Dear Pattonville families,
As mentioned in my email yesterday, Pattonville has been meeting weekly with St. Louis County health and government officials and other school district leaders across the region to discuss how schools can reopen this fall in the safest manner possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders in this weekly group developed a guidance document that categorizes what schools “must” and “may” do when returning to school in August. The recommendations in the document are endorsed by the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and informed by the CDC’s guidance for K-12 schools. These recommendations are subject to change if conditions related to COVID-19 change in the St. Louis County region. These guidelines were finalized today and will serve as the framework for returning to school. You can read the regional guidance document at the following link: https://bit.ly/SLCOguidance2020.
In addition to these weekly meetings, Pattonville administrators and the district’s lead nurse have participated in three different internal work groups over the past five weeks to begin developing return-to-school plans. These work groups consist of Learning, Health and Safety, and Facilities and Sanitation. As you know, guidelines and recommendations surrounding schools and COVID-19 have changed frequently over the past several weeks, and we are adapting to address these changes as they are made.
Pattonville will use guidance from the regional document and our internal work groups, along with family and staff survey data and advice from national medical and disease specialists to finalize plans for returning to school on Aug. 24. We are still in the process of finalizing our specific plans and will share detailed information on our return-to-school plans with families and staff on July 20. In addition, you will also be asked to complete a form regarding learning options for the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year. It’s extremely important that every family completes the form by the requested deadline.
As always, we thank you for your patience and understanding as we develop our plans for the start of a new school year.
Sincerely,
Tim Pecoraro, Ed.D.
Superintendent