Nyssa School District Employees and School Board,
As you know, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently released a document titled "Ready Schools, Safe Learners: Guidance for the school year 2020-21." This document outlines the requirements each district and school must meet in order to open school in the fall of 2020. It is a 47 page document, so there is a lot to consider. You can find the document by clicking on this link: Ready Schools, Safe Learners,
Or, you can also visit the Oregon Department of Education website to find this information: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/healthsafety/Pages/Planning-for-the-2020-21-School-Year.aspx
Some of the main highlights of the plan are the following:
- ODE has given us three options in order to begin school:
- Full in-person school; or
- hybrid model (some students at school, others at home on computer), or
- Full distance learning (like what we just finished).
- Requirements to begin with students in the buildings (full or hybrid): need 35 sq. ft. per person in a classroom, along with many other health protocols (taking temperatures, extra hand-washing stations, students stay in cohort groups, etc.).
- Coordinate with our local health agency (Malheur County Health Department)
- Coordinate with our school community on the plan to return.
As you can imagine, there is a lot of work for us to do in a very short time. We will present the final plan at the school board meeting on Aug. 10, and students are scheduled to return to school on Aug. 19.
In order to engage our community, I have planned a community Zoom meeting for all to tune in, listen to what we have planned so far, and give your input. This meeting will be Thursday June 25 at 6:00 pm. I will send a separate zoom invitation to you all for this meeting, as well as post meeting information on our district website.
Thank you for all the work you do to make our school great, as we all work to build a promising future for our students.
I look forward to hearing your input for our Return-to-School Plan.
Darren
Darren S. Johnson, Ph.D. Superintendent
Nyssa School District #26
(541) 372-2275