School district update from Saturday

The School District has an excellent page for information and resources the entire community can use during this time. Anyone experiencing hardship can access resources through this page: Community Resources Saturday, March 21, 2020, 9:00 a.m.—Update from ChurchillCSD Please remember to continue visiting ​ bit.ly/ccsdlearningfromadistance ​ for more information and updates as well as links to all of the activities being shared by the schools. Greetings this Saturday morning! I wanted to get word to you as soon as possible after learning some additional information late last night. I want to let everyone know that school and district office personnel will be reaching out to all households starting on Monday to check in on a variety of information. They will ensure that all of your contact information is correct, will continue to help in seeking internet services, will find out if households have at least one technology device to use besides a cellphone, and will ensure that you are getting access to Food Services. Governor’s Emergency Directive Last night, Governor Sisolak issued an additional emergency directive covering a number of issues related to our district’s move forward with learning: ● All school districts in Nevada, including Churchill County School District, will reopen ​no earlier than April 16, 2020​, and only upon the approval of the Chief Medical Officer of the State of Nevada after a review of the risk of transmission within the geographic area defined by the Chief Medical Officer; ● The suspension of all statutory and regulatory requirements related to applications for Programs of Distance Education and an expansion of the definition of distance education to include paper correspondence; ● The provision of authority to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to process ​requests for emergency programs of distance education ​(more details below); and ● A reiteration of the essential nature of our work and that of our employees to continue to provide educational opportunities to Nevada’s pupils. The signed directive and related press release are attached. Accountability Waiver The Nevada Department of Education was able to submit a waiver to the US Department of Education to allow districts to forgo SBAC, additional CTE testing, and other assessments. As more is shared with me, I will send it on to all of you. Emergency Programs of Distance Education The emergency directive that we will file by Sunday afternoon states that our district has begun distance learning opportunities for students on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, and will end at such time that the district is released to come back into session. So what does all of this mean for our students? First and foremost, we will continue to keep your children at the forefront of our decisions in the district. As has been evident over the past week, our district staff will continue to provide instruction and support through distance learning means, including online activities as well as other forms of learning opportunities. We will focus this coming week on work that we have been preparing and then will take the week of Spring Break with no learning tasks assigned. Upon return on April 6th, staff will have additional learning opportunities ready for learners. We will continue to support our students in our community with breakfast and lunch (Monday-Friday). We will analyze our first couple of weeks to determine if the stops, delivery sites, etc. are working for families. This service will continue to run from March 23 through at least April 15, 2020. The District Leadership Team will meet early this next week to review where we are and what needs to be done to ensure that all of our learners have the best opportunities available. We will continue to support our staff as they transition to learning and guiding from a distance. Thank you again for your support of your students, the district, our schools, and our teachers and staff. - Dr. Summer Stephens, Superintendent       Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page. If you enjoy The Fallon Post, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and make a contribution today.  Your contribution makes possible this online news source for all things Fallon.