Superintendent’s Letter to CCS Staff

Friday, July 17, 2020

Dear CCS Staff:

As you know, on June 30, I provided our District’s initial fall school reopening plans to the
CCS community. The recommendations were based on the intensive work by the
Reopening Task Force led by more than 150 staff, teachers, principals, district partners,
union leadership, businesses, community leaders and local and state health officials.

First and foremost, our priority for the 2020-21 school year is to keep our entire CCS
community – students and their families and all teachers, staff and administrators – safe
during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That priority, followed closely by providing
equitable learning opportunities for all students, has not changed. The Task Force
continues its work and is influenced by frequent information and guidance by Columbus
Public Health.

As you know, the spread of COVID-19 continues to increase, especially in the city of
Columbus and Franklin County. This past Tuesday, I asked Health Commissioner Roberts’
team to provide an update to my cabinet and Task Force leaders, including all our union
partner presidents, on the virus as it pertains to our district boundaries and family zip
codes. The numbers are sobering.

An important recommendation from these health experts included seeing four consecutive
weeks of decreasing number of cases in order for schools to reopen safely. Even with
implementing social distancing on school busses and in the classroom, it is still a challenge
to bring students and employees back safely if the rate of infection does not begin to trend
and sustain downward.

We will continue our close communications with Columbus Public Health for updates on
the spread of the virus within our District boundaries. As we monitor the data and seek
guidance, we will need to give serious consideration to beginning the school year with a
fully remote learning model for grades K-12. Although no decision has been made, I wanted
to provide you with the most recent update based on our meeting earlier this week with
Columbus Public Health.
I know that all of you, like me, want nothing more than to have our students back in the
classroom and in our buildings. However, that may not be possible if the data does not
improve. We simply would not be able to take the risk. At the same time, we feel positive
about the strides we have made with ongoing meetings with our labor union partners as
we begin to prepare for digital and blended learning. Online or digital learning will be a
part of all of our futures in education, and CCS will be a leader as we implement a 1-to-1
initiative by 2023.

I will continue to provide you with information as we receive it from our partners at
Columbus Public Health. I sincerely appreciate all the support and encouragement I’ve
received from so many of you as we work to navigate these unchartered waters during the
ongoing pandemic.