Today, March 17, 2020 Governor Laura Kelly announced all school facilities will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. This will place tremendous hardship on our families and staff, and will impact the social and emotional well-being of our students.
We have been working on contingency plans and receiving daily briefings from the Kansas State Department of Education(KSDE) over the last several days, including how we can meet the ongoing learning needs of our students and provide for possible breakfast and lunch needs for our students.
The district will soon receive guidance from the KSDE on the “new school format” for the remaining school year in the next day or two. With the provided guidance, Teachers and Admin will work on 3 different possible delivery methods for our students which will continue to their learning opportunities. They are:
- On-line Learning
- Packet Learning
- And/or a combination of the above two with that of small group face to face learning.
How this will truly look for USD327 is still unknown and that will be the task of our Staff as they return from spring break next week.
Our staff and board of education are also working on other critical issues, such as what this means for our seniors, prom, concerts, how this will affect next school year and what impact this will have on our employees. We will provide updates on these issues as soon as the information is available.
We are committed to working together as a community to support one another throughout these unprecedented times, and communication will remain a top priority. Continue to monitor the school website for future updates. The district will also continue the use of the text alert system with links to keep you informed.
As a reminder, this school closure is in response to the current public health crisis. The focus should remain on preventing the spread the coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is also referred to. Please be mindful of the following:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing (cough/sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue).
- Please keep sick children at home.
- Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
- Limit Your travel.
Follow additional guidance from these sources:
327 realizes there are more questions than answers at this time, but trust that we will work diligently to mobilize and prepare for the future. It will take a lot of flexibility, cooperation and patience from all who are involved in this educational shift. 327 is confident in the abilities of our students, parents and teachers to work together to overcome these challenging times.