Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue sent a letter to district parents and staff on February 9 to share updates and information.

The letter follows.

Dear Parents and Staff,

I hope you and your families are well and managing the New England winter weather. I wanted to send some updates and reminders as we look ahead in the coming weeks and months.

Budget

As you know, the [Board of Education] passed its budget on February 2 with a 2.58 percent increase. Our budget includes an extension of world language at [Reed Intermediate School] and [Newtown Middle School], academic support positions across the district, a new [kindergarten to fifth grade] math program and digital resources, as well as 1-1 technology. The budget subgroup of PEAC (Parent Educator Advisory Council) created a brochure at the following link: docs.google.com/document/d/1DKXd2mNTg-k9jPxNu46nuRGgjD7K1apNXrS4vzEkuU4/edit?usp=sharing. The brochure highlights important requests in the 2021-22 operational plan. In addition, you can review the BOE presentation with details on our website.

NOTE: The BOE [was set to present its budget] to the Board of Finance on Thursday, February 11.

COVID Update

In the last week we had a case at Reed and NHS, as well as Hawley. These cases were updated on the dashboard. I have attached the latest report by EdAdvance that shows a decrease in cases over the last 14 days rolling average. More importantly, this is the first time that all of the districts in the region have a secondary indicator showing a directional change (positivity rates vs. tests) trending toward flat. This is good news for our school community, and we want to thank you all — students, staff, and families — for your ongoing compliance with health safety protocols and mitigation strategies.

Athletics

Newtown athletic competitions kicked off [February 8]! We want to remind staff and parents that you and your family members can stream high school events from across the country with a monthly subscription to NHFS Network. More details can be found at the following link: nfhsnetwork.com. You may also stream hockey, which can be subscribed to at a different site: livebarn.com. We hope you are able to get to a few games “virtually” and support our students!

Vaccinations

We were notified by the State to upload our 65 and older group into the VAMS system for vaccinations. We have over 50 staff members who qualified in this group, and immediate notifications to set vaccination appointments were received by members of our school community.

Snow Days

Please know that the use of remote learning for snow days was authorized by the State of Connecticut for this year as emergency only (COVID). The use of remote will be used in lieu of extending the school year. As was mentioned in a previous communication, we will be mindful of the timing of an impending storm, students’ access to their devices, as well as other factors such as power outages that might impact virtual learning. Calls may be made in advance, whenever possible, but we base our decisions on the most recent meteorological information and the potential impact a storm may have on bus transportation. The use of these days will allow our schools to release earlier in June in accordance with our school calendar.

Parent Teacher Conferences In March

Our calendar outlines the 3-hour early release for all schools on March 18 and 19 for parent/teacher conferences. Please note that NHS will release early on March 19, but since no conferences are scheduled on that day for NHS, students will resume instruction for their last two classes remotely.

Upcoming Survey

The District Security and Safety Committee has had a long-standing partnership with John Jay College. Each year we work collaboratively on developing a brief research proposal that investigates a timely topic. This year, the theme of bullying at the secondary level will be reviewed and a brief survey will be sent out to parents, students, and staff in grades seven to 12. Further information will be sent out by Dr Kim Longobucco and Tom Einhorn by Friday, February 12, with details about the survey.

We are so glad our students are able to be back in school. We appreciate your patience, effort, and understanding as we continue to move through a challenging year. We will be working with school leaders on potential plans for spring activities and options for end of year ceremonies in the coming weeks and months ahead.

Stay well!

Dr Lorrie Rodrigue, Superintendent