New Superintendent Welcome message

Welcome letter from Superintendent Dr Paul Vieira

Dear Douglas Community and Families,

I would like to take this time to welcome myself officially to each of you on what is my first day as your Superintendent. I will reiterate to you what I said to faculty and staff earlier today and that is I could not be more honored and humbled to have this opportunity. I want to echo that the enormity of this responsibility, especially during this pandemic, is not something that I take lightly. As I stated in all my interviews and meetings to date, and it is something that I believe to my core, is that all students can succeed at a high level and it is my responsibility to provide principals and directors with the support and resources necessary for that to occur. This will guide the work that all of us do for your students; I want to see them succeed.

Over the next few weeks, it is my goal to meet with as many school, town, and community representatives in order to gain a deeper understanding of the district and community. This is important to me in order to fully understand and become integrated with the community. If you see me, please feel free to say hello and introduce yourself; I welcome that!

Last week DESE released guidelines for our re-entry to school in September of 2020. The full document can be found at DESE Reopening Guidance: Fall 2020.  The following are some key components from the guidance:

Current medical research supports a safe in-person return to school - with preventive measures in place - as infection and transmission rates are lower for children than adults.

Preventive measures include masks/face coverings, physical distancing, hand washing, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.

Masks/face coverings will be required for all students in Grade 2 and above and for all adults; they are recommended for students in Grade 1 and below.

Based on current medical research, and in conjunction with other preventive measures, a minimum physical distance of 3 feet has been established.

The goal is to get all students and staff back in school safely

Districts will be asked to submit 3 plans to DESE so that districts can be as prepared as possible for the scenarios that could arise next school year:

In school learning

Hybrid (in and out of school)

All remote learning

DESE consulted with a broad number of stakeholders in developing this guidance, including school leaders, public health officials, and doctors

The guidance document certainly provides direction and insight into the medical research behind the decisions, and some of the more significant requirements for a safe reopening in September. There are also dozens of unanswered questions and many operational issues need to be resolved. I am confident more information will be shared by DESE in the weeks ahead. As I get this information I will be sure to pass it along to you.

Even though today is my first official day, we have begun some preliminary work on a plan and I am pleased with our progress. The next step is to create a task force to help me with this plan over the next 6 weeks. This task force is scheduled to meet twice in July; on the 8th and 22nd at 7PM via Zoom. I will send out a link at a later date. We have about 20 representatives from the school district and I would like to have 5 community members participate in this task force. If you are interested please email me. If I have more than 5 people, there will be a lottery for the 5 slots. I will also host community-wide forums on July 14 at 11AM and 7PM and again on July 28 at 11AM and 7PM to review the plan and answer questions you may have. It is important for all of us to remember this is an extremely fluid situation and being adaptable and patient is going to be essential. Today’s plan may be different tomorrow and we must be prepared for that and be ready to pivot. My plan is to keep you informed through these Zoom meetings in July along with weekly newsletters. I will also schedule more informational meetings in August as we get more information.

I have also created the following social media platforms to share information during the summer and school year.
Twitter: @douglassuper1
Facebook: Douglas Tigers
I plan on using this service as a way to communicate with you. Links to my newsletter will be emailed to you, posted on Twitter, Facebook, and the website. You can also subscribe to have this automatically sent to you by clicking on the subscribe button at the top of this newsletter.

I hope you have the opportunity to relax and enjoy the holiday weekend. I will continue to update you regularly on what is happening in the district and what our plans are for September 2020.

All my best,

Paul D. Vieira, Ed.D
Superintendent of Schools