Dear WSD Families and Staff,

The time between November break and December break is always bustling in our district, and this year is no exception. With our in-school COVID-19 vaccine clinic next week, the school board’s budget work, classroom changes for some middle and high school students and teachers due to construction, and the start of basketball season, there’s plenty to keep us all busy. I hope you all take time to enjoy the winter traditions that bring you comfort and joy.

Thank you for taking the time to read the information below as we strengthen our school-family partnership.

Take care,

Sean McMannon, Superintendent

• December 3 – Veggie Van Go at school (Community members are welcome from 10:05-10:25am)
• December 7 – In-School COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic for Children ages 5-11 (2nd dose)
• December 15 at 12:15pm – Early Dismissal for all students
• December 23 through 31 – No School
• Updated 2021-2022 Calendar

The Winooski School District COVID-19 2nd dose clinic will take place at school on December 7 from 9am to 3pm. Your child has been automatically enrolled if they attended the first clinic at our school. Please remind your child to bring their COVID-19 Vaccine Card to their appointment so the Health Department can complete it.

Do you still have questions about the vaccine for this age group?

Read more about the COVID-19 vaccine for kids and find out where to make an appointment.

The WSD School Board is working with the district Leadership Team on creating a budget for the next school year. The process began this week with an ENDS presentation, programmatic information about Special Education and Multilingual Learners Programs, and a presentation of the first budget draft. Read more about the school board’s budget process on the WSD website.

If you would like to share your input about the next year’s budget, you may attend any of the following meetings and share a public comment at the beginning of the meeting:

• Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 6:30pm – revised budget presentation and Q & A opportunity.
• Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 6:30pm during the regular board meeting
• Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at 6:30pm (if needed)
• Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 6:30pm – Final review of the budget
• The budget will be adopted on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 6:30pm, during the regular board meeting.

Please join us on Monday, December 6 at 6pm for a workshop on local Family and Parent Resources. The meeting will be held in the school cafeteria. Child care and snacks will be provided.

Presenters include:

VSAC – talking about driving scholarships and adult continuing ed opportunities

Head Start – talking about programming and maternal health programs

CVOEO – VT Home Weatherization Assistance Program

CVOEO – Financial Futures Program (matched savings, business loans, and more)

Topics for the January Workshop will be voted on by attending families at the end of the workshop. Those that attend will be entered into a drawing for Shaws and Hannaford Gift Cards!

There has been one positive case of COVID-19 reported to the WSD COVID Coordinators since last week. This individual was infectious while at school and all close contacts have been notified. If you were not contacted that means your child is not considered a close contact. In our learning community, 11 people are out because they are considered a close contact of a COVID+ person, or because they have COVID-19 symptoms and may return to school once they receive negative test results or finish their 14-day quarantine.

Test to Stay

We are planning to begin Test to Stay in the coming weeks. This means asymptomatic, unvaccinated students who have been exposed to a COVID-positive person while at school may be tested via a rapid antigen test in the morning at school. If the result is negative, the student may attend school in person. This is great news because it will reduce the number of students who miss school due to quarantine requirements!

A detailed description of this program can be found on the Agency of Education Test to Stay website.

Parents/Guardians must complete both parts below if you want your child to be part of our district’s Test to Stay program. We request that you sign your child up by December 15 to make sure they can participate.

• A student can only participate in Test to Stay if their parent/guardian has given consent. If you would like your child to participate in the response testing, including the antigen Test to Stay program, please complete the Consent webform as soon as possible.
• Vermont will be using SimpleReport to report the results of antigen tests. This reporting system allows for parents/guardians to receive their student’s results instantly. Sign up for SimpleReport here.

Students will only participate in our TTS program IF they were exposed to a COVID+ person while at school. You will be notified if your child is considered a close contact and will be informed about the timeline for conducting Test to Stay if you would like them to continue coming to school in person. If the rapid antigen test result is positive, your child must be picked up from school right away.

Surveillance Testing

Over 600 tests have been administered since we began COVID surveillance testing and there have been zero positive cases detected as part of this routine testing program. Surveillance testing will continue next week. If you would like your child to participate in this free program, you may sign up here. You only need to sign up once for ongoing participation. Results will come through a software program called Binx, which requires creating an account.

Last year, the WSD School Board approved funds to provide winter transportation this school year. Unfortunately, due to a severe statewide bus driver shortage, local school bus companies are unable to fulfill our request to provide winter transportation. This is not because of a lack of money, but because there are not enough trained drivers to drive the buses.

We are very disappointed that we are unable to provide school bus transportation this year because we know this is important to our students and their families. So, we have worked with Green Mountain Transit (GMT) on a plan to provide public bus transportation to and from school. Riding the GMT busses is FREE for everyone this year.

Here is our current plan for riding a GMT bus to school:

• Winooski students catch #9 bus when it loops through Elm/Hickock neighborhood around 7:21am, and then get off the bus at Winooski Falls/Spinner Place at 7:26am
• Students will wait at the Winooski Falls/Spinner Place stop for 10 minutes
• Winooski students catch the next outbound #9 at 7:39am, and get off the bus at Normand St around 7:45am

We highly encourage all students to use this GMT route to and from school. Our hope is that through increased ridership by Winooski students, we could discuss options with GMT to add routes or reconfigure the route so students do not have to change buses.

Please see the map below for more information about where and when your child should board the bus to get to school on time.

Our Multilingual Academy middle schoolers recently created beautiful symbolic self-portraits that express their unique identities and interests! These 4 lovely portraits were created by Yadhira, Bora, Jafari, and Dayson. —Emily Jacobs, WMS Visual Arts

A 2019 report showed that the current Vermont school funding formula’s student weights are outdated, do not appear to be based on any scientific study, and do not reflect actual costs of educating students. A legislative Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report has been meeting to create a plan and proposed legislation to implement the report’s recommendations. However, opponents are still trying to correct the issue by adding additional dollars into the already massive education fund, to target aid to struggling districts.

The Coalition for Vermont Student Equity (CVTSE) is composed of school board members from various communities and districts across the state, including in the Winooski School District. The CVTSE does not support using grants to try to solve this problem. As experienced in recent years, the targeted grants are subject to change and provide districts with no certainty with which to plan their futures. Districts need certainty. And real equity cannot be realized until we correct the actual flaw in the formula. Everything else is merely a bandaid.

Read Superintendent McMannon’s recent comments to the Task Force. Learn more about the issue and how you can support Winooski students on the Coalition for Vermont Student Equity website.

Our cafeteria Point of Sale (POS) system is being updated this month. The new system, called “Titan”, offers enhanced online service features for parents and guardians. There are a few changes to be aware of during the transition period scheduled for December 7, 2021. All student meals will continue to be free. Read more about the transition here.

WHS students Kiara Mack and Joseph Abdallah will be part of the upcoming Racism in America Forum, hosted by Rev. Dr. Arnold Isidore Thomas. The forum will be held on Wednesday, December 15 at 7:00pm.

In the forum, Black high school students will share their experiences on a topic of their choice related to being Black in one of the whitest states in the nation. The Racism in America Forum offers monthly occasions where topics of importance to people of color are shared and discussed with the hope of attracting allies and fostering positive change for all Americans.

Register for this Forum:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VAFccvDoSpqlgU6GgUIhsQ

This weekly program runs on Saturdays from January 8 to February 12 from 9:00am to 12:00pm at the Bolton Valley Nordic Center. This program is FREE and includes: equipment, instruction, and ski passes are all provided and transportation is provided from the O’Brien Community Center in Winooski to and from Bolton Valley. This learn to ski program is open to all youth in grades 3rd and up; come ski, play games, and have fun in the snow!

To enroll in the program please fill out a program waiver at https://forms.gle/bAFC2MTAVLxqbp1SA. If you have questions please reach out to [email protected] or call 802-864-5794.

Ski Cubs Saturday Program Schedule

7:55am – Bus pick up (Sustainability Academy, meet in school parking lot)

8:15am – Bus pick up (O’Brien Center)

9:00am – Program start at Bolton Valley Backcountry and Nordic Sports Center

12:00pm – Program ends

12:45pm – Bus drop off (Sustainability Academy)

1:00pm – Bus drop off (O’Brien Center)

If you missed the Listen Up tour this summer, now is your chance to see this powerful, original musical based on the lives of Vermont teens. Winooski High School student Moseka “Don” Kiputa gives an incredible performance alongside youth from across the state. Tickets are $15 and you can reserve them here: https://www.listenupvt.org/