Dear Walnut Valley Educational Community,

To begin, I sincerely hope that you and your family are healthy during these most unprecedented times. I also want to say “Thank You” for your patience and understanding during these summer months as we all anticipate what the reopening of schools will look like on August 10, 2020.

As we look towards the 2020/2021 school year, please be reminded as we navigate through challenging decisions, plans, and programs to address the needs of our students in the upcoming weeks and months, that we place the safety and wellness of our students and staff as our highest priority. We also understand and empathize with the many different needs and wants of our stakeholders (students, parents, employees, etc.), which vary from person to person (and/or family to family) and thus, we know that we cannot find a resolution that will completely satisfy everyone. We will, however, strive to provide options and choices for students to the best of our ability.

After spending the last several weeks monitoring the data (which has seen large upward spikes in COVID-19 cases) and information on the COVID-19 pandemic, and relying heavily on the County of Los Angeles Public Health Department (Public Health) to provide us with guidance, direction, and recommendations on how we should proceed, it has become clear to me that the safest approach to reopening schools is to open with a 100% Distance Learning model.

Therefore, beginning on August 10, all students will attend school via Distance Learning. This model will serve as our primary means for education for a minimum of four (4) weeks. During the four-week period, we will reassess the data, study the effects of different implementation plans from surrounding school districts, and evaluate possible updates and revisions to recommendations from Public Health and then continue and/or adjust our plan accordingly. If after September 7 (Labor Day), the data and information provided by Public Health suggests it is safe for our students to return to school in-person, we will implement such a model; however, if need be, based on the data and information, we will also be prepared to continue our Distance Learning program until it is deemed safe to return.

I appreciate the many employees who have worked tirelessly to provide for a variety of safety protocols, resources, and equipment to be ordered, prepared, and implemented in an attempt to maximize the health, well-being, and safety of our students and staff. Additionally, now that Public Health has finally released some of their guidelines for schools (just this week), we can also spend the next several weeks maximizing additional safety measures. Existing and future safety measures will be shared with our community in the near future.

I appreciate the many people who have worked diligently over the past couple of months to plan for possible return to school scenarios. While I will not go into all of the details at this time (more information will follow from our Educational Services Division), I will share some of the significant differences in our 2020/2021 Distance Learning program from the emergency Distance Learning program implemented last spring:

•      Daily live interaction will be required in accordance with new state requirements for Distance Learning (Assembly Bill 77)
•      Student attendance will be taken daily
•      All secondary schools will follow their traditional daily schedule (such as the regular start and end times to each class period)
•      All students will be assigned a grade for each class
•      All teachers will be offered additional Distance Learning professional development prior to the beginning of the school year
•      Chromebooks will be distributed to students in need of a technology device (more information will follow) 

Again, we will monitor the situation closely during the first four weeks of Distance Learning and be prepared to transition, if possible, to one of our in-person models on (or after) September 8. As we previously shared, we have three broad approaches that we have developed for implementation when ready:

•      Full-time, traditional, in-person instruction  (while implementing Public Health recommended safety protocols to the best of our ability)

•      Split-schedule approach where approximately half of the students in a particular class/school attend two days per week (the other half of the students attend a different set of two days per week), while working from home on the other days, in an attempt to minimize the people on campus and an increased practice of social distancing (while implementing Public Health recommended safety protocols to the best of our ability)

•      100% Distance Learning approach (adhering to new state guidelines for high-quality instruction and student accountability)

We are also implementing a plan to allow students (with health and/or family considerations) to opt into a 100% Independent Study/Distance Learning approach if and when we choose to implement a full-time or split-schedule in-person approach. We will be sending you information and asking that interested parents commit to a full-time Distance Learning program in the near future for our planning purposes.

We understand that parents will have questions and concerns regarding the opening Distance Learning program, as well as other possible learning options. Therefore, we will be conducting an informational webinar to further explain the various aspects of our programs at the following times (webinars will be recorded and posted on our website for future viewing):

•      Elementary School Webinar: Monday, July 20, at 3:00 p.m. (link will be provided in the near future)
•      Middle and High School Webinar: Monday, July 20, at 4:30 p.m. (link will be provided in the near future)

We know that during this time of uncertainty, as observed just in the last couple of weeks in Los Angeles County and across the state, even the best laid plans are subject to change.  We recognize that this situation is extremely fluid and we are continually monitoring the data and direction of our public health officials.

Again, we will provide additional information and direction to you in the near future.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions and/or concerns.

Bob

Robert P. Taylor, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Walnut Valley Unified School District

发自学区总监有关开学的讯息

2020年7月15日下午3:30

敬爱的核桃谷教育社区，

首先，我衷心希望您和您的家人在这段无前例的时期内继续保持健康。我还要说“谢谢”，感谢您在此夏季的谅解和耐心等待我们会如何在2020年8月10日重新开学。

当我们展望2020/2021学年时，請不要忘記，在我們未来几周和几个月中為学生的需求进行具有挑战性的决策，计划和方案時，确保学生和教職員工的安全和健康還是我們的首要任務。對利益相关者（学生，父母，雇员等）的许多不同需求和需要， 我们有同理心也能理解，这些需求因人而异（和/或因家庭而不同），因此，我们知道找不到一个 能完全满足所有人的方案， 所以我们竭尽所能为学生提供选择和选項。

在最近几周花时间觀察数据（COVID-19病例呈大幅上升）和有关COVID-19大流行的信息，并完全依赖洛杉矶县公共卫生局（Public Health）提供有关該如何走下一步的指导，方向和建议之后；我已能清楚地決定，重新开放学校的最安全方法是采用100％远程学习模式。

因此，从8月10日开始，所有学生都将通过远程学习入学。 这种模式将成为至少四（4）周的主要教育方式。 在這四周内，我们将重新评估数据，研究周围学区的不同实施计划的效果，评估公共卫生局建议的可能更新和修订，然后继续和/或调整我们的计划。 如果9月7日（劳动节）之后，公共卫生局提供的数据和信息表明我们的学生可以安全地返回学校，我们就會采用此囘校模式； 但是，如果根据数据和信息的需要，我们也會准备继续我们的远程学习计划直到可以安全返校。

爲了以最大程度提高学生和教职员工的健康，福祉和安全，许多员工孜孜不倦地努力为订购，准备和实施各种安全规程，资源和设备，我萬分感激；此外，既然公共卫生局已经（就在本周）发布了他们的一些学校指导方针，在接下来的几周内我们會專注更多的时间為更多的安全措施作準備。我们會儘快地與社区分享现有和未来的安全措施。

我感谢过去几个月来为可能重返学校的不同方案计划努力過的许多工作人員。 虽然目前我不会在此详述所有细节（更多信息會發自我们的教育服务部门），但我将分享我们2020/2021远程学习计划与去年春季实施的紧急远程学习计划的一些重大差异 ：

• 依据州对远程学习的新要求(Assembly Bill 77), 必須有日常现场互动。
• 每天會點名学生是否上網上課
• 所有中高学生都将按照其传统的日課表（例如每堂課上课时间和下課時間都固定）
• 所有学生每一堂課都會有成績
• 在学年开始之前，将为所有教师提供额外的远程学习的专业发展培訓
• 将分发電腦给需要设备的学生（會再提供更多訊息）

再次提醒，我们将在远程学习的前四个星期中密切觀察情况，如果可能， 會准备在9月8日（或之后）过渡到我们的面对面模式。如先前所分享的，我们有三个已准备好能实施的方案：

• 全日制，传统式，面对面教学（在能力所及的范围内实施公共卫生部门建议的安全规则）

• 分开上课日模式：特定班级/学校中大约一半的学生每周两天上课（另一半学生每周不同的两天上课），而另一天则在家中工作，这是为了 减少校园中的人数， 并加强社交疏远的要求（同时尽我们最大能力实施公共卫生部门建议的安全规则）

• 100％远程学习模式（遵守有关州政府对高质量教学和学生问责制的新指南）

如果实施全日制或分时间段的面对面学习时， 我们也準備多实施另一项计划，允许学生（考虑到健康和/或家庭因素）选择100％独立学习/远程学习的方法。爲了超前策划，我们将會再发送信息給您，并请有兴趣參與的家長確認會加入全日制远程学习计划。

我们知道，家长将对开放式远程学习计划以及其他可能的学习选項有疑问和疑虑。 因此，我们會在以下的日期時間举行信息网络研讨会，以进一步说明我们计划的不同層面（我们會记录络研讨会，并发布在网站上，以方便日后查看）：

• 小学网络研讨会: 7月20日星期一，下午3:00 （會再提供链接）
• 中学和高中网络研讨会：7月20日星期一，下午4:30。 （會再提供链接）

最近几周在洛杉矶县和全州内所观察到，让我们都能理解，此时期的状况是很难掌握的，即使最周全的的计划也会发生变化。我们知道情况是易变的，也会继续观察公共卫生官员的数据和方向。

我们将會繼續为您提供更多信息和指导。

一如往昔，如有任何问题和疑问，请随时与我联系。

此致,

Bob

Robert P. Taylor, 教育博士.

总监

核桃古联合学区