Superintendent's Message for June 2020

On March 16 th , our country and the world came to a screeching halt. Frozen in time by a virus
we had not heard of but was sweeping the country, causing panic, and grinding our 2019-2020
school year to a halt. As we know now, we never did make it back to close the school year in a
physical capacity, but rather a technology capacity. We have seen the death toll in America reach
over 100,000 people and over 500 in our state. While businesses closed under the Governor’s
orders in March, they are now reopening most of Iowa’s businesses. Last week the governor
gave permission for the baseball and softball seasons to begin if social distancing guidelines are
followed.
Before I dive into some of the guidance and thoughts of how we will return in the fall, I would
like to highlight the areas SWV personnel have risen to the challenge and made the best of this
difficult situation. We were the first in the area to begin serving curbside lunches to over 200 kids
district wide. We had our continuous learning plan developed a week before the date mandated
by the state. We had an in person graduation ceremony on the football field for our graduates.
We will continue to strive to be the destination district that I have rallied for from day one.
May 29 th we released our Return to Competition plan that outlines all the protocols and guidelines
we will follow to participate in softball and baseball. We continue to work on a Return to Learn
plan for our district. We will share this plan with the school board and the communities by
mid-July. We do not know what the circumstances will be like on August 24th, but we will try to
create plans that give our students a safe and healthy environment. Our goal will be to educate
all of our students. We realize everyone has a different comfort level with the coronavirus. We
will do our best to meet everyone’s needs.
We will also be completing a Return to School plan. This plan will be a detailed set of protocols
and guidelines that we will need to follow to allow students back in our buildings this fall.
Facemasks, hand sanitizers, and social distancing are all things we will need to consider, but we
will wait for guidance on requirements and recommendations.
When we return on August 24th, we will have been absent from school for nearly 165 days!
Rest assured we will be alright as a district. WE are weathering this storm together and will be
stronger in the end. The flexibility of the SWV staff, students, parents, and communities has been
amazing. We will find our new normal together and move forward to bigger and better things.
All of us have been knocked off our feet, but we have risen up, dusted off and are finding a new
way to move on with life. Southwest Valley School district is moving forward. We are creating
our own “train to success” and welcome you on board.