Potlatch School District Superintendent Jeffrey A. Cirka this morning announced Potlatch schools will be closed beginning Friday with a scheduled re-opening date of April 6 due to the threat of the new coronavirus.
Genesee School District Superintendent Wendy Moore made a similar announcement late Wednesday, indicating Genesee Schools will extend their spring break from Monday through at least April 3.
In Latah County, Potlatch, Moscow, Troy, Genesee and Whitepine schools have each changed school schedules by either closing or extending breaks in response to the coronavirus threat. The Kendrick school district as of now will proceed normally.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday announced the closure of all K-12 public and private schools from Tuesday to April 24.
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The complete letter sent to Potlatch School District parents and posted on the school district website appears below:
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The Board of Trustees and District Administration met Wednesday, March 18th to discuss possible closure to our schools, due to the continuous threat of the COVID-19 virus. In order to ensure the safety and health of our students and staff, the Board decided that the closing of the school district, at this time, was in the best interest of our students and community. School closure will begin on Friday, March 20th and will be in effect through Monday, April 6th. However, the Board and Administration will evaluate weekly the status of school resuming by the 6th. If this is not a possibility, the school closure will continue and alternative educational protocols and delivery will immediately be put into effect.
Staff at both the Elementary and the Junior-Senior High School will take these next several days to develop and provide a delivery system that will allow students to work at home and continue to receive educational services through various options, whether it be through online instruction or through teacher-prepared packets and study materials. Staff will be in touch with students and parents through emails, phone contact, online teleconferencing, etc. to provide support during this period should the school closure continue for an extended period of time. Please note that for households that do not have computers available in their homes, the District has a check-out program that can provide you with a computer for your child or children to use during this closure time.
We recognize that this will be a difficult time for you, as parents and guardians, in keeping your children at home but we need your help and support in educating your children to the importance of “social distancing” and the effects it has on lowering the chances of the COVID-19 virus from spreading. We cannot stress enough that this time away from school is not an “extended vacation” for your children. We ask for your assistance in monitoring your child or children’s activities and helping them stay focused on completing work and assignments provided by their teachers.
We do not know when this crisis will pass. We hoped that we could continue keeping our schools open during this time but, sadly, this is no longer an option. However, we also recognize that this is uncharted territory for us and it is better to be proactive than reactive. It will be a daunting task but together, we -parents and the school - can and will get our children and students through this crisis.
Thank you for your support and understanding. Please continue to monitor our school district webpage, our district Facebook page, or our SchoolPointe phone app for updates and further information on what the District is doing and/or requesting, as well as any up-to-date announcements. As always, please feel free to call or email Mr. John Haire, principal of the Elementary, Mr. Matt Rehl, principal of the Jr.-Sr. High School, or myself for further answers to your questions. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey A. Cirka, Superintendent
(208) 875-0327
jcirka@psd285.org
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The complete note from Genesee School District Superintendent Wendy Moore posted on the district's Facebook page is posted below.
March 18, 2020
Dear Parents/ Guardians,
The health, safety and well-being of our students, families and community is our highest priority. As of today, we still have no confirmed cases of the COVID -19 (Coronavirus) in either Latah or Nez Perce County, but we believe it is only a matter of time before our area is affected by the virus. Knowing this is likely to happen, we have decided to extend our spring break ( March 23 – March 27) by an additional week.
The week of March 30 – April 3 will be closed to students, but we will be having staff work on alternative forms of instruction for our students if we need to be closed for a longer period of time. After the two week break we will examine the health level of our community to determine if we need to continue with alternative methods of instruction or return to our normal instruction.
If we continue to be closed beyond April 5th, you will be notified by school administration how we will be handling instructional practices, food services as well as special ed services for those affected.
We are asking that parents please send their child(ren) to school tomorrow (Thursday, 3/19) to make sure that they are taking home all of their belongings and receiving instructional materials they may need if the school closure is extended past the 5th of April.
We will continue to keep you updated as events unfold. We would like to thank all of you for your support these last few weeks. I hope that you are still able to find some time to enjoy your spring break with your family. We hope to see you back on April 6th.
Sincerely,
Dr. Wendy Moore
(Genesee School District superintendent)
March 18, 2020Dear Parents/ Guardians,The health, safety and well-being of our students, families and community is our highest priority. As of today, we still have no confirmed cases of the COVID -19 (Coronavirus) in either Latah or Nez Perce County, but we believe it is only a matter of time before our area is affected by the virus. Knowing this is likely to happen, we have decided to extend our spring break ( March 23 – March 27) by an additional week.The week of March 30 – April 3 will be closed to students, but we will be having staff work on alternative forms of instruction for our students if we need to be closed for a longer period of time. After the two week break we will examine the health level of our community to determine if we need to continue with alternative methods of instruction or return to our normal instruction.If we continue to be closed beyond April 5th, you will be notified by school administration how we will be handling instructional practices, food services as well as special ed services for those affected.We are asking that parents please send their child(ren) to school tomorrow (Thursday, 3/19) to make sure that they are taking home all of their belongings and receiving instructional materials they may need if the school closure is extended past the 5th of April.We will continue to keep you updated as events unfold. We would like to thank all of you for your support these last few weeks. I hope that you are still able to find some time to enjoy your spring break with your family. We hope to see you back on April 6th.Sincerely,Dr. Wendy Moore
