to send this email, but I feel like we need to being thinking 
> about this so that the board has time to vote on a decision. It would 
> also be good for us to notify families in a timely manner.
>
> As of right now we have 89 students registered for camp that would 
> need to be refunded. We have not paid any deposit yet to the Howell 
> Nature Center or any other entity. We have not made any purchases 
> other than the cost of the P.O. Box which was approximately $120 and 
> the $440 for the storage unit. We have received several applications 
> that we have not processed yet and could just return to the families 
> who sent them.
>
> I'm not sure how the board would like to proceed with this proposal. I 
> will ask Dan to take things from here. If you have any questions 
> please let me know. Thank you for your time.
>
> Sincerely,
> Caitlin Mihalko, Director, MASTA String Camps
> Ted McDonald, Assistant Director, MASTA String Camps
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Board at astamichigan.org
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