Trumansburg Central School District

The District's 2020-2021 Calendar has been changed! **Thursday, May 27, 2021 and Friday, May 28, 2021 - NO SCHOOL (PreK-12) and CAMPUS IS CLOSED (No Staff Report) **Thursday, June 24, 2021 - Early Dismissal at 1:15pm for Grades PreK-8 To download an updated 2020-2021 School Calendar, go to: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l62Sfd_fU4YHV6F31QoyFdKNSYm8HDl1/view?usp=sharing

REMINDER: Spring Break/No Classes from Monday, April 5th - Friday, April 9th. Have a wonderful break!

MESSAGE FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL, March 29, 2021 Dear COD Parents.Guardians, I am writing to notify all high school families that we have learned this morning of a positive case of COVID 19 among our students. The student was tested this weekend and we have been notified by the health department that we will need to quarantine a number of students who were in class with the student on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I am currently working with our contact tracing team to identify students that are impacted and we will be contacting parents of all students affected directly by the quarantine notice later this morning. I want to reassure everyone that while we are obligated to quarantine a select number of students, we are still confident in the safety measures we have had in place. We remain optimistic that these quarantine measures will only be precautionary and are hopeful that there will not be any further spread among our students. Additionally, as most of the building faculty have been vaccinated, we do not need to quarantine any staff and the school will remain open for instruction. For those students that are required to quarantine, we will be working with district transportation and parents to get them home as soon as possible today. Those students will be isolated until transportation can be provided. Sincerely, Jon Koeng Principal

The Food Service Department is offering a Spring Break Meal Kit! Please order by 4pm on Monday, March 29th. The Meal Kit includes a gallon of NY milk, a half gallon of NY apple cider, a dozen NY eggs, NY potatoes, a dozen dinner rolls, and additional fresh vegetables. Pick-up will be on either Thursday, April 1st between 4 pm and 5 pm, or Friday, or April 2nd between 12:30 pm and 1:00 pm in front of the High School Main Office. If you unable to pick up a box, let us know and we will see what we can do. Kits are free of charge for all Trumansburg students and their younger siblings. Order here: https://forms.gle/Km7EeoS8wCuRhvrP7

March 25, 2021 Dear Trumansburg Community, I hope this communication finds you well and enjoying the early signs of spring. The recent events of anti-Asian violence across our country again bring to light the work we, as a District, are committed to. As an educational organization, we continue to create a culturally responsive and inclusive learning environment where each individual feels valued, connected, and safe. Our professional staff is committed to supporting our students and personnel’s social-emotional well-being. Our faculty are also working with professionals to employ best practices to facilitate growth discussions in the classrooms. We will continue to care for each of our community members, respecting their identity. It is our responsibility to protect every student and support them academically, socially, and emotionally. This work will be better articulated through the revised mission/vision work targeted for completion in July 2021. Thank you for your continued support as we enhance our learning environment to better care for each school community member. Sincerely, Kimberly Bell Superintendent TCSD

Status Update: The issue with district hosted servers is in the process of being remediated. A priority ticket has been placed with VMWare. We are waiting to hear from the vendor on an ETA. Thank you for your patience.

March 23, 2021 Dear Trumansburg Community, I hope this communication finds you well and enjoying the early signs of spring. The recent events of anti-Asian violence across our country again bring to light the work we, as a District, are committed to. As an educational organization, we continue to create a culturally responsive and inclusive learning environment where each individual feels valued, connected, and safe. Our professional staff is committed to supporting our students and personnel’s social-emotional well-being. Our faculty are also working with professionals to employ best practices to facilitate growth discussions in the classrooms. It is our responsibility to protect every student and support them academically, socially, and emotionally. This work will be better articulated through the revised mission/vision work targeted for completion in July 2021. Please reach out to our Student Support Offices and Building Principals if you believe your child needs additional support services. Thank you for working with us to enhance our learning environment to better care for each school community member. Respectfully, Kimberly Bell Superintendent TCSD

The CNYRIC is experiencing technical issues with district hosted servers. The issue is currently being addressed and services are expected to be restored at Trumansburg School District shortly.

Internet has been restored for Trumansburg Central School District!

The CNYRIC is experiencing technical issues with district hosted servers. The issue is currently being addressed and services are expected to be restored to Trumansburg School District shortly.

February 28, 2021 Important Message from Trumansburg Central School District: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K9nmPT1NmADzqYcLHLIKcX1ApXfc4Fbq/view?usp=sharing

February 4, 2021 Dear Trumansburg Community, As we assess our programming in light of the current situation of COVID-19, I have been made aware of an error in the quarantine dates most recently shared, which lent to the district pivoting to remote learning for the week of February 8-12. Those individuals recently placed in quarantine will be released by the DOH on midnight of February 5. We also learned that the DOH will guarantee that if our staff are placed in quarantine and cannot receive their second vaccine, the second vaccine will be held for them until they are released. This will allow us to return to in-person instruction on 2/8/21. Although the instructional pivots are stressful and inconvenient, we believe it is more beneficial to have our students on campus for in-person instruction whenever feasibly possible. Classes will resume on campus for in-person instruction on Monday, February 8, 2021. We know that things continue to change, but this is an ever changing situation and we are doing our best to be flexible. February 12, 2021, was previously announced as a remote learning day due to too many pre-planned absences for vaccines however, we have spent these past couple of days creatively planning for coverage. As such, at this time we plan to be in session as usual on February 12, 2021. Students should follow their regular schedules. Thank you for your dedication to our students. Every day, I am grateful that even though we are operating in an unprecedented time, we are still standing together committed to providing the best possible outcomes for our students. Respectfully, Kimberly Bell Superintendent TCSD

02/03/21 - All after school activities are cancelled (practices, open gyms, and ski club). Student meal pickup and delivery has been rescheduled for Thursday.

02/03/21 : Grades PreK-12 Remote Instruction, all BOCES Programs Remote Instruction (including P-TECH), No Private School Transportation, No Staff Report (unless otherwise directed by your supervisor)

TCSD Virtual Forum - Education Opportunities During COVID-19 On February 8, 2021 at 5pm the District will hold a Virtual Forum to offer the community an opportunity to ask questions about Education Opportunities during COVID-19. Please submit your questions with your registration by 9am on 2/5/21; questions received after that time may not be addressed. Register in advance for this webinar: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o27jdXdWT6qKZRFFnd5zIQ This event is limited to 100 attendees. If you are not able to register, you can watch the Live Stream on our TCSD TV YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/TCSDTV).

MESSAGE FROM THE FOOD SERVICE DEPARTMENT: Meal pick up and delivery originally scheduled for Tuesday is now rescheduled for Wednesday. Additionally, there will be a produce box distribution and a meal kit distribution on Thursday. For more information, go to: https://www.tburgschools.org/page/school-nutrition-services

Due to predicted weather conditions, Trumansburg Central School District will be closed on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

January 29, 2021 Dear Trumansburg Community, The purpose of today's communication is to reflect on the challenges our community has faced and inform you of yet another difficult decision we are obliged to make. As you know, these past months, we have been forced to pivot from in-person instruction to remote instruction with little advance notice due to the shortage of instructional staff and strict CDC and DOH guidelines. We recognize that this unpredictable pattern is exceptionally stressful for families, students, and educators. Our teachers and families have worked tirelessly to find new ways to do their jobs and overcome numerous hurdles to ensure students have the best possible opportunities and outcomes in education. We continue to address individual student mental health and learning needs as we recognize not all children are thriving with this "new normal." In follow up to my communication from yesterday, we have another positive COVID-19 case in our ES. That brings us to a total of 30 adults in quarantine district-wide not counting the additional instructional staff that are impacted because their child is a student at our district and now under the Department of Health order of quarantine. We are unable to cover in-person instruction with 30 known employees in quarantine and the likely additional ten or more needing to stay at home for children in quarantine. Our current state is in part due to having adults cover multiple classrooms due to absences, thus lending to more exposure. Keep in mind, some faculty offer instruction in multiple classrooms or serve all grade levels in a building. After many conversations with our administrative team, numerous teachers, and our teachers' union leadership, we have made the difficult decision to shift to 100% remote instruction district-wide from February 1-12, 2021. Although it is the consensus that we would prefer to be in-person, the data and logistics indicate that it is currently not an option. We have many factors involved in our decision. These include: loss of teaching time, the unpredictable shifts to remote and hybrid options, health risks, the number of faculty that have already served at least three mandated quarantines, the number of personnel currently in quarantine, the number of faculty unable to be in-person due to a child in quarantine and the possibility of future ordered quarantines that may prevent our personnel from getting already scheduled vaccines in February. The greatest factor in our decision is the requirement to adhere to the Tompkins County Guidelines as well as the CDC. Additional details that are important to know: the number of faculty currently in quarantine will not be released from a DOH order until February 8 and February 9, which prevents us from being in-person due to coverage issues; February 12, we have already decided, will be a remote day as too many of our personnel are accessing another vaccine clinic and we are unable to provide coverage. We feel this decision will allow our families to plan for daycare and academic support of their children and provide a bit of consistency for our students. The benefit of closure is that we will still be able to allow students to participate in sports as long as we maintain our safety rules. This would not be possible if we continue to shift back and forth between open and closed. This will provide students the opportunity to exercise, be social and support each other. More details to follow from our athletic director. Leadership and personnel will simultaneously revisit and re-envision other possibilities for 2021 in-person learning plans. We continue to follow guidance from the NYS Education Department, CDC, and the Department of Health. As we approximate 95% of our staff being vaccinated by the end of February, we are hopeful that the DOH guidelines will be less restrictive in terms of our adults and the number of days for quarantine from exposure. We are in this together; please look for communications in the coming days from your building principals, individual teachers, food service, and our athletic director. Our goal is the same; we are optimistic with the availability of the vaccine that we will move into the spring with fewer disruptions to in-person learning. Be well, and please keep those directly impacted by the virus in your thoughts. I am reaching out to the T-burg Community to implore you to apply to substitute teach at the District. The more members of our community that we can appoint to substitute the more days we can remain in person. Please see the District homepage for an application: www.tburgschools.org if you are interested. Kind regards, The Administrative Team Trumansburg Central School District

January 28, 2021 Dear Trumansburg Community, Our safe return to in-person instruction requires that we are vigilant in creating a health and safety culture. We continue to use multiple mitigation strategies to eliminate the spread of COVID-19 however, with the increase in the number of cases locally it is inevitable that we experience more exposures at school. With that said, we were notified this morning, Thursday, January 28, 2021 that one of our Elementary School students and one of our Middle School students have tested positive for COVID-19. This will require the quarantine of at least 18 faculty members and 37 students. As such, we will shift to remote instruction tomorrow, January 29, 2021 for grades PreK-6 and asynchronous learning for Grades 7-12. It is anticipated that we will have at least two more positive COVID-19 cases in the next day or two. We are working closely with the contact tracing staff of Tompkins County Department of Health to notify all parties of exposure and the next steps of the protocol to keep our community safe. Please watch for additional communication in the coming days. Thank you for working with us to keep you and your family safe. As always, our thoughts are with those directly impacted. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your school principal. Respectfully, Kimberly Bell Superintendent TCSD

It is with a very heavy heart that we share this update with our Trumansburg Community. We learned last evening that one of our seniors, Sadie Marsden, was in a very serious car accident while on her way to her part time job. We have just learned that as a result of the injuries sustained in that accident Sadie has passed away. Sadie was a wonderful member of our school community and very active in many aspects of our school. In addition to being a uniquely kind a caring student and classmate, she was also a member of the high school drama club, participated on the track team, and served as a mentor for the freshman orientation program. As we cope with this tragic loss, our school’s crisis team has developed plans to support students and staff in this difficult time. We will be opening our high school library to any student or staff member who needs some time to grieve. We will keep the library open throughout the school day and into this evening if needed and any student may join us there regardless of whether or not they are regularly scheduled to be in person or virtual today. We will continue to be thoughtful of COVID safety protocols but will work to be appropriately flexible as we all grieve together. We ask everyone to please keep Sadie’s family in your thoughts and prayers.