Rutland Northeast SU

#RNESUVT is seeking input for the superintendent search committee!. Please respond to this Thought Exchange and let the committee know your thoughts! https://tejoin.com/scroll/995750830

Yesterday we were notified by the Agency of Education of non-credible social media-based school threats that alluded to potential school violence taking place on Dec. 17, 2021. At this time there are no credible threats in Vermont. These posts have made their way into Vermont and other states in our region are reporting similar social media activity. Furthermore, these posts follow a similar pattern that we have seen in other non-credible social media based threats. The Vermont Intelligence Center and our state’s law enforcement partners are aware of these non-credible threats and are continuing to monitor the situations and will provide updates to school leadership as needed. If you believe your child is active on social media and you feel it’s appropriate, please have a conversation with them to make them aware of this situation. As always, if you have any school safety concerns, we encourage you to contact your local law enforcement agency to make them aware of this information. We take these types of situations very seriously and collaborate closely with all of our school safety stakeholders to provide an open, safe and welcoming environment. The safety of your children and our staff is our number one priority. We need to work together for school safety. If you or your child sees or hears anything that you are concerned about, please contact the police and/or us or use the tipline below, which is available 24 hours a day and monitored at the state intelligence level. There are three ways to report a tip on this tipline: Call (844) 723-3488 and speak to a call-taker Submit the tip at www.SAFE4VT.org via a form Text to 274637, type in keyword SAFE4VT and then your tip School safety is all of our jobs. Thank you for partnering to keep our students and staff safe. Jeanne Collins Superintendent of RNESU Schools

REMINDERS : December & February Vacation Dates Confirmed! Here is the link to the full district calendar as released last year. https://tinyurl.com/vy56p2wk. ➤ Dec break begins on Thursday, December 23rd ➤ The correct February vacation is the week of February 21st Magnetic calendars distributed to staff at the start of the school year indicated Feb 14. That was an error. We apologize this was not caught earlier!

School Board Meetings and Board Openings: Board meetings returned to in-person meetings with a zoom option for those who wish to attend virtually. Meeting information can be found on the district calendar. ➤ Current School Board meetings are largely focused on developing the budget for next school year. Attend or watch on Peg TV! ➤ RNESU Board meets this Wednesday, December 15th, 5 pm at OCA/ Leicester Central School and online ➤ BUU Board meets Dec 20, 6 pm at Barstow School and online Interested in serving on a school board? Go to the school board page on rnesu.org to learn what seats are open and to get a petition.

FORMS NEEDED - Test to Stay! To access this program: ➤ We need to have no more than a class or two affected at one time (we are limited in capacity in how many we can test at once) ➤ We must have parent consent for the test ➤ We must have parental agreement to either stay with their child when tested or return to pick them up if their test is positive. In order to give parental consent for this program, please fill out this form. We cannot use the tests on your child without it and your child will need to quarantine as they do now. Please give consent on BOTH forms: FORM #1 (all students must have - same form for all schools) VT AOE COVID Response Testing Consent Form: https://www.cognitoforms.com/.../SY22COVID19TestingProgra... FORM #2 (all students must have for THEIR school) School Based Consent ➤ Barstow - https://www.simplereport.gov/register/WMN72 ➤ Lothrop - https://www.simplereport.gov/register/Z2M73 ➤ Neshobe - https://www.simplereport.gov/register/BJYUU ➤ OCA - https://www.simplereport.gov/register/AMYCD ➤ OV - https://www.simplereport.gov/register/KUZ8A

Virtual Academy 2nd Semester Enrollment Deadline Dec. 22 Applications for Virtual Academy are now open for the second semester! If you are interested in having your student(s) enrolled from January-June, please visit the RNESU website to access the mandatory recordings and application. Please note that applications are due by December 22nd. This is a pilot program for the 2021-2022 school year only.

Vaccination Clinic Reminder - SPOTS AVAILABLE AT NESHOBE CLINIC DEC 14 Pfizer vaccine for students 5-11 @ Neshobe Elementary School. 1st DOSE: Tuesday (12/14) Neshobe School (with 2nd dose scheduled for Jan. 4) Interested? Register below or by calling VT Dept of Health @ 855-722-7878. Spots are limited. https://vermont.force.com/events/s/selfregistration

Students in Ms. Tate's library classes have been learning about coding this week at Lothrop!

School Board Meetings and Board Openings! In August, Board meetings returned to in-person meetings with a zoom option for those who wish to attend virtually. Meeting information can be found on the district calendar or on the district website. ➤ OVUU Board meets Dec 1, 6 pm at OVUHS, in person and online ➤ RNESU Board meets Dec. 15, 5 pm at OCA/ Leicester Central School and online ➤ BUU Board meets Dec 20, 6 pm at Barstow School and online

ARP/ESSER Plan - We Want to Hear From You! RNESU has posted the draft ARP ESSER plans for COVID recovery funds on our website, and are actively seeking family and community input. Please visit the page below👇 for more information or to provide feedback. https://www.rnesu.org/page/covid-planning-recovery?fbclid=IwAR0oRJWiKbkS79afUCO1Cd5R3JODyCR8P0i4hT2MS_IEyOL1xxNFycyce8o

FUEL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO VERMONTERS - APPLY TODAY! If your household would benefit from fuel assistance, please check out the resource page below 👇 Fuel & Energy Assistance includes: ➤ Information about seasonal fuel assistance & weatherization ➤ Crisis fuel assistance ➤ Water and electricity assistance ➤ Where/how to apply for each of the above Vermonters who apply and are approved for seasonal fuel assistance before December 1, 2021 will receive the full seasonal benefit. Individuals can apply for fuel assistance for the 2021-2022 winter season through February 2022; however, applications received and approved after Dec. 1 will get a percentage of the full benefit: Dec = 80%, Jan = 60%, Feb = 40%. Because fuel costs are on the rise and are likely to only increase as we get deeper into winter, we encourage people to look into seasonal fuel eligibility soon. https://vermontfoodhelp.com/fuel-energy-assistance

TEST TO STAY - CONSENT REQUESTED: We are hoping to start the Test to Stay program right after vacation! This means that if a class or a student is identified as a close contact and must be quarantined, they may instead take a rapid antigen test every day for seven days with parental consent and remain in school! This will help us to reduce the number of times a student must learn remotely. In order to access this program, we need to have no more than a class or two affected at one time (we are limited in capacity in how many we can test at once) AND must have parent consent for the test AND have parental agreement to either stay with their child when tested or return to pick them up if their test is positive. In order to give parental consent for this program, please fill out this form. We cannot use the tests on your child without it and your child will need to quarantine as they do now. VT AOE COVID Response Testing Consent Form 👇https://www.cognitoforms.com/VermontAgencyOfEducation/SY22COVID19TestingProgramConsentForm

Join Us Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 30th at 5 PM for a virtual Q&A hosted by Curriculum Director, Kristin Hubert, to review RNESU's ARP ESSER plan related to the use of COVID federal emergency aid funds. This meeting will be recorded and posted on the webpage at a later date - all are welcome to attend! Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81149451429?pwd=NlVWcVRQL0dKWVJSek9QYWJQUUQyUT09

The Rutland Herald recognizes Jeanne Collins and her 41 years of service on education. We wish her well in retirement! Read the full story here: https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/collins-to-retire-in-june/article_1353a89b-3f25-55cf-8cd9-ad81b6adb4cb.html

#RNESUVT surveillance testing available Wed Dec 1 for any student with parental consent. Test to Stay antigen tests to keep unvaccinated, asymptomatic exposed students in school also available. Consent needed for both test options. See news feed for links.

RNESU Announces Retirement of Superintendent Jeanne Collins as of June 30, 2022. Superintendent Collins has led the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union since 2014, though the Act 46 merger of schools and a global pandemic. In her tenure, the board has implemented a budgeting process that focuses on equity of opportunity for students including elementary school choice, a multi-year facility planning process, and she has hired a top notch administrative team. “Jeanné is a dynamic leader”, says RNESU Board Chair Laurie Bertrand, “she has embraced our SU like family and she will be sorely missed. In her eight years in the SU, we have become a single school community and have focused our schools on academic achievement and belonging. We wish her well in her retirement.” The RNESU Board is determining the search process and will communicate the process with the schools and community as soon as possible.

Update on Test to Stay: With four classrooms in three schools out on quarantine last week, we are eager to start Test to Stay. We have complied with all of the advance work and are awaiting approval from the Agency of Education and the actual receipt of the test kits. We are aware of how disruptive closing a classroom is for kids and families and hope to get this option started very soon.

Vaccine Clinic at Neshobe on Tuesday, December 14th: VDH has chosen Neshobe to hold a vaccination clinic. Clinic is open to the public and slots are limited! Please use the state registration website VDH COVID-19 portal to register or call the Dept of Health 855-722-7878, Mon - Fri 8 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat/Sun 10 AM - 3 PM to register and give consent or if you have problems with registration. We cannot register students ourselves as parents must give consent.

CONFIRMING: February Vacation | Week of February 21. The correct February vacation is the week of February 21st. Below 👇 is the link to the full district calendar as released last year. ➤ Magnetic calendars distributed at the start of the school year indicated Feb 14. That was an error. We apologize this was not caught earlier! https://tinyurl.com/vy56p2wk

Opportunity to Participate in Equity Audit Focus Group! You are invited to participate in a focus group on December 6th from 5-7 PM. The (approximately 90 minutes) focus group for Parents/Community are part of a study being conducted by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) to understand how RNESU can support a learning environment focused on safety, belonging, and equitable access to high-quality instruction and supports across our district. Feedback and thoughts will be kept STRICTLY confidential and anonymous. If you are willing to participate, please email swhite@rnesu.org.