The safety and wellness of students, families, and school personnel are the highest priorities of all Amador County Public Schools. We will continue to communicate with Amador County Public Health Officer Dr. Kerr and follow directives given. Schools are currently closed until further notice.

Amador County Unified School District has had two stakeholder committees meet to explore different scenarios for the reopening of schools in August.

In an effort to sync up the work of both teams, we will now move to two smaller subcommittees (elementary and secondary) composed of a cross-section of the two larger committees to
(a) look at the data from a new family survey requested by the committees,
(b) understand families’ preferences and needs,
(c) further develop scenario details using the data, and
(d) bring a recommendation forward by July 15. 

The goal is for the subcommittees to collaborate and forward their best scenario recommendation to Superintendent Slavensky by July 15, with the Cabinet and Board making a decision by July 20.  This timeline allows time to learn what the final enacted state budget will be, in order to ensure the required financial support for how we reopen schools in August. 

We will continue to update the community regarding the district’s progress and next steps. We understand that waiting is not ideal for family planning, but this will allow us to have the necessary information to make the best decision possible. We appreciate your patience as we plan for the best solution and continue to keep our staff and student’s safety a priority.

Two stakeholder committees are meeting to explore various scenarios for the reopening of our schools in August. One committee represents teachers and staff, and the other committee represents parents/guardians and our school communities. Together, our goal is to return students to our physical classrooms, in some form, as soon as possible while maintaining the health and safety of our students and staff. The committee discussions are including dialogue about the family and staff survey data (see attached), meeting CDC guidelines and state regulations, concerns about liabilities and liability waivers, our budget situation given the pandemic-induced recession, and associated costs with reopening schools.

Current Brown Act Guidance – Board Meeting Options

The safety and wellness of students, families, and school personnel are the highest priorities of all Amador County Public Schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Newsom’s stay at home order, Amador County School Board of Trustees will be conducting their meetings under the Brown Act via teleconferencing and limited personnel in compliance with Governor Newsom’s March 17, 2020, Executive Order N-29-20.

The Order temporarily gives legislative bodies the option to use but does not require the use of, a modified method of teleconferencing to hold meetings subject to the Brown Act. The following options are allowed per the Order:

• Any or all legislative body members may attend any meeting (i.e., regular, special or emergency) by teleconference.
• The District does not need to provide a location to be accessible to the public.
• The agency is not required to post the agenda at any teleconference location.

To ensure that members of the public have access to the meeting and are able to participate in public comments, the Board will use Zoom teleconferencing to host the meeting. Members of the public can access the meeting via telephone or video conference. Information for accessing the meeting is posted on our webpage.

As we move through the COVID-19 outbreak and an unknown period of school closures, the Board of Trustees assures you that the health and well-being of our students, employees and their families is our primary concern. The Board is following the directives of Governor Newsom, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and our local Amador County Public Health Officer Dr. Rita Kerr.

Our Amador County Public Schools leadership and teaching staff have our full support and confidence to plan and organize distance learning and other alternative learning opportunities for all of our students.

The Amador County community is remarkable and unique in pulling together and uniting, without hesitation, when extreme situations affect us. Now is such a time. We are grateful for your resilience and support in this challenging time.