Oakwood ISD Parents and Students,
Lots of information in this update, so please bear with me...
As you are well aware, school is currently closed, but we are making our best efforts to continue to educate through remote instruction with the materials sent home. This has been a huge shift in the facilitation of the educational process for everyone, and we are still working through some challenges, but ultimately, we are trying to make this work in a very difficult situation. We certainly miss our students and the teachers look forward to returning to a "normal" classroom setting as soon as possible.
Parents, we are grateful for your help and understand that many of you are working as well as trying to help your students with their school work. Please know that if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to the teachers, they are ready and available to help you through email or phone conferences. In addition, teachers and staff members should be contacting you regularly to check on progress and to insure that the students are working through the materials. If you have not heard from a teacher, or you have recently changed your number, please call the school or email the teacher so that communication can occur. It is very important for students to understand that during this time, this work is not optional, that school is still going on, although it is in a very different format.
Oakwood ISD Food Services is serving breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday from 7:30 am until 12:00 pm to any student in our area for the duration of the closure. We will also continue to deliver meals as needed, so please call or email us to let know if you need help in that area.
Currently, as Governor Greg Abbott has mandated, all schools are closed until April 6. I expect to make an announcement regarding whether or not the closure will be extended by next Thursday (April 2), so please check back next week for another update. In the event that the closure is extended, we will offer another packet exchange the following Monday.
Other school business to note:
School Board Meeting
We will have a School Board Meeting on Monday, March 30 in the cafeteria at 6pm. We have moved the meeting there to keep with social distancing guidelines.
4 Day School Week
Responses to the 4 day school week online survey were overwhelmingly positive, over 95% of students, parents, and staff members liked the idea. This is something that will be further discussed at the Board meeting.
Oakwood ISD School Bond Election
Oakwood ISD is still hoping to have the school Bond election on Saturday, May 2. This may change depending on how the Coronavirus situation continues to unfold and any restrictions put into place. I would encourage everyone that wants to vote by mail to request a ballot by mail from Donna Golden, Leon County Election administrator at 903-536-4469. It is my understanding that any ballots by mail have to be received (not postmarked) by April 20, so this is something that many of you may want to request very soon. We do have Bond brochures available for those with questions and I am available to answer questions as well.
UIL Activities
All UIL activities have been suspended until May 4. At the present time the UIL is continuing to say that their intention is to complete all championships and to finish out all activities. If we are allowed to return to school and finish out the competitions, the scheduling of these events will be very challenging.
I hope that the Oakwood students, parents, and community are doing well during this difficult time. I continue to pray for a return to normalcy and for the students to be healthy and safe. If I can be of any service of if anyone needs anything at all, please do not hesitate to reach out.
In service,
Russell Holden
rholden@oakwoodisd.net
903-545-2600