District Administrator's Message

Dear Families of the Little Chute Area School District,

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted so many of us in a variety of ways and the start of the 2020-21 school year will look differently because of it. As a district, we are excited to have our students return to school after being gone since March 17, 2020. All of us associated with LCASD look forward to once again being able to address the academic, emotional and social needs of your child(ren).

As expected, due to COVID-19, there are changes in place that impact our school’s daily functions. These changes have made the process of how our professional educators teach your child(ren) look different than it has in years past. A guidance document (LCASD’s Return to Learning Plan) concerning these changes was emailed to all families several weeks ago and is linked for your review and guidance. This plan will be used to provide parameters as to the operation of the district, schools, and classrooms. However, it is not intended to be an all-inclusive plan and there has been and will continue to be many individual situations and circumstances that must be considered by all district stakeholders as collectively we navigate through this health care crisis. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to review the document and refer any questions you have to your building principal or your child/ren classroom teacher.  Below you will find some of the important points regarding the reopening of our schools: 

• Decisions regarding the status of school and the implementation of learning platforms will be made utilizing the latest statistical information about COVID-19, with guidance from the Outagamie Health Department and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
• Parents are expected to self-assess their child(ren) at home for symptoms of COVID-19 on a daily basis. Any student exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 as described in the District’s Return to Learning Plan is expected to stay home. 
• Students and employees of LCASD are required to wear a mask at all times unless otherwise agreed upon via a Face Covering Exception Form.
• Our Return to Learning Plan will be reviewed and updated every 9-weeks to best address and accommodate not only the learning needs of all students but also to continue to promote best practices for the safety of employees and students.
• Visitors to our schools will be limited and must be approved by our building principles. Until further notice, we will not be allowing guests without an appointment to come into our schools during the day.
• Our Return to Learning Plan was designed to mitigate COVID-19 not to eliminate it. It was also designed to be flexible and responsive to the uncertainty COVID-19 brings to our school/community.

While some of the accommodations listed above and others identified exclusively in the Plan may be inconvenient, they were implemented for the well-being of our students and employees once we decided to bring our students back to their schools. We are excited about the opportunity in front of us and accept the challenges of educating our students in the middle of this pandemic. Please remember our Return to Learning Plan plans and procedures may change as we proceed through the school year. The district and/or your child(ren) school will communicate any significant change to the Plan as the school year progresses. Finally, the patience and understanding of our families is recognized and very much appreciated. All of us associated with the Little Chute Area School District look forward to a great school year!

Sincerely,
David M. Botz, District Administrator
Little Chute Area School District