Introduction

Reopening our schools in the midst of a pandemic is certainly one of those non-technical problems.  As a school district leader, I have often turned to Heifetz and Linsky when faced with big problems that defy easy answers.  Their advice centers on the notion that adaptive problem-solving requires leaders to engage multiple stakeholders in this difficult work. 

Our SAU 70 School Task Force includes more than 30 representatives from multiple employee groups as well as medical experts, public health officials, and school board liaisons.  My sincere thanks to our Task Force members for their ongoing contributions to this enormous undertaking.

Many of our team members share a personal stake in this important work as parents of students in our schools.  In the plan that follows, you will find our attempt to resume public education in a way that considers our local context with regard to the pandemic, establishes protocols for managing health and safety risks for staff and students, and provides flexibility in the event that COVID-19 cases increase in our region.

You will notice that some of our planning is still underway.  Our Task Force will continue its work throughout this school year, and in fact, until this pandemic subsides.  Our Physician Advisory Group will help us monitor and react to any changes in the local and regional course of the pandemic.  The solutions we offer in this plan will undoubtedly change as we monitor their effectiveness and adapt as necessary.  As I explained last spring when our states issued school closure and “stay at home” orders, the fact that so many of our school employees are parents of school-age children in other districts, or caregivers for susceptible family members, or are at high risk for infection themselves, adds layers of complexity to our challenge.  

Further, the fact that our school system was not designed as a distance learning enterprise means that technological limitations, lack of staff training and experience with remote instruction, and variable community access to reliable internet service ensure that remote instruction will only be our best approximation of our “normal” educational programming. 

Likewise, pressures on school routines that will accompany the array of health screening, physical distancing, cohorting, hand washing, and transportation modifications, will impact instructional time for those of you who opt for an in-person return to school.  Nevertheless, our school teams continue to prepare and I know that they will do an outstanding job educating our children in the face of adversity.

The word “unprecedented” has become shopworn in descriptions of our reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with regard to education.  Even as we wrangle with this “unprecedented” challenge, I keep returning to two words Dr. Steven Chapman has repeated like a mantra as he has advised our team during its collaboration: kindness and community. 

Though we may disagree about specific elements of the plan that follows, I believe we are bound and united by our care for our children and each other.  Our community has been strong and consistent in its support for education and its dedication to our children and will continue to rise to meet the challenge of this pandemic.

 

Sincerely,

Jay Badams,
Superintendent - SAU 70