COVID-19

School Closure Parent Communication 4/17/20

Darren Hanna

APR 17, 2020

Darren D. Hanna

Superintendent of Schools

Emmetsburg Community School District

dhanna@e-hawks.org

Office  (712) 852-3201

4/17/2020

News from Governor Reynolds’ News Conference

  • Schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year.  

  • School hour/day requirements will be waived if the Continuous Learning Opportunities are implemented through the end of the scheduled school year.  

  • Spring sports seasons have been canceled

  • A decision on Summer sports seasons will be made by June 1, 2020

  • ESCD is required to submit a Return to Learn Plan to the DE by July 1, 2020

  • The Late Start Date requirement for schools to start no earlier than August 23rd each year has been waived for the 2020-21 School Year. 

ECSD Response:

I am so proud of the work being done by everyone at ECSD.  The support for each other, students, families, and the community is nothing less than inspirational.  So where do we go from here?

  • We will continue to offer Voluntary Continuous Learning Opportunities through May 22nd which was the scheduled end to the school year.  

  • We continue to work on access issues for students.  The parking lots at the High School and the West are currently Hotspots for where students can access the internet utilizing their device.  We ask that all students maintain social distancing while utilizing these Hotspots.  

  • The Secondary Administration Team is putting together a recommendation for grades, credits, and graduation requirements related to the shortened 2nd Semester.  The guidance from the DE is that these are still local decisions, and we have received waivers on requirements in Physical Education, Government, and CPR.  

  • There are many questions surrounding Prom and Graduation.  We are awaiting additional guidance from the State/DE as to our options with today’s order.  The District Administration Team had set the following alternate dates and we will hold onto these until we have further guidance:

    • Prom--Prom June 6th

    • Graduation--June 14th

    • If we miss Prom, we will not reschedule.  If we miss Graduation we are working on an alternate virtual graduation plan.  

More to come next week.

Stay Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Stay Well!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darren D Hanna

Superintendent Emmetsburg Community School District