Yesterday, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH) issued a recommendation that all schools within its health jurisdiction begin the 2020-21 school year remotely “due to the elevated health risk posed to students, staff and family members” and that schools “discontinue extracurriculars such as sports, band, theater, choir and other activities during the remote learning period.” Read the full CCBH press release here.
Therefore, following the recommendation of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH), the Lakewood City School District plans to begin the 2020-21 school year operating remotely. If conditions change in Cuyahoga County prior to the start of the school year and the CCBH modifies their recommendation, we will adjust accordingly.
Also per the CCBH recommendation, all athletic and other extra-curricular activities will be suspended immediately until further notice.
This recommendation by CCBH results in the need for our Reopening Plan, currently based on the four levels of the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, to change. Therefore, we will shift our three-tiered program as follows:
We will be discussing Remote Learning at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, August 3rd at 7PM. The Remote Learning plan was collaboratively developed by sixty (60) teachers and twenty (20) administrators. The current Remote Learning plan is a significant improvement from the plan developed last spring where teachers and administrators only had three days to plan. Please note that Monday night’s School Board meeting will be streamed live via YouTube.
For those of you who are considering the eLearning Option, you may still do so. Please note that students choosing eLearning will not receive direct instruction from a Lakewood City Schools teacher. A Lakewood City Schools teacher will, however, provide progress monitoring support. When the CCBH recommendation is lifted and/or modified, we will provide more information about alternative options to in-person learning at that time.
We know many of our students have very special and unique learning needs that are very difficult to serve in a fully-remote learning environment. Hence, in the coming weeks, the administrative team will be working together with our intervention specialists, general education teachers, gifted intervention specialist, related service providers and psychologists to review Individual Education Plans (IEP’s), 504 accommodation plans, and Written Education Plans (WEP’s) in order to provide support services and specially designed instruction for our students during this extended remote learning period. We will continue to meet all compliance deadlines required by the Ohio Department of Education for Evaluation Team Reports (ETR’s) and Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) using our current technology options. We will be working collaboratively to provide optimal support to our students and to meet all students’ diverse needs.
We know this is very frustrating and stressful for the families who were relying on sending their children back to the school buildings this fall, and you probably have many more questions now that our plans have shifted.
We, as a district team, will be working together to provide the best learning experience possible for each and every student, and will continue to share information with you regularly. As you’ve witnessed by recent events, things change very quickly. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate these truly challenging and unique times.
As always, be well and be safe.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Barnes, Superintendent
Lakewood City Schools
Betsy Voinovich
