COVID-19 Dashboard

9/10/2020 - COVID-19 Update

Published on September 10, 2020

Dear Families and Staff:

This letter is to inform you that 2 staff members at CUSD #2 and 2 students at CUSD #2 have tested positive for COVID-19. We also want to make everyone aware that we do have students and staff throughout the district that are on quarantine at this point due to close contact with a COVID positive individual or individuals. We anticipate many of our quarantined students to return to in-person learning this week. We continue to coordinate our efforts with the Crawford County Health Department to promptly identify and monitor individuals who have had recent contact with a COVID-19 positive individual to prevent further spread within our schools and community. The health and safety of ALL students and staff in our district is our highest priority, and we recognize the uncertainty and concern regarding the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We are following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the state and local health departments for best practices and procedures to protect everyone’s health.

As always, everyone should monitor their health and stay at home if they develop symptoms [1] . Sick persons should contact their health care provider to determine if testing is needed. Anyone who develops severe symptoms [2] should seek medical care immediately.

If your child has had close contact with a known case of COVID-19, keep the child at home and notify your primary healthcare provider, school/daycare, and your local health department. If you receive a call after hours or on the weekends, it will likely not show up on caller id as the health department number. Many of the contact tracers are working from home during these hours.

It will take all of us as a district to help our students attend school in-person and be provided the educational opportunities we all want for them. We are committed to providing your child and our staff with a safe and healthy environment. We ask that you remind your children to wash their hands, use hand sanitizer, and wear a mask when closer than six feet when out in public. Thank you for your understanding and ongoing cooperation with our COVID prevention policies and procedures as we work to help protect your children, your families, and our staff and their families. For any questions or concerns, please contact us at (618) 544-7781.

Sincerely,

Craig Beals

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[1] 1 Symptoms of COVID-19 include: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea.

[2] 2 Severe symptoms of COVID-19 include: trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, bluish lips or face.

8/24/2020 - COVID-19 Guidelines

Published on August 24, 2020

8/20/2020 - Public Health Conversation

Published on August 20, 2020

8/11/2020 - School Reopening Plan

Published on August 11, 2020

School Reopening Plan

Dear Robinson CUSD #2 Families,

The process of planning for a safe reopening of our schools has been ongoing since we first had to close our buildings in March. However, more specific planning started in late June when the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health released directives to school districts. In early July, we formed our multidisciplinary committee to begin work on two goals: (1) Develop a plan that allows our students to return to in-person learning while complying with the mandates from the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health and (2) Refine our remote learning plan to insure that we build the capacity to provide high-quality remote learning if or when this is necessary.

The Robinson CUSD #2 School Reopening Plan that is attached to this message is a result of the work of this committee and its seven subcommittees. It is a living document – it can and will be revised as necessary when new information is received or as conditions change in our community. In addition to the document itself, committee members spent hundreds of hours this team spent researching, making calls to vendors, consulting colleagues and other experts, and revising as mandates changed multiple times.

I would like to call your attention to one particular section of the plan where we need your partnership as parents. Each day, we must document that all students and staff entering the building are symptom free. The committee has developed a process for pre-certification which allows for a parent or responsible adult to document that a child is symptom-free before they are sent to the bus stop or dropped off at school. Page 6 of the plan describes this process. We have created and will provide every family with booklets of these pre-certification forms and we ask that you complete them each day and send them with your student. If the majority of our students are pre-certified by their parents each day, this will help us keep arrival time at each building flowing smoothly and avoid bottlenecks. I have attached a PDF version of the pre-certification form. If you have access to a printer, you are welcome to print your own copy to pre-certify your student(s) on the first day of school. If you would like to pick up forms ahead of time, we will have a pick time available next Tuesday (see below). In addition, we will send a booklet of forms home with each student on the first day of school.

Finally, I would like to call your attention to two upcoming dates:

On Tuesday, August 18 from 2:00PM to 7:00PM, we will host a drive-through pick up for pre-certification forms at our transportation facility located at 1301 W. Main St. Also at this time, any families who need reusable facemasks for their students may pick them up as well. Specific instructions for the drive-through will be e-mailed in a separate message later this week.

On Thursday, August 20 at 6:00PM, Robinson CUSD#2 will partner with the Crawford County Health Department, Crawford Memorial Hospital, and Lawrence County Health Department to host an overview of plans and community question and answer session. This event will occur at Nuttall Middle School. While no more than 50 people can be accommodated in person, we are making arrangements to livestream and potentially broadcast the session through other media. Early next week, a portal will be available for remote viewers to submit questions in advance.

We look forward to seeing our students soon!

Sincerely,

Josh Quick

Superintendent

Robinson CUSD #2 School Reopening Plan

8/8/2020 - Remote Learning Option

Published on August 8, 2020

Remote Learning Option

Dear Robinson CUSD#2 Families,

The early days of August are one of my favorite times of year as an educator as we prepare to welcome our students back into our schools. This year has been extremely challenging but I want to assure you that the excitement and anticipation that our staff feels is still there and we can’t wait to see our students.

As mentioned in my message earlier this week, online registration on Skyward is in progress and will remain open through Sunday, August 9. Please remember that we need all Robinson CUSD#2 students to be registered through Skyward, regardless of whether they will attend in person or participate in remote learning. If for any reason you need to access the registration system after August 9, you may contact your child’s school office and they can assist.

Our Back-to-School planning group of 33 individuals is wrapping up some last details on our overall plan and we anticipate having the full plan completed early next week. I am extremely grateful to this team for their generous gifts of time and expertise to plan for our safe return to school. Even when complete, our plan will be continually reviewed and revised as necessary to respond to changing conditions. In my message on August 2, I shared the completed draft of the section on Face Coverings and today I want to share our draft of the Instructional Design section of the plan. This section provides information about in-person learning and remote learning.

If you wish to select the remote learning option rather than returning for in-person learning on August 24, please contact your child’s building principal anytime from August 10 through August 14.

I hope that you will enjoy these last days of summer and stay safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Josh Quick

Superintendent

Instructional Design Our committee and our staff are preparing to welcome the majority of our students back for in-person learning on August 24. However, at the same time, we are building the district’s capacity to provide remote learning as necessary. In-person Learning School start and stop times at Washington Elementary School (8:10-2:35) and Lincoln Elementary School (8:20-2:45) will remain the same as in the past. The start and stop times at Nuttall Middle School (8:00-1:45) and Robinson High School (8:00-1:40) have been modified to allow teachers time to check in with students learning remotely and plan and create content for those students. Families selecting in-person learning do not need to complete any additional steps beyond registering through Skyward. Remote Learning Robinson CUSD#2 has taken several steps to enhance our capacity to provide remote learning. We have purchased enough devices to allow for every student in the district to be assigned a school-owned Chromebook. In addition, we have options to assist students who may have no Internet access. Finally, our technology committee has developed training for both students and teachers to familiarize them with remote learning and the specific platform we will be using. There are three different scenarios that we anticipate remote learning may be utilized: Remote Learning from First Day of School Enrollment: Families electing to enroll their child in remote learning starting on the first day of the school year should first register their child as normal through the Skyward online registration system. Families are then asked to contact the building principal between August 10 and August 14 to indicate that they would like to participate in remote learning. The principal will explain the remote learning program and ask the parent to provide information about Internet access and contact information. Students will be enrolled in remote learning for a period of one academic quarter. At the end of each quarter, parents will have the option to re-enroll the student in remote learning or to return the student to in-person learning. Teacher and Curriculum K-5 Elementary Students: All K-5 students participating in remote learning will be assigned a homeroom teacher at their grade level. In addition, each student will be assigned a remote learning teacher. The remote learning teacher will be fully licensed teacher working for Robinson CUSD#2 but may or may not be the same as the homeroom teacher. At the K-5 level, the district will provide access to a commercial online curriculum for students enrolled in remote learning. The remote learning teacher will be in touch with each remote learning student daily. The remote learning teacher will coordinate the remote learning content with what is being covered during in-person learning to allow for a smooth transition from remote learning to in-person learning should that become necessary. In addition, the homeroom teacher will contact the remote learning student on a regular basis to build and maintain rapport in preparation for a potential return to in-person learning. Students will be expected to engage daily in the curriculum (unless ill or absent) and participation will be tracked. Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) will continue to work toward progress on IEP goals. IEP minutes will be determined on an individual basis based upon the students’ current percentages in special education and the students’ individual needs. IEP minutes will be met with a combination of virtual, telephone, videos, emails, and/or work assigned. Activities will consist of group meetings, individual meetings, independent work, or providing accommodations to the students for testing and general education assignments. 6-12 Students: For students in grades 6-12 participating in remote learning from the beginning of the year, the content will be provided by the same teacher who would be providing the instruction in person. The curriculum will match what is being covered in the physical classroom and will be provided through Google Classroom. The in-person instructor will monitor progress, assess, and provide feedback as needed. Students will be expected to engage daily in the curriculum (unless ill or absent) and participation will be tracked. Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) will continue to work toward progress on IEP goals. IEP minutes will be determined on an individual basis based upon the students’ current percentages in special education and the students’ individual needs. IEP minutes will be met with a combination of virtual, telephone, videos, emails, and/or work assigned. Activities will consist of group meetings, individual meetings, independent work, or providing accommodations to the students for testing and general education assignments. Technology: All students participating in remote learning will be issued a school-owned Chromebook. Students will log in to their device using their school-issued Google credentials. The devices are protected (filtered) through the GoGuardian software which insures the devices are used for educational purposes only. This software is compliant with the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The district will work with families to assess their Internet service and will assist with addressing any gaps in Internet access needed to facilitate remote learning. Remote Learning During a Small-Scale Quarantine or Extended Absence In the event that a student learning in-person comes under quarantine or has any other extended absence, the student will be provided with material by his or her classroom teacher as has been the normal practice during absences in the past. This may be supplemented by online content at grades 6-12. Remote Learning if District School Buildings Must Close The Instructional Design Committee has revised the district’s remote learning plan that was utilized in the Spring of 2020 to reflect new mandates from the Illinois State Board of Education and our increased capacity to provide instructional content through technology. If we face the unfortunate circumstance that our school buildings must close to in-person learning, this plan will be implemented. We will provide every student with a school-owned device and work with families to insure that every child has adequate access to the Internet. All of our teachers will shift to providing online content on the Google Classroom platform.

8/3/2020 - Online Registration

Published on August 3, 2020

Online Registration

Good afternoon Robinson CUSD #2 Families,

The online registration process for the 2020-2021 school year is currently underway and will continue through next Sunday, August 9, 2020. Please visit our school website for detailed information and access to the online registration portal.

As you know, the end of last school year was unlike any we have ever experienced. The start of the 2020-2021 school year will be very different as well. Our team has been working diligently to plan a safe return to in-person learning for our students and staff. At the same time, we recognize that some families may not be comfortable with their children returning to in-person learning under the current conditions. A remote learning option will be available. Again, the committee is working very hard to plan the best way to provide this opportunity for our students.

We will have additional information for you on the remote learning option by the beginning of next week as well as instructions on how to contact us if you decide this is the best option for your child. Please note that regardless of whether your child will attend in person or participate in remote learning, we need all students to complete online registration.

Finally, many of you have asked about what types of face coverings are allowable. I am copying the draft of the face covering section of our district plan below for your reference. We hope to have the entire plan complete and communicated to our families, staff, and community by sometime early next week.

On behalf of our Robinson CUSD #2 staff, thank you for your support and we very much look forward to working with your students soon!

Sincerely,

Josh Quick

 

Face Coverings All students and staff must wear a face covering while inside school buildings and while riding on a school bus. Any type of cloth face covering which fits snugly around the mouth and nose is acceptable. For some students, a gaiter-type face covering may be more comfortable and easier to manage. Disposable masks are also acceptable. Clear face-shields do not meet the requirements from ISBE and IDPH. As with any clothing or accessories worn at school, all face-coverings must be free from content advertising alcoholic beverages, drugs, violence, suggestive messages, or any content that interferes in the learning process or exhibits poor judgement. Families are encouraged to obtain at least 2 reusable masks/face coverings per child to allow for daily laundering. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency will also provide one reusable mask for every student and staff member in Illinois schools. Our schools will have plenty of extra masks available if families are unable to provide one or if a student’s face covering becomes lost, damaged, or soiled during the school day. Individuals must wear a mask or other appropriate face covering as described above to enter school buildings or a school bus and it must remain on while in the building unless the individual is eating or drinking.

Superintendent