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Hopefully families are enjoying some time together and a break from school this week. Just a couple of reminders and updates as we are working through this school year.
Mask mandate
At the state level the supreme court has struck down the state mask mandate. I just want to remind families and students that the Cadott district continues to have a mask mandate requirement at this time, so the expectations at school will not change. We will revisit this mandate if the CDC guidelines change.
Vaccines for 16 -18 year olds students
Beginning April 5th, anyone in the state age 16 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID 19 vaccine. At this time the Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for use with 16-18 year olds. Since we are not sure how many families will want their students in that age group vaccinated, we are not currently coordinating vaccines for students through the district. You can contact your health care provider or Chippewa County public health if you are interested in your child receiving a vaccine.
Strategic Plan Update - Save the date
The Cadott school district will be updating our multi-year strategic plan that expires this summer. On May 19, 2021 from 6:00-9:00 pm we will host an event for parents and all community stakeholders to provide input on district priorities and initiatives. We are also planning a virtual participation option. Watch for location and more details coming soon.
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Dear Cadott Parents,
School day extended
We are happy to see a more stable trend in lower numbers for positives and quarantines in the school district. Beginning on March 15, 2021, the end time for the school day will move back to 3:30 pm (3:25 pm Elementary). Bus routes and student pick-up will be adjusted by that amount of time.
2021-2022 School calendar
The calendar will be finalized at the March 8th school board meeting. I will share the final calendar after that date.
Thank you,
Jenny Starck
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Dear Cadott Parents,
I would like to offer an update and a few reminders as we continue through this school year.
Mask use in the district
There has been some back and forth at the state level on the mask mandate. On February 8th the school board voted to give the authority on mask requirements during school to the superintendent. We would continue the mask requirements from the mandate if the state mandate were to end. This is consistent with recommendations for safer school research and neighboring district policies. We would revisit this if CDC recommendations change.
I realize there are different opinions on mask use, but the primary goal is to keep students in school 5 days per week and that has been the focus. We will continue to follow WIAA and conference requirements for athletic events.
2:30 End time
We are watching our quarantine and positive numbers with a goal of a 7 to 10 day trend without a spike. We are wanting to be stable and not moving between models if possible. When we reach that threshold, we would give families a notice ahead before going back to the 3:30 pm end time. You can also see those numbers on the district dashboard.
Quarantine update
As a reminder we are not able to share or confirm information on students/staff who are quarantined. We follow the guidelines from Chippewa County public health. The basic quarantine for a close contact is 14 days. A person can return on day 8 if they
test negative on day 6 or 7 and have no symptoms. A person can return on day 11 if they have no symptoms. WIAA has been following a 14 day quarantine for athletes during tournament play. They can return to practice on day 11 with certain parameters followed.
2021-2022 Calendar
We are working to finalize the calendar for the 2021-2022 school year. There is a possibility that due to COVID we may be eligible for a waiver to start before September 1st. There was also discussion of a calendar that would go every other year with a spring break vs smaller breaks. Please indicate any preferences on the feedback form by February 18th so that we can prioritize the options.
Thank you,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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Dear Cadott Parents,
This week, we began with elementary students attending 4 days per week. We do continue to have students and staff who are positive or quarantined. In looking at the community numbers, we have continued to have a 7 day average below 3.0. The overall level in Chippewa County has remained at “high”, down from “severe”.
With this information we are planning to continue with the format sent to you last week. I have included it again for your reference.
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Week
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Format
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January 11-15
(announced to families 1/4/2021)
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Grades 4K-6 attend 4 days/week (Mon,Tues, Thurs, Fri)
Grades 7-12 attend in the hybrid group as the prior week. Day ends at 2:30pm for students
Wednesday students come in for internet work and by invite 12:30-3:30pm.
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January 18-22 tentative
(announced/confirmed to families by 1/11/2021)
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Grades K-12 begin to attend 5 days/week. 4K regular M,Tu, Th, Fr Schedule. January 22 is a pre-scheduled inservice day for staff so no school for students. Student day ends at 2:30pm allowing staff to connect with quarantined/online students
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Beginning on January 18, 2021 students in grades K-12 will attend 5 days/week. 4K students will follow the original schedule. The day will end at 2:30 pm for students.
We will work as much as possible to keep a stable approach and inform you ahead if there are changes that need to be made.
Sincerely,
Jenny
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School format: We are working to balance the desire for students to attend 5 days/week with the desire for stability and advance notice of changes. The overall numbers in the county have declined. We have had some recent increase in our school numbers. Please note that this plan is subject to change as district and county numbers might increase, but we are wanting to inform as early as possible our intentions and the data used to make decisions.
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Week
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Format
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January 4-8
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Hybrid schedule with Group A Mon/Tues Group B Thurs/Fri. Day ends at 2:30pm for students
Students grade 3-12 and K-12 by invite may come in for internet work time and additional instruction on Wednesday 12:30-3:30pm. Here is the link if you would like to sign up your child for Wednesday time.
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January 11-15
(announced to families 1/4/2021)
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Grades 4K-6 attend 4 days/week (Mon,Tues, Thurs, Fri)
Grades 7-12 attend in the hybrid group as the prior week. Day ends at 2:30pm for students
Wednesday students come in for internet work and by invite 12:30-3:30pm. Here is the link if you would like to sign up your child for Wednesday time.
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January 18-22 tentative
(announced/confirmed to families by 1/11/2021)
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Grades 4K-12 begin to attend 5 days/week. January 22 is a pre-scheduled inservice day for staff so no school for students. Student day ends at 2:30pm allowing staff to connect with quarantined/online students
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Background information: This is based on the trends in the Cadott Community and Chippewa County as a whole. If the numbers increase in the Cadott Community and Chippewa County, the move to 5 days/week could be delayed and we may stay at a given instructional level for an additional week. Data used: Cadott Community numbers (goal <3 7 day average) Chippewa County numbers (goal case activity change from ‘critical’ to ‘very high’ with no change or decrease in numbers). Cadott School District Dashboard - This is typically updated each Monday morning.
Why?
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Bringing back the youngest students first is due to the fact that learning virtually for the early grades is often more difficult. Also, the county prevalence rate for younger students is less than half that of older students.
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Cadott community cases have been below the 7 day average of ‘3’ for 16 days
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Parent and staff feedback that students are more successful when face to face
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Chippewa County numbers have improved
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Feedback has also been a preference for a stable plan. The tiered return allows us to ‘hold’ at a certain level if needed until numbers improve
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Dear Parents,
We are working with Chippewa County Public Health on data benchmarks that can help us with the decision of the instructional format and when students would transition back to four days of in-person instruction per week. We are looking at starting at the elementary level. There has been feedback requesting a more stable format, as well as time for families to transition. With the exception of the Wednesday work option in the next paragraph, we plan to continue the current schedule at least through January 8, 2021.
Beginning the week of January 4th, we will again have time in the afternoon on Wednesdays from 12:30-3:30pm so that students in grades 3-12 may come in for focused work time to use the internet. There will also be some students in all grades who will be requested to come in by the teacher for additional support and instruction. Lunch and transportation will be provided. If you are interested in this for your student, please complete this form.
Thank you to those who have completed the 90 day survey already. As a reminder, if you haven’t had a chance, it will be open through December 21st. Parent/Caregiver Survey Link.
Schedule reminder
As a reminder, the week of December 21 Group A attends December 21st, Group B attends December 22nd. We are reviewing our district data trends and will monitor as we are able to bring more students into the building for face-to-face instruction.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
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Dear Parents,
We are entering week two of the hybrid learning and we are happy to have some students in the buildings. In our efforts to keep improving, even in the era of COVID, we are asking that you complete a short survey. You did complete this survey around 30 days into the school year and we are asking that you complete it again so that we can gauge progress and note if there are new areas that we need to pay attention to.
Please take a few minutes to complete the 90-Day Parent/Caregiver Survey at this link: Parent/Caregiver Survey Link.
The survey is scheduled to open on December 14 and remain open through December 21.
The survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. Your feedback will be used to celebrate our successes and to create action plans for improvement associated with our return to school. Your input is valuable; please take a few minutes to complete the survey.
Schedule reminder
As a reminder, the week of December 21 Group A attends December 21st, Group B attends December 22nd. We are reviewing our district data trends and will monitor as we are able to bring more students into the building for face to face instruction.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
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Families and Students,
The COVID-19 quarantine guidelines have changed and the new quarantine guidelines have gone into effect in our district as of 12/09/2020. For more information on the options you have to quarantine prior to returning to school, please see the new COVID-19 Quarantine Options document on our school nursing website.
Thanks,
Nurse Hager
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Dear Parents,
Hybrid learning schedule (starting December 7)
Earlier today, an email was sent to primary contacts to inform them of the Group A or Group B schedule that their students will be following. We believe that we have a process set up to notify all families. If you did not receive the email, please contact your student’s school building to find out the schedule. We just are sending this email as a double-check to make sure that no one was missed.
Only one email was sent per family. If you have more than one student, they will all attend on the same days.
Food during the hybrid learning
Families are still eligible to pick up breakfast and lunch at the Jr/Sr High School Commons during the days their student is learning virtually. All families may pick up on Wednesday. Free meals are still available to everyone under the current USDA ruling. Even if you have picked up meals before, please complete this form to sign up for the days that you will want meals.
Sincerely,
Jenny
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Dear Cadott Families,
We had hoped that we could bring all students back face-to-face on Monday November 16th. As of this morning we have staffing issues that continue to make it not possible to provide instruction to students in the building. We will continue our virtual instructional model for an additional week, November 16-20.
Because this is a staffing concern, at this time, extra-curricular activities are able to continue if you wish for your student to participate.
If you have a special education student receiving services, those services would continue for next week unless you are notified differently.
Lunches
If you are picking up lunches at the Jr/Sr high school we will keep you on the list for next week unless you notify us differently. As a reminder this is for any student 4K-12, the meals are distributed at the Jr/Sr High school commons. If you wish to be discontinued or added to the lunch pick-up please email Karita Harvey at harveyk@cadott.k12.wi.us.
High School Schedule
Students will follow this block schedule:
Monday - ODD
Tuesday - EVEN
Wednesday - ODD
Thursday - EVEN
Friday - ODD
Work space option
An additional piece for next week will be for students in grades 3-12 who have internet access difficulties, they would be able to come into their respective building from 1:00-3:00pm for work time to have high speed access. There would not be teacher instruction at this time. Students should bring all of their learning materials and headphones. They will be expected to wear masks and sit spread out. If you are interested in bringing your child for this, please complete the googleform. We are not able to provide transportation at this time for that access. Jr/Sr High Students will report to the commons. Elementary students will follow the drop-off procedures and go to door 1W by the west parking lot.
I understand this is short notice for some families. The numbers and circumstances change very quickly in this situation.
Sincerely,
Jenny
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Living with COVID-19 Resources
Celebrating the Holidays Safely and COVID-19
Close Contacts of Someone Diagnosed with COVID-19
While You Wait for COVID-19 Results
After You Are Diagnosed with COVID-19
Avoiding Exposure when You Are Living with Someone Diagnosed with COVID-19
Negative COVID-19 Test Results: What Does It Mean?
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Dear Cadott Parents and Families,
We have two positive COVID-19 cases at the Jr/Sr High School and one positive COVID-19 case at the elementary school. All close contacts have been notified. Please see the attached letter from Chippewa County Public Health. I will not be sending updates for the time we are virtual for each positive case, but we are working on a dashboard that will be connected to our district website.
We will not have time to organize food delivery during virtual learning. We will have food available for pick-up in the Jr/Sr High School commons from 11:30am-12:30pm. Please click on the link to sign up for food pickup by 10:00 am on Monday, November 2nd. It will include lunch and breakfast for the next morning. Food will be available November 3rd-5th (no lunch Friday, November 6th as that was not a student day), and November 9th-13th.
Staff will be working their regular hours for the next two weeks. They will still hold parent-teacher conferences so Friday, November 6th will not be an instructional day for students.
As a reminder, our buildings are not closed, although students should not be in the building unless part of a structured activity. The election for the Village of Cadott will still be held in the small gym. Voters park in the north parking lot and enter door 26N.
Under specific unique and limited circumstances, we may have some special education services that occur face to face during this time. If you have questions on this, connect with your child’s special education case manager.
I have seen many examples of grace and flexibility with staff, students and parents, and I want to thank everyone for that.
Sincerely,
Jenny
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Dear Cadott Families,
We have had a positive COVID-19 case identified at the elementary school and a positive case identified at the Jr/Sr High School. All close contacts have been notified. We are not able to share or confirm specific information.
At this time the district has 60 staff and students in quarantine and the potential for more quarantine as test results continue to come in. We have reached the point where we are unable to have enough licensed teachers to continue our face to face instruction. Beginning Monday, November 2, 2020 we will go to a virtual model for all students for two weeks until Friday, November 13, 2020. We would plan that students would return face to face on November 16, 2020. We would still plan to have virtual parent-teacher conferences on November 5th-6th.
We know this creates difficulty for many families. We are hoping that the notice will allow you a few days to prepare. If you are not comfortable sending your student(s) on Friday, October 30th you may keep them home. If you need to come in for materials for your student please contact the respective office to get those materials.
We know that families may struggle with internet access. We have some hotspots available for checkout. Please contact Nick Kotek at kotekn@cadott.k12.wi.us to see if one is available. Most families do not have the broadband capability for livestream instruction so it will be provided through google classroom. Students will have some flexibility in accessing the content and it doesn't have to be during the regular class time.
Because this virtual time is primarily due to teacher coverage, we are still allowing extracurriculars at this time. If organizations have approved facility use permission, that may also continue. Students should not be in the building unless they are supervised as part of an activity or have permission to pick up or drop off needed items. Thank you for your understanding. We know most families prefer face-to-face instruction.
We will work with food service to see if meals could be available for pickup. More information will come on that.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Starck
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Dear Parents and Families,
The number of positive cases of COVID is beginning to rise in our school district and in Chippewa County overall. We have had three positive cases connected to the school as of Friday morning. We have had people quarantined due to contacts outside of the school district. The Chippewa County Risk Level has moved to “Severe”. This does not require us to make a change in our instructional delivery model, but we are aware of the increasing COVID numbers and the concerns that our staff and families might experience. Our communication with the county on the measures we have implemented to reduce risk and our response to a positive case has helped us maintain face to face instruction as much as possible.
What if my student is quarantined while the district is still in face to face instruction?
We are connecting with students and families and providing virtual instruction to any students who are under quarantine.
What would trigger a move to virtual instruction for students?
We do not have a specific number of students quarantined/isolated that would require a move to all virtual instruction. The more likely scenario would be if we have a number of staff members out without substitute coverage that we would need to use a virtual model for a time period. It is possible that this decision could be made at a building or the district level. We would make every effort to communicate this information ahead of time if possible.
We know based on parent survey input, most families prefer face to face instruction. If we need to go virtual for a time, we will work to get back to the face to face model as soon as possible.
Thank you again for your support of our schools.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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Dear Parents and Families,
I would like to thank everyone for their flexibility and work to help these first weeks of school be successful. We have areas that we are still improving, but we are able to provide instruction face to face which is a blessing to us.
Changes for students who are ill at school
There are changes that will begin next week Monday, September 14, 2020. These are to be consistent with public health guidelines and other school districts in the county. If a student is sent home with COVID chart symptoms, they will receive this letter. In addition, all students in the family will be sent home until the return parameters are met.
What if we find out mid-day that students might need to quarantine?
If we are informed during the school day that a student or group of students will need to quarantine, we will contact parents and ask them to pick up their child when they are able to. We will not send them home on the bus unless the entire bus route is included in the quarantine.
Thank you again for your support of our schools.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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Dear Parents and Families,
I am sending this update on Tuesday in the interest of getting you information as soon as
possible. At the regular board meeting last night this School Overview Plan was approved. As
a reminder, we will be following the state mask mandate until September 28th or whatever date
it would expire. The language on facial coverings would apply after the mandate has ended .
You will notice the last item under “Format” includes an online option for students to log in
virtually during class time and attend. This is a new option. We have not worked out the details
of this yet. One difference between this option and eSucceed is this option would require you to
be online during the time the class is held. We are still working out how this may apply to Phy
Ed and Technical education. As a reminder, even if you plan to attend eSucceed you still
register with the Cadott School District and just email eSucceed on the ‘contact us’ tab of their
website. Your children are still part of our membership.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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Dear Parents and Families,
My update is a bit shorter today. On August 10th we have a regular school board meeting and I should be able to provide some more details after that time. I don’t know that we will ever have a “Final Plan” for the school year. My goal is to communicate in a transparent manner so that parents can have information to make the decisions for their students.
Mask Mandate
We do understand that especially for our youngest students it may take some time, practice, and instruction for them to wear a mask. We will provide these supports just as we assist students in learning other school protocols like lining up, taking turns, and quiet hall voices.
School decisions
I do understand that unlike other areas of conflict, decisions made often satisfy one group or opinion and dissatisfy a different group. In the era of COVID-19 it is likely that no one will be satisfied with decisions or recommendations made. Some will feel we are too restrictive. Some will feel we are too loose. When considering the parameters and recommendations, the goal is to minimize risk while providing instruction that still allows for personal relationships and fun. The best way for us to stay open is to reduce cases that may happen to our staff or students regardless of where it may have been contracted.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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Dear Parents and Families,
On August 1, 2020 the state of Wisconsin issued a mask mandate that will require masks to be
worn in many situations for children above five years old. There are exceptions for this
requirement. We are working to define how this will be implemented and how we can support
students and families with this. We will have a process if your child is someone who will need
an exception to the mask requirement. To avoid confusion, we will likely require masks by
grade level so that classes do not have some four year olds and some five year olds with
different expectations. We understand in the youngest grades that students might take some
time to learn this protocol similar to learning other classroom routines as they return to school.
We continue to meet and adjust to be best prepared to provide a quality education to your child
this fall while we minimize risk. We have reviewed our cleaning protocols and assessed our
inventory to ensure that we have enough cleaning supplies, gloves, and hand sanitizer for this
school year. We continue to review traffic patterns and make adjustments to the schedule to
reduce the number of students traveling or the amount of transition time. While this will make
school feel different for students and staff, it will reduce the chance that we would have to
transition to partial or virtual instruction for a time period.
At this time we plan for all students to attend in person five days a week. We continue to meet
weekly with Chippewa County Public Health to monitor the county levels. We will be prepared
for other instructional options should they be required.
Student registration is online this year. If you do not have internet access you are able to use
the hot spot in the North Parking lot at the High School. You may also come in to access a
computer in the school office August 5th-6th from 2:00-6:00 pm. If you have questions please
call your respective school office.
Sincerely,
Jenny Starck
Superintendent
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