Castleton Elementary School

Slate Valley and Fair Haven Concerned Essential Food Box Distribution Day Saturday, February 13 10 a.m. - Noon Families within the Slate Valley School District are invited to pick up a Food Box.

Dear Slate Valley Community, I am aware that bill S.63 “An act relating to the prohibition of school resource officers” was recently introduced in the Senate Education Committee. This bill proposes to prohibit schools from contracting for the services of school resource officers. Some of the national data has clearly demonstrated a disparate level of law enforcement treatment of communities of color that have resulted in increased arrests, expulsion and suspensions. However, we have been very pleased with the level of professionalism of our school based law enforcement officers and have established clear roles, responsibilities and practices that have prioritized positive interactions, mentoring, community building and steered clear from law enforcement being seen as disciplinarians and enforcement focused. Resource officers in schools have proven to provide an opportunity to create, and support relationships that strengthen our communities. In an effort to provide equity in our communities, inequities will be created by the removal of resource officers from our schools for Slate Valley. As Superintendent, I am opposed to this bill due to our past and current experiences with our school resource officers. If you have questions regarding this bill I would encourage you to reach out to your legislators. Rest assured that I know how important our School Resource Officer program is to our district and will do everything in my power to ensure that this bill in its current language does not become law. Several years ago our community was impacted by a potential threat that resulted in a level of stress and anxiety that is still being felt today. The safety of our students, faculty and staff will always be our top priority. As such we will continue to take appropriate measures to address any school safety concerns. Link to Bill S.63: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/S-0063/S-0063%20As%20Introduced.pdf Sincerely, Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Check out our February newsletter here: https://5il.co/pc2g

Dear Slate Valley Community Member, On 2-2-21 we learned about an individual at Castleton Elementary School that has Coronavirus Disease. This individual was in attendance last week while contagious. Contact tracing has been completed. As always we are working closely with the Department of Health. We continue to advise our staff and students to stay home when sick. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. This is especially important given that we know the virus is in our community. Please read the full letter from Superintendent Olsen-Farrell here: https://5il.co/p86h

Good Evening, Due to the impending weather conditions all Slate Valley Schools will be closed tomorrow, February 2nd. Stay safe and enjoy your day! Brooke Farrell, Superintendent

Dear Slate Valley Community Member, This is hard and there is no way to make everyone happy, except of course to say that the pandemic is over and we can return to whatever “normal” will look like. I know people are hurting. This has been an incredibly difficult year for our students, families and staff. We need everyone to remember that we are all humans and all are dealing with different challenges that the pandemic has presented, there is sacrifice, compassion and understanding needed by us all. It was both unfortunate and necessary that FHUHS and FHGS needed to go remote this week but given the amount of students and staff quarantining it was the only decision. We are planning on returning to in person learning for FHUHS and FHGS on Monday February 1st. Additional, positive cases have been identified and those students are isolating according to the Department of Health Guidelines. Some of these cases are due to high school athletics and in consultation with the Department of Health we will be moving back to Phase I for High School Winter Sports for Monday, February 1st and Tuesday, February 2nd. This means that only non-contact drills will be allowed. We will monitor this situation and make a decision on a day to day basis on the status of practices. Each and every student and staff member is important to me and as such every decision I make is weighed very carefully. Our students deserve every safe opportunity we can give them to access in-person learning. Our staff has had an incredible lift this year as we have changed everything we do related to school. They show-up each day ready to take on these new challenges because they believe that is what is best for your children, our students. It is incumbent upon us all to keep them safe as well. There is always risk in everything we do and we need to weigh carefully those risks and make the very best decisions possible. There have been many sleepless nights as I weigh those risks and make sure I do what is right for the community, staff and most importantly our students. There is risk with staying in person and there is risk with going remote. With remote learning, I worry about having the ability to pay our hourly staff if the remote period is a long time. I worry about our students in homes without support. I worry about further spreading the virus as if we are remote, students have more opportunities to visit each others' homes. I worry about parents losing their jobs and having an inability to pay for food and housing. I worry about political backlash from the community and the fallout for staff (This is one thing I wish I didn’t have to worry about but I do). I worry about the ability of our staff to balance teaching our students and being able to support their own kids in remote learning. I worry about the mental health and isolation of all in a remote environment. With staying in person I worry about in school transmission, although extremely unlikely, not impossible. I worry about the isolation from colleagues. I worry the exhaustion of staff in making sure the social distancing guidelines are being followed. I worry about the concern the staff has for their students and colleagues and the toll on individual mental health. I know some of you are concerned for a variety of different reasons. I understand your concern and share some of those concerns. We are in the middle of a pandemic and things can’t and won’t be the same. I know that while at times we might disagree with the best way to approach things please know that we always have safety front and center. If we continue to work together and support one another as we work through these challenges, we will be stronger as a community. We need your help in this if we want to continue in person learning and other activities, then we must adhere to the guidelines. Best, Brooke Farrell

Reminder! Tonight (January 25, 2021) You’re invited (virtually) to the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Participation will be VIRTUAL ONLY. Connect by going to http://meet.google.com/qag-fpgi-dtn or by calling (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 658 282 596 9955# Tonight’s Agenda: https://5il.co/osjy

Outdoor classrooms continue at CES. As one wise 5th grader said: "This is where the Science happens!"

Tonight! Community Connections: A Virtual Meeting with Slate Valley Central Office Administrators January 20th 6 - 7 PM Join with Google Meet https://meet.google.com/cvi-tned-tyc or by phone(US) +1 402-527-4082 (PIN: 450007785)

Dear Slate Valley Community Member, On 1-15-21 we learned about an individual at Castleton Elementary School that has Coronavirus Disease. This individual was in attendance while contagious. Contact tracing is underway and anyone with possible exposure has been notified and sent home until a final determination on quarantine can be made. We expect to have contact tracing completed by the end of the day today. As always we are working closely with the Department of Health. We continue to advise our staff and students to stay home when sick. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. This is especially important given that we know the virus is in our community. Please read the full letter from Superintendent Olsen-Farrell here: https://5il.co/onre

Community Connections: A Virtual Meeting with Slate Valley Central Office Administrators January 20th 6 - 7 PM Join with Google Meet https://meet.google.com/cvi-tned-tyc or by phone(US) +1 402-527-4082 (PIN: 450007785)

Tonight! Topics: Budget Outlook & District Reorganization Please take this opportunity to learn about the upcoming budget outlook as well as continue the discussion about the board's plans for district reorganization. Join us at 6 p.m. to discuss the upcoming budget and district reorganization on the following dates. Jan. 12th with Mike, Rick, Tara, Tanya, and Angela (Fair Haven/West Haven) https://meet.google.com/bsc-wcrm-zbw or join by phone (US) +1 929-287-3647 (PIN: 876141866) Jan. 13th with Tim, Julie, Toni, Josh, and Christine (Castleton/Hubbardton) https://meet.google.com/qok-edco-jhq or join by phone (US) +1 401-285-6400 (PIN: 766569448) Jan. 14th with Pati, Becky, and Beckah (Benson) https://meet.google.com/rat-adyy-xye or join by phone (US)+1 929-266-1990 (PIN: 284595478) Jan. 14th with Peter, Glen, and John (Orwell) https://meet.google.com/rat-adyy-xye or join by phone (US) +1 585-535-3234 (PIN: 48340626)

Reminder! Tonight (January 11, 2021) You’re invited to the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Board (VIRTUAL) Meeting Fair Haven Union High School, 6:30 p.m. Participation will be VIRTUAL ONLY. Connect by going to https://meet.google.com/bfa-wnzj-tio or by calling (US) +1 317-961-0599 PIN: 177 396 689#. Tonight’s Agenda: https://5il.co/o9q3 Previous Meeting Minutes: https://5il.co/nxpn

Topics: Budget Outlook & District Reorganization Please take this opportunity to learn about the upcoming budget outlook as well as continue the discussion about the board's plans for district reorganization. Currently the board is exploring a plan for district reorganization that would include the consolidation of all district middle school students to the high school beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. This would result in the closure or educational repurposing of Castleton Village School. Sixth grade students in Castleton would then attend Castleton Elementary School. To address the anticipated low enrollment of middle school students in Benson Village School, the board voted on December 7th in favor of in-district school choice (with transportation) for 7th and 8th grade students for the 2021-2022 school year. Listening tours are an opportunity to have a conversation with your board members. Please join us at 6 p.m. to discuss the upcoming budget and district reorganization on the following dates. Jan. 12th with Mike, Rick, Tara, Tanya, and Angela (Fair Haven/West Haven) https://meet.google.com/bsc-wcrm-zbw or join by phone (US) +1 929-287-3647 (PIN: 876141866) Jan. 13th with Tim, Julie, Toni, Josh, and Christine (Castleton/Hubbardton) https://meet.google.com/qok-edco-jhq or join by phone (US) +1 401-285-6400 (PIN: 766569448) Jan. 14th with Pati, Becky, and Beckah (Benson) https://meet.google.com/rat-adyy-xye or join by phone (US)+1 929-266-1990 (PIN: 284595478) Jan. 14th with Peter, Glen, and John (Orwell) https://meet.google.com/rat-adyy-xye or join by phone (US) +1 585-535-3234 (PIN: 48340626)

First graders enjoying the snow at dismissal.

Dear Slate Valley Families, I know thus far that 2021 has proven to be a trying time for our community, state and country. Furthermore, I know that anxiety is at an all time high. We have had 8 reported cases of COVID connected to either a staff member or student since November. The prevalence of these cases has escalated in the last few weeks. Up until this point we remained relatively unscathed. Please note that we work closely with health officials. We follow the Agency of Education Safe and Healthy Start Guidance. So far we have not had any in-school transmission of the virus. This means that while in school, an individual has not spread it to another individual in the school setting. All the transmission has been community based to date, meaning the exposure occurred outside of school. Although this is the case, we are swift and thorough with tracing possible in-school close contacts and through the Department of Health, quarantine them to observe for symptoms until they can get tested. By following the guidelines, close contacts are kept to a minimum in the school setting. From this point forward, we will only be notifying Slate Valley families when a case specifically impacts the operations of the school, meaning that the employee or student was in attendance while contagious. We know COVID is widespread in our communities. I also wanted to let you know that staff has been able to get tested at work since November. While this is voluntary, we have a large number of staff that are being tested on a regular basis. So far these tests have all yielded negative results. I take my job very seriously when it comes to student and staff safety. There are no easy answers for any of us. There are risks to learning in person and there are risks to moving to remote learning. Some of the risks to moving to remote learning include the impact on mental health, child abuse going unreported, learning loss, and further spread of the virus in the community as students have greater opportunity to congregate without protective measures and parents needing to leave their jobs thus increasing poverty. We look at the data and weigh the risks in order to make the very best decision possible for our kids. That being said I encourage you to work with your building principals if you have concerns. We all need to support each other during this very difficult time. All the best, Brooke Olsen-Farrell Superintendent

Bus 6 students: The changes have been made to the new bus assignments for Bus 6 students. Mrs. Ward has contacted all families of CES students and Mr. Worthing will go over the changes with CVS students. Please contact the school if you have questions about the new bus changes.

There's a real focus on kindness at CES!

Slate Valley Unified School District is seeking temporary part-time Custodians, up to 25 hours per week, during the COVID pandemic to maintain the cleanliness of the school facilities as well as 1 regular part-time Custodian 20 hours per week. Custodial experience preferred. For additional information, contact Chris Cole, Director of Operations at 265-4905 or email ccole@svuvt.org. This position will remain open until filled. E O E

Good morning, Please be aware of the following bus change: Bus 6 - As of Monday, 1/11/21, Bus 6 will no longer run in Castleton. Those students who currently ride Bus 6 will ride either Bus 7 or Bus 8. We should know which students will be on Bus 7 and which will be on Bus 8 before the end of the week. We will let you know as soon as we know details from the bus company.