1. Today is DOUBLE meal day.  Meals will come in larger bags that include 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches.
2. No Meal Service Tomorrow.
3. No Meal Service Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday.
4. Meal service and packet-pickup/deliver continues on Tuesday, May 26th!

PARENTS AND STUDENTS

Over the last week, I have been working closely with the leadership of our teaching and classified staff unions.  The primary topic has been to  brainstorm ways to save dollars in anticipation of possible significant cuts to our State School Funding for the 20-21 school year.  Going into those discussions, the goals of all the parties were to minimize the impact on students and families, while saving as many dollars as possible in payroll.  We have been able to negotiate and agree on the plan described below.

Furlough Days:  All staff are taking three furlough days.  These days will save the district our employee wages for three days (about $50,000 a day, $150,000 total,  with all 162 employees).  The unions agreed to make these days be days that DO NOT impact students.  All employee groups, classified, certified, administrator, and confidential employees, will be taking these three days in lost wages.

WorkShare Days:  In addition, beginning Monday, May 18th, all staff will have their daily hours reduced by 20-25% through the remainder of the school year.  This will result in another four days of savings (although not quite as much as a furlough day, about $37,000 a day) for the final four weeks of the school year.  For these four days, staff will be participating in the Employment Department WorkShare Program.  This program allows businesses with more than three employees to reduce the hours of employees while maintaining their jobs and other benefits such as insurance.  The total savings for these four WorkShare days to the District General Fund will be another approximately $150,000.  The only way these WorkShare days will affect families and students is that K-8, teachers will be available to work and communicate with students for a little less each day, office hours will be approximately 8:00-2:30.  For our High School students, individual teachers may vary, but in general, will be available for about 90 minutes less each day at varying times.  Also, while school offices will remain open each day, the hours will be adjusted to be 8:00-2:30.  We hope that the direct effect on students and parents is minimal, knowing that the effects of our current situation is already tremendously impactful on our students and families.

The savings the district will see will begin to partly address the reduction the district is expecting to see in our State School Fund payment for the 20-21 school year.

Thank you to our staff for agreeing to participate in these reductions, and to our students and families for their continued grace and patience.

Please see the dates and updated information regarding the meal service and packet pick-up schedule through Tuesday, May 26th:

May 18th (Today):  Normal meal service + packet pick up routes taking place.

May 21st (Thursday):  Double meals being served this day (2 lunches + 2 breakfasts due to no deliveries on Friday).

May 22nd (Friday):  No service due to it being a non-contract day for FRSD Classified staff.

May 25th (Monday):  No service due to Memorial Day.

May 26th (Tuesday):  Normal meal service resumes  + packet pick up routes taking place.

A public meeting of the Budget Committee of the Fern Ridge School District 28J, Lane County, State of Oregon, to discuss the budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, will be held Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. In response to the current health emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the District facilities are currently closed to the public and meetings are being held virtually through Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/bka-yggy-ggd?hs=122 or by dialing (‪US)‪+1 406-578-4644 PIN: ‪654 284 727#.

The purpose of the meeting is to receive the budget message and to receive comments from the public on the budget. This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take place. Public comment will be taken in written form. Written comments received by 10 a.m. on May 19, 2020 will be read into the record during the public comment section of the meeting on May 19, 2020. To schedule public comment, please provide your name, address, along with the comment to qbennett@fernridge.k12.or.us. Comments will be subject to a three-minute limit per community member as they are read into the record. Any person may submit questions to qbennett@fernridge.k12.or.us.

A copy of the budget document may be inspected on line at www.fernridge.k12.or.us or obtained by mail via email request to qbennett@fernridge.k12.or.us. The budget document will be available for viewing and mailing on or after May 13, 2020.

This notice and more information about the budget can be found at www.fernridge.k12.or.us.

UPDATED MEAL ROUTES:  Route 13, beginning tomorrow May 6th, will drop the Fleck stop and add a stop at the Department of Forestry Parking lot.  CLICK HERE for the updated meal bus route schedule.

PACKET PICK-UP AND DELIVERY:  This continues every Monday.  Yesterday we were able to pick up over 40 packets, and deliver around 20.  If you would like to try out having your distance learning packet delivered, please communicate with your child’s teacher or school.  The route and stop times can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.

Elevate Lane County is  an organization that develops comprehensive systems for connecting students to careers in high-demand, high-wagE positions in our community.

The flyer linked below is specifically aimed at graduated high school seniors of the class of 2020–but all high school students are welcome.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit the link below for information regarding the checkout of chromebooks to FRMS students that need them!

CLICK HERE

RETURNING DISTANCE LEARNING PACKETS/WORK:  There are several ways this can occur.  While teachers would like to get completed work back so they can review it, assess it, and provide feedback to the students, we understand this may be a challenge for some so just do the best you can.  

• Families who have been picking up their packets can continue to do so. There will be a “Return Work/ Completed Packets” box at each building. When you come to school to pick up the new week’s packet, please deposit the previous week’s packet in the box. Paperclips will be available if the packet has been taken apart. Please make sure your child’s name is on each page in the packet in the event that the packet becomes separated.
• Families may also choose to scan and email their child’s packet directly to the teacher. Staff Contact Information link.
• For families that are needing to have packets mailed to them, we will have a bus route to collect finished packets every Monday. You can CLICK HERE to see the routes and “stops” along those routes.  These routes begin after the lunch/meal drop off routes that occur each day.  These “homework pick-up” routes begin anywhere from 11:50 AM-12:30 PM.  If a bus does not come by your exact location, and you cannot make it to one of these stops at the designated times, contact Amie at the bus barn at 541-935-1969 and we see if we can accommodate you. Please contact your school as early as possible the week prior to ensure we can make this happen.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Good morning FRSD families.  We continue to serve around 1100 meals a day to the youth of the community.  Thank you for continuing to access this.  The staff loves to see the students at the bus stops or come through VES.

There has been one change to the routes that will begin today, Tuesday the 21st.  The stop at the top of Bolton Hill is not being accessed, so we are moving that stop down to Woodland St. and 5th street.  Hopefully, it will get more use there.  The complete list of routes and stops can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Good morning FRSD families,

Thank you for your patience this week as we rolled out many new things.  In the weeks to come we will certainly improve at all that we are doing, as well as begin to expand in the ways we connect with our students and families. Below are some general updates on a wide range of topics.  We will call it the Weekly “Top-10”.

1.  DISBURSEMENT OF CHROMEBOOKS:  We have distributed almost 100 chromebooks to High School students.  At this time it is our hope that nearly every household that has a High School student, has a device with which to use.  If not, please contact the school.  This next week will be asking our Middle School families to complete a survey, and disbursement of devices to Middle School households that would like one, will begin.
2. WI-FI:  The High School parking lot now has an area that has wifi coverage.  For the network name, wifi password, and the location (click here).
3. FREE MEALS: We are serving anywhere between 1000 and 1300 meals a day.  PLEASE continue to access this!  For more information regarding meals and “bus-stop” locations visit the Food Service / Meal info link on the COVID-19 Closure tab at the top of the website.
4. END OF YEAR EVENTS: The district continues to look at options for many end of year celebrations/events and how those can occur either in a different way, or at a different time.  Those include 5th and 8th grade promotion, H.S. graduation, FRMS and EHS Awards nights, and possibly even holding a 6th grade outdoor school for our 2020 5th graders.  All are very early in the planning stages, just be aware at this time ANYTHING is possible and we are working on all of these things, and more, to assess the feasibility.
5. TURNING IN OF WORK:  Stay tuned for more information regarding this (visit school websites).  In the coming days we will have drop-off possibilities for families at schools, and may expand to collecting work via bus routes by the week of April 27th.
6. HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH A TEACHER:  Just a reminder that all teachers are maintaining regular workdays and are available by phone or email from the list on the COVID-19 Closure page.  The direct link to their contact information can be found by clicking here.
7. ASPIRE FOR 12TH GRADERS: A reminder to EHS 12th graders that Mrs. Sandie Smith is available regarding any questions  you may have regarding college admissions or financial aid.  Her email is sandieevo@aol.com.  You can also contact EHS Counselor Mrs. Brittany McMillan through here email, or  at 5441-935-8200 ext 2220.
8. 20-21 CALENDAR:  The school calendar is in final draft stages and will go before the school board at their May meeting.  Right now, it is looking like the first day of school in Fern Ridge will be Tuesday, September 8th.  Once this is finalized, it will be posted and shared.
9. SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS: For the foreseeable future, FRSD School Board meetings will be held virtually.  To access the meeting to listen/view it you can find the information in the agendas posted here.  If you need further assistance, you can email Michelle Cook at mcook@fernridge.k12.or.us.  If you would like to make public comment at a school board meeting you may do so electronically by submitting an email Ms. Cook.
10. THANK-YOU:  Again, a final thank-you to all of our staff working to make all of these things happen, and to our students and parents for their patience as we navigate through these uncharted waters.