CVSD Update

Hello CVSD Community,

This letter is the latest update about COVID and how our schools are managing the upswing in positive cases due to the Omicron variant. We thank you for your attention to all of the details outlined below. I am regularly in contact with the Agency of Education (AOE) and Champlain Valley Superintendents to coordinate and roll out recent changes in guidance. We also want to thank you for doing your part to stay safe and healthy amidst this most recent surge in cases.

As we stated in the communication shared with you on January 9, we are doing our best to keep schools open. The Department of Health has no recommendation related to closing schools for a large number of student absences. School closures, if they were to happen, would be based on staffing shortages. We monitor that situation closely on a daily basis.

The Agency of Education shared additional information with Vermont school districts on January 14th: It states,

“We are in a new phase of the pandemic that requires a different strategy. The rapid pace at which the COVID-19 Omicron variant spreads in combination with a dramatic increase in cases makes contact tracing both ineffective from a public health perspective and untenable from a school operations perspective.”

Notifications

Our schools have changed or will soon change how they notify families/caregivers of those exposed to a positive case. Schools will send out exposure notifications to the families of students who share a classroom with an identified positive case.

Test to Stay → Test at Home

We are soon to make the shift from Test to Stay, rapid antigen tests administered at school, to Test at Home, where students are tested at home before coming to school. Our district has received the first supply of rapid antigen test kits that will be sent home to families. Until all of our planning and details are finalized, we will continue Test to Stay in our schools. We will notify families when we make the shift to Test at Home.

This has been said many times, but we still need your help. If your child has ANY COVID symptoms or cold symptoms, please DO NOT send them to school. We are seeing a number of situations where this is happening and this puts students and staff at risk.

Thank you for your help and support to keep our schools open and everyone as healthy and safe as possible.

Stay warm, stay safe, enjoy the snow,

Rene Sanchez

• Please report results (positive or negative) to the Department of Health using this online form, Vermont COVID-19 Self-Test Result Reporting Form.

• Our school nurses also need to know about positive cases. Please contact your school’s nurse to share that information with them as well.

The proposed budget for the 2022-2023 school year is almost finalized. The articles that voters will see on Town Meeting Day ballots are on the agenda for approval by the CVSD School Board at the meeting on January 18. Following that, we will share a variety of materials and resources with our communities to help inform everyone about the proposed budget. You are also welcome to see materials, presentations, and more on the Budget page of our website.

Request a ballot by calling your Town Clerk or go to: https://mvp.vermont.gov

All members of the CVSD community are welcome to attend Board meetings. 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, provided this introduction 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.

The series now includes videos about Special Education, ESSER, Education Quality Standards, the Operations budget, and more. See all of the videos (all 3-6 minutes in length) here.

Resources to keep accessible:

• First Call - 488-7777: phone support, crisis intervention, assessment and referrals
• In Crisis: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) (National Hopeline Network: USA)
• National Suicide Prevention Life line- 1-800-273-TALK (8255), call or chat online
• Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
• Outright Vermont - support for LGBTQ+ community
• UVM Breathe In Breath Out - How to deal with stress due to COVID-19
• Vermont 211 -Vermont database of resources and services
• Vermont Support Line (833) 888-2557) - peer support warmline open 247 - 365 for call or text
• COVID Counselors @ VT-211
• Teen Crisis Text Line - Crisis Text Line provides free emotional support and information to teens in any type of crisis, including feeling suicidal. You can text with a trained specialist 24 hours a day. Text “HOME” to 741741.
• Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide - Website where you can find information to help yourself or a friend who may be having thoughts of suicide.
• Trevor Lifeline - 1-866- 488-7386 - provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. It offers free, 24/7, confidential counseling. TrevorText—text START to 678-678; TrevorChat—instant messaging at TheTrevorProject.org/help. It also runs TrevorSpace, an affirming social networking site for LGBTQ youth at TrevorSpace.

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

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