A message from the Superintendent
Weekly Communication
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Greetings PV Families,
During Monday evening’s School Board meeting, updates to the District’s health and safety transition plan v6 were presented to the Board of School Directors. The Board is asked to approve the proposed revisions at the Business meeting on Monday, November 14.
Most of the information in the plan remains unchanged. The focus of the revisions is on absence and illness reporting for both students and staff. Families continue to be encouraged to inform their child’s school nurse of cases of COVID as well as any of the other respiratory illnesses children are experiencing, i.e., RSV, adenovirus, flu, etc. This will assist our nurses in monitoring illnesses throughout the school. If children are out of school due to illness, they cannot return until they are fever free for at least 24 hours (without taking fever-reducing medication) and their symptoms are improving. Parents are expected to provide a signed note attesting to the reason for the absence within three days of their child’s return. This note can be sent in via email as long as the email address is one the district has on file.
During the pandemic, student absences due to COVID, for reasons of quarantine or isolation, were not counted against a student’s total number of absences for the year. These were noted differently from other absences in our student information system and exempt from totals for the year. Moving forward, and in alignment with updated guidelines and expectations from the Montgomery County Office of Public Health (OPH), absences due to any illness (including those associated with COVID) will be counted as they traditionally have in past, pre-pandemic years.
What does this mean for your child? Not much really, other than us wanting you to know we will partner with you in the event a respiratory illness generates more days absent from school than what any of us likes. Attendance in school is mandatory, but the district will work with you and your child in the event they have extended absences or difficulty with attending school for a reason other than illness.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
Sincerely,
Dr. Barbara A. Russell
Superintendent
- American Education Week Invite
Busing Update
Educational Equity Task Force
- Thanksgiving Meal Boxes
- Holiday Shop & PowerPacks
Free Breakfast Program for ALL Students
Community Bulletin Board
- Upcoming District Dates
We Are Vikings!
Busing Update - from Mr. Paul Fichner, Vice President, Operations STA of PA, Inc.
I would like to first acknowledge any challenges you may be experiencing as a result of the inconsistent students transportation being provided this school year and apologize for any inconveniences caused. As you are most likely aware, the entire school bus industry is experiencing a severe driver shortage, and unfortunately, we are not immune to it locally. STA has been providing student transportation services in Pennsylvania for over 25 years and has been a partner with PVSD since 2005; the last two years have been the most challenging we have ever experienced with regards to driver availability.
We want to assure all of you that we are doing everything possible and sparing no expense to recruit, hire, and train drivers to serve the Perkiomen Valley community. We have been supplementing the local staff with PA certified drivers from other locations, but that has also been somewhat hindered due to the shortages they are also experiencing. STA's full time office and maintenance staff are certified and have been driving when needed. Despite the "all hands on deck" approach, there have been times when we cannot adequately service a route and it ends up running late. We are in daily communication with District personnel to let them know what routes will be affected on a given morning or afternoon. We are also focused on effective and timely communication with families so that you are informed when your child's bus will be delayed.
We continue to consider options to offset the lack of bus drivers. In the event you are interested in joining the STA team, please click on the link below to learn more. As members of your community, we would welcome and appreciate any assistance to help get through these difficult times and serve the transportation needs of our students and families.
Sincerely,
Paul Fincher
Educational Equity Task Force
We are creating an Educational Equity Task Force of stakeholder representatives to include, teachers, administrators, support staff, students, parents, community, and business representatives. The task force will collaborate with district administration to assist in developing an Equity Action Plan. If you are interested in being a part of this work, please use this form to indicate your interest. The task force will meet several times over the course of this school year, in-person, during evening hours, beginning on November 30 from 7:00-8:30 PM in the library at Middle School East.
Thanksgiving Meal Boxes
A community member, and former PV student, is organizing FREE Thanksgiving meal boxes for PV families in need (each box is intended to serve a family of 6). Interested families can use this form to sign up. Pickup is scheduled for Monday, November 21, between noon and 4pm (alternate arrangements available on request).
Holiday Shop & Power Packs!
Perkiomen Valley School District is excited to once again support families in need this holiday season through the PV Power Packs Holiday Shop run by community volunteers.
The PV Power Packs Holiday Shop will be open on the following dates and times in the Evergreen Elementary School Library. Enter through the main doors at the front of the school.
Tuesday, 12/6: 5-8 pm
Wednesday, 12/7: 5-8 pm
Thursday, 12/8: 11 - 1:30
If you are a parent or guardian of a student in the Perkiomen Valley School District who is in need of assistance this holiday season, you can come during these times to shop for your student and any younger siblings. There is no financial documentation needed and we only ask that you share the name of the school where your child is enrolled. We will have extra volunteers in a separate room to supervise younger children if you are unable to get childcare.
If you have specific needs or are unable to come during these times, please email Sarah at PowerPacks@pvsd.org or reach out to your school principal or counselor.
If you’d like to donate, toys, gift cards, bath & body products for men & women, arts and crafts, adult sized hoodies and more are being collected to support the PV Power Packs Holiday Shop. You can check our Amazon Wish List at https://tinyurl.com/powerpackshsfor ideas.
Donations can be dropped off at any school through December 2nd and placed in the large cans that are located in the vestibule of each school’s main entrance or mailed directly to the shop at Power Packs Holiday Shop, c/o Evergreen Elemenary, 98 Kagey Road, Collegeville, PA 19426. Monetary donations are accepted via check sent to PV Power Packs, 3 Iron Bridge Dr. Collegeville, 19426 or by PayPal at donations@pvsd.org with Power Packs in the memo line. We thank you in advance for your generosity this holiday season.
Visit out website to learn more, Power Packs, and follow us on Facebook @PVPowerPacks.
Free Breakfast Program for ALL Students
As a reminder, Governor Tom Wolf announced free school breakfast for all students across the commonwealth. The Universal Free Breakfast Program will run through the end of the 2022-23 school year.
We are aware that some families may prefer that their students not participate in the free breakfast at school (in some instances last year, students were eating two breakfasts - one at home prior to school and one after arriving at school). Families may choose to “opt their child(ren) out” from obtaining breakfast using this form. If a family opts out, the student’s account will be flagged and breakfast will not be available to them. You may change this preference at any time by contacting our FS department.
Community Bulletin Board
Wondering about family and community events in the area? Curious to learn about local sports clubs and other opportunities? Visit our online Community Bulletin Board!
To submit an event for posting, please send a PDF version of your flyer to webmaster@pvsd.org for review.
Please note that Community Bulletin Board items may contain links to websites of organizations outside Perkiomen Valley School District. Items are posted to this bulletin board as a free service to the community, and should not be interpreted as being sponsored or endorsed by the district.
Upcoming District Dates
- Monday, November 14 - Board Business Meeting @ 7:00pm
- Tuesday, November 15 - Secondary report cards available on ParentVUE at noon
- Tuesday, November 15 - Policy Committee Meeting @ 6:00pm
- Monday, November 21 & Tuesday, November 22 - Parent~Teacher Conferences
- Wednesday, November 23 - Friday November 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday
22-23 v6 11/10/2022
Dr. Barbara A. Russell, Superintendent
about: www.pvsd.org/about/superintendent
Perkiomen Valley School District
3 Iron Bridge Drive, Collegeville, PA
(610) 489-8506