By PATRICK ADRIAN
[email protected]
LANGDON — The Fall Mountain Regional School District becomes the first school system serving Sullivan County students to announce a preemptive, multi-week school closure in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fall Mountain Regional School District Superintendent Lori Landry notified district families and staff on Sunday that district will close schools for two weeks, beginning Monday, March 16, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus.
“We recognize that closing is extremely difficult for many of our families as well as our community as a whole,” Landry wrote in an email to school community members. “We share in your concerns about the disruption to the school year this will cause. Our goal is to ensure that we have a comprehensive and sustainable plan for instruction and services in place for all of our students while also keeping our staff and students safe.”
In her letter, Landry said the administration made the decision with the Fall Mountain School Board after meeting to discuss the issue earlier that morning.
According to a detailed instructional plan sent to families, the district will begin transitioning to online-learning on Wednesday, March 18, with an official start date for instruction on Thursday, beginning at 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Staff will take Monday and Tuesday to work on their plans. More information will be released about the transition process, but students and families should expect on Wednesday to access their teachers online.
Packets will be available on Wednesday for families who do not have online resources. The district is reportedly devising a transportation plan for families in need to pick up the packets.
The district will ask that families call their school in advance if their student needs to pick up any personal belongings. Students with school-issued Chromebooks will be allowed to take theirs home, but a parental signature will be required.
Students who need technical support to access the online learning content will receive the link to an SAU page, where they will be directed to fill out information to receive a call from technical support.
To ensure that the needs of special education students are still being met, Fall Mountain’s Special Education team is working collaboratively to prepare skill-practices and learning materials that can be implemented at home. Teachers and service-providers will maintain contact with students through online or phone communication.
Beginning Tuesday, breakfast and lunch meals will be available for pick-up between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at each student’s respective school. Meals for Acworth students will be available for pickup from a school vehicle beginning at 9 a.m.at the Village Store and at 9:30 a.m. at the Town Hall.
The letter also includes links to two online surveys. One survey will help inform the district how many families are able to access online resources outside of school. The second survey will help the cafeteria staff anticipate how many meals to prepare during the closure. For families without online access, paper copies of the surveys will be available.
Landry said that the district will inform the school community by Thursday, March 26 whether the district decides it practical to reopen the schools for normal instruction.
Updated at 2 p.m., Sunday, Mar.15: Following Gov. Chris Sununu’s announcement at 1 p.m. that all New Hampshire schools are ordered to preemptively close, all schools, including those in Fall Mountain, will remain closed until at least Friday, April 3.
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