North Country Supervisory Union

Dear NCSU Families,

Thank you for your continued patience and support as we navigate the ongoing challenges of this pandemic. We recognize that, as we’ve seen an increase in cases in Vermont, the NEK, and our communities, the impact of the virus has been felt by many of you. I’m writing to you today to provide some important updates and clarifications. Please do not hesitate to contact your school principal or me directly if you have questions.

Happy Holidays and Be Well!

John A. Castle

NCSU Superintendent of Schools

NOT INFECTIOUS WHILE AT SCHOOL: We’ve had a couple of situations where either a staff member or student tested positive but were never infectious while at school. Based on our guidance from the Vermont Department of Health, these are cases that have no direct impact on schools, thus we will not be reporting these cases to the school community.

REPORTING ON SCHOOL CASES: We inform staff and families anytime a school has a positive case and the individual was present at school while infectious. Based on our consultation with the Vermont Department of Health, school administrators call staff and parents of students deemed close contacts and we follow up with a quarantine letter. We are also providing communication with staff and families when an individual may have been exposed due to some proximity to an infected person, such as being in the same room or on the same bus. In this case, we send an “Exposure Letter” to those people who may be affected. We will continue to post the letter that goes to families on the NCSU website and Facebook page, in addition to individual school social media platforms. We are not sending an email or providing a SchoolMessenger message to those other than the specific affected school.

“GOING REMOTE”: We will continue to make specific determinations to have an individual classroom, “pod” (a group of classes), or school go remote based on the particular factors in each case. In our consideration of going remote across the supervisory union, we will monitor community spread, the number of school cases, and any evidence of transmission within our schools. At this time, we do not anticipate the Governor or Secretary of Education ordering all schools to close as they did last spring. Although there were some school districts in the State that preemptively went remote after the Thanksgiving holiday, and some are considering such after the upcoming Holiday/New Year break, NCSU is not planning to do so.

SNOW DAYS: There has been some consideration regarding eliminating snow days due to our ability to provide remote learning. We will not be doing so this year, as most schools still do not send devices home daily, and we are concerned about limited productivity on these days. Loss of wages for support staff is another problem. Eliminating snow days is something we will consider in future years.

November 24, 2020

Dear NCSU Staff, Families and Board Members,

First, please know I appreciate everyone’s continued commitment to caring for each other during this challenging time.

We were truly fortunate to have experienced such a limited presence of the virus in the NEK through the summer and early fall. Unfortunately, given the prevalence of the virus in other states, more tourism, travel by Vermonters, and perception that we could more freely engage in social gatherings, we are now seeing increased cases across the state, the NEK and our communities. I realize this has created much anxiety for everyone in our school-community. However, I remain confident that together we can get through this pandemic and still provide the best possible education for our children.

I firmly believe we have had a successful fall despite our many challenges. All of our pre-k to six and pre-k to eight schools, as well as NCUJHS, opened for in-person instruction and NCUHS is utilizing a hybrid model. We also have provided a range of virtual options. This was through an immense amount of careful planning that began last spring and concluded with contributions by everyone across our NCSU community. I greatly appreciate everyone’s hard work, sacrifices, and care for students and each other.

While no systems are absolutely perfect, the routines and practices we’ve developed and continue to refine for maintaining healthy schools serve us well. We know the anxiety and disruption of closing a school with a positive case is not limited to that school alone. I know everyone is doing their part to keep our families and our schools healthy. Thus far, we do not have any evidence that the virus has been transmitted within a school setting. Yet, we must remain vigilant.

As you are aware, throughout the early fall our school-community experienced low cases of COVID-19. We must not let down our guard, especially as we move into the winter months when we are all more confined to indoor spaces. We now understand that outbreaks are often related to social gatherings where we are less likely to follow the conventions of wearing masks, physical distancing or recommended practices for quarantine.

With the appearance of seasonal colds and flu, it could become increasingly difficult to keep up with absentee rates amongst staff given our COVID context. We must remain prepared for a responsive closure due to positive cases in schools. In addition, we cannot rule out the potential for a system-wide closure resulting from increased community spread and certainly if we experience transmission within schools. If we are forced to close due to various factors, we will do so knowing that we have done all we can to maintain in-person learning.

Many of you are no doubt considering traveling over the Thanksgiving and December breaks. I highly encourage families and staff alike to avoid discretionary travel over the holidays. Any time we travel we are increasing the chance of our exposure. We expect that everyone will continue to adhere to quarantine guidelines related to interstate travel.

I also encourage everyone to be mindful of the potential for transmission of the virus within social gatherings. I fully understand the desire to spend time with family that you’ve not seen in many months or perhaps even since last year during the holidays. The reality is we are still very much in the midst of a pandemic and the public health risks are real. While we are fortunate to live in Vermont and the NEK, we have seen that we are not risk-free. First and foremost, we want you, your family and our community members to remain healthy.

We are concerned that students may miss many days of school as a result of quarantine after Thanksgiving break. If we have a significant number of staff travelers in quarantine upon return, the resulting staff shortfalls could force us to close a school for some period of time. We would need to make up lost instructional days if schools closed due to staffing shortages. Even if schools were able to remain open with substitutes, which is increasingly difficult, we must recognize that this would result in diminished learning.

I’m sure many staff, students and parents have asked, “Why don’t we just go remote through the holidays?” It does seem like a simple answer, but it is a more complex issue. Shifting to remote learning imposes childcare challenges on many families. We also must consider the equity issues that come with remote learning: many of our families still have internet access issues, special education students have reduced access to services, and we disrupt access to school meals that are essential for many children. Also, there are support staff who will not be working in a remote situation and will suffer a loss of income. Finally, we recognize the lost benefits of in-person learning academically and social/emotionally.

If our schools are to remain open for in-person instruction, we all need to remain committed to best practices to mitigate the spread of the virus both in and out of school. I know this asks a lot from all of you who have sacrificed and given so much already. I hope you will make careful and considerate choices regarding your travel or social gatherings in the weeks to come. Our ability to support the health and wellbeing of everyone in our school-community is a result of our independent decisions—we truly are in this together! We all need to care about and care for each other.

I am truly thankful for all our staff do each day in the interest of students’ health and learning, along with the continued support of families as we navigate these challenging times together.

Happy Thanksgiving,

John A. Castle

NCSU Superintendent of Schools

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VT AOE Guidance for Schools Related to Limits on Multi-Household Social Gatherings