paths

We at Hemlock Public School District embrace that every parent and family chooses to decide what is best for them. That is why the district has worked to provide both a face-to-face and remote/virtual option. This allows everyone to weigh the risks and rewards and select what is best for themselves, their children, and the whole family.

As a school district, every day we are navigating a myriad of potential paths forward all with the same intended destination of providing the highest quality education possible regardless of the modality. Our team has made what some have thought impossible possible. We have done this with little disruption up to this point, but we face unknowns as COVID-19 cases rise and generate close contact quarantine situations for staff and students. As a district, we always have a plan, and sometimes multiple contingency plans, to help us manage things as situations arise.

We get the question more and more each day with other schools closing face-to-face instruction on what our future looks like.  Though we have plans and plans upon plans, we know that we have to be flexible and fluid with this situation. Ultimately, decisions happen in real-time based on a multitude of factors, but we can shed some light on how we will continue to operate, provided that it remains our decision.

Things we consider in making decisions moving forward: 

  • Make relevant decisions in real-time based on data and facts, not emotions.
  • Our preferred option is to always go micro when making decisions to disrupt services, such as not providing busing for one route or two versus providing no busing at all or closing one classroom or two, or closing one building and not the whole district.
  • Consider additional remote days per week, perhaps Tuesdays to alleviate the impact of close contact on staffing.  
  • Consider stepping back to our hybrid model of every other day in person, utilizing Team Hemlock and Team Huskies.  

It would be easy to “what if” to every aspect of this situation; trust me, we have! However, the rubber meets the road every morning, and we adjust according to the rules of that day. We just wanted to provide some insight on how and what our decision process looks like and that we would first make decisions at a micro-level and not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Again, we embrace that everyone has chosen what is best for them. We are here to serve and will continue to provide the highest quality of education regardless of the setting.

COVID-19 Dashboard