Becker Public Schools appreciate the support and flexibility of the community. We have been working very hard and have seen so many great things happen here in the first couple of months of school. We have used our assessment data to identify students who need support. These assessments are particularly interesting due to our environment last spring. Some students and grade levels have improved showing 25-30% growth from the first days of school to now as indicated in our early literacy composite test scores. We would not have been able to do this without the hard work of our staff, students, and families.
As we look to continue to provide the excellent education for which we have come to be known, I want to emphasize the importance of our community. We really need your support, possibly now more than ever. While we have had an extremely low positivity rate in our schools up to this point, we are struggling greatly with the quarantine guidance from MDH. This has placed our staffing numbers in some areas at minimum operating numbers. We need help. We are in desperate need of substitute bus drivers, van drivers, custodians, paraprofessionals, and teachers in order to maintain our learning model. If you have qualifications and availability we are calling on you to help us maintain our current learning model. We have shown that our school buildings are safe as evidenced by very few positive cases (I am aware of one right now out of over 3500 staff and students as I write this). We require face coverings, we disinfect, we distance as much as possible. Following the quarantine guidelines has put us in a position to not be left with the ability to choose learning models. Bottom line: IF WE DON’T GET SUBSTITUTES IN THESE POSITIONS, WE WILL BE FORCED TO GO TO A MORE RESTRICTIVE LEARNING MODEL.
Our current Sherburne County number is 25.1, although by the time of print it will most likely have increased. This number is lower than all of the counties that surround Sherburne County, but has slowly increased over the past few weeks. Our school currently only has the one case as mentioned previously, although we have fluctuated between zero and three and most likely those will increase as numbers increase in the county and surrounding region. Anyone who has been considered a close contact of a positive case has been notified through phone and letter. If you have been affected by a positive case, thank you for your flexibility and understanding. Our staff is following the guidance provided from a variety of sources. We will be increasing mitigation strategies to continue to work to keep school building numbers low. We also will be slightly changing our learning model due to these increased Sherburne County numbers. Information on these changes will be provided as they are decided, but acting now allows us to provide time to slowly integrate changes. If cases within the school building drastically change, we may be forced to switch models quicker.
Finally, we are asking for your input on a survey that should have been delivered one to each district household. This survey will help the Becker Public School District to continue to develop a plan to:
- Add classroom space to meet the needs of our growing student enrollment
- Complete important safety updates
- Modernize classrooms and labs to better meet students’ learning needs
- Address aging infrastructure and building maintenance
- Renovate support spaces
The School Board will have the final say in finalizing a plan, but we value the input of our community members and taxpayers as we strive to be responsible and meet the long-term needs of our students and community. If you did not get a survey or would like an additional copy, you may contact:
Angela Oswald, Superintendent Administrative Assistant @ aoswald@isd726.org
or
Cari Udermann, School Perceptions @ cudermann@schoolperceptions.com
Thank you all for your continued support and help as we move forward during this exceptional time!
Jeremy Schmidt
