This notice was sent to parents of students in Regional School District #17 by Dr.H Hageman, the Superintendent of Schools
Friday, March 13, 2020 12:00 PM
Dear RSD17 Community,
I am writing to inform you that all RSD17 Schools will be closed until further notice for an indefinite period beginning tomorrow, Saturday, March 14th. There will be no afterschool activities or late buses today. All students will go home at dismissal time. The exception for this, today, is that HK Park & Rec aftercare at BES and KES will remain in place this afternoon. All school buildings will be closed for community use until further notice as of 6:00 p.m. today.
Upon the advice of our local health departments and in coordination with town leaders and emergency medical response providers, school superintendents in southeastern Connecticut have come together to make a regional decision to put the health of our communities (both our school community and the community at large) at the center of our decision to close schools. We have been advised that the implementation of social distancing measures is a critical intervention to reduce the spread communicable disease outbreaks. Although we are not aware of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at this time in the Haddam-Killingworth community, we felt compelled to make this decision to prevent the spread of illness among our students, staff, and our communities.
You should be prepared for this school closure to be for a minimum of two weeks, but it could be for longer, up to four weeks or more. The school days lost due to this closure will most likely need to be made up through June 30th (not beyond June 30th). The last of day of school in RSD17 was projected to be June 15th, and it is now projected to be June 30th.
We will continue to send communications to you as we receive updates from state leaders and public health officials. I will provide a minimum of a weekly update to help you plan accordingly. Please continue to monitor your email to ensure receipt of the most current information. I will continue to post my updates on the district webpage.
During this school closing, we are well situated to provide supplemental learning opportunities for our students. Please see the resources and information that have been posted on the RSD17 website landing page through the At Home Learning Connections link. I am grateful to our teachers and administrators for their outstanding work in pulling these high-quality resources together for our students and families. We are loaning school laptops to all families who need them and we are providing paper work packets to any students who do not have home internet service.
For families who participate in the HK Backpack program, please contact Amber Stam for arrangements. For any families that are in need of meals, please communicate with RSD17 Food Services Director, Sharon Shettleworth sshettleworth@rsd17.org who will coordinate meal pick up at the BES loading dock.
Please also see our website for helpful resources about how to talk with children about COVID-19 as well as other information. We realize that this is an unprecedented situation and is unsettling for children (and adults).
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or your school principal or Dr. Kris Lindsay, Director of Student Services if your family has needs we can assist with.
Sincerely,
Holly Hageman
Superintendent
This means that everything including the pool, field house are closed to the public. All activities that were to be held at any of the schools are cancelled/postponed until further notice, including HK Recreation Dept. activities and programs.
