Letter from the Superintendent- 6/1/2020

Dear Cottonwood parents,

It is hard to believe that this is officially the last week of the 2019/2020 school year. Due to the COVID pandemic, it has been an unprecedented and extremely challenging year to say the least. I appreciate everyone’s patience and positive attitudes as we have worked and continue to work our way through all of the issues and difficulties associated with distance learning and this ever changing environment.

At this point, we still do not know what the start of next school year will look like. We are currently awaiting a new set of guidelines from the state that should be released any day now. Like everything else associated with this pandemic, guidelines seem to be changing almost daily. If the COVID numbers stay low and if at all possible, we hope to open with students in their classroom seats come August, although this will come with some new safety measures in place. We realize some parents may not feel comfortable with their students back in the classrooms, so we are discussing other options we could possibly offer as well.        

The district will be sending out a short survey to all parents requesting your input for the start of the 2020/2021 school year. It is very important that you complete this survey as this will help guide our decisions as we work through the different options and possible scenarios for next year. Thank you as your input is greatly appreciated.    

As many of you already know, we have a couple of changes to our administrative team for next year. Mr. Ray will be leaving as he has accepted a position in Red Bluff. It was great to see all of the parents and students that showed up to participate in his farewell parade last Friday. We thank him for his years of service to the Cottonwood School District and we wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor.

Mr. Ray will be replaced by Cecile LaMar. Mrs. LaMar was raised in Happy Valley and she is a graduate of West Valley High School. She has spent the last ten years serving as a school administrator in Hawaii. She is excited to be joining our Cottonwood team and she looks forward to meeting all of you. Look for her to arrive in the middle of June.

Unfortunately, due to extreme budget cuts in education, the vice principal position at West Cottonwood has been suspended and Mrs. Hill will be moving to the newly formed Mountain Valley JPA. We thank her for all of her hard work for the Cottonwood School District and wish her the best of luck in her new position as well.

Rest assured, I want all the Cottonwood parents to know that even as we face change, funding shortages, educational uncertainty and continued pandemic concerns that we will continue to work hard to provide our students the best possible education that we can under these challenging times.   

Sincerely,

Doug Geren

Superintendent

Cottonwood Union School District