CVSD Update

August 6, 2021

The Latest Information for You

Dear CVSD Community,

Thank you to all who have helped make Vermont a safe place to live and work. We are proud of Vermont’s status with the highest vaccination rate in the country. The Champlain Valley School District’s leadership teams, at the central office and our schools, have been meeting throughout the summer to plan for the school year. Recent updates and changes required some adapting with a continued focus on the health and safety of students, staff, and families.

On Wednesday, August 4, the Vermont Department of Education recommended that schools require universal masking for all students and staff when indoors, at least for the beginning of the school year. This is the first of several advisory memos that will be released over the next few weeks. We expect to see additional guidance about music, fall and winter sports, and contact tracing.

CVSD will be following the recommendations from these memos. This week’s memo describes a process through which schools with high vaccination rates among those eligible may suspend the masking requirement. While we will also be setting up a system to identify our current vaccination rates to determine which schools have met the 80% vaccination goal, this will take more than the 10 days mentioned in the memo, and will likely benefit the high school first. We will keep you informed along the way.

Please be mindful that some upcoming school events may change their format from indoors to outdoors or virtual based on this new guidance. Double check the event’s status with the school online, your email, or via a phone call to see if the format has been updated.

Please note that all students, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear masks on buses per federal regulation.

We realize that this announcement likely raises more questions and doesn’t provide all of the answers, yet. We are striving to get answers as quickly as possible. We ask for your patience and understanding.

We are doing everything we can to have students in school! Families can do their part in a few ways.

First, for those with children ages 12 and up, please get them vaccinated. We are working with the Vermont Department of Health to offer vaccination clinics at CVU. The first opportunity is next Friday, August 13, with follow-up dates for the 2nd dose on September 3 and 24. There is additional information about the vaccine clinics below in this newsletter.

Second, we need your updated information as soon as possible. Please provide the annual required information on our new online platform. This includes emergency contact information, health forms, permissions, and more. Be on the lookout for a letter in the mail the week of August 16 to learn about setting up your Powerschool Parent Portal account and updating that information. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can move forward updating health information, creating bus routes, and much more. Let’s start the school year with the most current information!

We will communicate often and as clearly as we can. Again, thank you for your patience and understanding as we start yet another school year with unusual circumstances. If you are in need of immediate assistance, contact your school or fill out this form. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

I will be at the Shelburne Farmer’s Market tomorrow and the Charlotte Grange on the Green next week. Please come say hello!

Rene Sanchez

Superintendent

Calling All Students Ages 12 and up, and adults too!

This is our shot, Vermont! Everyone age 12 and older is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Sign up for your shot today at healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine

The Vermont Department of Health will host COVID-19 vaccine clinics at CVU on the following dates:

August 13
September 3
September 24

Sign up now for your first and second dose!

First Day of School: August 25 for most and Aug. 26 for some.

You'll hear from your school directly soon!

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CVSD Updates Annual Registration Process and Communication Platform

CVSD will be implementing a new online process using a Powerschool platform called Enrollment Express for families to fill out and update the annual information and permissions.

We will start by mailing a letter to homes at the end of next week (around August 13). That letter will provide the information families will need to set up an online account to update emergency contacts, health forms, permissions, and more. Please follow the directions in the letter and update your student(s) information as soon as possible so that we start the school year off with the most current information. (This will help us with bus routes, health information, and many other details!)

In addition, we've moved to a new platform for our email and phone messaging called School Messenger. Please allow emails from CVSDNoReply@cvsdvt.org and make sure they can get through to your inbox. That will help with communications around the enrollment/registration process as well as messages from the district and schools.

Thank you!

Free Meals Continue for Those 18 and Younger

Next week is the last "normal" week of summer food service and then our amazing food service team is going to offer a 7-day meal box on Monday 8/16. They'll take a short break after that and gear up for the start of school.

Here's the menu for 8/9--8/15. This also includes information about ordering the 7-day meal box for the week of 8/16. The Foodservice link on our website also provides more information.

CVSD would like to thank all who have been involved in the summer food service program, including workers, drivers and delivery people for serving / delivering what will be over 40,000 meals when it is all over. (20,000 breakfasts and 20,000 lunches) A special thanks goes out to the Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg rotary who helped do so much. We couldn't have done it without them!

Resources to Help Families Manage Child Tax Credits

IRS announces two new online tools to help families manage Child Tax Credit payments; one of three tools now available for the upcoming advance payments:

New The Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant allows families to answer a series of questions to quickly determine whether they qualify for the advance credit.
New The Child Tax Credit Update Portal allows families to verify their eligibility for the payments and if they choose to, unenroll, or opt-out from receiving the monthly payments so they can receive a lump sum when they file their tax return next year.
The Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool English | Spanish

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Here’s what you can do in the IRS Child Tax Credit Portal English | Spanish
How the expanded 2021 child tax credit can help your family English | Spanish │ Chinese-Simplified
If you don’t have to file taxes, you may need to register for monthly advance Child Tax Credit Payments English | Spanish