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Dear Parents/Guardians:
School Calendar 2020-21 – February 11 Public Hearing:
On behalf of our Board of Education, I want you to know that we are
holding a public hearing on Monday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m., on the proposed school calendar for 2020-2021.
I am pleased that our district is able to present this calendar with
more than a year’s notice. We know that families often plan vacations,
weddings and other important events far in advance. It is important to
our board that we provide this information early.
The school calendar just might be one of the most controversial
decisions a board of education must make. There are bound to be many
competing ideas and preferences, and many different groups are affected.
We base our calendar decision on educational quality and student
well-being as the top priorities.
In our case, we are starting school in mid-August to accommodate our
high school block schedule. When a long break, like Winter break, occurs
mid-quarter, it can throw a real curve into teaching and learning. We
know that this past December, high schoolers appreciated having a REAL
break from homework and study, rather than worrying about coming back to
final exams on material they hadn’t seen in weeks. It was a far less
stressful holiday season for them!
We do not feel at this time that staggering start dates for different
grade levels is the most workable for our students, families or staff.
All are welcome to attend Monday’s hearing and share your thoughts
with our board members. Thank you so much for your support of our
children and our schools.
Phishing Scams:
Public school email addresses are becoming a target of phishing
scams, and we have recently received inquiries from community members
about suspicious emails appearing to come from Bay Schools employees. Phishing
is often carried out by email, frequently including links to fake
websites or asking recipients to respond to a random question. These
emails have the look of coming from a legitimate source with whom you
have some association. The purpose of these mailings is to obtain
sensitive or personal information such as sign-in credentials or
financial information. Any information obtained via a phishing scam is then used for malicious reasons. Please
be alert for any suspicious emails "from a Bay Schools employee" that
include mention of an invoice or request seemingly odd information. If you receive a suspicious email, we recommend that you do not reply to it.
Instead, delete the message or compose a new message to the sender
asking if they recall sending it. Please feel free to direct any
additional questions on this topic to our District Technology
Coordinator at Brian [email protected].
Best,
Mrs. Hausmann |