Update From Scotts Valley Unified School District Superintendent - November 6th

Press release from the Scotts Valley Unified School District:

November 6, 2020

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

I am pleased to share that all four of our schools have slowly begun to bring students back onto campus for individual or very small group support. We plan to progressively bring students back onto campus over the next few weeks up until Winter Break. We have PPE supplies and safety protocols in place. As was announced countywide, school districts do not plan to return to a hybrid schedule until possibly January 2021. All four SVUSD school sites are currently finalizing their hybrid schedules and discussing them with the teaching staff. Each site principal has been in communication with families regarding small groups and safety protocols.

Expansion of In-Person Instruction FAQs are on the SVUSD website.

Since our secondary schools, Scotts Valley Middle School and Scotts Valley High School, have a departmentalized master schedule, the secondary hybrid schedules will look different from the elementary sites. At the elementary level, while site staff are currently examining hybrid schedules, they also plan to send out a follow-up survey to elementary parents to obtain clarification and interest in participating in a hybrid schedule in 2021. Additionally, as we make this transition to students participating in hybrid instruction onsite while other students choose to remain in full remote instruction, there will be a need to change some teacher assignments as well as student rosters to accommodate those requests, particularly at the elementary level.

We acknowledge that the winter months are unknown, especially considering the cold and flu season. We are taking that unknown potential into consideration for our planning. Over the next few weeks, you will be hearing more specifics from each respective school site regarding their plans and schedule for hybrid instruction.

Next week, Brook Knoll and Vine Hill Elementary Schools will be holding parent/teacher conferences remotely. As a reminder, Wednesday, November 11 is a holiday, Veterans Day.

Our parent trainings continue to be well attended. If you missed them, please visit the Distance Instruction Resource page on our website to see handouts and recordings from previous trainings.
A few site highlights:

At the end of October, Vine Hill had a Red Ribbon and College & Career dress-up week. Students were invited to dress up as their dream occupation and other fun outfits leading up to Halloween costumes on Friday. Fifth graders were treated to a Zoom meeting with Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings and City Council Candidate Sonja Brunner who discussed the election process and answered questions. Fourth and fifth graders enjoyed a virtual field trip to Cabrillo College.

Thank you to all of those that helped support the Haunted House Halloween celebration sponsored by Scotts Valley High School students these past few weeks. They had an incredibly successful turnout!

I understand that there is a lot of anxiety and stress in our Nation right now. I am intimately aware of the extreme differences in opinion about returning students and staff to schools. Please know that we are all working very hard to make this happen safely while taking into consideration all stakeholders involved. With all of the emotions being expressed, I respectfully request that we be kind to each other, especially when we are not in complete agreement.

We do want to bring students back to our campuses for those that want to return, and we are working to move in that direction while also adhering to all of the necessary requirements in order to make that happen.

Regards,

Tanya Krause

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