YORK- York Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Mitch Bartholomew, released a letter stating that they will remain closed through Friday, April 3rd. His letter stated:
YPS Students, Families, and York Community –
We want to thank you for your patience and flexibility during this time. On Monday, the Commissioner of Education and Governor Ricketts instructed schools to prepare for a closure of schools by Friday, March 20th and to be prepared to operate in an alternative learning environment for six to eight weeks, with a review of operations every two weeks.
York Public Schools will comply with this recommendation and remain closed through April 3rd. We will continue to follow the guidance of our local and state officials and will reevaluate every two weeks to determine our next steps.
As communicated earlier, YPS teachers are creating enrichment activities that could include packets and online activities. Our continuing education plan will begin on March 23rd. YPS would use several tools to help communicate that plan – email, website, Google Classroom, Infinite Campus. Please understand that guidance from state and federal government officials is changing every hour. This plan may change if their recommendation changes during the next two weeks.
Important Items-
- YPS has applied for a waiver to offer free breakfast and lunch to students. We will start this as soon as possible. Please stay tuned.
- All activities are postponed from now until April 3rd. This means no practices, games, concerts, banquets, etc. We know there are large events scheduled for students including prom and graduation. We will NOT be making any decisions on cancelling these events until we are forced to do so. We want these events to happen, but may be forced to cancel them.
- Later today, the YPS technology team will send out a technology survey to all families through Infinite Campus Messenger, it will also be available on our YPS website. If you would need a technology device to complete some enrichment activities, YPS will provide one for you. Once you fill out the form and the device is ready, a member of our technology team will contact you with a pickup time and location. You could also call York High School (402 362 6655 option 2) to request a device in case you are not able to fill out the survey.
- At this time the use of York Public Schools campus facilities by outside groups, teams and patrons will be closed. All reservations to use the facility will be postponed until further notice.
- YPS has created a COVID-19 landing page on our website – yorkpublic.org. Please plan on visiting that page for updates and communication.
- YPS recommends that parents follow the guidelines provided by state and local health officials and not allow your student(s) to congregate with their friends or visit public places unless absolutely necessary. We need to do everything we can to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The entire YPS team and Board of Education understands the uncertainty of this situation. We are committed to doing the best job we can, given the circumstances we are in. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mitch Bartholomew – Superintendent
York Public Schools
