Hot off the presses . . . MMSD announces it will be all-virtual to start the 2020-2021 school year.
We’ll learn more later today.
MMSD ANNOUNCES AN ALL-VIRTUAL START TO THE SCHOOL YEAR
Will Review Options Every Quarter of the School Year Until COVID-19 Conditions Improve
**Virtual Press Availability with Superintendent Jane Belmore, 1 p.m. Today**
MADISON, WI – Today, the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) announced that due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the City of Madison and Dane County, and for the safety of its students, staff and families, the district will start school in an all-virtual learning environment this fall.
“On March 13, we made the incredibly difficult decision to close schools for the safety of our students, staff and families and to prevent further spread of COVID-19,” said Interim Superintendent, Jane Belmore. “Today as local cases continue to surge, and the ongoing analysis of public health data to provide guidance on how to implement requirements they expect schools to have in place to open safely, has left us with limited options. As Interim Superintendent, the safety of everyone who enters our school buildings each day is my ultimate responsibility, there can be no margin of error in our decisions to keep students, staff as well as our entire community safe.”
MMSD has been preparing three options for the 2020/2021 school year: all-virtual learning, all in-person learning, and a hybrid model that is a blend of both in-person and virtual. Belmore added that moving forward, decisions will be made on a quarterly basis considering all three options.
“MMSD will continue its planning for a return to in-person learning as soon as it is determined to be safe for students and staff to do so,” said Belmore. “Recognizing this is a community effort, we will be providing as much advance notice to families as possible so that they can plan accordingly for things like childcare and work schedules. We are committed to informing families as far in advance as we are able, therefore it is our hope that decisions will be made two to three weeks prior to the start of each school year quarter, and it is our hope that conditions improve enough for us to begin to return in some capacity November 3rd.”
Belmore added that MMSD recognizes the challenges that an all virtual start to the school year has on the community, and during this time the district will work proactively to partner with our families to support students when not engaged with in-person instruction.
MMSD has spent months developing its all virtual learning and hybrid models and remains committed to its equity vision in its plan designs by putting its most marginalized communities at the forefront. Since the start of virtual learning, MMSD has provided 225,000 meals to families, distributed 11,00 devices and supported all district staff and educators in virtual learning.
The MMSD planning team will be working on the following for its start-of-school plan:
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Continued partnership and planning with community agencies to increase childcare support
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Providing teachers with expanded training in online education to better meet student needs
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Providing students with additional training at the start of the year to better support their virtual learning experience
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Providing increased online support for parents to make it easier for them to participate in the education of their students and maximize the use of the online enrollment process to eliminate in-person enrollment events and provide individualized supports virtually
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Customized planning by Principals will continue to ensure the safest possible reopening
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Continue providing free meals at the current distribution locations
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Continue its work to provide strong rigorous virtual learning instruction and planning for the hybrid learning model
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Continue to assess available data and make adjustments accordingly knowing that families need lead time to make arrangements should we change our learning model
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Finalizing a process to determine limited face to face instruction for students with disabilities whose programs can not be implemented virtually
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VIRTUAL PRESS AVAILABILITY:
Today, MMSD will be hosting a virtual press availability with Interim Superintendent Jane Belmore and district administrators at 1 p.m. to provide for questions and answers regarding their start of school plan.
Who: MMSD Interim Superintendent, Jane Belmore and district leaders
What: Virtual Press Availability, Questions and Answers on All-Virtual Start to School
When: Today, July 17, 2020 – 1:00 p.m.
Where: Zoom Conference
Join Zoom Meeting
By phone: (312)-626-6799 Meeting ID: 958 8840 3937
**When entering the Zoom Conference we ask reporters to include at least their first name and the news organization they represent. This Zoom Press Conference will be live streamed on youtube. If you want to record the conference individually, please message the moderator for permission to record upon entering**
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