Lee County School District

Information Regarding Remote Learning Day During the board meeting tonight we had a discussion of meeting the needs of both in-person learners and our virtual learners. We don’t have enough staff to separate virtual and in-person learners into two groups and our teachers having been working hard to try to manage uploading the content for all learners into the virtual classrooms because we know that at any time we could have to switch back to all remote learning for certain time periods if the virus case count were to increase in our community. We have been struggling to meet the needs of both in-person and virtual students and we want to give our all to our students. In order to give our staff the time they need to manage both worlds and give all students our best effort, our school board has approved for our district to have one completely remote learning day through December. On these remote learning days, students will complete their work from home and teachers will work with virtual students as well as complete all the tasks they have to do to provide the best instruction to both sets of learners. The first complete remote learning day will be this Friday, October 16. We will then utilize Thursday, October 22, Friday October 30, and Friday Nov. 6 as remote learning days. Once our 4 day weeks have passed, we will change the remote days to Wednesday to give students a break from masks in the middle of the week and ensure that we maintain the focus that these remote learning days are still school days. The remainder of the remote learning days will be November 11th and 18th and December 2nd, 9th, and 16th. We will evaluate the need for additional days at our December board meeting. During our first few weeks of being in a complete remote learning environment many of our students did exceptionally well at managing the curriculum and completing their work. However, many students also have received failing grades for not completing work. If your child is still working in the completely virtual learning environment it is critical that you help monitor your child’s work to make sure they are completing all assignments in a timely manner. The board has also committed some additional staff to help us try to close the gap that has been created for our virtual learners and we will get more information out to all stakeholders soon regarding options available for additional one on one help for your child who is in a remote learning setting daily.

Lunch Menu for October 5th through October 8th Monday- Pizza Tuesday- Turkey and Cheese Sandwich Wednesday- Elementary- Hot Pocket Pizza Sticks Middle High- Mozzarella Sticks with Sauce Thursday- Chili and Grilled Cheese OR Strawberry Yogurt Grab and Go Lunch Sack Thursday of this week and each following week we will do our best to follow the lunch menu provided at this link as well as on our Food Service department page on our website. This schedule has meal plans for both in person and virtual learners on a two week rotating schedule. In person students will have an option of a hot meal or a grab and go lunch sack each day beginning on Thursday. Some meals may change slightly depending on different commodities that arrive. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gdTc-hrZn5KS7a1Rdo-0AULUFvk0mGXk/view?usp=sharing Please remember if you are the parent of a virtual learner and want to pick up lunch at the back of the Middle High School please contact Darian Creech by phone at 606-464-5000 or email her at Darian.creech@lee.kyschools.us. You may leave her a message if she is not in her office and let her know the names of the students for whom you will be picking up lunch.

Lunch Menu for Wednesday and Thursday Our food service department has to follow a lot of new guidelines as they prepare and package food to go out to our students in order to keep food as safe as possible as it is taken to classrooms during in person classes. Everything must be bagged or packaged, which includes items such as an apple that doesn't have a peeling that would be removed before eating. Our food service department is working under strict guidelines and we are learning as we go to work under these guidelines and provide food that our students like. We are also adjusting to the number of meals we are preparing for in person and virtual learners. Because food has to go out to classrooms and students aren't able to come through a line to pick up food, we will work to develop a way to offer choices in the coming weeks. To help families decide if you would like to eat food from the cafeteria or if you would prefer to send a lunch with your child, we want to let you know what the main menu items will be for the next two days. We will be posting this to the Live Feed of our website for each week. Tomorrow we will have Chicken Fajita Tacos and Thursday we will have Pork BBQ sandwiches. In person students will be provided food on Thursday afternoon to take home for Friday and the weekend. Virtual students who need lunches and breakfasts may pick them up between the hours of 10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on Thursday and will be able to continue to pick up food each Monday and Thursday. The pick up location is the back of the Middle High School at the entrance near the cafeteria. This is the same spot that middle school students are dropped off and picked up. There is a sign on the door giving you the number to call when you arrive and food will be brought to you at the door. If your child is a virtual learner and you want to pick up food each week, please call 606-464-5000 and let Darian Creech know so she can ensure she prepares enough food for pick up. You may also email her at darian.creech@lee.kyschools.us.

Information for September 28-October 2 We have a few things to let you know as we start back to in-person classes tomorrow, Monday, September 28th. The information is in the video linked here and also posted to the Message from the Superintendent page on our district webpage. I will keep all communications updated on this page so you can find anything you need at any time. I have also linked the KY COVID-19 page with the color coded map and a link to all the guidance from the Kentucky Department of Education on this page. Additionally, when the state provides a link to the school and district dashboards that show how many cases are in various schools and districts throughout the state, I will share that link on the Message from the Superintendent page as well. We look forward to having students back in our buildings this Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesday and Friday of this week will be virtual learning days. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZXJSyFnyKjNMz5zilt1dwTGboTqTb8d3/view?usp=sharing

Lee County Schools are returning to in person classes beginning September 28, 2020. We have a lot of information for our parents and are sharing it in the attached video and in a letter on our webpage and Facebook page. Please take a few minutes today to read the letter or watch the video so you know what in person and virtual learning will look like when we return and what needs to happen if you have changed your mind about how you want your children to continue in school when we start back to in person classes. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X1INt1HmXob3w_xBGIUmRPrE7loAwxml/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/14AKcETEkv8w6s5_KLZuPEakyVzfqUsHj/view?usp=sharing

Join us for our Back to School Bash and Registration Event Next Week Families will come to the Board of Education to complete paperwork and then go to the schools to pick up supplies and information for the upcoming year. Please come according to the schedule on the flier if possible to help us spread out the number of people. Paperwork is on our district webpage on a link under Parent Resources if families want to print and complete it prior to coming.

If you have questions regarding the virtual learning program we will implement as school opens on August 24, 2020, please submit them through this Google Form and we will do our best to answer them in a live Facebook session with Superintendent Sarah Wasson as well as Principals Carol Napier and Danny Wright and Assistant Principal Jessica Napier on Monday, August 17, at 4:00 p.m. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_p9c_qysMNnRWvo9ScZiCOqHhKitJcTYiFHErL65pd7HIFA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Updated Calendar During the special called Lee County Board of Education meeting on August 3, the Board established an updated school calendar. This calendar will have students start on August 24. There is still a choice for parents of in-person classes or virtual classes, and most parents have responded to our survey letting us know which choice they prefer. If there are still parents who have not communicated that with us, please call the schools or the central office and speak to Mr. Phillip Angel. If the governor asks schools to hold off in-person classes past the 24th of August, we will start school all virtual on this date. We will be establishing dates and times soon for parents to complete needed paperwork for the 2020-2021 school year and to get the devices to families who requested them in the survey. When this process is set up, we will send a phone call out to all parents as well as post more information on our district webpage and Facebook page.

Paraeducator Study Guide Link and Other Employment Opportunities Click on the link below to take you to our employment page where you will find the study guide in the documents section as well as an application for employment. https://www.lee.kyschools.us/o/lee-county/page/employment--350

Updated School Calendar Attached is the updated school calendar for the 20-21 school year with a new student start date of August 12. This will be the first day for students whether they select in person classes or our virtual program. We will continually monitor the cases of COVID-19 in our area to determine if this is still the best start date, but it is the belief of our district leadership based on health department guidance that starting early will give us more days of in person instruction available prior to possibly having to go into a virtual environment on a more regular basis depending on the trend of the virus. We appreciate those families who have already submitted your survey regarding your selection for in-person or virtual curriculum for the upcoming year. If you have still not sent your survey to us, please try to get it in the mail by tomorrow, Thursday July 16, so we can best prepare for the upcoming year. We know that what you select now on the survey may change as the situation with the virus changes, but if we know what you want to do as of now we can make better plans to serve your children. Thank you all for working with us to help us make the best decisions possible for the upcoming school year.

Quick Link to Employment Opportunities Please follow this link to find employment opportunities in the Lee County Schools. https://www.lee.kyschools.us/o/lee-county/page/employment--350

P-EBT Food Benefit Program for Public School Students Students who receive free or reduced price lunch are eligible to receive an additional benefit of $313.50 due to COVID-19 for households to spend on food at home for students. If your child is currently enrolled in SNAP benefits, you do not need to do anything. These funds will automatically be added to the P-EBT Card. If your child is receiving Medicaid or KTAP benefits based on income levels below the NSLP income guidelines, or if a child is in foster care, a P-EBT card will be mailed to you with instructions and you don't need to do anything to apply. According to information we have received at this time, all other students in the Lee County Schools may apply for this benefit because we participate in the CEP program and all students here qualify for free lunch. Please see the attached flier for information on how to apply. You will need your child's state issued school identification number. This number is the same number students use to log in to Infinite Campus to access their grades and attendance information. If you do not know this number, you may call 606-464-5000 and ask to speak to Sherry Profitt. Please call next week Tuesday - Friday from 8:00-12:00 and 12:30-3:30. You will need to be able to provide information that identifies you as a child's guardian before you can receive this information. Please have the child's birthdate and social security number available to tell Ms. Profitt when you call. If the information does not match what we have in Infinite Campus you will need to come by our office and show identification to prove guardianship.

Student Voice Survey The Student Voice Team of Kentucky is asking students in grades 6-12 to complete a student voice survey related to their experience with school and how COVID-19 has affected the way they are learning and feeling. If students in grades 6-12 would like to participate, please complete the survey at the following link. https://surveymonkey.com/r/svtcovid19

School lunches are once again being taken to pick up points throughout the county. The attached picture shows the locations and pick up times and these are also still on our webpage. If you need a lunch and have not been coming to get one please call us in the morning and we will make sure we have enough. Also, if you have been coming to get lunches but no longer plan to come, let us know so we can reduce our numbers. We can feed any child age 18 and under in the county. There have been many questions about our end of the year activities such as prom, graduation, and promotion ceremonies. At this time, the only thing we know for sure is that we will not be able to have prom on May 2nd as originally planned. If students have ordered tuxedos or other items for the prom it would be best to try now to cancel those things. If there is any chance for us to hold a prom or special dance later in the year, even after school is officially out, we want to do this for our kids. But until the spread of this disease is under control we can’t make any plans or set any new date. Additionally, we had moved the senior trip to New York up to July, but we are going to be working on cancelling that trip as well. With the affect this virus is having on New York right now, we don’t feel comfortable that going in July will be safe for our kids and staff. We will see what recommendations come from the governor’s office at the end of April and May and see if we can plan any other type activity for our seniors. Regarding end of the year promotion ceremonies and graduation, we don’t have an answer at this time. We know these ceremonies are important to our students and we are hoping that time will give us what we need to be able to have some kind of ceremony. For our senior class, this is especially hard as we know they will move on to other adventures in their lives. Our goal now is to plan to create a virtual ceremony of some type and be ready if this is our only option, but we also will have hope that we can have a ceremony at a later date. If seniors and their families have suggestions or input they would like to give, please reach out to Ms. Smith, Mr. Angel, Mr. Stickler, or Ms. Wasson through e-mail or give us a call. We miss our students very much and want everyone to know that these are tough times and decisions for all of us, but as Governor Beshear says, we will get through this together. The number one goal is to keep everyone healthy and come out of this stronger and closer in spirit than ever before.

KET Schedule Even though we are on spring break, we want to let you know that KET has changed its daily programming to bring educational opportunities for children of all ages. If you can access KET, you might want to check out the attached schedule and tune in for shows that would interest you and your kids.

Update on School Closing The governor has asked us to take additional time out of school and we will follow his recommendation. At this time, school will be out until April 20. March 23 - March 27 will be our second week of NTI days. March 30-April 3 will be our spring break. No NTI work will be required during that week. April 6 - April 10 and April 13 - April 7 will also be NTI days. We will be utilizing online learning as much as possible but will also develop new work packets for those in need next week. Our teachers are working hard to develop Facebook pages to connect with kids, Google Classrooms, and are trying to connect with students in many ways. They are doing everything they can to keep the learning going. Our classified staff including bus drivers, cooks, assistants, and support staff all continue to do work to support the learning of our students. We are proud of everyone for stepping up in this situation and taking care of our kids. We are also proud of our parents and are thankful for your support as we work through this challenging time together. We will be back in the schools and working remotely next week from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to help your children with lessons. Please remember that you can drop off work at Save-A-Lot, Jack's IGA, both Dollar Stores, and the Family Dollar.

Lee County Schools Closure Information Governor Beshear has now made a recommendation that schools be closed for the next two weeks starting on Monday, March 16. We will be following that recommendation and adding an additional week, which would have been our spring break, in an effort to help control the spread of the Corona Virus. We will be in session tomorrow. The first ten days of our closure will be NTI days, and we will make up two school days at the end of the year. We will return to school on Monday, April 6. Within the last few minutes we sent a phone, email, and text message to our parents, guardians, and staff about the closure. If you did not receive this message, it is very important for you to return updated contact information to school tomorrow. We appreciate your patience and support as we all work together in this challenging time.

Updated School Calendar Posted to Webpage We now have a link to the most recent school calendar on the Parent Resource link of our school web page. Should the calendar change in the future, you will be able to access the updated calendar on this link. We are attaching a current picture of the calendar here for your convenience.

Change in School Messaging System We will be making a change to our school messaging program to give parents more options in how messages are received. We have posted a news story on our district webpage about the different message types and how parents can select preferences on getting messages. A letter will also be coming home on Tuesday, March 3rd about the messaging system. On Wednesday, March 4th, all parents/guardians who have their cell phone numbers in our student information system should get a text asking you to opt in to receive text messages with our new system. If you don't opt in, you won't receive any further texts from our message system. Visit our webpage to find out more information.

Lee County Represented at the KSBA Conference Thank you Ms. Tipton and our art students for your creation for the KSBA conference.