Today, March 17, 2020, Governor Laura Kelly announced all school facilities will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. This will place tremendous hardship on our families and staff, and impact the social and emotional well-being of our students.
KSDE has been working on contingency plans since mid-March, including how we can meet the ongoing learning needs of our students and provide breakfast and lunch for our students.
Beginning Thursday, March 19, 2020 we will be serving lunch for that day and breakfast for the following morning to all children ages 1-18. Meals for all children ages 1-18 will be free of charge. We will follow up with more specific details tomorrow.
Our staff and board of education are also working on other critical issues, such as what this means for our seniors, how this will affect next school year and what impact this will have on our employees. We will provide updates on these issues as soon as the information is available.
We are committed to working together as a community to support one another throughout these unprecedented times, and communication will remain a top priority. We will continue to keep you up to date with current information and changes using the school and district websites, social media accounts, and our notification system. We will only send out mass phone calls for emergencies or situations that require immediate attention.
As a reminder, this school closure is in response to the current public health crisis. The focus should remain on preventing the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is also referred to.
Please be mindful of the following:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing (cough/sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue).
- Please keep sick children at home.
- Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
Follow additional guidance from these sources:
- National Center for Disease Control (CDC)
- Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)
- (local health department link)
John Whetzal
Superintendent
USD 223 Barnes-Hanover-Linn