According to a press release from Superintendent Laine Larson, Brainerd Public Schools are going to be switching to distance learning for grades 5-12.
The change will become effective on November 5th, 2020. Superintendent Larson explained in the email what will happen between now and November 5th:
In the meantime, the B-learner group will attend school on-site tomorrow. The A-learner group and all fifth-grade students will attend school on-site on Monday, November 2. This will provide an opportunity for all students in grades 5-12 to meet one more time with their teachers and allow for the pickup of any necessary learning resources that are at school. Tuesday, November 3 and Wednesday, November 4 will be teacher planning days with no students in attendance, either on-site or virtually. Scheduled extracurricular activities will continue during planning days. Distance learning will begin on Thursday, November 5, 2020.
No date was announced for students returning to school in-person in the press release.
The entire press release can be read below:
October 29, 2020
Dear Warrior Family,
On behalf of the Board of Education and the administrative team, it is with a heavy heart and out of deep concern for the health of our school community that I am making the following announcement, “Students in grades 5-12 at Brainerd Public Schools will begin distance learning, effective Thursday, November 5, 2020.” No
The details of this change, including information for secondary special education students and extracurricular activities, will be announced in the afternoon on Friday, October 30. We know staff and families will have many questions in the meantime. We request that you hold onto them until after the details are released on Friday to give our leadership team the time needed to address and finalize the plans we have been developing but hoped we would never need to implement. Included in those details will be directions for submitting any questions that remain unanswered after you review the information.
Please be advised that after detailed analysis of our staffing concerns, we have had significant discussion regarding the close contact numbers occurring within our buildings due to COVID-19. In order to slow the spread of the virus among our employees, I am directing all meetings to be held virtually whenever possible. When meetings among staff must be in-person, it is now required that 8 feet of distance between participants must be maintained at all times in addition to wearing face coverings over both the mouth and nose.
Our work together to slow the spread of COVID-19 by wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance, avoiding large gatherings, practicing good hand hygiene, and staying home when feeling ill have helped keep our secondary students in school for eight precious weeks. By continuing these measures, we hope to keep our children, up to grade four, in the existing hybrid model for as long as possible.
I am confident that our staff are now better prepared and equipped to provide high quality distance learning instruction until we can safely and enthusiastically bring students back into our buildings for the hybrid learning model, due to notably reduced COVID-19 cases. Thank you for your support for high quality education for all at Brainerd Public Schools. In the meantime, please stay strong, courageous, patient, and most of all – healthy.
Respectfully,
Laine D. Larson
Superintendent of Schools, Brainerd Public Schools – ISD 181