Today, March 17, 2020 Governor Laura Kelly announced all school facilities will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. This will place tremendous hardship on our families and staff, and impact the social and emotional well-being of our students.
USD 495 has been working on contingency plans since mid-March, including how we can meet the ongoing learning needs of our students and provide breakfast and lunch for our students.
We will be releasing details and a timeline on how we will be providing Continuous Learning to all students in the district throughout the remainder of year as soon as they become available. In the coming days we will be announcing how we will be preparing and providing meals for community children for both breakfast and lunch.
Our staff and board of education are also working on other critical issues, such as what this means for our seniors, how this will affect next school year and what impact this will have on our employees. We will provide updates on these issues as soon as the information is available.
We are committed to working together as a community to support one another throughout these unprecedented times, and communication will remain a top priority. We will keep families updated through the district website, email and social media platforms. We will use our emergency notification system of text, phone calls, and push notifications to have you check the website or email that will provide more detailed information.
As a reminder, this school closure is in response to the current public health crisis. The focus should remain on preventing the spread the coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is also referred to.
Please be mindful of the following:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing (cough/sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue).
- Please keep sick children at home.
- Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
Follow additional guidance from these sources:
- National Center for Disease Control (CDC)
- Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)
- Pawnee County Health Department
Bryce Wachs Buddy Tabler
Superintendent Board President