March 19th 2020 20:25

BCSC Families –
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding during this unusual and unpredictable time. Please know that we are doing our best to communicate effectively while maintaining educational programming for your children.

Spring Break will be extended through April 10. No new learning activities will be posted during the three weeks of Spring Break. Teachers and staff will also be on Spring Break and may not be accessible by email.

The most frequent question I receive from parents is – “When is this going to be over?” It is a reasonable question and one I wish I could answer. Unfortunately the situation is changing rapidly and it is impossible to determine an end date. Today the Governor extended time that students could not physically be in school through May 1. He also eliminated any state testing for this school year. Based on that new information, we have developed three possible plans to complete the school year, although other scenarios could emerge in the coming weeks. At this time, these plans seem to address the three most likely outcomes, fully understanding the direction and implementation of each of these plans comes directly from public health officials.

Plan A: Health officials provide the all-clear so staff and students can physically return to school. In this case, it would be our intent to start school as soon as possible following that announcement—but no sooner than May 4. We will utilize At Home Learning starting April 13 until the all-clear announcement is made. (Please know that we have listened to your feedback and are working on ways to eliminate or greatly minimize any printing at home.) It is still our intent to end the school year on or near May 29 with this plan.

Plan B: Health officials continue to ban students from physically being in schools through the remainder of the school year. In this case, we would continue to utilize At Home Learning from April 13 through May 22. (Please know that we have listened to your feedback and are working on ways to eliminate or greatly minimize any printing at home. Otherwise, we expect the experience to be similar to what took place this week.)

Plan C: The Governor cancels the school year. A window of time would be designated for teachers to close out the school year and students retrieve any of their personal items.

Parents, particularly of middle school and high school students, ask about activities like concerts, athletic contests, field trips and graduation. Should school resume and gatherings of this magnitude are permitted, school leaders will do their best to ensure as many scheduled activities as possible go forward. If we are not able to reconvene in person, these activities will be cancelled—some already have been due to financial deposit deadlines and scheduling commitments. We will postpone a decision on graduation for the Class of 2020 as long as possible as it is our top priority to have this important event.

If you have questions or thoughts, please share them with me at jsnapp@brownsburg.k12.in.us.

Sincerely,

Jim Snapp
Superintendent

Press release from Brownsburg Community Schools