RPS News

Dear Roseburg Public Schools Families,

As you are likely aware, Governor Brown released a statement on July 29 declaring that masks would be required indoors for all K-12 public, private, and charter schools for the 2021-22 school year. This was a shift in previous guidance released by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on July 22 that strongly advised masks, but ultimately allowed parents to make the decision.  We share in the frustrations that the Governor’s mask mandate has created and do believe that choice is an important element of the school experience. 

Oregon superintendents met virtually with leaders at ODE and OHA Monday afternoon to receive information about the Governor’s new directive. This directive will be signed into law this month and districts have been mandated to follow this order. ODE and OHA indicated that they will be reexamining this indoor mandate monthly with the intent of returning indoor masking decisions to local control. This directive also clarifies that masks will not be required for outdoor activities, including athletics, this school year.  

You can access the information ODE shared with superintendents here as well as an update on COVID in Oregon here. If you have concerns to share about this mandate, I strongly encourage you to contact OHA, ODE and/or the Governor’s Office directly. 

We will continue to share updates and details about the start of the new year. I remain confident that this year will be full of deep learning and opportunities for students to fully engage in their education. Our top goals this year will be to ensure our kids are healthy and safe, have access to full-time, in-person learning, and receive the extra support they need following last year’s educational disruptions. 

With gratitude, 
Jared Cordon
Superintendent

Dear Roseburg Public Schools families,

Thank you for your ongoing support as we prepare for a safe and positive start to the upcoming school year. There is so much to be excited about now that we can welcome all of our students back to our schools in-person and full-time. We look forward to reconnecting with children and families, making sure our students feel welcome and comfortable in our classrooms, and establishing the foundation for a year full of deep learning and meaningful engagement. 

To ensure the start of the year is safe and focused on the well-being of our students, I would like to share more information about our protocols intended to keep our entire community healthy and our students in classrooms.

First, a reminder that if you haven’t started the registration process for the 2021-22 school year, please visit our website to access our registration guide and related materials. Everyone needs to begin the process online. You can reach out to your student’s school with questions, and schools will be welcoming families in the coming days to finish any necessary paperwork in person. You can access our district registration page at https://www.roseburg.k12.or.us/families/registration and our Back to School Hub at https://www.roseburg.k12.or.us/families/back-to-school-hub.

Following are a few key points regarding our health and safety protocols:

• At this time, all students age 5 and older, staff and visitors to our schools are required to wear face coverings while indoors. This rule is mandated by the state and aligns with the Governor’s recently implemented mask requirement for all indoor public spaces. Per federal law, students must also wear face coverings on school buses, which are considered public transportation. Exceptions exist for students eligible for a Section 504 Plan (under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) (under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). 
   
• Our students will not be required to wear masks:
  • When outdoors.
  • While actively eating or drinking. 
  • While playing a musical instrument that requires using the mouth.
  • When taking a mask break under the guidance of a staff member.
     
• Following these guidelines reduces the impact of quarantine measures on our students. We continue to work with Douglas Public Health Network to implement quarantine and isolation measures if a positive COVID-19 case is confirmed in one of our schools. An update to these measures allows local health authorities to quarantine fewer students in the event of a positive case. As long as we can confirm that students in a classroom have maintained at least 3 feet of distance from the positive individual and that masks were consistently worn when required, we expect that only the positive individual will need to quarantine. This will help ensure that the majority of our students can continue to learn in-person, five days a week. The district will continue to notify staff, families and our community of any positive cases within our schools. 
   
• We are excited to welcome students this year to our full-time online options. Families can still register for our K-5 Roseburg Virtual School; please contact RVS Principal Dani Jardine at DJardine@roseburg.k12.or.us with questions. Jo Lane, Fremont and RHS students who would like to attend virtually can contact their schools for more information. This is a great option if in-person learning is not the right choice for your family at this time.  
   
• Under the guidance of our district Operations Team, we will continue to follow additional advised safety protocols described in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework for the 2021-22 School Year prepared by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority. The framework strongly advises the continued use of cohorting, physical distancing of at least 3 feet, hand hygiene and other safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

All of our health and safety protocols will continually be reviewed and subject to change based on local COVID-19 case rates and other data related to the effect of the pandemic in our community. Our district Operations Team continues to work closely with Douglas Public Health Network to monitor the situation and determine pathways forward that best protect our community’s health and ensure continued access to in-person learning for our students. 

Again, I would like to thank you for your partnership and ongoing support. By working together, we can give our students a caring and productive start this Fall. 

Sincerely,

Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools

Wonderful Roseburg Public Schools families,

As districts around the state continue to struggle with a shortage of school bus drivers, I would like to again thank you for your patience and understanding. I share in the frustrations I’m sure many of you are feeling and remain committed to finding solutions. 

Our district contracts with transportation provider First Student for school bus drivers and services. Unfortunately, First Student has not been able to provide adequate coverage for our needs, leading to bus crowding and delays. First Student is now over 30 drivers short of what is needed to cover our morning and afternoon bus routes. I continue to work with First Student’s corporate offices to request that the company fulfill its contractual obligations with our district. 

In the meantime, we are helping with local driver recruitment efforts and have been using some COVID relief funding to charter with other transportation companies to help cover athletics and extracurricular travel. Our staff has also been transporting student athletes with our activity vans, to the extent possible. In addition, we have assigned some staff to ride along on crowded buses to support our students and the drivers diligently working to cover multiple routes at once. 

I am also aware that many parents have been driving their children to and from school and to and from athletic events. We are deeply grateful for those who have this type of flexibility, although I realize this is not a sustainable option for everyone.

Thank you again for your support through these latest challenges. I will continue to update you as the situation evolves. 

Sincerely,
Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools  

Wonderful Roseburg Public Schools families,

We have been thrilled to welcome our students back to full-time in-person learning this year. As wonderful as it has been to interact and engage with students again, there is still a piece missing: You! 

I am excited to announce that we are once again inviting volunteers into our schools. Volunteers are vital to supporting our students and keeping our schools connected to our community. Those who wish to volunteer will need to first fill out an application through Human Resources. The application can be found here: https://www.roseburg.k12.or.us/families/volunteer. Requirements include: 

• Volunteers must abide by the same safety protocols followed by our staff members and will be asked to provide proof of completed COVID-19 vaccination or apply for a medical or religious exception.

• Volunteers who verify that they are fully vaccinated must wear masks indoors and maintain at least 3 feet of distance from others to the extent possible. Volunteers who receive a vaccination exception must wear double or medical-grade masks and maintain 6 feet of physical distance from others to the extent possible.

• All volunteers will be required to call the school should they begin to experience any COVID-like symptoms. 

• As has always been required, volunteers are subject to a background check. 

Volunteers are typically defined as parents/guardians/community members who wish to work in a school setting with students and perform tasks assigned by a school. Temporary visitors to our schools, such as parents attending lunch or guest speakers, are not subject to the volunteer process but must still abide by health and safety protocols around face masks and physical distancing. If you have questions about volunteering, please contact your child’s school. 

The health and safety of our students, staff and community remains our top priority. The decision to invite volunteers into schools will remain subject to change by our District Operations Team, local COVID-19 rates and our continued ability to prevent transmission in our schools. 

I look forward to strengthening the connection between our schools and families. Thank you for your ongoing support. 

Sincerely, 
Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools

Dear Roseburg Public Schools families,

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I would like to express my gratitude for your ongoing support. Your children continue to be a shining light this school year as we navigate the bumps in the road caused by the pandemic. 

Providing full-time in-person learning this school year has been a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with our students and help them reconnect with their educational journey. However, as you are aware, staffing shortages, and health and safety responsibilities have put an additional strain on district operations.  

In order to fully meet the needs of our students, the School Board and school district have agreed to provide an additional day for staff that will be dedicated to planning and preparing to ensure that our students are receiving the best education possible. 

At Wednesday evenings School Board meeting, the Board approved a calendar change that shifts Friday, December 17, (the day before winter break) to a non-student day. This will be an extra day off for students while our staff use the time for planning. We brought this proposal to the Board now to give families enough time to plan for the schedule change. 

The district will ensure students have access to meals on this day, and this will not impact our ability to meet state requirements around instructional hours.

Again, thank you for your ongoing support of our staff as we all work together to make this school year a positive year of deep learning and growth for all of our students and staff.  
 
Sincerely,

Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools 

Wonderful Roseburg Public Schools families, 

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed a snowy winter break and are excited for the remainder of the school year. 

Thank you for your partnership this school year in helping to keep our students, staff, and community safe. We continue to do everything we can to keep our schools open to in-person learning. As we face the latest surge from the Omicron variant, it will be important for all of us to do our part to keep our kids safe and our schools open.

The Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Department of Education and Douglas Public Health Network are all predicting a spike in cases over the next few weeks. Fortunately, the Omicron variant appears to result in less severe illness; however, the reality is that isolation and quarantine practices could impact our district staffing levels and support services needed in order to remain open to in-person learning. 

Following are a few key points to know: 

STAFFING 

The district has put a plan in place to monitor staffing thresholds in each building and department to help track our ability to function in-person. We also have plans in place for staff redistribution and backup support. If the need arises to temporarily return to distance learning, we will provide families with as much notice as possible.  

In addition to having enough teachers available for in-person instruction, the district must also closely monitor departments such as nutrition services, transportation and custodial services. Insufficient staffing levels in key departments could lead to a temporary transition to in-person learning.  

EXTRACURRICULARS

We are excited that athletics and other extracurriculars resumed this school year. While the district does not plan to pause extracurricular activities at this time, we want to remind families that these activities can lead to increased transmission of COVID. Students who must isolate due to illness or quarantine following an exposure during extracurricular activities will be missing out on valuable in-person learning time. Please remind your child to follow face mask and physical distance requirements and to practice appropriate hygiene while participating in extracurriculars. As a reminder, if the school district has to temporarily return to distance learning, it is likely that extracurricular activities will also be temporarily paused.  

SYMPTOMS  

Families can also help support our efforts by ensuring students are not coming to school with any symptoms of illness. Families should continue to follow the district’s current process of reporting illnesses, potential exposures or confirmed COVID cases to their schools and awaiting additional guidance from nursing staff. Our district continues to follow the guidance of local public health authorities in regards to quarantine and isolation periods.   

TEST TO STAY

Exposed individuals who remain symptom free may be able to shorten quarantine periods through the state’s Test to Stay program. Test to Stay protocol allows unvaccinated individuals who were exposed to a COVID-19 positive case in a K-12 school setting to continue learning in-person when certain criteria are met. You can learn more about Test to Stay here. In addition to this option, our district continues to follow ODE’s isolation protocol, which means that any exposed individual who is asymptomatic can continue to learn in-person as long as the district can confirm that required masking and physical distancing protocols were followed. 

Thank you again for your support. The pandemic remains a fluid situation, and I greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as our district strives to protect students, staff and our community while providing the best education possible.

Sincerely,

Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools

Greetings Roseburg Public Schools families, 

I hope this message finds you healthy and well. I want to provide you with some additional information on our plans for handling an expected surge in COVID cases due to the Omicron variant over the next few weeks. Our top priority remains protecting the health and safety of our students, staff and community as we strive to keep our schools open to serve our students in person. 

If cases do increase locally as expected, it is possible that we could experience significant staffing shortages due to illnesses and quarantine measures. Potential shortages could impact our ability to keep our buildings open to students, which would require a temporary shift to distance learning. Plans are in place to help minimize the disruptions this could cause for students and families; however, it will be important for us all to work together to ensure continuity of learning.

Staffing shortages that affect a single school may lead to a temporary shift to distance learning for that school only. Families should also prepare for a district-wide shift to distance learning if multiple schools must close at once or if there is a severe district-wide staffing shortage.
We will provide as much notice of a transition as possible; however, families should prepare for the need to shift quickly. If a district-wide shift to distance learning becomes necessary, it is likely that extracurricular activities will also be temporarily paused.

Following are additional details of our plans for a potential transition to distance learning:

Elementary school procedures:

• If an elementary school must transition to distance learning, we will institute a technology pickup day for devices and hot spots. Distance learning would begin the following school day.   

• Teachers will instruct remotely from their classrooms. If your child’s teacher is ill and a substitute is not available, instructional materials will be available in Google Classroom for students to continue working at their own pace. 

• Any temporary transition to distance learning would remain in place a minimum of five days to minimize disruptions, allow time to evaluate staffing levels and plan for a return to in-person instruction. 

• Grab ‘n’ go meals will be provided. 

Middle and high school procedures:

• If a middle school or the high school must transition to distance learning, students will immediately transition to distance learning using the assigned devices they already use in school each day. Please reach out to your child’s school if you do not already have an assigned hot spot and are in need of one. 

• Teachers will instruct remotely from their classrooms. If your student’s teacher is ill and a substitute is not available, instructional materials will be available in the Canvas Learning Management System for students to continue working at their own pace. 

• Any temporary transition to distance learning would remain in place a minimum of five days to minimize disruptions, allow time to evaluate staffing levels and plan for a return to in-person instruction.

• Grab ‘n’ go meals will be provided. 

Please rest assured that Roseburg Public Schools remains committed to your child’s academic, social, mental, physical and emotional well-being. The effective strategies we have used to  prevent transmission in our schools will continue, including masking, physical distancing, disinfection and appropriate hygiene practices. As a reminder, to keep all students safe, it is essential that parents not send a child to school if they are showing any symptoms of illness.  

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s principal. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Jared Cordon
Superintendent, Roseburg Public Schools