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Family Update on COVID-19 - May 1, 2020

Can you believe it is May already? What a crazy spring it has been for us all, but I continue to be grateful to live in a community that supports and cares for one another.  Today, I want to share information on our levy, end-of-the year logistics, and plans for next year.


THANK YOU

At this time, our levy issue from the March 16 election is passing by 54.66%.  Ballots needed to be received at the Board of Elections by April 28 or postmarked by April 27, and there are still many outstanding uncounted ballots that have been received since the preliminary results were posted on Tuesday night.  The Board of Elections has until May 19 to certify the results, and I will keep you posted as we learn more.  I truly appreciate all of you who took the time to vote in this election.  We are so appreciative of your support, especially during these financially challenging times.  We will continue to operate frugally and stretch our community’s tax dollars to benefit our students.


END-OF-THE-YEAR LOGISTICS

Obviously this is not our typical end of the year, but we wanted to make sure that students have an opportunity to wrap up assignments, complete any necessary re-assessments, seek additional assistance as needed, and participate in closure activities. The week of May 11-15 will be dedicated to these purposes.  While teachers are not giving new assignments at this time, they are still available to meet with groups of students and provide feedback on previously assigned work.  Additionally, this will be a time for other culminating activities via Google Meet.  Many different virtual end-of-the-year activities are being planned such as field days, talent shows, poetry readings, and art shows.  Students receiving 1:1 interventions or therapies as part of an IEP will continue to receive services through this week.


The final days of the year, May 18-21, will include additional end-of-the-year activities at a building level, as well as times for parents to pick up any student belongings and drop off school materials curbside.  For your convenience, we have coordinated times throughout the district based on last names.  Please plan on stopping by for the curbside process sometime between 9:00 am-2:00 pm on the day that corresponds with the start of your student’s last name if possible:  May 18: A-F, May 19: G-L, May 20: M-R, May 21: S-Z.   In addition to daytime hours, we will also be available at each building from 4:00 pm-6:00 pm on Thursday, May 21. Principals will communicate additional building-specific information, including instructions if you can’t make your assigned time.  More details will be provided through Schoology.


“STAY SAFE OHIO” ORDER

As I am sure many of you have heard by now, our stay-at-home order, now known as Stay Safe Ohio, has been extended to May 29.  Additionally, school facilities-- including outside facilities, such as ball fields-- are ordered closed to students through June 30.  As we have communicated earlier, we would like to keep these facilities available for members of the same household to use, so please help us by not engaging in large-group activities.  


NEXT YEAR

There is nothing we want more than to start next year as we normally do.  However, our district-- and all districts in Ohio-- are a bit in limbo regarding next school year right now.  We have been told to not expect a typical start to the year, but before we can formulate a plan for next year, we need to know the state’s requirements. From what I am hearing, we can expect to receive some guidance in the next week or so.  Once we receive this guidance, our administrative team will develop some baseline options that would meet the criteria shared by the state.  At that point, we will share these options with our Academic Advisory Committee, composed of community and staff members, for feedback.  Our next step will be to survey our district parents to get a feel for the general preference of our families.  With the fluidity of this situation, we anticipate needing multiple contingency plans for next year, but we want to make sure we are focusing our efforts on plans that are in alignment with our community’s expectations.  I know we all want these answers now, but unfortunately we do not have enough information yet to finalize these plans.  I will share more information with you as soon as possible.


Enjoy your weekend,

Angie Hamberg

Superintendent

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