August 7

Letter From Superintendent

Dear GPPSS Families, Staff and Students,

First and foremost, we appreciate your feedback and want to work with you to implement a safe and healthy start on September 8th.  The Return to School Plan will continue to evolve.  We know that the federal, state and local authorities are going to continue to provide guidelines through executives orders and legislation as they did this past March, when all schools and families were faced with the difficult shift to a virtual environment due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19.  As educators and parents, all of us hoped that making this difficult shift abruptly last spring, would result in students and staff being able to return to school buildings safely and soon.

At this time, we believe it is better, safer and in everyone’s best interest to start Tuesday, September 8, 2020, in full remote learning with a gradual plan to bring everyone back.  

As you know, this month Governor Whitmer’s Return to Learn Task Force issued a document encouraging all schools to focus on in-person instruction to the safest extent possible.  GPPSS convened a taskforce of staff that created a robust plan with a face-to-face learning option, a hybrid learning option, and a 100% remote learning option.  These plans have been shared with our staff and community.  As leaders, we have been listening to feedback, adjusting those plans, and making decisions in the best interest of safety and learning for our students and staff.

This past week GPPSS committed to families to offer two options for our students this fall:

• OneGP Virtual is an option open to families that feel that a fully virtual option would be best for their child for at least a semester.

• GPPSS Traditional is an option that would pivot students between face-to-face, hybrid and 100% remote options as warranted by the current best thinking around student and staff safety.

As our administrative team has listened to our staff and students, observed the work of other districts and countries, and most importantly viewed the safety situation for our community, we have decided to recommend to the Board of Education that our GPPSS Traditional students begin the Fall 2020 school year in a 100% remote environment using the OneGP Virtual model. Please note the following:

1. OneGP Virtual will still proceed. Families will still notify the district of their preference.

2. While GPPSS Traditional will begin the year in a 100% remote environment, it is our intent that as the safety situation permits, students in this program will transition into a hybrid or fully face-to-face environment as soon as it is safe to do so. Here are the major differences between last spring’s experience and this fall’s for those electing GPPSS Traditional:

1. All students will have both synchronous (real time) and asynchronous instruction

2. GPPSS staff will design an opportunity for our students with the most need, including our at-risk students, students in our categorical special education programs, our youngest students, and others requiring the most support to return to some moderated version of in-person small group instruction opportunities soon after the start of the school year.

3. Additional time will allow more safety protocols to be reviewed and implemented (temperature checks,  PPE selection, training)

4. Unlike this spring, our staff will have access to our buildings and learning materials

5. Childcare will be available for GPPSS staff and essential workers

6. Additional training on remote learning will be provided for staff, families and students

I know that the above information significantly impacts our children and families.  While the decisions above prioritize the health and safety of our students and staff, we acknowledge educational opportunities for our students are more limited in a 100% remote environment.  Additionally, our families that need or want their children to be physically in school due to student needs, or family or working situations, are impacted by this decision. This is not easy. 

By making this decision now, our dedicated staff can work to ensure that the 100% remote learning opportunity we provide our students in GPPSS Traditional and One GP Virtual will move from surviving the emergency experience they had in the spring, to thriving this fall.  The experience our students have remotely this fall will be consistent, robust and interactive.  With over a month of planning time left before September 8, I am confident that our teachers and staff will be ready to provide both synchronous and asynchronous opportunities for our students starting from the first day of school.

We all want to get to full time in-person teaching and learning.  We will follow the guidelines and safety protocols to get there.  It is going to take a major flattening of the curve or a vaccine for full time in-person learning to happen. This is not easy, but we believe it is what’s best for kids. We need your support and help to make this happen.

Sincerely,

Gary C. Niehaus

Superintendent