Superintendent

October 2nd COVID-19 Level Red Update

October 2, 2020

Dear Shelby Families:

You may be aware that Richland County was placed on level RED yesterday.  Richland County has met 6 of the 7 indicators established by the Ohio Public Health Advisory System.  Counties meeting six or more indicators in a given week, but fewer than six in the previous week, are placed on the Watch List.  If a county on the Watch List hits six or more indicators the following week, it will move up to the level PURPLE.

What does this mean?

At this point, Shelby City Schools will remain open, just as we have been since August 24, 2020.  If we are moved to PURPLE, we will move to our Remote Learning Plan, where all students will be online until further notice.

In accordance with our COVID-19 Protocol and Guidelines, beginning today, any student sent to the nurse’s office will be assessed on a Level 2 scale because of the risk of high community spread.  If our school personnel determines to send a student home due to assessed symptoms such as sore throat, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, chills, fatigue, muscle aches, and/or abdominal pain, the student must stay home for ten (10) calendar days.

If a child is kept home from school by a parent with COVID-19 symptoms listed above, they will also be expected to remain at home for ten (10) calendar days.  Day one begins on the day a child is sent home or kept home with symptoms.  Students may return on day 11 as long as they have been symptom-free for the previous 24 hours.

If a child exhibits these symptoms, we recommend that you take your child to their healthcare provider to be evaluated and determine if any further testing is needed.  Students may return to school sooner than ten days if a negative COVID test or alternate diagnosis is presented in writing from their healthcare provider.

Teachers will continue to provide learning opportunities for students during this time.  Student attendance will be recorded, but students will not be penalized for absences due to the ten days at home.

Please understand, we want to keep our schools open.  By enforcing these necessary safety measures, we hope that we are able to remain open.

We appreciate your continued support and understanding.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me directly at (419) 342-3520.

Sincerely,

Tim Tarvin

Superintendent, Shelby City Schools

From the Desk of Mr. Tarvin

8/21/2020

Dear Shelby Community,

As you may know, recently the Governor shared his directives regarding school athletics; subsequently, at this time, our athletic directors, principals and district leadership are working through details regarding spectator attendance. Obviously, we would like to have as many Shelby fans as possible present at games to support our athletes, cheerleaders and band members, however, the Governor’s guidance limits our allowable seating capacity in our football stadium and gymnasiums.

According to the Governor’s guidance, spectator attendance is capped at 15% of venue capacity for both home and away fans which obviously, makes seating greatly limited. However, please know that our District is working to allow as many people to be present as possible while still complying with the Governor’sorder.  We ask for your patience and understanding as we develop a ticketing plan that works best for our students, parents, families and the community. If you are in attendance at a game, at a minimum, you can expect the same face covering and distancing requirements that are currently in effect throughout Ohio.

With such restrictive spectator allowances it will be important that the District prioritize the availability of tickets and to that end, making tickets available to family members of participatingstudents will take precedence. This information will be made public soon and it likely could include only two tickets per participating student. In addition, Pat Lewis and Mike Walter, our high school and middle school athletic directors, respectively, are tasked with implementing the District’s ticket procedure and they will post updates to the “Athletics” tab on our webpage. Also, we intend to provide any ticket availability information to our Shelby Schools community either via email or some other social media platform soon.

As we continue to move forward through this process, the District will do all we can to support the Governor’s guidelines and ask that you do, too.  Again, as mentioned earlier, if you attend a contest you should expect physical distancing seating requirements at all venues and face coverings will be required in order to attend both outdoor and indoor events.

We understand that Shelby Whippet pride runs deep and that we will have many more fans wanting to attend our athletic events than our venues allow with the 15% capacity cap.  However, the District is currently working on the possibility of livestreaming many of our athletic competitions so that our entire Shelby community can continue to safely view our Whippets in action; we will be sharing additional information about this opportunity soon.

Go Whippets!

Tim Tarvin

Superintendent, Shelby City Schools

Superintendent Address

From the desk of Mr. Tarvin 5/20

5/20/2020 12:50PM

As the school year comes to a close, I want to thank the community of Shelby for the tremendous support and assistance throughout this school year; particularly over the past three months. In spite of all of the challenges we faced this school year, our students and staff continued to work earnestly to make this school year successful.

As the Shelby City School District begins to make preparations for the 2020-2021 school year, please know that the entire staff is working diligently to ensure that students and staff will be safe, while still providing excellent educational opportunities for all of our students. To that end, the district is conducting a survey beginning on Wednesday, May 20th; the survey will be open through Tuesday, May 26th. By completing the survey you will help provide important information that will be considered for the upcoming school year. Please, complete only one survey per household.

Again, I recognize that this school year has run the gamut of emotions for our students, staff and families; thank you so much for your continued support and for helping our district to persevere. As we make plans for August, I am looking forward to getting our students and staff back together in a safe setting and to have a fantastic 2020-2021 school year. In the meantime, please have a safe and enjoyable summer.

Stay safe, stay strong; go Whippets!

Tim Tarvin
Superintendent, Shelby City Schools

From the desk of Mr. Tarvin 4/22

Dear Shelby Families and Community,

On Monday, April 20, Governor DeWine announced that remote learning will continue for all students through the end of this school year.  Of course, we in the Shelby City Schools are saddened by this news, but we also understand that all of us have to collectively continue to do our part to keep our students, neighbors and loved ones safe.  Of course, the big question is, what does the rest of the school year look like?  For the Shelby City Schools the end of this school year is May 27th; our expectation is that staff and students will continue working on instruction through that date.  Yes, I recognize that remote learning is difficult and challenging for everyone, parents included, so it’s extremely important that we all continue to work together and communicate well.  If you have questions or concerns about your child’s education during the remainder of the school year, please reach out to your child’s teacher or principal.  Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, certain teachers and buildings may tweak things just a bit…so if you are a parent of a Shelby student, please watch for announcements and updates from your child’s building principal.  Also, please keep in mind that you can always go to our district website www.shelbyk12.org to see all district updates, particularly those dealing with our remote learning and related information on our COVID-19 page.

Just as remote learning will continue for the remainder of the school year, so will food distribution to our families.  On each Monday, all food pickup for any students in the District will take place from 10:00-12:00 at the middle school; enough food will be distributed to each family so that each child has breakfast and lunch for five days.  Please enter the school property from the roadway off Sunset, drive past the track and follow the road to the back of SMS to the loading dock area to receive your food.  The one exception to this schedule will take place the last week of May; there will be no food distribution on Monday, May 25th, which is Memorial Day.  That week’s food distribution will take place on Tuesday, May 26th, again from 10:00-12:00.

I recognize that this is a very difficult time for many of our students, but particularly our class of 2020.  Seniors and parents, please know that we are still considering a variety of options to celebrate this school year.  And let me clarify, while it may be challenging to host the traditional year-end activities that our seniors are accustomed to, please know that we are working creatively to make the best of a difficult situation and still celebrate the class of 2020 however we can.  As we work on the options for these celebrations for our seniors we will certainly keep students and parents informed about possible plans.  As I’ve said in other posts and letters, creativity and flexibility are going to be important during this challenging time and we are working diligently to make the end of the year for our seniors special.

Of course, with Governor DeWine’s recent announcement regarding schools, we have to also begin shifting our focus to the 2020-2021 school year.  Quite frankly, speculation is rampant right now and I understand that, but please also know that the Shelby administrative team is already holding meetings and brainstorming what next school will/could look like.  Again, not to be redundant, but our ability to be creative, flexible and innovative will go a long way to our future success.  Our team will continue to meet and establish plans in which the ultimate goal is for your child to be safe and successful.  As we begin making decisions about what next school year looks like, be assured that we will keep Shelby families and the community as updated and as informed as possible.

Finally, as I have said many times before and what I will continue to trumpet…I want to thank our entire staff, parents and community for their tremendous support, patience and cooperation throughout this extremely challenging time.  We in the Shelby City Schools recognize that your family may be hurting in a variety of ways; if there is anything that our school district can do to help, please let us know.  And whether you are a front line worker during this crisis or a single parent trying to juggle life as we know it, please stay safe and healthy.

Stay strong; go Whippets!

Sincerely,
Tim Tarvin
Superintendent, Shelby City Schools

From the desk of Mr. Tarvin 12/16

12/16/2019
Superintendent’s Message

As we near our Christmas break, I want to take a moment to thank the Shelby City Schools’ staff, students, parents and the entire community of Shelby for your support and everything you do to make the Shelby City Schools an excellent school district. I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to work with your children, and I am looking forward to the rest of the school year and all we can accomplish.

As you know, the Shelby City School District (SCSD) is partnering with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) to build a new PreK-8 facility; this building will be located directly behind the current middle school. Recently, the SCSD hired Garmann Miller from Minster, Ohio to be the architect and Adena Corporation from Mansfield to be the construction manager on the project. Our goal is to have the PreK-8 building completed and open for the 2022 school year; that date might seem far in the future but I can assure you that there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to meet that goal. As a result, we are already very busy conducting a great deal of research and planning; as this process continues to gather momentum, we will work diligently to keep you as well informed as possible.

Just in case you are not aware, our first semester ends when we leave for Christmas break. We have incorporated the ability to do this into our school calendar for quite a number of years now. The teachers and students like this concept because when we come back in January, we jump right into the second semester of classes, which we believe pays tremendous academic dividends for our students.

Shelby is a community with strong traditions but of course, traditions are not unique to our little corner of the world. All around the world the holidays are celebrated with meaningful and ingenious customs. Children in some regions of northern Europe leave hay and carrots outside the house on Christmas Eve because they believe Saint Nicholas arrives by horse. In a festive display, folks in more tropical parts of the world adorn their homes with mango leaves and decorate banana trees. Interestingly, historians believe that the first record of a decorated tree dates back to 15th century France. In fact, many believe this tradition was later brought to England by immigrants who had roots in that region of Europe and missed the ritual of decorating a tree. Traditions exist everywhere and many of them are very similar. That’s what is unique about people…for all of our disagreements, we still have more similarities than we have differences. So as you and your family celebrate the holidays and all of your wonderful traditions, whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree together or simply enjoying the company of loved ones, keep in mind that traditions, no matter how simple or how extravagant, are the ties that bind. From the staff at the Shelby City Schools to all of you have a safe and joyous holiday season.