Superintendent Wright’s letter to parents on SPSD fall plans

At the July 13 Sauk Prairie School District meeting, Superintendent Jeff Wright presented the early plan for reopening in the fall. Due to the critical nature of the situation, the Star News is going to reprint his letter to families in full.   July 14, 2020    Sauk Prairie School District Families:  Thank you for responding to our survey and helping guide our decision-making for the new school year.     The shortest version:  The District is planning for a full in-person return of students with safety protocols in place and will provide a virtual model for families who choose it. Health conditions may require a reduction in the number of students at an individual school or the full District. Therefore, the District is developing two back-up plans: a hybrid model with students attending in-person some days and at-home / virtually other days and a fully virtual model.  Details of these plans will be shared with families soon to help you plan for September.     The slightly-longer version:   Health conditions will continue to change. The District may need to change instructional models after school starts in response to those health conditions.  Families need to know the District’s plans in advance.     Three models are being developed right now:   ● #1: Full in-person attendance with safety protocols in place.   ● #2: A hybrid model in which half the students would be in-person some days of the week and the other half would be learning from home -- students would switch places on the other days of the week.   ● #3: Fully virtual / at-home model   ● In addition, families will be able to choose a fully virtual / at-home model for individual students.    According to the survey, families prefer #1 - a full return of students with safety protocols in place. The District is working with the Health Department to make this happen. If health conditions prevent a full return, the District will pursue the hybrid model. We would only return to a full virtual / at-home model if required to do so. The District is working on the specifics of each model and will share those details with families soon to help you plan for September.     Survey results highlights:  ● 1,264 responses representing 2,365 students  ● Regarding virtual / at-home learning, respondents want “more face-to-face time between students and teachers,” “more instruction and learning of new content,” and “greater ability for my student to move through curriculum at a pace matched to their needs” if a return to virtual instruction is necessary.  ● 89.6% of families will choose to send their students back to school with safety protocols in place if SPSD is given approval from the Sauk County Health Department.  ● Regarding starting with a virtual model: 12% favor strongly, 19.9% favor somewhat, 28.4% oppose somewhat, 39.7% oppose strongly  ● Which model do you prefer? 50.6% Full in-person return with safety protocols, 37.0% Hybrid model,  12.3% Fully virtual  ● Are you comfortable with your student being required to wear a face mask? Yes: 60.8%, No: 19.8%, Undecided: 19.5%  ● Does your family have the supervision and technology necessary to support virtual / at-home learning? Yes: 70.6%, No: 29.4%  (Of those who said no, 69.4% had students in elementary school.)  ● Of those who regularly used bus transportation last year, 33.0% would be unable to provide transportation to school and would need bus transportation in the new year.     Concluding Comments:   A safe return to school requires the help of our whole community. Our best protection against COVID-19, and a potential resurgence, is to continue maintaining 6 feet of social distance, wearing face coverings when you cannot maintain that distance, avoiding large gatherings, washing hands and disinfecting surfaces regularly, and staying home when sick.   Let’s kick COVID out of Sauk Prairie so we can get our students back to school!    Thank you for partnering with us to support the students of Sauk Prairie. I appreciate your patience as we determine the specific details to make these plans work. We will send these details as soon as they are available.     Sincerely,    Jeff [Wright] Superintendent  Sauk Prairie School District