Today the Sun Shines!

For those of you who are more accustomed to my normal pattern of communication, today's post may seem a bit off. However, with the sun shining and the cloudless blue sky I just couldn't resist! Last week I kept the curtains of my home office shut most of the week, which may seem pretty strange for a guy who doesn't have windows in my regular office to begin with. One would think that if given the rare opportunity, I would jump at the chance to see outside!

Now then, if you weren't aware, the world headquarters for the Hudson Community School District have been temporarily relocated to my home office. My wife Ann has learned what my assistant Sheila has known for quite a while now: The work of a school superintendent isn't all that exciting and consists of a lot of computer time, phone calls, and meetings (albeit virtually now). Sorry about that, I digress....

So, even though I have windows in my home office, for the most part the curtains were kept closed last week. I mean, there wasn't really much to look at considering it was cold, windy, and rainy a lot of the time. This morning however, Ann came in and suggested we open the curtains. What a difference in climate that has made! This warm spring day is a great reminder for me, and hopefully for all of us that we are going to be alright. After lunch and spending the morning working at my computer I took a short break to walk around the block. It was nice to see a few people outside and share some brief, but vitally important words of greeting with my neighbors.

Most of the time you probably don't care all that much about what I am doing on a day to day basis. Today I thought I would share: Making plans for the 2020-2021 school year. Why? Sooner or later things are going to return to normal. We need to be ready for that. #HudsonSchools

— Dr. Tony Voss (@AnthonyDVoss) March 30, 2020

This morning I posted on Twitter that I was spending part of my day today planning for next year. That's right. Patience is a virtue and sooner or later this difficult time we [now] find ourselves in will pass. Truth be told, my day today isn't a whole lot different than it would be at any other time in my regular office at the end of March. Things will return to normal and I look forward to being able to visit in length, enjoy one another's company, and the term 'social distancing' will no longer be part of our everyday lexicon. We are going to be ready for that day and at the same time won't spend these days stuck in a rut of despair. The fact is, late last week we finished hiring three new teachers that will join our ranks next year. In the coming days, we will start to develop and articulate our plans for professional development next year. The good news is a lot of that work has already begun and will continue unabated. 

At the same time this planning for next year is occurring, we can't lose sight of the great work that is going on right now. Our building principals and teachers are working incredibly hard to connect with students in new and unfamiliar ways. They are finding their footing on ground that shifted right out from under them, and very quickly I might add. Teachers have reported to me very high levels of student engagement, and this is based largely on the level of detail that has gone into planning  that was done on the fly. 

Springtime is my favorite season. While it also often comes with a lot of rain, wind, and damp cold it also comes with days like today. Very soon flowers will begin to bloom, trees will begin to bud and the grass will turn green. This is the promise of new life. Warmer days are ahead Pirate Nation, Warmer day are ahead!

Message to Community and School on Covid-19

There is no doubt we are living through a strange and challenging period in our nation, state, and community. At this time, our schools will remain closed until at least April 13. All of our lives and daily routines have been upended in a way that is uncomfortable and at times scary. I want you to know that in this time of chaos, the Hudson Community School District is here to offer support during these unusual times.

Tonight, the Board of Directors met and adopted Emergency Resolutions that ensure the continuity of operations that I hope provide a bit of peace and comfort to all our stakeholders. You can find a copy of those resolutions below. Additionally, you can now find a page on our website that is now dedicated to news from the district and our response to this pandemic. You can access that page here

Tomorrow we will begin to ramp up our operations as we enter a new unknown. You see, our schools are much more than the brick and mortar buildings we ‘go to’ daily. The fact is, our schools really are the people! They are you! It is then our intention to begin offering educational opportunities to our students remotely. This begins with our teachers making contact with you and your children tomorrow. This contact may be email, phone call, or through the CANVAS LMS system. They have been asked to do so by the end of the day. We will try things in the coming days that will be successful. We will also try things in the coming days that will not. Never before in the history of our country have we attempted to reinvent an educational system in the course of a few short days, and done so remotely. This is, for all practical purposes, an experiment. The overarching objective in this experiment is to serve you and to meet the needs of your children. The opportunities our teacher provides for you are optional. If they don’t work for whatever reason, let us know and we’ll try to do something different. If you need something specific, please don’t hesitate to let your teacher know. We truly want to be of service to you. 

If you need access to the building for medication or essential items needed for remote learning or band instruments your contact is Mr. Bell. Visits to the building will only be available March 24th between the times of 7:30am and 5:00pm and must be scheduled through Mr. Bell. In an effort to practice social distancing, you will be given a precise time to arrive and will have an escort at arms length while in the facility. For that reason, you must be on time and be prepared to be quick and targeted. Please fill out this form so we can coordinate these strategic visits to the facilities. If you are late, we are uncertain of the next time you will be able to access the facilities.

Our food service program is now up and running. Any child aged 18 or under is eligible to receive free meals under this emergency program. We have two pickup sites in our district: the Community Center at Country Terrace (11:00-11:30 Monday and Thursday), and at the back of the elementary school (11:00-11:45 Monday and Thursday). Sites will be operational two times a week where multiple meals will be distributed. To help give us an idea of how many meals to prepare, please fill out this brief form. 

Turning now to our students, I want to direct my following comments to them. We all miss you terribly. We look forward to seeing you fill our hallways again soon, to see you compete under our jersey, and watch you light up the stage in performance. We understand this is not the school year you envisioned and feel great empathy for the situation in which you now find yourself. Unfortunately the days of instruction you are missing right now will not be made up and the competitions we had scheduled are unlikely to happen. As for the upcoming prom and spring musical, it is in your best interest if we postpone these events.  

Finally to the Class of 2020. These are not the memories you wished for your senior year. But these are the memories you will have, and they will be strong. I encourage you to reflect on this time and look for the lessons that are certain to emerge. Apply those lessons, and someday you will be able to tell your grandchildren, ‘I remember when’. In closing I don’t want you to fret about graduating, we’ve got your back. I am very much looking forward to the honor of handing you your diploma and shaking your hand. 

The World Turned Upside Down

Yes, I am a huge fan of the Broadway musical, Hamilton. Even so, I think the title of my column today is appropriate. I wanted to take some time and consider all that has changed in the last week, and to share some reflections on what has been going on behind the scenes. Hopefully this will provide some solace that we have great people in our school district who are working very hard to keep us safe and moving forward. These folks are doing everything in their power to meet your needs.

So where to start? I suppose March 3rd is as good a place as any. That is when I first posted about the Coronavirus. My comments were centered around the theme that at the time, our most pressing concern was prevention of influenza. In that post, I provided copies of our communicable disease policy and gave tips on preventative measures such as covering your cough and washing your hands. The very next day, I attended a meeting at Central Rivers AEA with hundreds of other administrators and educators from around the Cedar Valley where we heard from Hamish Brewer, a motivational speaker and principal from an urban school district who is well known for his ability to turn around failing schools. In spite of that post, a global pandemic was the furthest thing from my mind. 

A week later, things began to change. Across the nation, cases were beginning to pop up on each coast. At that time, Washington state was being impacted pretty heavily and foreign travel was being discouraged by the state department. We were planning a trip for our music department to New York City, but were being advised to still go (and that cancelling would result in all our participants losing their money). The first signal that things might be changing for us was when the Iowa Board of Regents announced they would be moving to online classes for a period of two weeks following spring break. County superintendents then collaborated to share that we were following the advice of the health department; and that we had no plans to close. We even issued a press release that was jointly authored by the group. All schools in the area who also planned trips for their students over spring break would go on as scheduled. I met with the faculty and staff the afternoon of March 11th to reassure everyone and to reiterate the fact that we would proceed as normal and follow the recommendations of the health department. Our trip would go on; in fact they were leaving that very afternoon. I wished everyone a fun and relaxing spring break and moved on with my afternoon. 

Late the next afternoon the ground shifted again when I was informed Broadway would go dark at 5:00 EST. I immediately called Mrs. Davis who was on the bus with the kids on their way to New York. She heard this news for the first time when I told her, and they were a mere 30 minutes from Manhattan. I asked her to get to the hotel, circle the chaperones and let them know what was going on. We were going to have to make plans to return earlier than anticipated. When that was was yet to be determined and we needed to work closely with the tour company so our families would be able to get refunds. Ultimately we decided they would leave late the next afternoon after rescheduling some of their attractions. At least they would get something out of the trip. Then the ground shifted again. At 11:00 that evening I got a text that the museums they were scheduled to visit would now close. The next day the group would visit the Statue of Liberty and then head for home. We would keep in close contact until the students ultimately arrived home mid-morning Saturday, March 14.

Meanwhile, Friday, March 13 marked the unofficial beginning of spring break for Hudson. Since we had parent teacher conferences that week, Friday was a day off for teachers. I was in the office that day preparing for all the projects that we had planned to get taken care of over spring break. Whenever we have the students out of the buildings, we are able to 'make a lot of hay' and this was going to be no different. Then the wheels started to come off.   The weekend proved to be incredibly busy and difficult to keep up with an ever changing landscape. On the phone, via text, and answering emails; what would the next week bring? Then Sunday night came. We started hearing rumors the governor was going to recommend school closures, but we didn't have any details. The fact is, we found out about the recommendation to close for four weeks the same time everyone else did. Even though we were on spring break this last week, we immediately decided to comply. 

One quick sidebar here: There has been some criticism from people who were angry the governor didn't mandate all schools close. The reason she didn't is because she can't. Iowa law does not grant the Governor of Iowa the authority to mandate a statewide school closure. Those decisions are under the complete jurisdiction of local authorities. Nevertheless, you can be assured when the Governor of Iowa makes a recommendation we are going to comply. 

The week we are now ending; spring break, was as busy or busier than any week of regular instruction. I was forced to recall all essential personnel from their vacations. No questions asked, they showed up and were willing to do whatever was necessary. We have been meeting remotely and in person only when absolutely necessary. On Monday (March 23) the Board of Directors will meet and enact emergency resolutions that will enable us to keep our operation running and then we will begin the process of moving to remote operations.

Our educators are eager to connect with your children. They have been contacting us all week to offer suggestions, volunteer to come in to help out, and preparing to move out of their comfort zones into an online environment. Some of what we try will work great. Other things may not pan out. But, our educators are willing to give this a try and are going to work very hard to meet the needs of our students. Meal service will even resume on Monday and you can sign up here. 

The world may be turned upside down (right now at least); but we'll get through this. Essential operations continue, our custodians are working hard cleaning our buildings and our construction project is moving forward. Hang in there Pirate Nation! Everything will work out. Let us know if you need anything at all. We are here to be of service. 

Cedar Valley K-12 Statement re: Coronavirus

In light of the Iowa Board of Regents announcement that all state universities will move toward online course work following spring break, the Cedar Valley area school districts want to assure our families and communities that normal operations will continue for the foreseeable future.

While our overarching objective is to keep students and staff members safe, we also acknowledge that we have a social responsibility to ensure the continuity of education for our students.The Black Hawk County Health Department has asserted that the risk to students and staff is minimal at this time and they do not believe that the current situation warrants closing.

In the event that the Iowa Department of Public Health determines that there is a need for closure, or other action, the Black Hawk County Health Department and school district will coordinate to respond, and communicate additional information at that time.

As districts, we are working to be proactive and preventative, while operating in a state of preparedness. We are in constant communication with the Black Hawk County Health Department, as well as the Iowa Department of Public Health. Moving forward, we will continue to partner with and follow the guidance of these agencies. For reference, the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus can be found via the Iowa Department of Public Health Coronavirus and the Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus.

The safety and well-being of our students and staff is always our top priority. We all have procedures in place as part of our district emergency operating plan[s] to handle situations regarding the spread of illness. 

As stated before, to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, the CDC recommends the following actions:

Frequently wash your hands for 20 seconds or more with soapy water. If unavailable, use hand sanitizer.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

Please feel free to communicate with your local school district if you have any specific questions.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Tim Cronin, Superintendent; Dunkerton Schools

Mr. Travis Fleshner, Superintendent; Union Schools

Dr. Jane Lindaman, Superintendent; Waterloo Schools

Mr. Tom Novotney, Chief Administrator; Cedar Valley Catholic Schools

Dr. Andy Pattee, Superintendent Cedar; Falls Schools

Mr. Justin Stockdale, Superintendent; Dike-New Hartford Schools

Dr. Anthony Voss, Superintendent; Hudson Schools

Coronavirus Communication

As you have probably heard, there is an expanding global outbreak of a respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. You may have also heard this virus referred to as COVID-19. While many cases are associated with travel to or from China, person to person spread is now being reported in many countries around the world, including the United States. At this time, there are no known cases in Iowa, although several people are being monitored and a few are even being tested.

What is KnownThe virus causing COVID-19 is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified, and causes a respiratory illness ranging from a mild cold-like illness to severe respiratory disease. Similar to influenza, the people who are most likely to have severe disease and complications from COVID-19 are believe to be the very old, very young and those with other chronic or underlying medical conditions. There is no vaccine or treatment currently available for COVID-19, so prevention is very important. Again, there currently are NO confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. However, experts predict there will eventually be community spread. IDPH, Black Hawk County Public Health and the Hudson Community School District are preparing for when/if this happens.

Please be advised that the Hudson Community School District leadership is working closely with our partners at the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Public Health to monitor the situation. Should action be needed, we will respond rapidly and inform you of any changes to our daily routine. In the interim, our custodial staff is taking extra measures to clean and disinfect surfaces in all our attendance centers.

How the Virus Spreads
Covid-19 is believed to be spread the same way the common cold or flu spreads--through respiratory droplets that are produced when someone coughs or sneezes. People who are most at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 are those who have been in close contact (within about 6 feet) of someone who has the disease. People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic (the sickest). 

At this time, it is important to keep this in perspective. Right now, the risk of influenza is much higher that the risk of COVID-19. The prevention measures for influenza and COVID-19 are the same. 

• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper arm/elbow.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
• Stay home when ill.
• See your health care provider if you have concerns.

If you child is running a fever, please keep them home to rest. Our general rule of thumb is that a child must be fever free for 24 hours before they return to school. Please do not give your child fever reducing medications to treat a fever before sending them to school. While this may help them to feel better, it will spread the virus to others.

Helpful resources:

Board Policy 507.3 Communicable Diseases-Students

Iowa Department of Public Health-Novel Coronavirus

Coronavirus Fact Sheet