School District of Washington Families:
Please take a moment to read the joint communication from area school districts in regard to #covid19 and future communication. We know there are still many unanswered questions moving forward, but we appreciate your patience and partnership:
Franklin and Gasconade County, MO, School Districts (5/21/2020) - As area superintendents continue to navigate this historic COVID-19 health challenge, nothing is more important than protecting the health of students, employees, and the communities they serve. As you likely know, Governor Mike Parson announced on April 16th that the state will start to reopen in May. As many businesses are starting to go back to work, Franklin and Gasconade County School Districts are also preparing a phased approach to school re-entry for things like childcare services, summer programming, athletics/activities, and the return to school in August.
School leaders will continue to review guidance from the Missouri Department of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and various school-related organizations, with the ultimate goal of reopening schools and welcoming students back into our classrooms in August.
School leaders are focused on making just-in-time decisions. Planning is currently in progress and will be ongoing throughout the summer, but final decisions regarding protocol and services will be issued a few weeks prior to resuming activities. This will allow schools to align safety practices to the most recent guidance at that time. While school leaders recognize that some patrons would like guidance to be released earlier than the timelines listed below, it is important to note that much will change over the next couple of months and making decisions too early will likely result in additional changes at a later date.
Individual school districts will send information to their parents containing guidance specific to their school district. For districts allowing activities to resume in June, guidance will be sent no later than Thursday, May 28th. For July activities, such as summer school and extra-curricular practices, guidelines will be sent to families by mid-June. Finally, parents can expect safety protocol related to the start of school on August 24th to be released by the last week in July.
The past two months have been an incredibly challenging time for the families in Franklin and Gasconade Counties and across the state of Missouri. We want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we have dealt with this unprecedented situation. We look forward to seeing our students again soon.
Sincerely,
School District of Washington
Franklin County R-II School District
Meramec Valley R-III School District
Spring Bluff R-15 School District
Strain-Japan R-16 School District
Union R-XI School District
Sullivan School District
Gasconade County R-I
Gasconade County R-II
Lonedell R-14 School District
New Haven School District
St. Clair R-13 School District
