CVSD Update

Hello CVSD Community Members,

As we take time to give thanks over the week and as we prepare for the winter holidays, I encourage you, your family, and close friends to take some time to relax and reflect on being together. Please remember that we did not have the vaccine at this time last year and did not have the opportunity to gather or travel very far to see our loved ones. Hopefully, you have had the chance to see them between then and now, but if you haven’t and this is the first time since 2019 or early 2020, I wish you the best and the most enjoyable times with your loved ones.

In addition to being thankful for my family, who, with their support, I can serve in this role to the best of my abilities, I’d like to thank this district, our hard-working and caring employees, and our thoughtful and leading school board.

This break is coming at a very good time for our families, our employees, and others. I urge you to take the time to rejuvenate yourself with your families, friends, and Vermont outdoors. Stay safe on the roads and in your travels, and please use COVID mitigation practices to protect yourself, your family, and others.

DEI Director Interview Committee Opportunity

We are sending out a call for community, parent, and staff volunteers who would be willing and available to help the district interview candidates for the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director. To participate in the interview panel or have any questions about the interview process, please contact Bageshree Blasius (bblasius@cvsdvt.org) by November 30, 2021.

The interviews are tentatively scheduled for December 3, 2021, December 8, 2021, and a couple of hours during the week of December 13, 2021. The interview process in total will probably take between 15-20 hours at a maximum. If you are selected to be on the panel, please be prepared to dedicate this amount of time to the interview process. We appreciate your significant and valuable input.

Native American Heritage Month

National Native American Month started off as an effort to get a day of appreciation and acknowledgment for the unique contributions made by the first Americans for the growth and establishment of the United States. The effort has now resulted in a whole month being celebrated for that purpose.

In 1915, it began as a day of recognition. In 1976, Congress made the recognition a week long. In 2009, President Obama made created the month-long celebration.

Land Acknowledgement:

We are educators from across the state of Vermont who all contribute to the inspiration of children and students in this world. We want to honor the legacy of Vermont’s Indigenous people, the Abenaki People of the Dawn, who have cared for this land for generations and continue to do so. We recognize that colonialism and the oppression of Native peoples are a current and ongoing process, and we commit to building our awareness of our present participation. We pay our respects to the elders, past, and present. We honor with deep gratitude this land and all it gives us. (Borrowed from Vermont PBIS)

Education Support Professionals Day was on Wednesday, November 17.

This was the day to celebrate our employees who ensure that our schools, faculty, and students have the support they need to be successful. Whether they provide transportation, meals, clean building, interventions, answering the phone, supporting our technology infrastructure, or greeting parents, CVSD could not do the daily business of education without them. So thank you so much for everything that you do for our students, schools, and communities.

We celebrated them on Friday with an announcement that for this Thanksgiving holiday, the district would provide them a bonus equal to the hours they would typically work on Monday through Wednesday. By providing this bonus compensation, we thank them for their resilience, adaptability, and service during this first semester. We are so thankful for their work.

We are thrilled to share that the Vermont NEA named James Johnson as the Vermont Education Support Professional of the Year. (Jimmy was one of the CVSD bus drivers I met this summer as we delivered food to families. He is an absolute gem and so important to our district.) Here's our blog post with more information about Jimmy's recognition.

I am very grateful for all of the CVSD community, including faculty, staff, administrators, and families and caregivers, and hope that everyone has a safe, healthy, and joyful Thanksgiving.

Rene

Children between the ages of 5-11 can now receive a COVID vaccine. These are available at local pharmacies, in school-based clinics, and at pediatric offices. You can go to any school-based clinic, if that is your preference, even if it is not your own school.

The Vermont Department of Health selects the sites for school-based clinics. Though we have signed up to be a site, we were not selected for the first round. We will keep CVSD families informed if and when that changes.

From the Vermont Department of Health:

Parents & caregivers can now make an appointment for kids 5 to 11 to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine! Visit healthvermont.gov/KidsVaccine or call 855-722-7878. Appointments are available for clinics in communities and schools. Thank you for protecting your child against COVID-19.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Vermont Chapter is inviting Vermont families to join them for conversations about COVID-19 vaccines for children via Zoom. The sessions are being led by pediatricians practicing throughout the state. Check the AAP-VT website for dates.

You can also view the video below for more information.

The Test to Stay (TTS) program is activated when an unvaccinated student or student(s) are identified as a close contact to a confirmed case of COVID-19. The intention of the TTS program is to allow students that would otherwise be required to quarantine to remain in school. A detailed description of this program can be found on the Agency of Education's Test to Stay website.

This optional program is for students who are NOT vaccinated, are asymptomatic, and who may have had a school exposure.

If you have not yet registered your child for Test to Stay and provided consent, consider doing that now, even if you’re not directly impacted by a positive case at this time. It’s always good to be prepared. More information about Test to Stay can be found on our website.

Important information about Vaccines and Test to Stay:

Some students are beginning the COVID-19 vaccination process. They are not considered FULLY vaccinated until 2 weeks after their second dose. They can still participate in Test to Stay until then.

Parents/Guardians - please send your school’s health office a copy of your child’s vaccine record AFTER they get their SECOND dose. There’s no need to let the health office know if you’ve scheduled a vaccine. We certainly share in your excitement about the ability to do so!

We have added a section to the COVID Reporting Dashboard with data around Test to Stay.

A reminder: students participating in Test to Stay should quarantine when not in the school building.

Thank you to all who participated in the Thoughtexchange and the Budget Forum event in the last few weeks. Here's a summary of the exchange and a short video to help you know how to view the summary. The slides that were shared at the Budget Forum and a video recording of the Forum are both available on the Budget page of the district's website.

The budget development process continues with presentations at a series of School Board meetings in the coming weeks and months. All members of the CVSD community are welcome to attend Board meetings. See the schedule in the image above and on the Budget page of the district's website.

Links to join the virtual meetings will be available on that page as well. The presentations will be shared on the Budget page afterward for those that cannot attend. Video recordings of our Board meetings are available within a few days after each meeting, thanks to the Media Factory.

CVSD's Board Chair, Angela Arsenault, has provided the video introduction below to kick off an updated series of videos pertaining to the budget process. These videos are also available on the Budget Page of the CVSD website.

After Angela's introduction video, the first video is an overview of the budget development process, featuring Rene Sanchez and CVSD's COO, Jeanne Jensen.

Following that, another video outlines and explains what ESSER is. That term will come up often in the budget process. Get informed and learn more about it!

Watch for more videos in the series soon!

Serving the communities of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston

Reach out using any of the methods below or use this form to share a question.

Email: cvsdinformation@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/
Location: 5420 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT, USA
Phone: (802) 383-1234
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChamplainValleySchoolDistrict
Twitter: @cvsdvt