Good morning Pinto Families. I am writing to inform you that our district has made the difficult decision to pivot to virtual learning for all students beginning on Monday, November 9, and will continue to provide virtual instruction through December 2. Students will return to face-to-face instruction on Thursday, December 3.
This decision was prompted by excessive numbers of students and staff being quarantined as close contacts and positive COVID cases. We currently have 273 students and staff quarantined as close contacts and another 25 quarantined with positive test results with others currently being tested or awaiting test results. Many of these are staff members making it impossible to have adequate staffing to maintain our preferred face-to-face instructional approach.
It is our hope that this extended time with virtual learning will allow the current spike in COVID cases and close contacts to stabilize in our schools and in our community. It is also our hope that extending the closure into the week following Thanksgiving will give time for the development of symptoms for anyone who might have been exposed during extended family time and will assist in keeping positive cases out of our schools.
We recognize the extra burden that this shift will create for some families and want you to know this decision would not be made if not absolutely necessary. We are committed to providing outstanding educational opportunities during this time of virtual instruction and are also committed to maximizing face-to-face instruction time as much as is absolutely feasible while maintaining a safe learning environment for our students and staff. Our buildings will remain open and staff will continue to be available to respond to any questions or needs that you may have.
Together we are Pinto Strong!
Sincerely,
Dwight Sanders, Superintendent
California Schools will have FREE Grab 'N Go Meals for our students available over the upcoming virtual instruction. Meals will be available every weekday (expect November 25, 26, 27) from 11:30-12:45 beginning Monday, November 9 until our schools reopen. Drive-thru pickup will be provided in the circle drive of the elementary school--families will not have to enter the school. Families can pick up breakfast and lunch (1 breakfast & lunch for each child ages birth-18). We will also have limited delivery for families that do not have transportation available. No ID or paperwork will be required.
Do you want to make money helping grow our students through their education but don’t want to work full time? Do you want to make some extra money but are concerned with the fees that you must pay to make that money? Did you recently become a sub? Be on the lookout for some money coming to you just for applying. You can now through November 4 have these fees reimbursed to you. The requirements associated with becoming a substitute teacher are the following: a $50 application fee, a $175 online training fee and a $41.75 fee for a fingerprint background check. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will use CRF funding to reimburse any individual who has paid the $50 application fee and/or the $175 online training fee from August 18 through November 4, 2020. There is no action required by the substitute teachers to be reimbursed; the payment method used to pay the fees associated with the online training and application (i.e. a credit card number) will be automatically credited. DESE will begin processing those reimbursements on November 5, 2020.
You must have completed your fingerprint background check from March 1 through November 4, 2020. To access these CRF funds, the LEA would submit to DESE an application and a list of those individuals to be reimbursed for the $41.75 fingerprint background check fee.
More information about these reimbursements, as well as recent updates to substitute certification rules, can be found on DESE’s Substitute Teachers webpage. Please contact the Office of Educator Quality at 573-751-2931 with additional questions.
The Moniteau County R-1 School District (California, MO) is seeking applicants for Substitute Teachers. Qualifications include a high school diploma, successfully completed a minimum of twenty (20) clock hours of department-approved substitute teacher training or 60 college credit hours and a Content Substitute certificate from DESE.
Substitute teaching is a great way to supplement your income with a flexible schedule. The California School District pays $75 per day for substituting, and pay can increase to $180 per day for long-term placement.
Click on the headline above for more information.
We use School Messenger to communicate school events and important notices. If you have blocked us, you may not receive emergency notices such as school cancellations. You can control how you get School Messenger alerts (by text, phone, or email) by setting your preferences. (To receive texts, you must text Y or YES to 67587) For directions to set your personal preferences, click on the headline above.
Starting 9/10/2020, free breakfast and Lunch will be available to all enrolled students at all campuses, through the end of the school year. All students will be responsible for previous charges. Extra milk and ala cart items will still be available for an additional cost
Student Transportation -
Apple Bus Company
Office Manager: Tanya Potter, tanya.potter@applebuscompany.com or
apple.bus@californiak12.org
573-464-4383 and 573-464-4379
Click on the above headline for more information about applying as a bus driver.
Click on the above headline to view the Re-Entry Plan and Health Screening Checklist.
Click on the above headline for more information of how you can give without spending more money. Casey's Reward participants will be eligible for excellent, money-saving specials on all kinds of products from Casey's as well.
Students have a right to enroll in virtual instruction classes at the District’s expense unless it is determined that it is not in the best educational interest of the student. Please reference Policy IGCD—Virtual Courses or click on the above headline
Call 573-796-3412 for appointment. Click on the Headline for more information.
Dear Parents and Guardians:
In the short time that I have worked in the California R-1 School District, I KNOW that the district prides itself on providing a safe learning environment for each and everyone of its students. That being said I have noticed that locally, and nationwide, there have been many troubling incidents reported regarding students and their use of the Internet.
There are many social media sites that are growing in popularity with students. Several of these have an instant messaging component as part of the site and some, the message automatically disappears after it has been seen.
Unfortunately, some of these sites are being used by con-artist, cyber-bullies, and child predators. From the research that I have done and communicating with other investigators that specialize in these types of crimes, we believe that this is caused by two basic problems:
Children can communicate and meet people outside the control of their parents.
Children and adults can communicate anonymously without the fear of getting caught.
I want to encourage all of you to talk with your children about the potential dangers of the Internet. Also encourage them to come talk to you if they get messages from people they do not know as well as abnormal messages from people they do know. These messages may be a start of a problem called “grooming.” These are actions done by people with ulterior, dangerous motives to attempt to make your child comfortable with them, so they will do things they would not normally do.
I also want to encourage you to establish rules and guidelines to ensure the safety of your child while on the internet. One rule I would like to suggest, something that I do with my children, is to review the content of all of their electronic devices, including their social media sites, on a regular basis.
I also want to assure you that the school district is doing all that it can to ensure the online safety of its students. One of the many measures is that they have blocked all social media sites from our school computers as well as being able to access them on our wifi.
If you would like more information about this matter I encourage you to go to www.connectsafely.org or www.cybersafetycop.com
Thank you for your time,
Deputy Scott Harkins SRO
Moniteau County Sheriff’s Office
California R-1 School District
Did you know that you as a parent can be just as mobile as your student? Click on the headline for information on the Parent Portal App for your phone.
