Hello SVA Students and Families.
January 11, 2021 -Superintendent Update
Dear Community:
This is a brief update on where the Rogue River School District stands in regards to expanding our onsite learning with students.
When Governor Brown announced on December 23, 2020 that the decision making for school reopening would now be put in the hands of local school districts, she also cautioned that districts should consider waiting until after January 19, 2021 to make any changes. The reason the Governor cautioned schools on making any firm plans before January 19, 2021 is because she expects to release updated rules for safely operating schools on that day.
Shortly after her announcement, the Oregon School Boards Association gave superintendents legal guidance stating that schools opening while still in the red zone according to the current metrics, would not have liability coverage. Having that liability protection is crucial to protecting school districts from potential lawsuits. All schools in Jackson County are currently in the red zone.
In Rogue River, we are carefully planning to expand our offerings of onsite learning in some form to our students beginning February 1, 2021. The new rules released on January 19, will play a major role in deciding what our expanded onsite instruction looks like on February 1.
Because of the uncertainties about how the guidance might change on January 19, 2021, and because of our uncertainty about having liability coverage, we are not announcing our reopening plans until we are more confident that we can actually follow through with them.
We are optimistic we will be able to bring more students back on campus in February. We expect to give some form of update with more details on the status of our reopening plans on or around January 22, 2021.
Thank you,
Patrick Lee
Superintendent