Today, Bethel Superintendent of Schools Christine L. Carver, Ed.D. sent a note to the school community in response to the Governor's announcement that public schools would remain closed for the remainder of the academic year. Please read the important message below.
Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff, and Community Members,
As you may be aware, the Governor announced that schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year (see press release). While it was expected, we are truly sad. We want nothing more than to have our students back! We will continue our distance learning model through our last academic day of the school year, June 16th.
Summer Programming: The Governor did indicate that we will receive further guidance about summer school and extended school year programs. As you are aware, in the past we have had a robust general education and enrichment program with over 500 students in attendance. We know that given our inability to provide adequate social distancing, we will be unable to run these summer programs including Summer’s Best, remedial summer school, general education preschool programs, and any Kindergarten transition programs.
We are still waiting to receive guidance on running our extended school year program for students with disabilities. Given the much smaller numbers and the ability to spread the programs through Berry School, Bethel Middle School and Bethel High School, we hope to be able to run these small programs. We will not have definite answers with time frames until the end of May. More information will be forthcoming.
Graduation: We are most sad for our seniors, particularly about graduation. Please note that we approach graduation as a public health issue. We have about four plans that could be implemented given restrictions. Those plans were developed with input from our seniors, including virtual meetings and surveys. We will continue to keep you updated as we have more information. Know that we will do everything we can to make it special for our graduates.
Reentry Planning: The district is in the process of developing a reentry plan for the Fall of 2020 given State guidance. The Commissioner of Education has enlisted the help of the six Regional Education Service Centers (RESC) to form teams of Connecticut education stakeholders for the purpose of gathering, analyzing, and sharing the issues, concerns, and ideas related to the process of reopening schools. An online tool is being used to make the gathering of feedback more efficient and to reflect all the different regions and constituent groups across the state. The tool, "ThoughtExchange," is entirely confidential and anonymous to use. Your participation and feedback are essential to the process and necessary for our State leaders to consider as decisions are made about reopening our schools. I encourage everyone to use the link below to share your thoughts and help evaluate the critical issues. Thought Exchange Link: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/493894984.
Distance Learning: As we continue to implement our Distance Learning program for the remainder of the school year, please note that we are here to support you and your family academically, socially, and emotionally. Do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s principal.
Public Hearing on the Budget: As you are aware, the Board of Finance is collecting virtual input from the community. If you have input, you can submit it to the Board of Finance at budget@bethel-ct.gov. Please note, if you have already submitted comments on the budget, you will need to resubmit them for the purposes of the Public Hearing. Please also note, the emails will be included as part of the public record, posted as part of the materials for the Public Hearing. You can submit your comments up until May 11th at 3:00 PM. Please include your Bethel address in the email. Please note, there was a typo in my newsletter article. The BOE Operating Budget is $47,969,807. The total Town Budget including the BOE budget is $79,765,010, which represents a .33 increase in the MIL Rate or a 0.98% (NOT .098) increase in taxes which equates to an increase on the average Bethel house of $70.88 per year or $5.91 per month. The last presentation to the Board of Finance from the Board of Education provides an overview of what and how we are hoping to achieve, within the budget, particularly with a growing enrollment, students with more complex needs, particularly with the school closure as a result of COVID 19.
We hope that you continue to be safe and healthy. As we have more information, we will let you know.