SPS Covid-19 Update - April 10, 2020

April 10, 2020

Dear Shrewsbury Families & Colleagues,

I hope that the great majority of you and your families remain in good health.  I am aware of the fact that some of you have been directly impacted by having a loved one affected by COVID-19, including illnesses and deaths, and on behalf of our school district I am deeply sorry.  

I am providing an update to you this afternoon both through this email message and through this six-minute video message I recorded earlier today with the assistance of Marc Serra, the Executive Director of the Shrewsbury Media Connection, which I encourage you to view.  

Please note:

1. Governor Baker’s order that schools close through May 1 remains in effect.  If this changes and the closure is extended, we will communicate that with you.

2. We have expanded our SPS Remote Learning program to continue connecting with students, to provide additional structure, and to increase student engagement with learning.  We have also further expanded the resources for families found on our website. Please see our resources for families to support students learning at home, along with additional online educational resources for students and families across multiple subjects, as well as information and resources to assist families in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

 3. At this past Wednesday evening’s School Committee meeting (video here), the Committee voted to change the school calendar so that Tuesday, April 21, Wednesday, April 22, and Thursday, April 23 are now remote learning days instead of the previously scheduled April vacation days.  Monday, April 20 is the state holiday, Patriots Day, and Friday, April 24 remains a vacation day.  Thank you to the 2,304 families and 740 staff members who provided feedback through the online surveys on this topic.  Both families and staff conveyed a significant, clear preference to modify the April break to include remote learning days.  Your comments also were helpful in helping the administration and the School Committee understand your perspectives. In the interest of transparency, the full results from both the family and staff surveys, including all comments, can be found here and here.  You can also find a summary in the slide presentation from the meeting here.

My memorandum to the School Committee (found here) outlines in detail my rationale for recommending converting three vacation days to remote learning days, despite the strong preference for families and slighter preference for staff to convert all four eligible days during the April vacation week.  Ultimately, I felt that it was preferable to preserve one of those days in June to have school if we are back in session; to not end the school year on a Monday; and to provide some breathing room to those families and staff who communicated through the survey that they would benefit from preserving vacation time during that week to attend to their personal and family needs.  The memo also explains how the number of total school days is tied to state regulation and the contractual agreements with our educators and support staff. With the change in the calendar, the last day of school is now Tuesday, June 16.  You can find the updated school calendar here

4. Thanks to so many of you who have contributed to Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services since the appeal we made last week.  SYFS is experiencing a financial crisis due to the cancellation of their annual fundraising gala because of the pandemic.  SYFS provides critically important social services and supports for so many in our community, and are a valuable partner to our schools.  Please click here for information on how you can help SYFS during their time of need if you are able.

The feedback from the surveys and other messages we have been receiving have underscored how important it is to recognize that you all are experiencing the pandemic crisis in very different ways, depending on the specific circumstances related to your health, finances, work demands, and family situations.  It has never been more important for us all to work together with empathy, grace, and compassion. We will get through this together, as a community, by helping one another. Recently, I’ve been hearing Lean on Me played frequently due to the recent death of Bill Withers, who wrote and recorded this classic.  As the song says, we need to lean on each other and share the load, and if we do our community will come out of this crisis stronger than ever. 

Thank you for your continued support of our schools during these challenging times, and best wishes for a happy Passover and a happy Easter to all who are celebrating.        

Respectfully,

Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools

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