Pontiac families, thank you for your partnership since we have kicked off the school year. Elearning certainly takes a village, doesn’t it? Our students seem to be settling into a routine quite nicely. The schedule your student has should give your family a bit of flexibility since the day ends with asynchronous instruction. This may mean that your child takes a break from the screen and returns to the assigned work later in the afternoon.

Some helpful hints and reminders for your family:

• Google Classroom is the platform the district uses for instruction.

• All teachers record their whole group synchronous instruction. If your child misses a whole group lesson, simply watch the recording!

• The daily participation assignment is important! Be sure your child completes this each day to be marked present.

• All student work must be completed each week by Sunday at 11:59 PM to receive full credit. Any work submitted after 11:59 PM will be subject to late penalties. For a reminder of our late work policy, please click here.

• A strong teacher/parent relationship is vital to your child’s success! If you would like to schedule a conference with your child’s teacher, our teachers are available to parents from 3pm-4pm each afternoon.

• Keep in mind that when your child is on Google Meets, the sound picks up background noise. Please help your child ensure that they are working in a quiet location for elearning each day!

The district's three phases for returning to school are based on the South Carolina AccelerateED recommendations and the S.C. DHEC assessment for overall disease levels for our community. Every Monday DHEC is publishing the Disease Activity by County assessment on the agency's website. Based on their calculations, DHEC rates disease activity as either high, medium or low. Schools will follow the Phase 1 model while the overall rating for Richland County remains at the high level. Schools will follow the Phase 2 model while the overall rating for Richland County remains at the medium level. In Phase 3, the overall rating for the county is low and schools can transition to more traditional operations. District administrators check this report every Monday and the district's health coordinator maintains regular contact with S.C. DHEC to help us monitor the disease activity in our community. To help parents keep up with this information, we have a link on our Reopening Schools Website to the DHEC site. The transition between phases will not be immediate. Right now the district anticipates giving schools and parents a two-week notice prior to transitioning from one phase to another.

It is important to me that you feel confident in your child’s learning model while our district remains in Phase 1. I want to give you an opportunity to ask questions so that we can provide timely answers. Let us know what’s on your mind by using this link: https://forms.gle/YUR1t9DKp6UNMrCc9

Thank you for your support during Phase 1! We appreciate you and value your partnership in your child’s education! Please don’t hesitate to contact me at 699-2700 or email me at kbarber@richland2.org if I can be of further assistance.

Yours in Education,

Katie Barber

During the Superintendent's Back-to-School and COVID - 19 update, Dr. Davis reminded everyone that we are still in Phase I and will continue to utilize science and data to determine the safest way for students, faculty, and staff to transition to Phase II. He will also participate in a state-level meeting on Friday, September 18, to discuss the 2-week evaluation of COVID-19 activity and provide an update.

• continue to manage through COVID-19 and remain calm and courageous as we work through the pandemic
• examine systems of inequity
• ensure that all students have access to wi-fi
• focus on legislative issues
• focus on achievement and the opportunity gap
• work to ensure that students, faculty, and staff feel valued

In addition, the P.A.C. will engage in work centered around at least one of these areas.

2021 - 2022 Calendar Information

Dr. James Ann Sheley provided an overview and the status of the 2021 - 2022 and 2022 - 2023 calendars. She also shared the timelines and they are as follows:

Timeline for 2021 - 2022 Calendar

• Vote on proposed calendars - September 20-27 (The link will be provided on Sept 20).
• Board of Trustees First Reading - October 13
• Board of Trustees Second Reading - October 27

A big thank you to our Parent Advisory Council members that represent Pontiac. Erin Johnson and LaShon Bookman are the parents that serve on this district committee.

Pontiac SIC held our first 2020-2021 school year meeting this morning. We were excited to have approximately 15 people in attendance. We recorded the meeting this morning and have linked it here if you would like to go back and watch. You are also welcome to view our agenda from the meeting this morning here.

We begin each year with nominating and electing officers to serve a two year term. Please click here to access the Google form that will be used to nominate parents to the elected positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Nominations will close on September 30, 2020.

We hope that you can join us in our next virtual meeting on October 15th from 7:45am-8:30am.

Parents,

Students in kindergarten through 12th grade will be assessed a non-refundable $20 technology insurance fee to cover the cost of device repairs.

The technology fee plan provides 100% repair cost coverage for the first instance of accidental damage to the student’s school-assigned computing device. The plan also covers the cost of device replacement in the event of theft, provided a police report is filed. The cost of repeat instances of device damage will be assessed according to the full cost of repair.

The deadline to pay the $20 technology insurance fee is October 15th for students who are currently enrolled. Students who enroll on or after September 16th will have 30 days after the first day of enrollment in Richland School District Two to pay the $20 insurance fee.

Any family experiencing financial hardships can request a reduction or waiver of the technology insurance fee to their child's school principal prior to the due date. After 30 days, the technology insurance fee will be removed from students' fees and 100% of damage costs, even in cases of accidental damage as well as a first occurrence, will be the responsibility of parents/guardians.

The 2020–2021 Student/Parent Handbook is available on the district’s website at

www.richland2.org/studenthandbook or by clicking the link below. If you are not able to access the online version, please request a printed copy by calling the Communications Office at 803-738-3306 or sending an email to info@richland2.org. Please be sure to provide your name and mailing address.

Pontiac Parents,

Did you know that your student has an account at the Richland County Public Library? Their username is their district username and their password is the district password. If your student is new to the district, they will get their usernames and passwords soon.

You can download the Libby app from your app store and connect it to your library account. This is a great way to access e-books and audiobooks from the library to your device, be it a cell phone or tablet.

Jennifer Black

Media Specialist

If your child is going to be in KINDERGARTEN this year, your child is required to have Two (2) Hepatitis A shots prior to entering Kindergarten. Yes, it’s true. These shots will help protect your child from Hepatitis A.

Please visit https://scdhec.gov/index.php/health/vaccinations/childcare-school-vaccine-requirements to read about South Carolina Immunization requirements.

Call your physician today to schedule an appointment. If you don't have a regular physician, you can call DHEC at 1-855-472-3432 to schedule an appointment. Did I mention these shots are required for next year?

If your child has already received Two Hepatitis A shots, please take a copy of their shot record to the school nurse or email the records to her at jlarck@richland2.org.

Your child will be unable to attend school without proof of having received Two (2) Hepatitis A shots.

Students are expected to attend "live" class sessions using Google Meet. Attendance is taken daily, just as it is when we are in the brick and mortar setting. Students who attend "live" class sessions will be coded as present. If a student does not attend a "live" class session, he/she will be coded as absent.

When a student is not able to attend a "live" class session, he/she should watch the recorded lesson and submit the Daily Participation Assignment (DPA). The student's absence will then be changed to present. The student will also be responsible for completing and submitting any make-up work.

Teachers explained this DPA in detail during our Back to School virtual sessions. If you need further explanation about this process, please ask your child's teacher.

If your child does not attend elearning classes on a specific date, please be sure to email an excuse to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Janice Watson at jawatson@richland2.org.

As many of you know, earlier this week the USDA authorized school districts to continue the Seamless Summer option (free student meals), but we needed to wait for SCDE approval before doing so. Yesterday, SCDE began sending SSO extension waiver surveys to school districts (ours has been submitted). SSO reimbursement will be retroactive, so we can begin serving meals at no cost to students/children.

What does this mean?: This means all children (regardless of eligibility) ages 1-18 can receive meals at no cost until December 31st, 2020 (or until federal funding runs out)! Parent/Guardians can pick up meals without children present and will not be asked for student ID's, etc.

Are we currently feeding students during Phase 1?: Yes! We're currently operating from 8 distribution schools and 10+ bus routes on Mondays and Wednesdays (pending any holidays) and have extended the time students/parents can pick up meals from distribution schools (now from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm). On Mondays, students receive meals for Mon/Tues, and on Wednesdays, students receive meals for W/T/F.

Where can I stay up to date with Richland 2 foodservice information and updates?: We would love for you and your school Facebook pages to follow us at our Richland 2 nutrition page.

We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to serve!

Tony

It’s very important that families who qualify for free and reduced price meals apply for this status as soon as possible. To find out more about the process please click here to read the parent letter that answers a lot of questions including who qualifies for free or reduced-price meals. The quickest and easiest way to submit an application for free or reduced-price meals is to use the online application. Click the link here to start the application.

As a reminder, families have to apply every year. That means students who attended schools in Richland Two in 2019-2020 and received free/reduced price meals MUST complete a new application for eligibility of extended benefits each school year. If you do not reapply, all meal prices will automatically change to full price.

If you do not have access to the online application form, you can submit a paper form. To turn in a paper application, you may

• FAX your completed application to 803-419-5839 OR
• RETURN your completed application to your child's school cafe manager OR
• MAIL your application to Richland School District Two Food & Nutrition Services, 124 Risdon Way, Columbia, SC 29223.

Website: https://www.richland2.org/pe/
Location: 500 Spears Creek Church Road, Elgin, SC, USA
Phone: 803 699-2700
Facebook: facebook.com/Pontiac
Twitter: @Pontiac

September 25 - College Colors Day

September 28 - Military Monday