Cumberland High School – All I Want For Christmas – LipSync

Cumberland High School staff would exchange all their gifts to have their students back in their classrooms every day!

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Superintendent’s Message – 11.13.20

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:

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

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Superintendent’s Message – CHS to Complete this week with Distance Learning

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

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School Reopening Update 11.6.20

Bulletin – School Bus Windows-English

Bulletin – School Bus Windows-Spanish

• 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.

• Governor Raimondo’s recent changes to the Phase III guidelines will begin on Sunday.

• The next flu clinic is scheduled for November 18th. Please register at schoolflu.com

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

Superintendent’s Message – Reasons for School Closings

November 2, 2020

Dear Cumberland School Department Families,

As you know, we had to make a decision to close Cumberland High School on Friday, October 30th because of staffing issues.  Given the number of certified and noncertified staff members who were not able to report to work, we would not have been able to cover all of the classes  As a result, we had to cancel in-person learning and designate that day a distance learning day.  Unfortunately, we may have more of these days in the future.

We have also had to close the High School, McCourt Middle School, and North Cumberland Middle School because of a positive case(s).  You may be wondering why a single positive case or cases of COVID-19 would result in buildings being closed.  My colleague, Mark Garceau, the Superintendent of Schools in Westerly, answered this question and others very well.  He allowed me to share his response with you.  I have modified it to reflect the occurrences that we have had here in Cumberland.

Many are wondering why a positive case of COVID-19 would result in a building closing.  This is a totally understandable question and it provides an opportunity to describe what happens when a positive case is identified and what goes into decisions about closing classes, rooms or buildings. Hopefully, the following helps.

Two positive cases were identified at the high school on the same day last week.  As we have stated on several occasions, once an individual(s) associated with our schools tests positive, all guidance will come from the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH).  This prompted the beginning of coordination with the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH).

The RIDOH gathers all pertinent information needed to identify who would be considered a close contact of the individual(s) who tested positive for COVID-19 during the period(s) of time during which an individual would be considered contagious.

Obviously, these close contacts are not considered COVID-positive, but they are directed to quarantine for fourteen days, to monitor for symptoms, get tested, etc.

Is it possible that some close contacts will become symptomatic?  Yes, it is.

Is it possible that some close contacts will be found to be asymptomatic positive cases?  Yes, it is.

Is it likely that everyone considered a close contact will become symptomatic?  No, it is not at all, but the point of going to quarantine is to try to quell any possible spread.

If the RI DOH determines that there were no close contacts within any building during an infectious period.  In these cases, no further action was required.

In the Cumberland High School instance, roughly 44 students and 10 adults were identified via the RIDOH contact tracing protocol as being close contacts of an individual who tested positive.

Then, why did the whole school have to go to distance learning?  Why not just isolate those individuals?  The answer is because staff members fill multiple roles in our buildings every day, and because we have a shortage of available substitutes, there just are not enough adult bodies available to open and operate the building.  Students attend multiple classes with different groups of students.

The point is, because a classroom or school has to switch to distance learning, this does not in any way mean that there is widespread infection or a breakout.  In this instance, it simply means that we lacked the capacity to open in a face to face model and that this stems from a single positive case having been in the building during a period of time during which the RIDOH deems an individual as contagious.

Again, it is understandable that there would be questions and that there is a degree of anxiety in the community regarding the virus. There has been since March.  But, it is important that we remain transparent and factual and that we try to maintain some perspective.

There have been and there will continue to be positive cases in our workplaces, our schools, our families, etc.  The Cumberland School Department is committed to continuing to educate our students in safe environments, in collaboration with and under the guidance of medical experts and health officials.

There may never be (not for a time anyway) a “perfect” time to attempt to reopen our schools, but we recognize and agree that students benefit more from face to face instruction than any other model and we will continue to strive to make that available to all and to work towards getting back to normal.

School Reopening Update – 10/30/2020