Parent Survey: Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan 

11/17/21

Hello Sublette 9,

SCSD #9 is set to receive approximately $865,000 in federal funds as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), also known as ESSER III. These funds are to be used, among other things, to help close learning gaps that may have occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, support and enhance academic initiatives currently in place, and purchase supplies and equipment to make sure our schools maintain clean and healthy learning environments. In order to receive these funds, school districts must submit a Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan. This is somewhat similar to the COVID-19 Mitigation Plan that was developed and shared with the community earlier this school year. In the plan, the district is required to address eight mitigating measures for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this brief survey, you will find the eight mitigating measures and a brief description of how the school district is currently addressing them. Please indicate whether or not you believe the school district's current practice for each mitigating measure should remain the same or be changed. The survey closes at noon on Fri. Nov. 19, 2021.

I appreciate you for taking the time to provide us with input regarding this matter. 

Here is the link to the survey.

Thanks!

Dr. Jenks

Superintendent

September 3, 2021

I have been thoroughly impressed with the staff and students here at Sublette County School District #9 as I have observed and interacted with them over the first week of school. I think we’ve had a great start to the school year and it's fun to see so much excitement and energy. We have great expectations for all students and we look forward to seeing what they can accomplish inside and outside the classroom throughout the year.  

One thing that we don’t want to dampen our excitement for this school year is the COVID-19 pandemic. As was expected, we have seen our fair share of quarantines and isolations due to positive cases of COVID-19. We expected this to happen and that is why we developed the COVID-19 Mitigation Plan that was shared with everyone a couple weeks ago. The plan was built to be flexible and adaptable based on the status of the pandemic in our community. If community spread of the virus were to continue to increase, the plan could be updated to be more restrictive than it is now. We hope that does not happen, but our goal is to keep students in school for face to face instruction because we believe it drastically improves outcomes for many, if not all.

Here are a few highlights of the COVID-19 Mitigation Plan that I want to review with everyone:

• SCSD #9 encourages staff and students (12 and older) to get vaccinated. Vaccinated individuals do not have to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus. So, if you are not necessarily opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine, but for some reason have not made the time to get your children (12 and older) vaccinated, please consider doing so now. It just might save them from having to miss many days of school or an important athletic event or other extracurricular activity.

• Students, teachers, and staff are to stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness. We ask that parents/guardians please screen their children for COVID-19 symptoms each morning before school. Please do not send children to school if they are sick.

• While masks are not required, they are still recommended at this time, especially for those who are not fully vaccinated. 

I know and understand that there are various opinions about some of the recommendations listed above. We are trying to do our best to respect those opinions while also keeping our schools open and safe for everyone. I remain very optimistic about the school year and I want to thank parents and the community for their continued support of our schools! 

Charles Jenks, Ed.D.