School meals will be delivered Friday morning to students who meet the bus at their regular bus stops two hours later than they would normally meet it on a regular school day.

“Understand that we do not have any way to know how many meals we will need,” Superintendent Paul Turner says in his nightly update embedded below. \”We have packaged what we are expecting and will probably have to adjust on Monday. Please be understanding and work with us as we develop potential meal counts.”

The Grand Coulee Dam School District will resume classes April 27, Turner says.

Turner’s update:

March 19, 2020

Parent/community update

Good afternoon, please read the latest update below.

Local brief: Grant county cases of COVID-19 are up to 8 confirmed, 0 in the North county. Okanogan county has 0 confirmed cases as of this morning. Continue to use caution during this time.

Breakfast/Lunch program: We will be starting our meal distribution tomorrow morning (Friday 3/20). Understand that we do not have any way to know how many meals we will need. We have packaged what we are expecting and will probably have to adjust on Monday. Please be understanding and work with us as we develop potential meal counts.

As previously noted, review the route schedule below.

Meals Notice:

Beginning Friday March 20th, Grand Coulee Dam School District will provide breakfast and lunch to children 0-18 years of age.

Buses will arrive at your regular bus stop 2 hours later than your normal pick up time for meal distribution (ie. If you catch the bus at 7:15 am, your meal will be delivered at 9:15 am). Additional distribution of meals will take place from 12:00-1:00 pm at the following locations: Tillman’s in Elmer City, Grand Coulee Dam Middle School, and City Hall in Electric City. Grab and Go meals will also be offered at Lake Roosevelt School from 9:00-9:30 am, and 12:00-1:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served in the same bag so you will only need to meet the bus, or come to the school once each day. Children must be present to receive these meals.

For students that live in the Nespelem area, Nespelem School District will provide Grab and Go meals available from 11:30 am -12:30 pm at the following locations: White Buffalo, New HUD, Old HUD, and City Park.

Continued Reminder: If you plan to come to the school for any reason, you must access through the Elementary office. There will be a screening protocol that will be required. We ask that you work with us and adhere to these precautions.

Questions that I received:

Extended closure: At this time, we plan to be back to school April 27th. We have not received any direction from the state that they plan to extend the closure. I will notify parents and the community as soon as we get notified of any changes.

Academic Notice:

Beginning Tuesday, March 24th, Grand Coulee Dam School District will begin distribution of our Learning Reinforcement Packets. The packets will be available at the same times and locations as the meal distribution times and locations with the exception of students living in Nespelem. Students that live in Nespelem will be able to pick up their packets at one of the 4 distribution sites in Nespelem. The four distribution sites are White Buffalo, New HUD, Old HUD, and City Park. Packets will be available at those sites on Tuesday, March 24th and Wednesday, March 25th. If packets are not collected on either of those days, they will be available for pick up at Lake Roosevelt Elementary/High School.

Each packet is specific to a student’s grade level, so it is important that students collect the correct packet. Our distribution workers will have a list of all students for that distribution route, so when you or your child picks up their meal and packet, they will need to provide the worker their name and grade level to ensure all students are getting their Learning Reinforcement packets. Packets will be available during normal distribution days on each route. The packets will also be available at Lake Roosevelt Elementary/High School for pick up if you did not get a packet.

The Elementary school (Kindergarten through 6th grade) will distribute one Learning Reinforcement packet that will contain learning activities for the entire school closure period ending on April 24th. The Jr/Sr. High School (7th through 12th grade) will distribute two packets in total. One packet beginning March 24th and a second packet beginning March 31st. The packets will contain all the directions and resources needed to complete any and all activities inside the packet.

Just as a reminder, our buses will not be able to stop at the exact bus stop that it would normally stop at due to safety, but they will be stopping as close to the normal stop as possible in a safe place off the road. Please see the distribution information for routes and times so that you can receive meals and Learning Reinforcement packets.

We at GCDSD thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. Please contact the Elementary at (509)633-0730 or the High School at (509)633-1442 if you have questions about distribution or packets.

Facility use:

Thank you for your assistance getting the word out that facilities are closed until further notice.

For the safely of all, I have directed staff to develop plans that will allow them to work remotely from home. We will be reducing staff at school to essential needs.

Seniors:

Seniors continue to be a major focus. The biggest issue will be online capabilities. We plan to utilize the internet as at the least a communication tool. Please make sure you have online capabilities and if not make sure that we know. We will accommodate accordingly. Your teachers are working on the academics and what will be needed to meet graduation requirements.

Currently, we do not have any guidance for you on graduation itself.

Reminder school extension:

The end of the school year will be extended from June 11th to June 19th. Please mark your calendars.

Continue to expect a daily update as we continue to make changes.

Mr. Turner