Novi Times

South Lyon Community Schools issued the following announcementon April 10.

When we leave our homes, we are going for essential supplies to comply with the Governor’s Order. This order has been extended through April 30, 2020. 

We’re staying home to be safe. We have become accustomed to video chats instead of community gatherings. When we see others, we stay six feet apart. We fight the urge to shake hands and give hugs, we know we can’t. We can stick together through this pandemic. 

We can respect each other by following the CDC Guidelines. We can support our “essential workforce” by going individually to get the essential items that we need for our families. 

We can stand strong together as a community to fight this horrible virus. Through the Executive Orders, it has been clear that some organizations and specific employees are essential to sustain or protect life as set forth by our governor. Some school employees are “Essential Employees” as we support the feeding and now, educating of our approximately 9,000 students. 

The initial school closure was recognized as “Act of God” days for school employees. During that time, our Administration, Food Service Staff, as well as Operations Staff (Custodians, Building Engineers, and Technology) all continued to support the work of the District to feed students and provide payroll and human resource functions, sometimes remotely and sometimes on-site. 

As of last week, the governor suspended in-person instruction for students for the remainder of the school year. With this, the District has worked to create a remote learning application that meets or exceeds the expectations provided in that guidance. Schools who continue to educate and feed students will receive their state aid payments and are directed to pay school employees while deploying them to support the feeding and remote learning plan for our students. 

A number of staff worked through the initial shutdown. Starting next week, we will be adding additional staff as “Essential Employees” as we work to implement our remote learning plan and continue to feed our students. This means that employees who haven’t worked on-site in previous weeks may be joining their colleagues who have been carrying out the District responsibilities to feed students. 

Our food service staff, operations staff, and transportation staff, have been amazing and creative to distribute over 15,000 meals each week since our shutdown. Our staff have been complying with the Executive Orders, Michigan Department of Education Guidelines, as well as Health Department guidelines. 

This includes social distancing, hand washing, sanitizing, daily screenings for employees, and face masks as requested. We are committed to feeding and educating our students as we protect our “Essential Workforce” who are integral for us to comply with the Governors Orders. 

Our high school administrators have been working to determine how to celebrate their seniors during the pandemic. They will be reaching out to families through their updates to get feedback and provide updates. Our district has worked over the course of this week to prepare our remote learning application. We anticipate that this application will be submitted to Oakland Intermediate School District early next week. 

At that time, additional information will be shared with families.  What we do know is that for South Lyon Community Schools, this will be a blend of printed materials and online learning. Staff will be engaged in professional development during the week of April 13th, with our updated learning platforms going live for families April 20th. In our district, a sizable number of families lack internet access and a larger number need assistance with devices. 

Thank you to all the families who have completed the survey. If you have not yet done so and need support with internet access or devices, click here. We have been sharing information with families about free and low-cost internet options from local providers. A small number of families who need internet access do not live at a location where the internet is accessible. 

To help support those families, we have ordered a number of hot spots that would provide internet access to a district owned device and those hot spots are on backorder. In the next week, we will also be contacting families who told us they needed devices to provide details about how they can pick up a district owned Chromebook. 

Families who indicated that they need a device will be able to pick up one device per family. In the future, families will be able to pick up their students’ materials from school. More information regarding this process will be communicated at a later date, once the Stay at Home order is lifted. 

While we work on the updated learning platforms, South Lyon Community Schools is providing weekly overviews of enrichment learning opportunities for our students so they can remain engaged with their learning while they are home. Please click here to access Extended Learning Opportunities for your child. 

There has been no other time like this in my 40 plus years in education. Today, like no other time, we are stronger partners in your children’s education. Please be sure to communicate with our staff to let us know how we can support you as our partner while educating your child. We are in this together and we will be successful together.

Original source can be found here.