December 4, 2020
Dear Students, Staff, and Families,
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving holiday under these difficult circumstances. This pandemic has had an impact on many of our routines and traditions. However, we must continue to push forward. We will get through this. Vaccines are on the horizon and we will hopefully be able to get back to some sense of normalcy in the not too distant future.
As you know, the number of positive cases continues to rise. Please know that despite this trend, our goal will be to keep our students in school. Our biggest challenge right now is staffing. We have had to go to distance learning at the high school twice this week because of staffing issues. We have a number of students and staff in quarantine due to the increase in positive cases. We will attempt to let students, staff, and families know as soon as possible when a decision is made to go to distance learning to allow everyone to plan accordingly.
Listed below are a number of items for your information:
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Congratulations to the three new members of the School Committee, Keri Smith, Amy Rogalski, and Kerry Feather. Karen Freedman was elected as the new Chair of the committee and Mark Fiorillo was elected as the Vice Chair. We look forward to our work together.
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We have created a spreadsheet that provides information on the impact of covid-19 in each of our schools. The spreadsheet provides the number of students and staff that have tested positive as well as the number of students and staff that have been quarantined by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). The spreadsheet is attached for your review. It will be updated as new cases are reported.
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The State of Rhode Island and RIDOH are continuing to make improvements to the contact tracing and communication process. As I have mentioned previously, the state has divided the state into regions with specific personnel assigned to each region. Cumberland is assigned to POD 4. Each POD is assigned a medical professional, school liaisons, educational contact, and a program manager. We have contact information for all of these positions. The goal is to provide timely support and communication to schools and families.
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All families have received guidance from each of our school’s Principals on what their plans are for January, 2021 and beyond. Under the circumstances the district leadership team believes that we should maintain the status quo until we see a decline in the number of positive cases. Given the current rise of positive cases and challenging staffing issues, we are not in a position to change the model we are currently using. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your student’s Principal directly.
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Each year several of our schools (elementary and middle school) and schools from across the country are chosen to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Like many other things, these assessments are a casualty of the pandemic. Cumberland’s schools that were chosen to participate will not be giving this assessment during the 2020-2021 school year.
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The safety project at the high school is moving along. Much of the outside work has been completed. The next phase focuses on work inside of the high school. The bulk of the work will be done in the area next to the auditorium. This project will be finished in the spring after the landscaping phase is completed.
As always, we appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time. Please know that our goal is to keep our students in school. As you can imagine, we want all of our students and staff to return to full in person as soon as possible. The uncertainty of the current situation is challenging for all of us.
Enjoy the weekend.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Mitchell
Superintendent of Schools
Positive Cases in the Schools 2020-2021.pdf
4 de diciembre de 2020
Estimados estudiantes, personal y familias:
Espero que todos hayan tenido unas buenas vacaciones de Acción de Gracias en estas difíciles circunstancias. Esta pandemia ha tenido un impacto en muchas de nuestras rutinas y tradiciones. Sin embargo, debemos seguir avanzando. Vamos a salir de esto. Las vacunas están en el horizonte y es de esperar que podamos volver a la normalidad en un futuro no muy lejano.
Como saben, el número de casos positivos sigue aumentando. Tenga en cuenta que a pesar de esta tendencia, nuestro objetivo será mantener a nuestros estudiantes en la escuela. Nuestro mayor desafío en este momento es la dotación de personal. Hemos tenido que ir a la educación a distancia en la escuela secundaria dos veces esta semana debido a problemas de personal. Tenemos varios estudiantes y personal en cuarentena debido al aumento de casos positivos. Intentaremos informar a los estudiantes, … Read More...
November 13, 2020
Dear Students, Staff, and Families,
I hope everyone is doing okay during what is a challenging time for everyone. Many of us are just doing the best that we can under the circumstances. As you know, there are a growing number of positive Covid-19 cases in Rhode Island and across the country. We continue to have positive cases reported to us that have required us to take action in several schools.
As I mentioned to you in the past, we are able to respond differently to the elementary and middle school cases than those at the high school. Students at the elementary and middle schools are in stable pods. When we learn that a student in a stable pod tests positive, we are able to do distance learning with just the pod until we get direction from RIDOH. Unfortunately, we can not do the same thing with the high school since students are not in stable pods. High school students are in multiple classrooms with different clusters of students in every classroom. Passing time is also an issue at the high school. That is why we have no choice but to do distance learning until we receive direction from RIDOH.
Provided below are other issues for your review:
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Please know that Tuesday, November 24th, will be changed from an in-person day to a distance learning day for all students and staff in the district.
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New guidance on face masks was released by the Education Operations Center. Unfortunately, the guidance is more restrictive. Updated 11/10/20: If a student removes their mask, ensure the student is 6+ feet apart from others and redirect the student to put it back on. Scheduled mask breaks are not encouraged.
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Much of our time as administrators is dealing with the impact of the coronavirus. When there is a positive case, a wealth of information is required by the Department of Health to complete contact tracing. However, it is important for everyone to know that the Assistant Superintendent, Tony DiManna and his team are working hard. They continue to work with staff on analyzing data and having discussions on what can be done to improve the academic performance of students. I want everyone to know that that important work continues.
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Superintendents met with Dr. Ashish Jha yesterday. Ashish Jha is the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. You may have seen Dr. Jha on the Today Show or other shows. He is an expert on public health and is very honest about what he feels should be done in this country to mitigate the spread of the virus. Dr. Jha stated that it’s best for students to be in school. However, he understands the difficult decisions superintendents have to make especially when it comes to high schools. He also stated that social distancing was important and 6 feet is better than 3 feet whenever possible. However, he said he would be comfortable with 3 feet of social distancing for his child if students were required to wear a mask.
As always, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate our way through this challenging time. Have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Mitchell
Superintendent of Schools… Read More...
November 11, 2020
Dear High School Students, Staff, and Families,
First, I apologize for the late notice. We learned a short time ago that another high school student has tested positive for Covid-19. Since we still have not received guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Health on several other cases, we feel it is necessary to complete this week with distance learning out of an abundance of caution.
Superintendents from all over the state have expressed concern with both the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Department of Education regarding the slow response to contact tracing. We need information in a timely manner to make the important decision to either have students attend school or remain home with distance learning.
Given these circumstances, we feel that finishing the week with distance learning is the responsible decision. Again, we apologize for the late communication, however, we wanted to give our students, staff, and families time to plan accordingly.
Sincerely,
Robert Mitchell
Superintendent of Schools… Read More...
November 6, 2020
Dear Students, Staff, and Families,
I hope everyone is doing well during this trying time for everyone. As you know, there are a growing number of positive Covid-19 cases in Rhode Island and across the country. We have had a number of positive cases in Cumberland that have required us to take action in several schools. As I mentioned in my email to you this week, since students at the elementary and middle schools are in stable pods, we are able to do distance learning with the pod until we get direction from RIDOH. It is not necessary to have the entire school do distance learning. Unfortunately, we can not do the same thing with the high school since students are not in stable pods.
Given the increased number of positive cases, RIDOH is having difficulty completing contact tracing in a timely manner. We have heard that RIDOH is hiring more contact tracers in order to complete this important task in a more timely manner.
Listed below are a number of other items for your review:
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Given the snow and cold weather we experienced last week, there was concern regarding the requirement to have windows opened on the bus. As a result, new guidelines have been created. These links provide guidance moving forward. The links are in English and Spanish.
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The Governor is allowing fans to attend high school athletic events. Effective Monday, each athlete will be allowed to have two spectators attend each athletic contest. However, there is a cap of 150 individuals at an event and that may have an impact on the number of spectators allowed to attend.
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Governor Raimondo’s recent changes to the Phase III guidelines will begin on Sunday.
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The next flu clinic is scheduled for November 18th. Please register at schoolflu.com
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Planning for the renovations to our schools is ongoing. Cumberland Hill Elementary School will be the first school that has major work done. Before that work begins, the Transitional Building will be prepared as a swing space for the elementary schools with the exception of Community. Work on the Transitional Building is scheduled to begin in April. While work is being done at each of the buildings, students and staff will be housed in the Trans. Building.
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There will be three new members of the School Committee, two of the three have been decided and a decision on the third has not been determined to date. The two members are Kerry Feather and Keri Smith. We look forward to working with the new members on the challenging work that lies ahead.
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I want to extend a special thank you to the three members who have left the School Committee. We wish Jennifer Bernardo, Heidi Waters, and Raymond Salvatore well and thank them for their years of service to the students, staff, families and residents of Cumberland.
Have a good weekend. As always, thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Mitchell
Superintendent of Schools
… Read More...
