04/03/2020 School Update Video Transcript

Hello Hamblen County School Family.  Today is April 3, 2020.  Many things have changed since our last broadcast and we strongly encourage our community to stay connected with these updates so you will have the most current and reliable information.

1.         The Governor issued a stay-in home executive order which mandates all Tennesseans to remain at home unless they need to conduct essential business.  His earlier order urged everyone to remain at home but this order requires individuals to stay in their homes unless it is essential business. 

2.         Daycare for essential businesses has been determined to be essential.  The Daycare program at Hillcrest, or the Extended School Program, will remain in operation.  However, it is important to note that the program will be closed April 10 for Good Friday.  We will continue to operate as long as we have sufficient personnel to staff the program. 

3.         Community feeding programs are also considered essential.  To our knowledge all community feeding sites will remain open.  The Hamblen County School Food Service Program will continue to serve meals at our five school sites and the 17 designated sites listed at the end of this broadcast.  At one point, we discussed the possibility of preparing multiple lunches for students so parents could pick up 3 lunches on Monday which would enable them to have food through Wednesday.  At this point, we don’t have the staff, or the food stock, to prepare more than a daily lunch and breakfast.  We are disseminating nearly 8,000 lunches and breakfasts per day.   We would be forced to dramatically increase the number of workers needed to produce multiple lunches on one day.  We are concerned this would cause unsafe working conditions and prevent us from having appropriate social distancing. 

4.         At this time, we will no longer allow students to drop off school-issued laptops for service.  We will continue the process once the stay-in home order is lifted.   We will still have access to on-line assistance but we will not physically repair the laptops during this Executive Order.  

5.         We will also temporarily stop distribution of the printed copies of the curriculum that we had placed in a box at the front door of the Board of Education front entryway.  We don’t want students or parents to be traveling.  At this point, the order is set to expire April 14 and we will resume the process after that date. 

6.         ESP will be closed on Good Friday. 

7.         The Hamblen County Board of Education offices will be closed until April 14.  However, we will have staff members available that can help you resolve any issues you may have via phone or email.