Dear Tri-Valley Families:

The Board of Education and Administration have been working since March of last school year to navigate the constantly changing facts pertaining to the re-opening of school in late August. Like all of our residents, we have dealt with continually changing data and recommendations from medical and health professionals as well as constant fluctuations in the number of new cases daily. At the end of the day, one basic tenet still remains on which all decisions are made… Parents are the ultimate decision makers when determining what is best for their children. We always have and will continue to respect and honor the authority of parents in making decisions for their children.

Because of that, we intend to open the new school year with a traditional five day week on our normal school calendar. We intend to provide normal bussing services and all other typical school operations with a few modifications in response to COVID 19. The following list is not exhaustive and will likely not answer all questions. We will continue to update residents as we move closer towards the start of the school year.

1. We will be recommending that students wear masks while riding the school bus
2. We will be recommending that students in grades 7-12 wear masks while changing classes or in the hallways
3. All staff will be required to wear facial coverings, students may wear them at any time if they so choose.
4. We are currently working on cafeteria procedures in order to comply with Health Department food service requirements
5. We are in the process of installing hand sanitizing stations in every classroom and in multiple other locations
6. We will be asking caregivers to monitor every student’s temperature each morning and to be vigilant about not sending them to school if they have any reason to believe they are ill or have been exposed to Covid
7. We have purchased multiple mist sprayers to disinfect classrooms and busses as often as possible

We are communicating regularly with the health department and no options are off of the table in terms of responding to an outbreak within the Tri-Valley District. We are planning and training for our teachers to be able to teach remotely and in-person simultaneously. We will be prepared to shut down in-person schooling on short notice and in 14 day increments. Parents should plan accordingly. We have purchased new laptop computers for our staff with full capabilities for real-time on-line schooling from any location with a broadband connection. It is our intention that teachers will report to their classrooms and conduct classes at their normally scheduled time whether students are physically present or not. We will have some computers available for students who need them.

For those in our district who do not have broadband access, we have boosted the wireless signals at all of our buildings so that they can be accessed from parking lots or nearby locations. Daily lessons will be recorded and posted so that they may be accessed at any time by our students.

More information will be forthcoming as we continue to plan for the upcoming school year. We ask that our community be patient and flexible as we enter into the new school year. There will be multiple issues to resolve as we try to accommodate the needs of our students. We will work with you and we ask that you do the same.

Sincerely,

Mark K. Neal