School Update on the Coronavirus

Monday, March 16, 2020

March 16, 2020

Dear District Families,

As you have heard by now, Governor Baker has ordered schools to be closed through April 6, 2020.  He has also directed that public meetings and gatherings be limited to a maximum of 25 people.

Here is some information about how the district is responding to this evolving situation:

  • It is possible additional closures could occur

  • Our meals distribution program is up and running and will continue throughout the closure period.

  • The district’s central office will be staffed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm during this period.  It will not be open to the public, however, individuals who have called ahead and have a pressing matter may be able to enter.  School buildings will remain closed during this period.

  • The school committee was faced with a difficult decision regarding the superintendent search.  With candidates typically needing to give their current employer 3-month notice of a resignation, as well as the possibility of losing a candidate to another district, the committee felt it was necessary to not postpone the search until the end of the emergency closure period.  But circumstances have now required an unavoidable reduction in the level of participation in the process. 

The search process is continuing with a highly modified structure.  The 3 finalists will meet with school principals and district administrators this week and school committee members will hold video conferences with personnel from the candidates’ current school districts.  Unfortunately, we needed to cancel public and staff meet and greet sessions.

          The school committees’ interviews of the finalists remain scheduled for the evening of

          March 23:

                              5:30 pm   Brian Beck

                              6:45 pm   Karen Ferrandino

                              8:00 pm   Mary Jane Rickson

The committee will meet again to make their final selection on March 24.  These meetings are school committee meetings and would typically be open to the public.  Unfortunately, due to the governor’s order on limiting meeting sizes, both meetings will be closed to the public.  The meetings will be video recorded by MCTV however.

  • All athletic and extracurricular activities, meetings, and school social events are cancelled during this closure.  The rescheduling of sports seasons, the secondary school musical, kindergarten registration, and other events is being considered and adapted as things change.

  • The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is working to determine how to proceed with state MCAS tests.  Advanced Placement (AP) and other standardized test schedules are also still being adapted.  The provision of services for students with disabilities is also being worked on by DESE.

  • The district is working on plans for teachers to provide students with distance or electronic learning opportunities starting late this week or early next week.  This will not be an attempt to continue our formal curricula and students will not be graded on the assignments provided.  Instead, teachers will provide their classes with engaging learning materials and recommended tasks for them to advance their learning while at home.  Teachers will contact students via email and instructions will be provided for students on how to use Google classroom tools.  We will send you and your student plenty of information on how to take part.  This should be viewed as a low stakes, low stress opportunity to learn and if students are not able to accomplish some or all of the recommended tasks, there will be no negative school consequences.   

  • Parent-teacher conferences were to be held this week.  We are asking all teachers to send parents/guardians emails or make phone calls informing them of their students’ recent school performance.  Tentatively, we are asking that teachers accomplish this by Friday, March 27. 

  • Later today we will be posting a list of organizations and websites which can be contacted regarding community resources and supports available.  Updates of all kinds will be posted on the district website: gmrsd.org.

I am sure you are finding these recent days to be highly stressful and perhaps exhausting.  We will continue to do what we can to support you in the days ahead. 

Sincerely,

Michael Sullivan, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools