May 20, 2020 4:00 p.m.
Dear Parent/Guardian,
To begin, I appreciate your support during this challenging time and I truly recognize what a disruption this has caused for you and your children. I have spent countless hours, over the past week, thinking of you and your family. My wife and I have also attempted to help our own kids try to make some sort of sense and understanding out of this situation … trying to figure out how to make employment, school, and family all work out under one roof. It has undoubtedly been one the most challenging experiences of my life … personally as a parent and professionally as an educator. Thus, I sincerely express my gratitude and empathy for all you have done, and will continue to do, for your kids and family during this time.
As you will recall, at an Emergency Meeting of the Board of Trustees on March 13, 2020, the Board approved a resolution through an emergency measure, which grants me, as the Superintendent, the authority to “take all appropriate action to respond to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.” The Board of Trustees and I continue to place the health, wellness, and safety of our students and staff as our highest priority.
Unfortunately, based on today’s directive from the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) requiring all schools within Los Angeles County to close through Tuesday, May 5, to help contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), I have decided to extend the closure of all Walnut Valley Unified School District (WVUSD) schools (and the District Office) through May 5, 2020.
Beginning back on Monday, March 16, and now continuing through Tuesday, May 5, all schools and the District Office will be CLOSED. If deemed safe by Public Health and LACOE, schools and the District Office are tentatively scheduled to resume normal operations on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.
Spring Break continues to be recognized as April 10 – April 17.
I appreciate how quickly and efficiently, over the first 3 days of this week, our educators across the School District worked to provide a variety of educational resources meant to fulfill the originally scheduled school closures and thus lessen the learning gap that occurs in the absence of classroom instruction. However, I am also cognizant of the need to assess and determine how we might meet the curriculum, instruction, and assessment (including grading) needs of our students when that absence of classroom instruction grows beyond our initially planned closures. Therefore, led by various teachers, school administrators, and the Educational Services Division at the District Office, we will immediately begin collaborating and discussing what our distance educational program will consist of after April 20 (and throughout the remaining days of school closures). I encourage you to continue accessing the plethora of school, grade/course level, and global resources found at our Learning Enrichment and Resource Network (LEARN) at http://learn.wvusd.org/ .
I am also extremely thankful for our classified employees who continue to care for our facilities, feed our students, and perform other operations that are essential for our people and our organization. It’s amazing to realize that our Nutrition Services Team continues to serve nearly 2,000 meals per day during the school closures.
Finally, while I am confident that this decision was made with the best interest of our staff and students in mind, I also realize what a disruption this is for staff, students, parents, and our entire school community (not only in education, but also in our lives in general). As I recently shared with our staff, I am sorry that we are having to deal with this unprecedented issue. I feel bad for so many kids that are missing out on their educational experiences, whether it be a 5 year-old missing out on spending time with her friends and teacher, or the 18 year-old who might be missing his role in the musical, her last season of softball, or stressing over the potential loss of various Senior Year activities. With that said, I am grateful that many of our teachers and staff remain a constant source of support and encouragement for them and that they have you, as their parent, to provide compassion, love, and support…THANK YOU for continuing to help lead and guide our students through this unprecedented time. I truly appreciate all that you are doing to help our kids.
Sincerely,
Bob
Robert P. Taylor, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Walnut Valley Unified School District
敬爱的家长/监护人，
首先，在这个充满挑战的时刻，我感谢您的支持，我完全能体认这给您和您的孩子带来的波动。 在过去的一周内，我不断地想着您和您的家人;我的妻子和我也尝试帮助我们自己的孩子感受和理解目前的情况……试图找出如何使工作，学校和家庭都在一个屋檐下工作。 毫无疑问，这是为人父母和身负教育工作职责的我一生中最具挑战的经历之一。 因此，对于您为孩子和家人在这段时间内所做的并将继续做的一切，在此表示衷心的感谢和理解。
您应该会记得，在2020年3月13日的董事会紧急会议上，通过紧急措施，董事会批准了一项决议，授予我作为总监的权力 - "采取一切适当行动应对新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）的大流行。" 学生和教职员的健康，福祉和安全继续是董事会和我的首要任务。
很遗憾，为了遏制新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）的传播，根据洛杉矶县教育办公室（LACOE）今天的要求，洛杉矶县内的所有学校在5月5日星期二之前还必须关闭，我也决定所有核桃谷联合学区（WVUSD）学校（和学区办公室）将关闭至2020年5月5日。
从3月16日星期一开始，一直持续到5月5日星期二，所有学校和学区办公室将关闭。学校和学区办公室将暂定于2020年5月6日星期三恢复正常运行，如果公共卫生局和LACOE认为安全。
4月10日至4月17日还是春假。
我感谢本周的前三天，我们学区学校的所有教育工作者们如何快速，高效地提供各种教育资源，让学生在原定的停课时段中可以继续学习，以减少没有学校课堂教学出现的学习差距。但是，当没有课堂教学的日子超出我们最初的计划，我也意识到该考虑如何评估和确定才能满足学生的课程，教学和评估（包括评分）的需求。因此，在各种老师，学校行政人员和学区教育服务部的带领下，我们将立即开始合作并讨论在4月20日之后（以及整个停课期间）远程教育计划的内容。我鼓励您继续上访我们有学校，年级/课程级别和全球资源丰富的学习网站(LEARN) at http://learn.wvusd.org/ 。
对我们的职员们， 我也要表达深切的谢意，因为他们继续照顾我们的设施，为学生提供食物，并执行对我们员工和学区至关重要许多其他事务。令人惊奇的是，在学校停课期间，我们的营养服务团队每天继续提供近2,000份的餐点。
最后，尽管我有信心这一决定是出自于对教职员和学生福祉的考量，但我也意识到这对教职员，学生，家长和我们整个学校社区（不仅在教育方面，也在我们全面的生活中）是以一个变数。我最近曾与我们教职员分享，虽然对我们不得不处理这前所未有的问题感到很抱歉，但对于这么多错过教育经历的孩子，我更感到难过，无论是5岁的孩子错过与她的朋友和老师共度时光，还是18岁的孩子可能错过他在音乐剧中的角色，或者是她的最后一场球赛季节，或着是各种高年级学生活动参与的损失。但是， 我还是很感激我们的许多老师和教职员一直为学生们提供的支持和鼓励，而且学生们也能感受到父母您的仁慈，爱心和支持……感谢您继续帮助带领并引导我们的学生度过这个空前的时段。我非常感谢您为帮助我们的孩子所做的一切。
此致,
Bob
Robert P. Taylor, 教育博士.
总监
核桃谷联合学区