Update on the planning process for the 2020-2021 school year
June 23rd, 2020
Parents, Students, and Community Members,
This communication is to give you a brief overview of what is going on at the school over the summer in preparation for the upcoming school year.
As you may have heard, school districts across the state have been given the task of creating three different plans to start the school year based on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Those three plans are: Traditional, Hybrid Model or Distance Learning Model. Final guidance on how districts are to open the doors will be given to the school districts the week of July 27th.
As in the past, the staff, faculty, students, parents, and community members of Grand Meadow have been very good about being flexible and understanding. There are going to be some new practices and procedures. By no means will we be able to foresee and predict every possible scenario that may arise based on the pandemic we are currently experiencing. One of our main goals is to make the plans fit the needs of the students, families, employees and the community of Grand Meadow.
In the near future, we may be asking for some help in the review, research, and oversight of the plans we are working on. Stay tuned to the E-News, as that will be the primary communication tool we will use to solicit assistance.
Below is a broad overview of the schedule administration has put together to be prepared for the guidance coming out the last week of July
Week of June 22nd- Review and research documents provided by the Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Department of Health
Week of June 29th – Work with school leadership team to put together initial ideas and plans for each of the three models
Week of July 6th – Work with school employees in the areas of transportation, food service, custodial, teachers, paraprofessionals, nurse and office personnel to review models of instruction and services to students and families – possible survey sent out via E-News to gather data for planning purposes
Week of July 13th – Work with members of the community and family members to share and study the plans – make adjustments as needed
Week of July 20th - Present plans to school board for review and approval
Week of July 27th – Guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Education
I realize the information in this correspondence is very broad, but I wanted to let the families and community members have a general idea about what is going on this summer. This overview will be help you be prepared when the district starts sending out specific processes and procedures depending on which model we may start the school year. It could very well be that we may need to move from one model to the next based on regional or state level health concerns or directives. Also, keep in mind that flexibility is a key factor to anything that is put together, as this is an ever-changing and evolving situation.
Educationally,
Paul W. Besel
Superintendent/PK-4 Principal
