Posted Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Good afternoon Team CUSD,
In the past 24 hours you have likely heard news reports that Governor Newsom and State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond have announced that California’s K-12 schools are not likely to return to on-site learning during the remainder of this school year. To clarify, there is no mandate for schools to extend their suspension of onsite classes to the end of the school year. After conversations with the California Department of Education and Fresno County School Superintendent we have confirmed that the decision about opening or closing campuses remains a local one.
Tonight our board will consider an extension of our current April 13 date to Friday, May 1. We recognize that, dependent on the state of this current community health concern, we may have to extend even past that date (and that the Governor may at some point make a decision that also impacts whether we retain local control of this decision), but with the situation changing so rapidly around the nation, we also feel that it’s premature to extend that date through the end of the year. You may hear of other K-12 schools around the state closing on-site learning through the end of the school year, but we hope to open our school doors in some form to reconnect with our students in person, measure educational progress during distance learning, celebrate the end of the school year and the graduation of the Class of 2020.
Be assured, we will not open our schools prematurely, and will make sure that any decision to extend the suspension of onsite classes comes with advance notice to our community. We also remain in daily communication with Fresno County department of public health and remain consistently aligned with their guidance. Thank you all for your dedication and support of our kids during this challenging time – there’s no doubt that you, our people are making that critical difference right now.
Watch for Dr. O’Brien’s video message tomorrow, and have a great evening!