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Dear NWRESD Families -
I hope this message finds you in a moment of relaxation and enjoying some time for yourself and your family, at least as much as is possible under the circumstances.
As the start of the school year approaches, I want you to know we have been working hard the past few months to develop plans for how to reopen this fall. I’m certain many of you have spent sleepless hours trying to imagine what the coming months will look like for you and your children.
Since February, we have met regularly with state officials and county health authorities to understand when and how it would be safe to reopen our schools to in-person learning. The unfortunate reality is that infection rates are rising, public health systems are taxed, and the funding we need to scale up safe learning and working environments across our four counties simply isn’t available.
On Tuesday, July 28, Governor Brown released threshold requirements for when districts can open for in-person instruction. As our public health partners continue to provide insight into what school will look this fall given the status of the pandemic in our communities, it has become increasingly clear that even with the required safety protocols that have been developed - including physical distancing, class size restrictions, contact tracing, etc. - if we bring our students and staff back together, we will have COVID-19 outbreaks.
Not only will COVID-19 outbreaks directly impact infected individuals and their families, but it will also require the quarantine of exposed students and staff for several weeks, ultimately leading to the breakdown of in-person learning. This repeated opening and closing of classrooms and schools will be highly disruptive to the learning process. Inevitably, this pattern will continue until our communities and public health authorities have the virus more under control.
As superintendent, it is my obligation - and my priority - to safeguard the well-being of each of our students and employees. With that being said, I cannot in good faith put health and safety on the line when infection rates are rising and our communities do not have the resources to quickly and effectively address outbreaks.
With safety a top priority, we have decided to provide ALL of our instruction and educational services virtually at least through the end of October.
We will reevaluate this decision as infection rates change, at both the state and county levels. We know distance learning presents its own set of challenges, as we experienced this spring. We realize that many of you and your children are struggling physically, emotionally, and professionally with virtual school and services.
Results from our recent family survey show that many of you are concerned about your child missing out on important social interactions with peers and specialized services that are typically delivered in-person. You also expressed fear and uncertainty about sending your child back to school given the COVID-19 rates, despite the child care challenges it presents.
Our educators are committed to providing your children with the best possible education through this pandemic. We are planning every day about how to creatively and thoughtfully elevate safety, connection, excellent instruction, and equity. My expectation is that by making this challenging decision now, our staff will be able to focus exclusively on how to best deliver virtual services to students this fall.
In this complex situation, no plan of action actually feels good. But we are committed to making decisions with input from you and from our staff, and grounding those decisions in science and data…and that feels right.
Again, I hope you and your families are safe. There will be additional opportunities to provide input and give us your feedback in the coming weeks. Until then, be well!
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