1.     Online education starts Monday March 23, 2020 

2.     We will work to make sure that our communication is clear to the public regarding the time and effort you have been putting into making these significant changes. I will be discussing the specific things you have been preparing over this last week.  We will begin our online class work starting on Monday, March 23, 2020 per the confirmation I received from the NDDPI.  Our staff has gone above and beyond to ensure we are able to meet the needs of our students.  Students and parents, you continue to be flexible with us as we navigate these uncharted waters.  Once our eLearning plan is formally approved, it will be considered a working document that will take time to address as issues present themselves.  Please be in frequent communication with teachers through email, google hangout, remind, etc….  We are all here to help the best we can.

3.     Contracting Coronavirus: Anyone who works within our buildings or students who contract the coronavirus, need to report this to the school.  If an employee of our district, or a classified employee’s immediate family member were to contract Coronavirus and they do not have enough sick leave to cover a 14 day recovery period, they would be able to request sick leave from our emergency sick leave bank. This would be done with the expectation that they also need to receive medical documentation from their doctor to submit as verification so we can plan and prepare on how to reassign their job responsibilities during their recovery.

4.     FMLA: These events will not affect federal protections like FMLA, so nobody needs to worry about not receiving benefits for maternity leave or other family emergencies.

5.     Payroll: State aid payments are 92% complete for this school year and the Governor’s waiver means that we will receive full funding until April 1st. After our virtual learning plan has been accepted, it is my understanding our aid payments will continue as the new learning modality will be counted toward our contracted instructional hours.

6.     Work Expectations: Guidelines for staff accountability are being drafted and will be released next week. This will include check-ins with your building principal and continued virtual coaching and collaboration with Kaye. These guidelines will also include rules around social media use during the workday and the ways in which we expect you to represent yourself as a professional and our school district in the content you post. As of right now we are discussing the possibility of having classified staff report to their classroom to work pending the Governor’s decision to extend his executive order after April 1st.

7.     Essential Staff: As long as coronavirus has not been discovered in our building or contracted by an employee who has access to our buildings essential staff will continue to report to work. Work responsibilities during this extended closure may differ from the norm for classified employees.

8.     Extended School Year: This is a dynamic situation and no firm decisions have been made on whether or not it will be safe to reopen schools this year, or if we will end up needing to make up instructional minutes this summer. But based on the guidance we received from the Governor, if our virtual learning plan is approved, we believe that these actions will lead toward our minutes being counted and our contractual obligations being fulfilled.

9.     Assessments: I was told all state required testing has now been lifted.  However, ACT make-up exams will still be scheduled at a later date. 

10.  Employee Assistance: We will do our best to keep up with changing developments in state and federal legislation that is meant to help ease the financial burden to all Americans during this national emergency. If we are given information or resources on state or federal programs that you can apply for help from, Amy Betz will send this information to all staff as it becomes available.

11.  Public Communication: Please remember that all media and public inquiries about school policy should be directed to me. I will be addressing some of this information including guidance from Supt. Baesler and Governor Burgum with the public after our school board meeting on Monday night.

12.  IEP Students: As of right now our special education students are not allowed to have access to our buildings. If the Governor restricts public access after April 1st, we will work with our special education teachers and Souris Valley Special Services to make sure we are operating within the legal guidelines during this emergency period. This situation may change between now and then and I will be in contact with officials at DPI to see what their recommendations are.

13.  Lunch Plans:  Watch for the alert tonight.  All students are eligible for a free meal along with breakfast items for the following day.

14.  Planning for Next Year:  We continue to plan for next year as we manage this crisis.  Look for more information coming out in the upcoming weeks from building principals in regard to schedules for next year and preregistration for preschool and kindergarten, etc.

15.  Tech Issues:  For help with technical issues and difficulties, contact our technicians Jason New at the HS and Cyndie Behles at the elementary.  Email is best way to get ahold of them out of school. 

Lastly, THANK YOU everyone during these difficult times.  The stress we are bearing is immense, but I believe these difficult times will only makes stronger for the future. 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Klemisch

Nick.klemisch@k12.nd.us

701-463-2818 ext. 204