Dear Methow Valley Students and Parents,
As the Superintendent of the Methow Valley School District, I don’t take the closure of our schools lightly. It creates a significant disruption to the lives of many. At the same time, I am fully committed to preserving the academic integrity of the classroom experience and the health and wellness of our students and staff.
At present, many of us are faced with disrupted cellular and phone services, intermittent internet connectivity, and the potential threat of continued power outages. In fact, we have received numerous reports from students and parents who continue to struggle with no cellular service and no internet connection. They are concerned about their child’s ability to participate in the first days of school. We have also examined several forecasts, all of which are calling for air quality levels in the unhealthy to very unhealthy range over the next three days: https://tools.airfire.org/websky/v2/run/standard/PNW4km-CMAQ/2020090800.
Based upon this information, not only does it seem unreasonable to expect that these conditions will serve as the optimal launchpad for a successful year of teaching and learning, but the thought of asking students and staff to engage in learning outdoors when the air quality is solidly in the unhealthy range or be placed in a building with the windows closed during a pandemic fueled by an airborne illness seems irresponsible and better yet, avoidable.
Given the current conditions, anticipated forecast, and desire to ensure every student is able to experience a successful start to the new school year, we will be closing our schools on Wednesday, September 9th through Friday, September 11th and beginning the new school year on Monday, September 14th.
- We will continue to deliver meals to each bus stop on our AM routes and to each of our three mid-day Drop Zones (Winthrop Red Barn, TwispWorks, Carlton Fire Station) each Wednesday.
- We will notify families of Kindergarten students about their new start date.
- We will work to make minor adjustments to our school calendar while preserving the dates of key events (graduation, last day of the school year, etc.).
Thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Tom Venable
Superintendent, Methow Valley School District