August 14, 2024
Superintendent Update: Welcome Back to School!
Dear Parents & Members of the Elizabeth Community,
It’s hard to believe that summer 2024 is drawing to a close and that the start of the school year is upon us. I hope that each of you had a great summer break. It was a busy one for us in the school district. I wanted to share important dates with you:
- Wednesday, August 14: Grades 6 & 9, Orientation day (½ day of school)
- Thursday, August 15: Grades 6-12 - First day of school for all students
- Thursday & Friday, August 15 & 16: Assessment/Meet your Teacher Days - Elementary
- Monday, August 19: First day of school for all Elementary & PreSchool Students
- Thursday, August 22: First late start day
- Friday, August 23: Welcome Back BBQ, 4-6 pm - Sponsored by Board of Education, Elizabeth High School, followed by a Home Football Game vs. Battle Mountain HS at 7P
- Monday, September 2: Labor Day Holiday - No School
Library Protocol: There has been quite a buzz in the community about an effort underway to empower parents in our community. I wanted to clarify what this is all about. While many districts have removed books that some find objectionable to groups in the community, our Board has taken a different approach in cooperation with our Curriculum Review Committee. While reviewing national book lists, we have worked this summer to identify books that contain sensitive topics that include material in one of the following categories: graphic violence, sexual content, profanity/obscenity, ideations of self harm or mental illness, religious viewpoints, drug or excessive alcohol use, and racism/discrimination. Of course the degree of sensitivity is age based as we consider the level these books appear in (elem/middle/high). Parents will be empowered to opt their children out of being able to check out books if they choose. If a parent does not take that action, they will receive an email when a book is checked out to their child with any of this content in case they choose to review the book in advance. For a parent that has no concern - no change occurs. Sadly, this is not being reported accurately in some media outlets, but I do believe it is a balanced approach being taken by our board.
Concerning Materials: During the review of materials in our libraries, some members of our Curriculum Review Committee did identify a handful of books that contained some extreme content in their view. Those books have been pulled for public review and we are asking parents to review them and provide input on how they would like the district to handle them, A separate communication will be sent with those titles along with times and locations those books can be reviewed. Based on public feedback, those books could be added to the sensitive topic lists or could be weeded from the collections in our libraries.
Classroom Libraries: With all the work done by our Curriculum Review Committee on empowering parents, the board felt that it was best to encourage students to access our libraries to secure reading material. This ensures that parent direction guides that book access. Instead of burdening our teachers with having to constantly review their books against a sensitive book list, the board felt that removing libraries made sense and having students access books from the library may be best. Yesterday, the board suspended their direction and will be working with staff to determine if there is a better solution. Our teachers have so much on their plate and the intent was not to add one more thing to their “to do” list. At their next work session, the board will review the staff feedback and determine how to proceed to ensure we honor that parental choice and guidance in all material access.
Transportation: We are excited that we were able to purchase 10 new buses this summer. Many of our fleet were approaching the end of life and the new buses are a welcome addition to our fleet. We also are excited to reach full staffing and be able to add back many routes that had been removed in the past. We are excited to be able to offer transportation to our Legacy families. We regret that due to some challenges with data uploads, we’ve had some delay in getting those student stops into our system but look forward to getting those students into our transportation system soon.
We had a great kick-off with our staff and focused on our slogan - Students are at the heart of everything we do. Our new Public Information Officer helped us create a comprehensive video that highlights the opportunities our students have here in Elizabeth at each grade level. I wanted to share that video with you so that you have an idea of what Elizabeth has to offer our students and how it truly is a team effort to make it all happen. I am so proud of our staff and what the Elizabeth School District offers the children of our community!
I appreciate your patience as we work out new processes and procedures this year. Expect more communication early next week from me on other initiatives in the district.
Welcome back!
