Planning for the Summer and Next School Year

Dear CVSD Families:

We know that many of you are hearing or seeing news about colleges and their plans for the next year and you may be wondering the same about PreK-12 schools. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) shared recommendations for how businesses and schools might reopen. That is likely raising many questions and concerns about what school might look like when we return in August and what summer learning opportunities might exist. While we do not have definitive answers at this time, we want to reassure you that work is underway exploring and planning for a variety of contingencies. Balancing the need to plan with waiting to use the most updated public health data is important.

It’s important to clarify that the extent to which the Champlain Valley School District can return to in-person instruction will be determined by Governor Scott in conjunction with the Vermont Department of Health. The Vermont Department of Health will use the CDC guidelines and the status of the situation in Vermont to make informed decisions. The Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) will then issue specific guidance for schools.

In preparation for potential instructional guidance, CVSD leadership teams, in collaboration with faculty and staff, are establishing contingency plans to address the following:

• In-person instruction within health and safety guidelines (TBD)
• Remote learning curricula
• Hybrid models that blend in-person instruction and remote learning

As teams work on these contingency plans, we will be examining data in at least three critical areas so that we can be ready to meet the needs of all learners:

• Student and family feedback: We will seek information and feedback before the end of this school year to inform decisions about how to best meet the academic and social-emotional needs of all students.
• Assessment results: We are developing a system to efficiently assess students’ understanding and skills to inform academic instructional design.
• Curriculum assessment: Faculty will examine and communicate the extent to which grade-level expectations related to curricula were met during this past school year to inform adjustments to instruction.

We understand parents’ concern for the safety of their children, their families, and the entire community. We also know there are parents who need a safe, structured environment for their children while they work, or feel they are not able to support their child’s learning effectively from home and are concerned for their academic progress. Please know that we will do everything we can, within the guidance, to ensure safety and excellent learning opportunities for all CVSD students.

Summer Programming

During a typical school year, April and May are spent finalizing the planning for the various summer programming options that exist in CVSD. On Friday, May 15th, Governor Scott released information that signaled that in-person instruction may be able to be provided in schools this summer, so long as health outcomes in the state continue to look positive and schools can comply with relevant health information at the time. This has allowed CVSD administration to begin the process of planning for what summer instruction could look like - perhaps with both a remote and in-person option. The Agency of Education will issue additional guidance with more specifics about what in-person instruction could look like, which will continue to inform what we are able to provide. CVSD administrators are convening a working group with faculty to develop summer instruction options. We understand that the uncertainty is a challenge - however, as noted above, we are bound by state-level guidance that has not been developed to date.

Families of children who may receive Extended School Year (ESY) services through their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) will be receiving additional information regarding those services for the summer.

As we receive new guidance and develop plans accordingly, we will communicate updates and engage students and families in the process of meeting the unique needs of all CVSD students.

We hope you have a safe, healthy, and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.

~ The Champlain Valley School District Administration