USD 253 Emporia has approved a waiver which will alter original attendance requirements for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year.
The USD 253 Board of Education voted unanimously to approve and send off the 1,116 waiver, a state document that provides an exemption from original attendance requirements of 1,116 hours for all students and 1,086 hours for high school seniors for the remainder of the academic year. According to USD 253 Superintendent Kevin Case, schools across the state have been asked to complete the waiver following Governor Laura Kelly’s executive order which closed all school buildings last month in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Case says having all school districts across the state complete the waiver is all about establishing consistency.
According to Case, USD 253 completed 814.65 hours of the required attendance and are seeking to waive the remaining 301.35 hours.
Along with the waiver itself, districts also have to submit an assurances document stating it will be following the requirements for a Continuous Learning Plan for the remainder of the academic year as well as an in-depth overview of the district’s individual continuous learning plan. All documents must be submitted by Apr. 8 for the district to apply for the waiver.
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In other business, the board also approved minor adjustments to the district’s academic calendar. The original calendar had this upcoming Friday scheduled as a professional learning time (PLT) day for staff, however, following board approval it is now a teaching day with the PLT day moved to the end of the year.
Speaking of the end, the final day for seniors will be May 12 with the final day of the academic year being no later than Wednesday, May 20. Case says a definitive decision on the last day of school will be made in the “near future,” however, Case adds there are several unknowns that could alter decisions down the road.
Separately the board also received an update on the building for the future improvement project and approved a recommendation for an audit services agreement and changes to Emporia Middle School student handbooks for the 2020-2021 school year.
The USD 253 Board of Education will hold its next online meeting on Wednesday, Apr. 22 at 7 pm.
