On July 30th Governor Walz declined to roll out a statewide plan for reopening schools. Instead, Walz called on each individual district to make their own decision and today Rochester Superintendent Michael Munoz unveiled the plan for Rochester's Public Schools.

Munoz released a statement today that said, "Throughout the entire school year, RPS will use guidance from state and local health department officials, local medical experts, and Minnesota Department of Education to advise our practices. This year's return to school will come with some new protocols and procedures in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. This plan was created in the best interest of the health and safety of our students and staff, and we are prepared to implement this base learning model following School Board approval." The plan listed below must be approved by the school board on Monday, August 10th. 

RPS Plan for 2020/2021

All RPS students have the opportunity to participate in full-time distance learning. Families will be asked by their school to make this choice through an electronic form by Thursday, August 13. All students, staff, and visitors will be required to wear a mask while on campus and maintain a safe social distance. RPS says, "We will re-evaluate this every six weeks and make adjustments as needed. If conditions worsen, the learning models may change before the announcement of the next phase."

Next Steps For Families:

Families should complete an assessment for each child enrolled at RPS. For example, if you have two children enrolled, you would fill out the form for child one, and submit. Then, you would complete the form for child two. Families are asked to complete this form by Thursday, August 13, at 4 PM. Click to complete the NEEDS ASSESSMENT. Schools will also be sharing this link with families.

School-Aged Child Care (Kindergarten through Age 12):

School-Age Child Care (SACC) will be available for a fee as capacity allows at each elementary school, for their students before and after school on in-person learning days. Registration for this program began in May and many sites are full at this time. Call the SACC office at (507) 328-4040 for more information.

In addition, this fall, child care for school-age children of Tier One critical workers will be available on distance learning days at another location.

Tier One critical workers include essential workers in healthcare and public health; educators and school staff caring for children of any critical worker; law enforcement; public safety and first responders; food and agriculture; judicial branch essential services; National Guard; and child care providers caring for children of any critical worker.

The school-day portion of care for Tier One critical workers will be offered at no cost, and fees will apply for care before and after the school-day portion.

Children participating in care for Tier One critical workers will be assigned to small groups according to their home elementary school and will avoid mixing groups as much as possible. SACC will continue the other extensive prevention measures employed successfully for the past several months.

Registration for community Tier One critical workers will begin Monday, August 17, at the Community Education website and will remain open until full. After that, interested families may join a waiting list in case additional space becomes available.

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