A Message from Superintendent Tom Reusser June 2020

View as Webpage

A Message from Superintendent Tom Reusser ~ June 5, 2020

As we move towards planning for the reopening of schools in the fall, there is one thing we can look forward to with certainty. Our Sutter County Schools will ensure that our students are healthy, safe and well-educated.

Budget

Governor Newsom’s May Revision to the 2020-21 fiscal year budget calls for unprecedented cuts to State educational funding, including a reduction of $19 billion for K-14 education. This reduction is far worse than the cuts K-12 education experienced during the initial years of the Great Recession. Each day, the news carries another important announcement about how businesses and academic institutions are responding to the current situation, and what plans may be in store for the foreseeable future. The one thing that is quite clear is we will need to live in a state of adaptability through this summer and potentially well into our future.

As there are many uncertainties that remain to be resolved, the following are some of our key considerations as we plan for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year:

The health and safety of staff and students;
Our strong focus on educational equity;
Plans that are flexible and adaptable as we prepare for a variety of scenarios; and
The impact that state budget shortfalls from the COVID-19 pandemic will have on budget, operations and options.

For more information about the May Revise:

K-12 Education Budget

Yours in Education,

Superintendent Tom Reusser

Visit our Facebook Page

Visit our Website

Important Information

CDC Schools Decision Tree

K-12 Budget Letter

CDE CARES Act Webpage

ELSD Newsletters

SCSOS Special Education Department

Our Special Education Department is offering Extended School Year for our Special Education students. We have 28 teachers and several paras, speech therapists, behaviorists and psychologists serving. The program runs from June 11 to July 9 with no school on Friday, July 3. We have 190 students signed up and instruction will be done through distance learning.

Feather River Academy

Principal John Kovach delivered graduation signs to his seniors to display in their yards. Students were happy to see their principal and receive their signs.

Feather River Academy Parade: Celebrating FRA Seniors

SCSOS Tri-County CNA Drive Through Ceremony: May 29, 2020

Thirty-four SCSOS Tri-County ROP CNA graduates were honored with a drive through ceremony; students are from Yuba City High School, River Valley High School and Albert Powell.

Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

On the week of May 4 ^th , 2020 through May 8 ^th , 2020, the Student Support and Outreach Team partnered with Sutter County Children and Families Commission to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Students were provided with several opportunities to get involved by showing their support through daily challenges. These challenges included Mindfulness Monday, TikTok Tuesday, Workout Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, and Fun Friday. The goal for these daily challenges was to provide students with a voice and establishment of making a positive difference throughout their community. Students were also given the opportunity to be involved in an art contest in order to help raise even more awareness. At the end of the month, the winner of the contest received $100 worth of art supplies. Avrie Towns from Pleasant Grove Elementary won the art contest and her message to the community was, “Shine brighter and smile longer.” Along with these challenges, Sutter-Yuba Behavioral Health donated several supplies in support of Children’s Mental Health Awareness week. A packet with several mindfulness activities was created by the Student Support and Outreach Team, which was then placed in activity packs along with the supplies that were donated. On May 7 ^th both Sutter County Children and Families Commission and the Student Support and Outreach Team created a drive through community event for students to pick up these packs. At the event there 130 activity packs given out. It didn’t stop there though, 70 activity packs were also given to Marcum Illinois Unified and 100 activity packs were given to Live Oak Unified. Overall, Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week was extremely successful in implementing positivity throughout the community. It truly was all about the kids and that is was the goal of the week. Sutter Support and Outreach Counselor, Sydni Beaver couldn’t have said it better, “We were able to spread positivity in a time it was needed most.” The Sutter County Student Support and Outreach Team could not have been more pleased with the results of this event and look forward to implementing several more in the near future.

Our Sutter County SELPA has continued to collaborate with our districts as well as the surrounding counties to support best practices for distance learning, communicating with families, and hold virtual IEP meetings. SELPA is also working to keep all special education leaders current on legal aspects of special education and navigating the specific areas that have some flexibility with state special education requirements. There is currently no federal flexibility of provisions for IDEA. SELPA, through zoom, held public hearings on the revised local plan.

SCSOS IT Department

All IT staff are ramping up for over 30 (and counting) summer projects!

Weekly county-wide tech leaders meetings to address challenges and share practices during the COVID pandemic

5/6 – SCSOS Tech hosted a virtual ½ day professional development customized for the county-wide lead tech group on Google Suite for Education Best Practices for System Administrators

5/27 – SCSOS Tech hosted demo for county-wide lead tech group on the “Red Herring” email phishing simulation services (this will be a free 1-year service provided by the California K12 High Speed Network via San Diego COE)

SCSOS Tech is rolling out the ESCAPE Employee Portal for any districts that are ready. This feature enables staff to check payroll, W-2’s, leave balances and benefits online!

Ongoing direct tech support and consulting for several districts

We appreciate serving our amazing schools, districts, students and staff

The IT team here at SCSoS wishes everyone a GREAT summer!!

SCSOS Adult Education Diploma Pick-Up

SCSOS provides educational services to our adults within our community. Eighty adults earned their high school diploma through our Adult Education Program this school year. On May 28, our graduates picked up their caps, gowns and diplomas at Boyd Hall. Adult Education virtual graduation ceremony will take place on June 25.

National Dislocated Worker Grant – COVID-19

Due to COVID-19 Pandemic the Sutter County One Stop is eligible to receive a National Dislocated Worker Grant to provide “Temporary Jobs Employment” for dislocated workers

to assist with cleaning and disinfecting public and non-profit agencies. We are currently coordinating with City and County Staff to develop sites and projects for the implementation. These workers will assist in keeping high traffic areas cleaned and disinfected throughout the day in agencies. This work can also include keeping public parks and recreational areas clean including cleaning and disinfecting playground equipment. If you know of anyone that has lost their job, please have them contact Sutter County One Stop Staff.