Schools Closed for one week March 16th through March 20th

Friday, March 13, 2020

March 13, 2020

Dear District Families,

After consulting with state agencies, local health officials, and area school districts, the district decided to close its schools for one week, March 16-20. We will reassess the situation next week to consider what to do beyond March 20.

While there are no identified cases of the COVID-19 virus in our schools or towns, the lack of testing capacity for the virus creates a situation of a very large unknown. In this circumstance, we would like GMRSD to join in the collaborative effort to prevent a spike in this disease, which could overburden medical resources and put at risk the well-being of many of our citizens.

Details Related to this Decision:

  • It is possible additional closures could occur.
  • Regardless of how many closure days we have, the last day of school for students this year will be Thursday, June 18th.
  • We will not attempt to put a distance or electronic learning program in place for this period of closure.
  • We are working to set up a meals program for qualifying students during this period. We will post information about this on the district website gmrsd.org as they develop. We will also send emails home to all families about this opportunity.
  • Our intention is to staff the district central office during this period but not school offices.
  • As of this writing, the superintendent search process is suspended.
  • All athletic and extracurricular activities, meetings, and school social events will be cancelled during this closure.
  • We will be in touch about alternate plans for next week’s parent teacher conferences.
  • We have community members from our Community School Partnership working on establishing a website where folks can communicate with each other to offer mutual support with resources like childcare during this time. Once this is established we will relay information about it.
  • Updates of all kinds will be posted on the district website: gmrsd.org.

This decision was a difficult one, as it causes serious disruption and hardship for many. I appreciate your understanding and hope to see the continued strong community spirit and mutual support Montague and Gill are known for, in the days ahead.

Sincerely Yours,

Michael Sullivan, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

michael.sullivan@gmrsd.org