Date : Apr 17
When : March 16th-April 13th
Time : All DAY
Covid-19 Update: Friday, April 17
As most of you are aware, the governor has closed schools down for the remainder of this school year. This means each school district has a number of decisions to make. Those will include ramifications for this school year and planning for the next school year. None of these decisions will be made without adequate time to study and evaluate. Please allow us the time to do that. We will be spending this weekend evaluating decisions on calendar issues and how our current school year will eventually end. I am hoping we can find ways to either delay certain events or create alternatives that will be meaningful for our students. Over the course of the next few days and weeks we will be receiving guidance from the state department of education concerning the plan we need to put in place for the start of the next school year. We will share those decisions as quickly and transparently as possible.
The support all of you have given both districts I lead has been tremendous. Please know that we are trying to remove any and all barriers that we may be encountering in supplying your children with an opportunity to learn. Please, if I can encourage you, let us know if you have needs or supports we can help with. Please continue to encourage your children to engage in the educational opportunities we are currently providing! As many have said, these are unprecedented times and situations, but I promise you we will work to overcome them and ensure that your children will receive the education they deserve.
Covid-19 update- Thursday March 19th
First I want to thank all of our district patrons for the support and understanding they have given the school district during this time. We are working hard to communicate as much as we possibly can the information that we have. Please understand that the guidance we get from both the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Health comes at the end of each day as they have the difficult task of trying to find the answers to the many questions school districts are posing.
One of the major decisions that came out in the last couple of days is the waving of the missed school hours and missed school days. At this time, we do not have any intentions of adding this time to the end of our school year. I think this is an event that calls for us to look at the instruction we deliver upon returning to school and in the following school year and make sure we are ensuring that all kids are delivered instruction in the standards required by the state.
I have received many questions concerning online learning options. The Department of Education has been very clear in that we cannot require students to participate even if we offered it as it would not be equally available to all students. There are so many issues when it comes to availability of technology, internet access,and bandwidth that we just don't have the capacity to solve at this time.
Finally, I want to reassure our students that we will get them back on track as soon as possible and try to preserve as many of the extra-curricular opportunities and events as we are allowed once it is deemed as safe and wise to do so.
COVID-19 Update- Monday March 16th:
As of today our building will be closed for all intents and purposes. Per guidance from the IHSAA, IGHSAU, Iowa Speech Association and Iowa Music Association all activities and competitions have been cancelled for the next four weeks. There will be no local practices or group activities held during this time period either. We will be spending this time deep cleaning every surface of our building in anticipation of students returning to school on the 13th of April.
As a district we recognize the hardship this places on many of our district families and our community. One of the ways we would like to ease that is by offering a grab and go lunch program each weekday beginning Monday, March 23rd. Each weekday from 11:30-12:30 any district student can come and get a sack lunch to take home. This program will operate just as the summer lunch program does, except that we will be bring the meals up to the bus stop
in Paton each day at noon to serve our families in that area. Please remember this program allows free lunch for any student 18 years old and younger. If you are planning on taking advantage of this option please inform Mrs. Cullum so she is able to plan accordingly. Please send her an email at lcullum@paton-churdan.k12.ia.us by noon on Sunday the 22nd. This will be a grab and go program, so there will be no congregating at any spot in the building.
We would encourage all of our families to follow the guidelines the governor and department of health have given us concerning the size of gatherings and social distancing. We will continue to work to be as transparent as possible and inform you of any updates in a timely manner as things seem to be changing at a rapid pace.
At this time we are pending state guidance on if and how this time out of classes will be made up.
Those secondary students enrolled in college courses are advised that the community colleges will be making their own determinations on delivery and schedule.
We encourage all secondary students to check their school email daily for any updates from the office or staff.
