03/20/2020 School Update Transcript
Good evening Hamblen County School Family. Today is March 20, 2020. We hope this broadcast will keep you updated on important information regarding the school district.
First, we have discovered that we have our first confirmed case of COVID 19 in Hamblen County and Mayor Brittain is releasing an official statement on this. As of March 19, there were 154 cases in Tennessee. Virtually all of these confirmed cases involved an individual who had traveled outside of the state.
Second, one of our teachers, Mrs. Paula Mowery, is translating each of the videos into sign language for our deaf and hard of hearing citizens. You can find this translation on this website. Thanks to Mrs. Mowery for doing this for our community.
Third, school officials have reviewed multiple factors concerning the possible spread of the virus, declarations of school closures from the state level, concerns expressed by medically comprised staff returning to work, and parents with medically fragile children. School officials do not see any possible way we could return to school immediately after spring break. We are always reluctant to close schools but we don’t think we have many options at this point. Also we want to provide our parents and industry leaders with as much advanced notice as we possibly can. We will be closed through Friday, April 10. We will return on Monday, April 13, if possible. It is very likely we could be out for an extended period of time. It would be our intent to return as soon as possible but safety must drive every decision we make.
Fourth, the Board of Education office will operate on an abbreviated schedule after spring break. We will be open 8:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m. Please contact us during this time if you need something. This will include all departments. Please check with your immediate supervisor if you have a reason to change this time period.
Fifth, many groups and organizations within the county have come together to collect food for our community. We sincerely appreciate these efforts and it demonstrates the spirit of this county. After this week, it may be better to coordinate our efforts and collect food at a central location. Likely, our response to the coronavirus is going to be a long process. I am concerned we will have tremendous support at the beginning but there may be a diminishing of effort after a few weeks. Creating a reserve of food at one central location will help to ensure we have a constant supply as we move into the more difficult days. At this point, we would store all food items in the East High School dining area and stage our efforts to feed the county from there. This may enable us to more efficiently and effectively disseminate food throughout the county. Please contact Kellie Smith for details.
Sixth, please remember the school district is providing free breakfast and lunch to all children in Hamblen County who are 18 years old or younger. Please come by Hillcrest Elementary School to pick up these meals. We will be open at 10:00 a.m. and cease at 1:00 p.m. We will begin taking meals to our community via bus routes on March 30.
Seventh, the school district posted several instructional activities for students during the closure of schools. Some of our parents are struggling with these activities for a variety of reasons. This is causing these parents more anxiety and frustration. These lessons were only meant to be supplemental. Please don’t feel obligated to complete the K-8 lessons. They are optional and we don’t want to add to your frustration. Simply focus on reading with your child if you don’t understand the posted lessons. To make the curriculum easier, we are sending out additional lessons which will require less parental involvement. These materials are more directive and will require less parental guidance. However, the high school curriculum is important and we want students to complete this work to ensure they earn high school credits.
Eight, many are still asking about graduation ceremonies and proms. Again, it is too soon to make those decisions. Clearly, we will not have the proms at our scheduled times. There is a possibility we could do something later if the threat of the virus diminishes. Regardless of what happens, we hope to provide our students and parents with some type of meaningful ceremony to recognize the students graduating. We understand this is a significant milestone in a person’s life and we want to give them that rite of passage if possible. It may not look like a traditional graduation but we will do something. We will meet with students and parents to determine what this will be. We will do something to give our students that senior experience[CJP1] .
Thank you for your attention to this broadcast and we wish you the best. Stay healthy and stay strong.