Vermillion Parents,
Please read the letter below, while I know it does not answer all of your questions, we are working on our plan and will have it out as soon as possible. We are currently working on our procedures. We want our schools to be safe for staff and students alike. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Our Reopening team is participating in a statewide Zoom call with the Dept. of Education this Thursday to go over and discuss the state guidance. Once this is done, things will move quickly towards a complete plan.
I hope all of you are having a great summer! I want to tell you how proud I am of our students, parents, community, and staff and their response to the Continuous Learning Plan during this past spring. I know it was a difficult time for many, and our resilience shined through!
I am sure that many of you are wondering about what the 2020-2021 school year will bring, so I thought I would share a little information about where we are headed this fall as we reopen schools. We do not have all the answers that I am sure many of you are looking for, but I want to share with you what I can and receive feedback from you by either responding by email or calling the office.
I also want you to know that the administrative team along with teachers and the Board of Education Members have been and will continue to work together to develop a plan for Vermillion’s reopening of schools. Like all schools in Kansas, we are waiting on the work of Navigating 2020 Guidelines from KSDE which should be released to the state on July 16.
However, while we await that guidance, I want to share with you some things that we have already accomplished:
● We have purchased no touch thermometers for the possible scanning of staff and students, and any visitors to schools.
● We also have other ways to deep-clean and sanitize the buildings including; electrostatic sprayers, hand sanitizing stations, and other disinfectants. We are currently looking at other options for sanitation and will continue to do so.
Again, once we have access to the Navigating 2020 Guidelines from KSDE we will also develop other procedures, processes, and policies that will guide the reopening of schools. We will share our plan as soon as we finish it. That could be as late as early August.
During the spring implementation of our Continuous Learning Plan, flexibility and patience were required and that will be true as we move forward. Another change that will occur during the upcoming school year is an increased level of expectation for the measurement of student learning. We will have an increased focus on student competencies. Whether the learning is delivered on-site, in a hybrid model, or remotely (terms being used state-wide), districts will have the option to implement a competency-based learning model to measure success that focuses more on students mastering competencies at their own pace and less on seat time. Teachers will teach core competencies for classes and check to see where students are on their mastery level for those competencies.
When the competencies, rubrics, and the options of how to use them are released by KSDE on approximately July 16, a group of teachers and administrators will develop a plan for Vermillion Schools.
At this time you and your family can begin to discuss how school may look different this coming year but it will be a safe place. Your family can also start to think about how your family will deal with the changes in on-site learning, hybrid (a combination of on-site and remote learning), or remote learning.
At the time of my writing this letter, I think that we will start the year using on-site learning but know that we are several weeks away from the start of the 2020-2021 school year (August 17 for students) and that might change. I also know that our students, parents, community, and staff will be up to whatever challenges this school year brings. As always, if you have any questions, or want to give input, or just want to share your thoughts/feelings please feel free to contact me or your administrator.
Enrollment will be August 5th. More information on how it will look will be sent out as soon as possible. We want to make enrollment safe and timely as possible.
Sincerely,
Matt Rogers, Vermillion USD 380 Superintendent