St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Buchanna Community Schools issued the following announcement.

With   much   anticipation,   Governor Gretchen Whitmer  implemented   a   new executive  order  that  effectively  closes  all  Michigan  schools  for  the  remainder  of  the 2019-2020 school year. Creating perhaps more questions than it answers right now, the mandate at least puts in motion our plans and efforts for continuing to serve our district students and families through June. 

While the Governor’s order does suspend any “in-person” instruction for K-12 pupils in Michigan, it also lays out requirements and options for  districts  to  continue  educational  programming  for  all  students,  as  well  as  ensuring continuity  for  school  employees  in  regard  to  pay  and  benefits  during the long  school closure. 

Today,  the  Berrien  County  superintendents  held  an  online  meeting  to  address  these issues,  and our district administrators held a meeting after the Governor’s morning announcement to  discuss  what  our  district  has  been  doing  thus  far  as  well  as  new actions needed in light of the new mandate. 

Here  is  what  we  do  know  presently that  impacts  our  students  and  parents,  based  on today’s new state mandate: 

“in-person” instruction for all pupils K through 12th grade  is  suspended  for  the remainder of the 19-20 school year; buildings used for the provision of instruction must remain closed.

Food service to eligible community children is to continue. All K-12 sports, activities, and extra-curricular events are suspended.

Stipulations  are  in  place  for  all  current  12th grade  students  to  graduate  as  the Class of 2020 (plans for any kind of ceremony are not determined at this time, but the HS administration is committed to holding some kind of recognition ceremony in the future.) 

Going forward, Districts are required to develop a “Continuity of Learning” Plan to deliver instructional programming  in a  number of ways beyond the traditional in-person model of most school programs.

Superintendent of Schools Phone:  269-695-8401

Fax:  269-695-8450401 West Chicago Street Buchanan, Michigan 49107

These  plans  must  ensure students  and  parents  can  equitably  access  instructional materials,  and  if  online,  students  must  have  access to  a  connected  device;  plans must  be  developed  and  then  approved  by  the  local  intermediate  school  district (Berrien RESA) and implemented no later than April 28, 2020. 

The  plan  must  also  address  social-emotional  and  mental  health  support  to  pupils and ensure that students with disabilities are supported in all ways feasible during the school closure. 

Districts retain latitude for decisions regarding the awarding of credit, the issuance of grades, and the use of pass/fail designations with due recognition for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School  buildings  may  be  accessed  by parents  and  guardians  of  pupils  for  the purpose  of  obtaining  materials  and  equipment  to  continue  learning  in  the  Plan. Please  contact  your  child’s  building  principal  in  the  case  of  an  urgent  need  to retrieve something, and keep in mind that buildings are not staffed at most times.Otherwise,  we  prefer  to  minimize  entrance  to  the  buildings at  this  time,  and  we plan  to designate dedicated  times  and  dates for  general  access  at  some  point before the normal conclusion of the school year in June. 

All state assessments such as MME or M-STEP, PSAT, KRA, or MI-ACCESS, etc. are suspended.At  this  juncture,  we  realize  that  our teachers  and  support  staff  have  already  been making great efforts to support students’ academic, nutritional, and social-emotional needs  during  this  closure  that  started  for  us  on  March  16th.  We  are  now  tasked  as  a district  to  formalize  many  of  those  efforts  and  enhance  the  learning  programs  and services we will continue to deliver as we develop and seek approval for our Buchanan Community Schools’ Continuity of Learning Plan. 

Today,  building/program  principals  and  administrators  took  stock  of  what  is  currently happening  in  each  grade  level  to  support  student  learning  and  ensure  connections between school and home. We also began outlining steps and elements to buildin to our district  plan to  be developed in  the coming weeks. We see ourselves building toward a hybrid  plan  of  delivering  instruction  online  for  many  grade  levels,  and  then  in a more hands-on, paper and pencil resource approach for lower elementary students in reading

Superintendent of Schools Phone:  269-695-8401

Fax:  269-695-8450401 West Chicago Street Buchanan, Michigan 49107 and math. We are developing plans to deploy devices to students in the coming weeks to facilitate online learning. We recognize that we are heading into what was designated as the spring break on our district  calendar,  which  permits  us  a  chance  to  step  back  in  our  efforts  we  have  been doing  thus  far  to  serve  Buchanan  students  at  home.  

The  break  gives  our  leadership team additional time to fine tune these initial elements of the plan and fully construct it to submitit to Berrien RESA for approval by mid April. Please  pay  attention  to  further  communications  from  your child’s  teachers  or building principals.

District administrators will be meeting again early next week to continue our work to develop the Buchanan Continuity of Learning Plan, and we will communicate out to all families and post information on our web site about next steps when ready. Thank  you  for  your  patience  and  cooperation  through  this  unheard  of  experience  in Michigan  schools.

 I  hope all  our  district  students  and  families are  able  to  enjoy this spring  break—either  online  or  in  a  socially  distancing  kind  of  way.  And  of  course,  my continued best wishes for your safety and good health at this troublesome time.

Original source can be found here.