Dear Shrewsbury Families and Community Members,
Last evening, the School Committee voted unanimously to approve my recommended Shrewsbury Public Schools 2020-2021 Reopening Plan and authorized it to be submitted to the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) by next week’s deadline. You can find a summary of the plan in the presentation slides here. The full plan can be viewed here, with the Executive Summary beginning on page 17.
The reopening plan offers families a choice of having their child participate in one of two options for their educational program:
1. a hybrid program where most students* will attend school in person for two days per week and learn remotely from home on the other three days (Cohorts B & C)
2. a stand-alone, full remote program where students would only learn remotely from home (no in-person attendance; Cohort D)
* A small number of students (Cohort A) with complex special needs and beginning English language learners will be assigned to attend in person every day. These families will be contacted directly if their child qualifies to be in Cohort A.
We will be asking families to make their initial choice by August 14, 2020 through the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Instructions on how to do this will be sent early next week.
We will also be holding three informational webinars next week for families to ask questions according to the following schedule:
Preschool - Grade 4: Tuesday, August 11 at 6:30pm
Grades 5 - 8: Wednesday, August 12 at 6:30pm
Grades 9 - 12: Thursday, August 13 at 6:30pm
Please note that webinar links will be sent via email early next week. Families are also welcome to send questions they would like to see addressed in the webinars to: 2020reopen@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us.
The School Committee also voted to adjust the 2020-2021 School Year Calendar. At the direction of the MA DESE, the start of the school year for students is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, to provide 10 training and planning days in order for staff to adequately prepare for this unique school year. The first four days of school, September 15-18, will be early release days for students who will be attending in person.
Finally, please note that the School Committee also unanimously adopted an updated budget recommendation based on the additional state funding that we can incorporate into our plan. This leaves the remaining budget gap at $1.1 million. Click here to review the presentation slides with all of this data. It is my hope that this budget is approved at the Annual Town Meeting tomorrow morning, Saturday, August 8, starting at 8:30 am.
Thanks for your continued support as we navigate through this extremely complex situation.
Respectfully,
Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools