The coronavirus has led to some difficult decisions for Bowling Green City School officials.
Bowling Green High School’s commencement is being postponed. The prom is canceled. And the spring musical may be staged in an abbreviated form.
On Monday, Superintendent Francis Scruci sent out letters to parents giving them updates on these and other items.
“We are in this together and will get through this no matter how long this changes our way of doing business,” Scruci wrote to parents. “Each day we watch Governor DeWine sort through this methodically and with every decision there is an impact on each and every one of us. I always try to find the silver linings in all challenges and what I have seen is our community step up and give of themselves to help our students and families. The support felt by the schools is amazing and speaks volumes about Bowling Green and we cannot say thanks enough.”
Following are other issues addressed in his letter.
GRADUATION:
The highlight of every senior and senior parent is the culmination of 13 years of education is commencement and watching your loved ones receive their diplomas. One of the most difficult parts of this shutdown is what it is doing to our senior class. We are concerned and considerate of how this is impacting them and want them to understand that we care and support them.
Commencement was scheduled for May 31, at the Stroh Center of BGSU’s campus and while that seems a long way off, it really is just around the corner. Therefore, we are tentatively postponing and rescheduling our commencement ceremony to Sunday, June 28. We are hopeful this is far enough out that the virus will be under control and the shutdown will be lifted. If the June date is still not meeting the directives from the Governor, please know we are committed to making this memory become a reality.
PROM:
The prom is another event that is a highlight of the school year that happens in the spring. This is one of the more difficult decisions that we had to make. Unfortunately, based on the uncertainty of when things may get back to normal, we are canceling the prom for the 2019-20 school year and will look forward to that event next spring. The advisor for pictures for the yearbook has asked that if dresses have been purchased and you would be interested in taking pictures of your daughter in her dress, she would be glad to include those in the pages normally designated with prom pictures in the yearbook.
SPRING MUSICAL:
The Little Mermaid was slated as the next performance by our outstanding drama department led by Dr. JoBeth Gonzalez. At this point, after consulting with Dr. Gonzalez depending on the date of when and if we return this school year, the spring musical will be performed based on that return date. That means the performance could be anything from a “concert version” performance up to and including a full performance. If the timing of our return does not permit a full performance this year, the intent would be to perform the Little Mermaid next spring.
FOOD SERVICE:
I want to update and share additional information about our breakfast and lunch service. Last week, our food service department served 1,215 breakfasts and lunches to our students. Abby Forschner stressed the food service is for all students K-12 in the Bowling Green City Schools. If you are not designated as a free or reduced lunch student, you are eligible as well for this opportunity.
Any family wanting to take advantage of the breakfast and lunch program being offered each day needs to contact Mrs. Forschner at aforschner@bgcs.k12.oh.us . This will allow her to have a food count in order to meet the needs of all our families.
TECHNOLOGY:
We have deployed nearly 400 Chromebooks to our students and families. This will allow our students and teachers to connect virtually and continue learning on-line.
SUMMARY:
If you are experiencing any issues, please contact your teacher first. In many cases, our teachers may be able to help correct the issue. If it is something beyond that, our IT department is working on a method for you to communicate your issues for the district to troubleshoot. More information to come on that.
We will continue to tune in around 2 p.m. each day to hear the guidance from Gov. DeWine each day. Thus far each day cuts a little deeper but we remain hopeful that we can get back to school soon. Unfortunately, the realist in me says we will be out longer than first thought. Either way we will continue to keep lines of communication open and work collaboratively with you to meet the needs of our students and families as best we can.
