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KCS Superintendent Message 2021 - January 29 Employee Update

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Please take a moment to watch Kingsport City Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Moorhouse provide an update on the operating status change impacting all Pre-K-12 Face-to-Face students effective Monday, February 8, 2021.

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Hello, everyone. I just wanted to take a moment and check in with you to share some information before we communicate it to our community; but before I do that, I just first want to say and lead off just how much I appreciate your flexibility and dedication that you've demonstrated over the last 12 months. You moved from virtual settings to hybrid settings, full-time, back to hybrid. Your perseverance and dedication have been unmatched and I just continue to be blessed and impressed every day about the length that you go to for students. They're just really not enough words that I can say to express my gratitude. As I stated before in previous communications, I've been really looking forward to getting 2020 wrapped up in 2021 rolling because as we've moved into this new year we are moving to new possibilities and we've been able to see that has vaccines have become available, our numbers have started to decline. I know that many of you have acted on the guidance that we just recently put out and have gone out and tried to get registered in surrounding counties. I'm excited to hear and see pictures of teachers from Kingsport City Schools getting vaccinated today even as they've gone to some of these locations. We continue to work with the Sullivan County Health Department in scheduling a time to be able to do that vaccinations here locally, but I still can't tell you when that's going to be for sure. So I encourage you to continue to reach out to the surrounding counties and get scheduled and get an appointment so we can get everyone back vaccinated. With all that said, I'm also grateful that we have reached a point in our community environment status that gives us an opportunity to be moving back to practices that feel more normal. I'm indebted to the many sacrifices that everyone has made to get us to this point. I know that there were hard choices that people made over the holidays and as of recent, that have contributed to getting it to this point in time. Since Christmas break, much research has been released concerning schools. A study by Harvard University titled The Path to Zero that we used earlier, had been modified and they re-released that study. It verified the actions that we had discussed in our school meetings that encouraged a more surgical approach, that it was shifting us from a metric driven path to taking a more holistic approach and responding to cases as we see in schools dealing with it at the classroom level, grade level, and even at a school level in responding in that manner. Additional research had come out over the holidays as well, that has really influenced some thought and one study was done by Duke University. It studied students in North Carolina, over 90,000 students in a school system and what they're able to find is that transmission that happens inside the classroom is more horizontal than vertical. Meaning that adults are transmitting more to adults and kids are transmitting more to kids; but that the instances of students transmitting to teachers or teachers to students, was just very minimal. Then as recent as last week, the CDC released a study which they looked at a similar path in 14 Wisconsin school districts and they verified the same thing. What they were able to find is that the transmission of the virus from student to teacher, teacher to student, is just very minimal. The transmission that happens that we see in school is more familiar, meaning that from student to student and teacher to other adults. While that information came out, I shared that information with our folks here and said would you look at our data from first semester and would that be true of us here in Kingsport City Schools. What we were able to find is that it mirrored very closely. In the first semester we were really only able to find one instance where that transmission happened between student and teacher within the classroom. So it was verified as well. With this knowledge and the environmental conditions that we're experiencing, I just I'll let you know that on February 8, 2021, will be resuming classes 100%. Virtual decisions in hybrid schedules in the future will be really driven by the need for staffing decisions or whether we need to pause to be able to allow teachers to get vaccinated; but that will be what's driving decisions moving forward. As been stated, it has become more of a reality that this continues to be a fluid situation. As guidance changes and research continues to evolve, and as we learn more, we strive to improve based on that knowledge to fulfill our mission trim impact the hearts and minds of the students of Kingsport City Schools. I just want to continue to say just how much of an honor it is for me to work with each of you as we continue to navigate these challenging times, but as you demonstrate time and time again, it's what we're able to accomplish together that we're able to do great things. Thank you again and as always, Roll Tribe!

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KCS Superintendent Message 2021 - January 29 Employee Update

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