From the Desk of the Superintendent...
December 23, 2020
JANUARY 2021 DISTRICT DISPATCH
Welcome back to the new year and the beginning of the second semester. Students resume classes on Monday, January 4, 2021. With winter here, the possibility of late starts, early dismissals, or school cancellations is always with us. Please remember to tune in to the following radio and television stations if the weather appears threatening: KMA (960 AM), KFAB (1110 AM), KNOD (105.3 FM), KMTV (Channel 3), WOWT (Channel 6), and KETV (Channel 7). In addition, our school district subscribes to the JMC Instant Parent Contact System. This automated telephone broadcast service enables school personnel to notify all households and parents by telephone within minutes of an emergency or unplanned event that causes a late start, an early dismissal, or a school cancellation. If you have not signed up for this service and are interested in participating, please contact the principal’s office where your child or children attend. In addition, if you have signed up in the past but have stopped receiving calls, it may be because you have changed your telephone number and the school district is not aware of that change. If you think this might be the case, contact the principal’s office where your child or children attend and make sure your current telephone number is on file.
As I write this article, we are continuing to face the challenges of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hybrid model has been working well for us. Our weekly positivity rates have been consistently below one percent of our total student and employee population. I want to extend a sincere “thank you” to our students, employees, parents, and community members for being attentive to masking protocols, social distancing, and hand sanitizing. I believe those things have made a big difference for us and have enabled us to continue keeping school in session.
Unlike a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, or other natural disaster that wreaks havoc and then ends quickly so that recovery can begin, a pandemic spreads around the world and lasts for an extended period of time. As Dr. Michael Osterholm and Mark Olshaker note in their book, Deadliest Enemy, a pandemic does not just hit one location, leaving all other locations with the ability to come to its aid. A pandemic hits many locations simultaneously and results in all of those locations needing emergency assistance. As we have observed and experienced ourselves, a pandemic has a rolling effect as it first hits individuals, then civil authorities, then local businesses, and then interstate and international commerce. The effects are immediate and the consequences are long-term. With vaccines now available, hopefully the year 2021 will give us a welcome reprieve from the tumult and anxiety of the year 2020.
