Hello PCCS Families,
As some of you may have heard, Southeastern Idaho Public Health's (SIPH) board decided today to move Bannock County from green to yellow or from minimal to moderate risk level. For PCCS, this means moving from category 1 to category 2 on our Pandemics Operations Plan. Fortunately, SIPH's decision was not due to a large outbreak in the community. Rather, it was a preventative measure based upon the number of active cases failing to reduce and limited capacity of hospitals.
PCCS remains committed to our plans to keep students and faculty safe. Therefore, based upon our plan, PCCS will be moving towards an alternative schedule beginning on Monday, September 21. For several reasons, including convenience for parents with students in SD25 schools, PCCS will align with the SD25 alternative schedule.
- First, teachers were given a draft list of students who would be in their Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday classes. Today we will finalize the lists and you will receive a list today showing which group your students are in. We have adjusted the lists slightly from a straight alphabetic list to keep siblings together and to balance class sizes. We designed the list so that if you have students in district schools, your students will most likely match the days that they attend school at the district.
- PCCS has adjusted this list to make class sizes equal and to keep siblings attending school on the same day.
- Wednesdays will be primarily a virtual day.
- Specials (art, music, and library) will primarily occur on the Wednesday virtual day. This will allow teachers to maximize core curriculum instruction on the days that students are in attendance.
- PCCS will still provide PE for all students each week. PE will provide activities for students to be outside and exercise socially distanced.
We expect that this alternative schedule will be in place until Southeastern Idaho Public Health reduces the risk level in Bannock County to minimal. SIPH meets weekly to determine the threat level with their board. You can watch their board meetings live through the Southeastern Idaho Public Health Facebook page each Thursday morning. If you have feedback for our board regarding the alternative schedule, you can email it to Robin at secretary@pccs.k12.id.us or you may reply directly to me.
All of our students will be in school today, Friday September 18th. The alternative schedule will begin on Monday September 21st. We did this to give teachers a day to explain how school will work going forward to all of the students. We also wanted to give families a day plus the weekend to make the adjustments in your own schedules. We understand that these adjustments will be difficult for families.
We understand that this transition to the alternative schedule is going to be difficult for families. We hope that you all will understand that we are acting based upon our guidance and in the best interest of our students, families, and loved ones.
Thank you,
Michael MendivePocatello Community Charter School
michael.mendive@pccs.k12.id.us