Articles from December 2020

Prescott Elementary School staff were surprised with a $20,000 donation from Dubuque Bank and Trust, through its partnership with the national non-profit organization, AdoptAClassroom.org, to kick off World Teachers’ Day on October 5.

“Dubuque Bank and Trust is a long-time supporter of Prescott Elementary School and we are so grateful for this significant gift made through their partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org,” said Vicki Sullivan, principal of Prescott Elementary School. “We look forward to determining how to spend the funds to maximize the benefit to our students and school community.”

The funds are intended for the school to purchase much-needed tools and materials, so they can successfully and safely continue to operate, whether students are learning in the classroom or remotely from their homes.

“These are such challenging days for our K-12 educators, wrestling with how best to stay safe while keeping their students connected and engaged in learning,” says Lynn “Tut” Fuller, President and CEO of Dubuque Bank and Trust. “K-12 schools are the cornerstone to a healthy and productive community. We want to play our part to help.”

About Dubuque Bank and Trust Company
Dubuque Bank and Trust Company (DB&T), a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc., (NASDAQ: HTLF), is a state chartered bank with more than $1.8 billion in assets and serving customers in the Tri-State region of Dubuque County in northeast Iowa, portions of Grant County in southwest Wisconsin and Jo Daviess County in northwest Illinois. The bank operates six branch offices in Dubuque County. The bank specializes in business lending and deposit services, and provides a wide variety of personal credit and deposit services along with complete electronic banking programs. For more information visit www.dubuquebank.com or call 877.280.1851. DB&T is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and an Equal Housing Lender.

About Heartland Financial USA, Inc.
Heartland Financial USA, Inc. is a diversified financial services company with assets of $15 billion. The company provides banking, mortgage, private client, investment and insurance services to individuals and businesses. Heartland currently has 113 banking locations serving 82 communities in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and California. Additional information about Heartland Financial USA, Inc. is available at www.htlf.com.

About AdoptAClassroom.org
We are a national, award-winning nonprofit that provides the most flexible and accountable funding for K-12 teachers and schools throughout the U.S. Our proprietary, easy-to-use education fundraising platform helps teachers, principals, and administrators give every child the tools they deserve to succeed in school. Since 1998, we have raised $39 million and supported 5.4 million students. As a 501(c)(3) organization, we hold a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a platinum rating of transparency from GuideStar. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.adoptaclassroom.org.

Dear Dubuque Schools Families and Staff,

As a district, we continue to closely monitor data related to COVID-19 in our community and our schools.

• You can view the most recent count of active cases in the district on our COVID-19 Dashboard, which is updated daily and provides the most accurate count of confirmed active cases in the district.

We also closely follow the indicators included in state guidance – the 14-day county positivity rate and student absenteeism due to illness.

According to guidance from the Iowa Department of Education, districts may request a temporary move to remote learning only after the county in which the district resides has a 14-day positivity rate as reported by the state exceeds 15 percent AND there is a greater than 10 percent student absentee rate due to illness.

• We anticipate the state reported 14-day positivity rate for Dubuque County may exceed 15 percent. We also anticipate that an increase of positive COVID-19 cases in our community will result in an increase of cases among students and staff.
• The district’s current daily student absentee rate due to illness is approximately 4 percent, which does not indicate that a move to remote education would currently be permitted by the state.
• Based on these indicators used by the State, at this time we will continue to operate in our hybrid learning model with the many enhanced safety protocols in place across our district.

As we closely review all data indicators related to COVID-19, it is also important for us to examine what each indicator measures and how these data points relate to each other. As we do so, we must take into account the following considerations:

• County data includes a broader geographical area than just the Dubuque Community School District.
• As of this afternoon (Tuesday, Sept. 22), positive, active cases in the district equate to .41 percent of the 10,000 students and staff tracked on the district dashboard.
• Based on contact tracing in collaboration with the Visiting Nurse Association, the overwhelming majority of these cases can be linked to interactions that occurred outside of the school day or through non-school-sponsored activities.
• There is currently no indication of any spread within the school environment.

SAFETY AT SCHOOL

In the district, we have worked continuously to ensure that safety measures are in place in our schools. In fact, looking at the latest school-based mitigation indicators released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last week, we fall into the lowest risk factor based on our implementation of the following five mitigation strategies:

• Consistent and correct use of masks
• Social distancing to the extent possible
• Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette
• Cleaning and disinfection
• Contact tracing in collaboration with local health department

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We can’t do it alone. We need your help in reversing the trend in our county. You can have a direct impact on our ability to continue providing educational and extracurricular offerings for students.

Please follow social distancing, wear face coverings and continue to follow hand washing and sanitization recommendations. We can turn the curve in Dubuque County and continue providing our students with in-person learning opportunities, but we will only do it together.

Sincerely,
Stan Rheingans
Superintendent of Schools

The Dubuque Community School District is pleased to announce that beginning Monday, Sept. 21, ALL STUDENTS in the Dubuque Community School District will receive NO-COST meals at school thanks to an extension of the USDA Summer Food Service Program.

This includes all meals served at district schools, and also includes the district’s four meal Grab n’ Go locations. The four meal pick-up locations will also now operate as open meal sites and will serve any individual 18 or under (with no infant formula or food served) at no-cost regardless of whether or not they are enrolled in a district school.

In order to help properly account for distribution, we still encourage the use of elementary student meal cards and middle/high school ID cards when getting meals from a Grab n’ Go location.

No-cost meals will continue for students until December 31 OR until funding for the program is depleted. When we are notified that the program will be ending, we will share that information with families.

All funds currently on meal accounts will remain in place and will be available for use after the extension ends. Students will still be able to purchase milk-only or a la carte items with available funds on their meal account.

As we move through the 2020-2021 school year, we are asking students or parents/guardians to check-in via Infinite Campus to record attendance daily for students in the fully online program and on at-home days for students in the hybrid program.

VIEW ATTENDANCE INSTRUCTIONS

As a district, we are committed to providing transparent, accurate data regarding cases of COVID-19 related to the school environment while also maintaining the ongoing confidentiality of our students and staff.

To do this, the district has launched a dashboard to show the number of ACTIVE, POSITIVE COVID-19 cases in the district.

VIEW THE COVID-19 DASHBOARD

Our Mobile Registration School Bus is hitting the road to provide assistance for Dubuque Community School District families still needing to complete online registration for the school year!

Join us at one of the following times/locations:

Thursday, August 13, from 1-3 p.m.
Bee Branch (in the parking lot near the 22nd Street Bridge)
Note: A Marshallese interpreter will be available at this time.

Friday, August 14, from 10 a.m.-noon
Comiskey Park
Note: A Spanish interpreter will be available at this time.

Friday, August 14, 1-3 p.m.
Flora Park
Note: A Spanish interpreter will be available at this time.

Computers will be available and district staff will be on hand to support families. Social distancing measures will be in place and masks will be required.

You can also REGISTER ANYTIME ONLINE.

We look forward to seeing you at our Registration assistance events!

On Monday, Aug. 10, the School Board approved the amended school calendar that officially moves the school start date to the originally scheduled date of Monday, Aug. 24.

An updated calendar is now posted, as well as a version that designates A/B days for those students in the hybrid learning model.

VIEW THE UPDATED CALENDAR

At its meeting on Monday, Aug.10, at 5:30 p.m., the School Board will hold a public hearing to consider moving the school start date to the original date of MONDAY, AUG. 24.

The meeting is open to the public with a small number of seats available in person at the Forum, 2300 Chaney Road, or with virtual access via Zoom.

VIEW THE MEETING VIA ZOOM
The event passcode is: DCSD@2300!
Full Zoom details are below.

VIEW THE PROPOSED AMENDED CALENDAR

ZOOM MEETING DETAILS:

https://dbqschools.zoom.us/j/81975538813?pwd=VjcxZXBISXllVHJnV1A0MWdneFVJQT09
Passcode: DCSD@2300!

Or Telephone:
US: +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799
Webinar ID: 819 7553 8813
Passcode: 5333643655

Iakwe in jota baamle ko kab rijerpal ro,

Ilo ad jino popomanlok im kadruwaineneik tok rijikuul rein ilo rool tok in aer n̄an jikuul ilo juōn wāwein kōjbārok eo ejijjōt, jotenin ij le maanlok n̄an boot eo an jikuul ke tijtriik eo en le maanlok raan eo jino in jikuul bwe en rool n̄an ejja raan eo eto ad loor e aolep iio ilo Mandre, Okōj 24 raan, kōttar wōt alikar eo an boot eo an jikuul kweilok eo ilo Mandre. Iloan kajjitōk im lōmnak kein, raan in orienteijen eo enej bōlen ilo nej Taije, Okōj 20 raan, im Bōlaidre, Okōj 21.

Brobejenōl tibelōpmen raan eo n̄an rikaki ro enaaj wōnmanlok n̄an Bōlaidre, Okōj 7 raan, lok n̄an Juje, Okōj 11 raan. Ebool melele ko jet ikijjeen katōk ko an rikake brobejenōl ro rej nej būkmaantak.

Ebool iaan kajjitōk ko jaar būki jen baamle ko rej kajjeon̄ lale ewāwein aer nej jelā nae nan̄inmij in im wāwein an tijtriik eo lōmnak kake ne ar wōr oktak ko jen juōn wāwein katōk n̄an bar juōn. Ejjab lukun wōr jōkjōk ko n̄an aji waj melele kein ilo ejja tōre in jej kōttar wōt alikar jen ijo elap jen state.

Jemlokin wiik eo lok, melele ko rōkāāl ar driwōjtok jen Tibaatmen eo an Iowa Jikuul im Tibaatmen eo an Iowa Ejmour emōj aer likit jet kakkobaba in kajjitōk ko ar ejjelok uaakier im emōj aer likit elaplok eddro ko n̄an obija ro an jikin ejmour eo an jukjukin bed eo im tijtriik eo an jikuul ko kajjojo bwe ren lale jōkjōk kein ilo ad nej bōk melele kein kajjojo.

Bōklekōt nan kōmakut raan in ijjino eo enej kōmman bwe en laplok iien n̄an ar kōkkajoor lok jerpal im ibben droon in ad ibben obija ro an jikin ejmour eo an jukjukin bed in im lukkun ilo mool n̄an kadriklok abnōnō ko an baamle rein kajjojo. Jibadbad im kōttōbar eo ej nan kōmōkaj lok kilaan melele kein nan kom im, ibben jemlokin oktak kein, kim kōnan bwe en wōr ibbam melele ko kwōj aikuji n̄an kōkōmanmanlok kālet eo am n̄an baamle eo am. Ilo an emmanlok kilaan jerpal kein am ibben jikin ejmour eo an jukjukin bed in, kim naaj kalikkar waj jabdrewōt melele ilo iien eo emōkajtata.

Jejelā ke oktak in kōlōnta eo enaaj bōlen aikuj bwe kwōn kebooj im lolodjaake ajri ro nejimi n̄an wiik ne an Okōj 17 raan, im kim kōnan bwe kwōn jela kadredre kin bōklekōt in bojak kein jaar limaantak.

Iloan raan kani maantak, jejnej wōnmaanlok wōt im wōnmaeik wawein katōk ko an A/B Hybrid raan in katōk ko im nej lōmnak in nej aji waj katōk ko nan aolep baamle ko.

Elap am mōnōnō kin jiban kein ami elaptata nan rijikuul ro im kōnan kammolol kom kin kijeje ko ami ilo tōre in eben n̄an aolep.

Ilo Kauteej Wōt,
Stan Rheingans

Good Evening Families and Staff,

As we prepare to welcome students back to school in the safest way possible, tonight I recommended to the School Board that the district move the first day of school back to the originally scheduled date of Monday, August 24, pending approval at the School Board meeting on Monday. In the proposed modification, orientation days would be on Thursday, August 20, and Friday, August 21.

Professional development days for teachers will now move from Friday, August 7, to Tuesday, August 11. More information about teacher professional learning will be forthcoming.

Most questions we are receiving from families seek more specifics about contact tracing and how the district will determine when to transition from one learning model to another. We have been unable to provide these specifics as we awaited state guidance.

Late last week, new guidance released by the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Public Health left additional questions unanswered and placed much additional responsibility on local public health officials and school districts to determine specifics we expected to receive in the guidance.

This recommended move in start date will give us the extra time needed to ensure strong collaboration with local public health officials and ultimately provide families with the specifics they seek. Our goal is to keep you as informed as possible and, with these late changes, we want to be sure you have the information you need to make the best learning decisions for your family. As our work with public health progresses, we will share specifics with you as soon they are available.

We know that this calendar change may require you to make childcare arrangements for the week of August 17, so we wanted you to be aware of this recommendation for planning purposes.

In the next few days, we will also continue to move forward with the assignment of A/B hybrid learning days and plan to share those assignments with families.

We are thankful for your ongoing support of our students and thank you for your continued flexibility during these challenging times.

Sincerely,
Stan Rheingans
Superintendent of Schools