March 16, 2020 7:45 p.m.

Our response team met at 4:30 to debrief the day and make plans for tomorrow. All staff will participate in a Zoom meeting in the morning and then work from home. The response team will meet again at 3:30 tomorrow to plan for Wednesday. Right now, we're taking things day by day.

We are doing our part to slow this virus down. Our District Office will be closed to walk-in traffic beginning in the morning. We will observe regular hours and we're maintaining distance in the office. If you need to do business with us during the shutdown, please call or email the office. 360.864.6325. If you have documents to drop off, there is a mail slot in the front door and space between the doors to insert them. We'll smile and wave, but we won't open the doors. Hope you understand.

Teachers have created online resources and sent those home with students as a way to support parents and caregivers. We are working to develop ways to equitably serve all students during the next 6 weeks. Martin Huffman at THS is working with their team to develop strategies to support our Seniors in completing their  studies for the diploma without too much interruption. They will be communicating with those students and families directly.

The Governor's proclamation does not prevent us from providing food service and childcare, but it does not establish an expectation that we do either. We believe that nutrition services are critical to children and families, so we're working with OSPI and DOH to develop a program that meets standards for social distance, quality nutrition and fiscal responsibility. Our plan is to have classified staff ride with bus drivers on regular routes to deliver meals to families. Families that do not have bus service would be able to pick up meals at the Elementary School. We are targeting Wed. 3/18 to begin this assuming we can get all of the details worked out. When we're ready, families that signed up for meals will be notified by autodialer. You should be receiving a sign up form by email (also from autodialer) tonight. Complete it as soon as possible and return it to the District Office.

Childcare will be a tougher puzzle for us to solve. While education and childcare look similar, they are both very technical. Just like an airplane and a ship both have engines, an aeronautical mechanic and a nautical mechanic are not interchangeable. This will require some technical support from OSPI and DOH in order for us to provide it. Please check with local daycare providers and any of a number of certified babysitters who aren't in school right now.

I want to commend the staff of Toledo School District for their tireless work redesigning our system. This has been a sprint that began just 4 days ago with an announcement that schools were closing. Our team has done a tremendous job responding to this emergency. I hope you are as proud of them as I am.

This is a very fluid situation and I'm depending upon everyone to make sure they have factual information. I'll update this blog daily until there isn't enough to say. At the very least, you can depend upon an update every Friday morning. Please keep your distance from one another. Assume that everyone you see is infected- even when they don't show symptoms. Be prepared, not scared.