KINGMAN – Some 900 Kingman Unified School District (KUSD) employees are busy preparing lesson plans to keep educating more than 7,000 students while public schools are on extended closure due to the coronavirus outbreak. Superintendent Gretchen Dorner said the district will lose at least three weeks of on-campus teaching, but does not expect to have to extend the school year into the summer to make up for lost time in the classroom.
Dorner said the district is working to roll out a program by March 30 that will allow some students to learn on line, and others to do so through instruction packets. She said the plan would make teaching lessons available for pickup on Mondays with drop off provisions for Thursdays.
Dorner said every effort is being made to standardize, as closely as possible, the lessons that will be provided either on line or via instructional packet.
“Our mantra right now is ‘leave no one behind’”, Dorner said. “We don’t want anybody in this social isolation time of school closure to feel like they don’t have access to education.”
Dorner said she is engaging the KUSD workforce to use a time of chaos and uncertainty as a constructive opportunity to adapt, evolve and learn.
“What we’re looking at is how can we use this going forward. This is not temporary to us,” she said. “We are looking at building systems from the ground floor in a matter of weeks that will last us for years. So, if there’s a chronic health situation in the future and kids can’t come to school these strategies and modalities for instruction are ready and prepared.”
Dorner said children zero to 18 years of age will be provided free breakfast and lunch at each of the district school buildings and at the Club for Youth. She said parents, students and anyone interested can look for updated information on the school district website (www.kusd.org) or the KUSD #20 Facebook page.
- Dave Hawkins
