Update From Scotts Valley Superintendent - May 29

Press release from the Scotts Valley Unified School District:

May 29, 2020

Greetings Scotts Valley Parent Community,

Congratulations to everyone - we have made it to the end of May with one week remaining of this school year! What a challenging school year this has been experiencing the PG&E power shut offs in the fall, and then the International shut off in the spring. In life’s experience, it seems that the one thing we can count on is change. We are going to need to continue to adapt to the ongoing changes, and please know, we are doing our best to plan for the different scenarios that we will be faced with in late August.

This week's letter from the Santa Cruz County Superintendents encompasses a lot of the work that we have been focusing on recently. We are examining budget proposals, changes, adjustments, and potential reductions. We are trying to figure out how to start school with the parameters that will be put in place, but we cannot figure out how we can manage that with the proposed reductions coming our way. While we acknowledge there are a lot of groups in need, prioritizing the education of our students is critical. We continue to work together collaboratively and meet with our local legislators to advocate for our needs. Just this morning, we all met with Assembly Members Rivas and Stone, and a representative from Senator Monning's office. County Superintendents’ Letter 5/29/2020

Thank you for your understanding, support, and assistance with the oversight of your student’s work and progress during the school closure. School will look different in the fall and I wish I could be more clear at this time what that will look like, however, we are working on it. Our hope is to provide a hybrid model of online and some small group in-person instruction based on public health parameters.

As I have shared with you in prior communications, we are actively working on the high, medium, and low restrictions for the planning of reopening schools in late August. We have heard from many parents during distance learning, and appreciate the impact this new way of learning has had on your child, your families, and our community. Yesterday you received a parent survey from Assistant Superintendent Michelle Stewart. In case you didn't get the link, here it is again, and we are asking you to fill out one per child.

Parent Survey Please be sure to take the time to fill out the survey and give your feedback. We will consider the information from surveys given to parents and staff, and work with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Santa Cruz Public Health, to create possible plans for the new year. We will be sending you updates over the summer, so please continue to check your emails and our website.

For now, we are going to celebrate the end of this unique school year and give our students acknowledgment for their efforts and sacrifices. We also need to give a big shout out to our teachers who have worked really hard to do their very best to make this necessary shift so very quickly by providing online learning throughout the remainder of the school year.

Thank you for your ongoing support - we are a community working together on behalf of our kids!

With Gratitude,

Tanya Krause

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