CUSD Update On Extended School Closure - March 30

Press release from the Carlsbad Unified School District:

March 30, 20

Carlsbad Unified families and staff,

Today marked the start of week three of school closure. We hope your family and loved ones are safe and healthy. Mental and emotional health is incredibly important at this time, and we hope you are finding ways to stay socially connected to others while following all physical distancing guidelines.

Below you’ll find updates on:

1. The San Diego County public health officer’s extension of school closures, and
2. Our transition to Remote Online Learning.

Extension of school closures
Over the weekend, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency announced an extension of the public health order requiring school closure in San Diego County. As a result of this updated public health order, all schools in San Diego County will be closed indefinitely.

We continue to follow guidance from the San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), the San Diego County Office of Education, the California Department of Education, the Centers for Disease Control, and other local, state, and national agencies. As long as the updated HHSA public health order is in effect, we will be unable to reopen our schools. Based on comments this weekend during the president’s news conference about social distancing guidelines being extended nationally for another month, at this time we anticipate that school closures will continue at least through April 30. We intend to reopen our schools as soon as we receive notification from public health officials that it is safe to do so. As of this moment, we are hopeful that we’ll be able to return to school before the current year ends; we’ll update families and staff just as soon as we have more information.

Transition to Remote Online Learning
As we shared last week, we will formally begin Remote Online Learning on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. We’ve developed a website for students and parents with instructions and access to our Remote Online Learning platforms. Any internet-connected computer, tablet or cell phone will work to access these tools; you do not need a district-issued chromebook to receive lessons from your child’s teacher. Please be on the lookout for updates directly from teachers about required assignments and activities on our Remote Online Learning platforms like Google Classroom.

Based on the extended public health order, we’re planning for Remote Online Learning to continue for students at least through the end of April. We will update families and staff as soon as we receive new information from public health officials.

As we have seen, a crisis can bring out the best in us, and that has definitely been the case in Carlsbad Unified School District. As I personally reflect on our current situation, whether as a parent, partner, employee, or employer, I remind myself that we do not always have control over what happens and especially how others choose to respond; however, we can absolutely control our own reaction. I am a strong proponent of doing a lot of listening and responding with kindness, compassion, and empathy. People will not remember what we said or did, but they will remember how we made them feel.

Thank you for making the best of this unprecedented situation. Stay safe out there.

Sincerely,
Dr. Ben Churchill
Superintendent

This press release was produced by the Carlsbad Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.