Platte County School District #1
COVID-19 Update to Stakeholders
Date: June 18, 2020
Dear Platte County #1 Stakeholders,
We are rapidly burning through the days of summer and accomplishing many great things. It is wonderful to see our students engaged in their activities, whether it be softball, baseball, working, or even just hanging out with their friends. Our quarantine efforts were a struggle to get through but now we can begin the process of addressing upcoming events, mainly the start of school in the fall.
Everyone at Platte #1 wants to see students and staff in our buildings on August 19. I believe that our students are finally counting down the days to RETURN to school, rather than the infamous countdown until the end. The goal of the Platte County School District #1 Administrative Team and the School Board is to provide a safe and beneficial environment for learning upon our return in the fall. We have been working diligently to meet the various requirements that Public Health and the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) has set forth and we believe we are on the right path to ensure a smart start to the new school year.
Part of the process that we have been working on is the creation of our SMART Start Plan as directed by the WDE. The plan included every detail that we can think of that will be necessary for a productive start to the school year. Topics include but are not limited: transportation, food service, facility maintenance and cleanliness, instructional expectations, attendance, grading, and the progression of learning. We want to provide a safe and academic environment for our students and staff so they can continue to advance in their education. We recognize that not everything will be known going into this unknown future, but we want to have a multi-tiered plan to help guide us through these unpredictable times.
Platte #1 had developed its SMART Start plan to include multiple options or levels to the school year. Plan A is the one we all want...school as usual (pre-COVID-19). Operation under Plan A will be dictated by current health situations in Platte County and in conjunction with Public Health. Plan B will still be kids in school but with health data tracking in place to include monitoring student and staff temperatures and documenting individual symptoms. Again, kids will still be in our buildings under Plan B. Plan C will be a blend of standard school settings and our Distance Education (DE) process. Students will be in the buildings for part of the week and DE for the other. This step would be a nice intermediate between standard operating procedures of schools and a complete DE environment. Plan D will be the DE that we went through in the Spring of 2020. Additional components will be added now that we have been through the process. Attendance, grading, teacher evaluation, and professional development will all be added to the Plan D process to ensure that we continue to advance the education of students. Last time, we were rushed to implement and this time we have learned from the previous situation and will be providing for the identified areas of need. There is a Plan E and that plan is strictly for the high schools and the utilization of Edgenuity to deliver course content to students.
Another important and vital component of the education of our students is the involvement in extra and co-curricular activities. These plans are also impacted by current health conditions of the county and will be put into place to ensure a safe environment for all. We want our students to be involved in these activities and will be continuing to work with various entities to ensure their participation. We will continue to do our best to provide these opportunities for our students.
Thank you all for your support and understanding during this time and for working with us through these challenges. There will be additional information, including the review of our SMART Start Plan as time passes and we approach the beginning of the next school year. We appreciate all that you do and your ability to be a Jungle Tiger!
Sincerely,
Cory J. Dziowgo
Acting Superintendent of Platte #1
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