Buhler Grade Families,
As of today, Buhler Grade School currently has 22 positive COVID cases with 6 more cases pending. The Board of Education held a special meeting and, under administrative recommendation, voted to have Buhler Grade School go to remote learning. On Friday, November 5, BGS staff will have a professional learning day to organize materials and devices for student pickup. Starting Monday, November 8, Buhler Grade students will be learning remotely through Friday, November 12. All students will return to school on Monday, November 15, for in person instruction.
Fortunately, we have planned for this scenario and are ready to quickly make this transition. You will be receiving more information via email regarding remote learning, device distribution, and school lunches.
Please follow the USD 313 Buhler Facebook page or the Buhler Grade School Facebook page to monitor updates and further information as it becomes available.
To clarify, students will NOT be reporting to Buhler Grade School starting tomorrow, Friday, November 5th. Information for your child’s Remote Learning school day and technology pick-up will be shared via email.
As we transition, please know that the health and safety of our students, staff, and families remains our top priority.
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent of Buhler Schools
There will be a special meeting of the board of education today, November 4th, at 12:30pm. It will be held virtually on ZOOM and can be viewed by the public on our Facebook page here: https://fb.watch/93Ru-fhN-9/
The agenda can be found here: https://5il.co/11fu0
Buhler High students Addison Turner, Camila Hershberger, & Madison Mitchell are hosting a turkey trot on Saturday, November 13th to raise money for SIDS awareness and to donate to a SIDS research foundation. See the flyer for more information.
Click here to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzrA88g0jP6IAAoJ9bGmvGgHnpv1C4ADA-1YGU1cvaI9uXgA/viewform
When: November 13th, registration opens at 9am and race starts at 10am
Where: Meet at Buhler park
Price: $25
Participants will receive a shirt and number that comes with entering the event at the registration table on Saturday!
Any questions feel free to contact Addie, Cami, Madison or Mrs. Neighbor at the high school.
This Wednesday, November 3rd, we will be hosting a Flu and COVID clinic in partnership with the Reno County Health Department. This clinic will be at Buhler High School from 1:00-5:00 and is open to all staff, students, and families. No appointment is necessary. See attached graphic for more information. Below are some FAQs you may have:
1. Is it safe to get the flu shot and the COVID shot/booster at the same time?
Yes.
2. What COVID booster is being offered?
Reno County Health Department will have all three available and you can choose which one you want.
3. Does it matter which COVID Booster you choose?
No. You are able to mix and match brands if you prefer or stay with the same one you originally received.
4. What ages can get the shot?
Flu Shots are available to all ages. COVID shots are available to ages 12 and up.
5. When will ages 5-11 have a clinic for the COVID shot?
We are working on scheduling one with the Reno County Health Department. There will be more information coming later.
6. What do I need to bring?
If you are getting the COVID booster, bring your vaccination card (shows dates of previous COVID shot). If you have insurance, bring a copy of your insurance card.
7. I can't make it Wednesday, what are my other options?
You can go to any pharmacy and ask for a flu shot or COVID booster. Buhler Schools will be scheduling more clinics later but no specific dates have been set yet.
8. If I have had COVID recently, do I need to wait 90 days to get the Booster?
There is no waiting period if they have had Covid, however, sometimes they may react to the vaccination with not feeling well stronger than someone who has not had Covid.
9. I had the monoclonal antibodies (this is an IV for patients diagnosed with COVID), do I need to wait 90 days to get the Booster?
Yes. You will need to wait 90 days if treated with monoclonal antibodies from having Covid.
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent of Schools
Ad Astra Virtual Academy is now taking PreK-12 student enrollments for January 2022. Contact Erica Shook at eshook@usd313 or 620-543-2258 for more information or to receive your new student forms.
Come and join us for an exceptional experience!
Buhler High School Music Department Presents: Mama Mia! Coming November 11th, 13th and 14th.
Tickets on sale now at: our.show/bhsmamamia/37756
Our fifth graders at Buhler Grade School are working on a World Changer Project which will benefit children in poverty around our world. They are currently collecting donations of items that will be sent to children during the upcoming holiday season. Would you look at the lists of suggested items and bring any donations to Buhler Grade School by Wednesday, October 27th? Thank you in advance for your generosity!
Mr. Geilenfeldt, Mrs. Lohrentz, Mr. Konrade
#BetterTogether
#DirectorsofHope
Today we informed two exceptional teachers of their nomination for Kansas Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Courtney Klassen, math teacher at PHMS, will be the USD 313 Secondary Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Shannon Vieyra, 3rd grade teacher at Plum Creek, will be the USD 313 Elementary Teacher of the Year.
Congratulations and good luck to both of these amazing educators on their applications!
#Bexceptional
#CommittedtoExcellence
Our district is in need of substitutes in a few areas. We need substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, food service workers, and cares club aides
Apply here to be a substitute teacher: https://www.applitrack.com/buhlerschools/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Substitute+Teacher
Apply here to be a substitute in another area: https://www.applitrack.com/buhlerschools/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Substitute+-+Classified
Families, we want to make sure you are aware of the Kansas Promise Scholarship opportunity. It is a new program with funds appropriated for Kansas students to attend community colleges free for 2 years when students major in designated fields.
See the image below for requirements or click here for more information: https://www.kacct.org/kansas-promise-scholarship
PHMS Students and Families~
After a high of 23 active COVID cases last week, PHMS will drop to 8 active cases Tuesday which is great news! The drop in numbers has allowed the facemask mandate to expire today, October 18th. We encourage students and staff to continue washing/sanitizing hands, social distancing where possible, and wearing a facemask if unvaccinated.
Thank you all for your continued support of our educational community.
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent
Congratulations to our band at the Shawnee Mission North Marching Invitational today. They received Outstanding Drum Major, Best Overall Visual, Best Overall Music, and… Grand Champions!
#Bexceptional
This is a reminder that there will be no school for students on Monday, October 18th. Teachers have a professional development day. We will see you back on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
PHMS Community,
I want to provide an update on COVID cases and Stay to Learn Testing at PHMS this week. Our current case count is at 16 as of Thursday afternoon. Because of your amazing cooperation with wearing masks, we have our close contacts down to a manageable number. For that reason, we are going to offer any of those students who had to quarantine an opportunity to join the daily testing if they choose and attend school. We will resume Stay to Learn starting Friday, October 8th. Facemasks will still be required next week.
I am very thankful to our staff at PHMS as each one of those positive cases takes up time and energy. For those who have been curious about what takes so much time, below is the process.
Positive case is called in or individual tests positive at school.
Admin pulls the positive case’s class schedule.
Each teacher is contacted for the seating chart for those designated hours.
Admin checks for 6’ radius (or 3’ this week) to identify close contacts.
Close contacts are listed out. This is usually around 20 students, but this week because of masks, it has been only about 4 students.
Each close contact’s schedule is called up, and passes are written to pull those students to the office.
Each close contact is then searched for on the master list to see what option the parent has chosen in the event of exposure.
If the parent hasn’t filled out the option form, the parent number is looked up on Powerschool and phone calls must be made to get the form completed.
Parents are then called for those who choose to quarantine. Those who choose to test are then entered into the Stay to Learn protocols.
Student names, testing dates, and date of return to school are entered into a Google sheet for nurses to track.
RCHD is notified of close contacts/positives and contact information is sent to RCHD for their records.
Data is then uploaded into the KDHE portal for each test given.
If the positive student is a bus rider, another process begins to determine the dates the bus was ridden, the other students who were riding, and the seating chart for that specific bus. Close contacts again are looked up, parents called, etc.
If the positive student is out for a sport, the same process is repeated again for close contacts.
If students do a PCR test, that test is then driven to Wichita each day by our district office staff right after lunch.
Having so many positives in a couple days quickly became unmanageable. Because we could narrow the close contacts down to 3’ by wearing facemasks, we are able to once again resume Stay to Learn, and we hope to see positive cases starting to stabilize next week. Our goal is to keep students in school, and Stay to Learn helps us do exactly that. It is through working together that we are able to resume it so quickly.
We are relentlessly looking at every option to keep kids in school. I do want to recognize the amount of work that is going into keeping students and staff safely in school. It is a huge undertaking, and without our families and students, we wouldn’t be able to keep the program. Again, Stay to Learn will be an option starting immediately for Close Contacts, and facemasks will be required (and enforced) next week at PHMS.
THANK YOU for helping us keep kids and staff in school safely.
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent
Join the Buhler Public Library for a Read-a-Thon! See the image for details.
#Better Together
Come find us at the Eagle Communications Soar Hire Job Fair today at the Hutchinson Mall!
Prairie Hills Middle School Community,
Since last Friday, we have had 9 new COVID cases at Prairie Hills Middle School taking our active case count at the building to 14. We are currently testing over 90 students in our Stay to Learn Plan which is the capacity our staff can manage.
In light of this information, I am moving to stage 2 of our Navigating Next Protocols. These protocols will be effective immediately (starting Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 and ending Sunday, October 17th, 2021):
1. All staff and students (and visitors) will be required to wear a mask inside PHMS for 2 weeks – starting Tuesday, October 4 and ending Sunday, October 17.
2. All new close contacts that may be identified in the next two weeks will not be eligible for the Stay to Learn testing and must serve the 8-day or 10-day quarantine. This is due to being at full capacity with daily testing at PHMS.
3. All students and staff will be asked to wash/sanitize hands at the beginning of each hour. Hand sanitizer is available in every classroom and at the entrances of our building.
4. Those students already in the Stay to Learn testing protocol will continue to test every morning. We are just not able to add any more students into this protocol for the next two weeks.
TO CLARIFY: These stage 2 protocols apply ONLY to Prairie Hills Middle School. At the end of the two weeks, we will re-evaluate numbers and update you accordingly. Our goal is to keep students in school and be safe in doing so. Our Stay to Learn plan will continue but we are hitting the pause button on it for 2 weeks at PHMS while we navigate through a sudden increase in COVID cases. We thank you for your help as we work to reduce cases at Prairie Hills over the next 14 days.
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent
One of the most wonderful things about our Buhler school community is the support and partnership we have with our families.
As educators, we need your help to speak with your students regarding the latest TikTok trend. Last month, our schools had some damage done to bathrooms from the September challenge. Our priority is to keep students and staff safe in all situations and have pride in our school and community. Several of the challenges are criminal and could be prosecuted. Please talk to your student about these and the consequences of participating.
We are thankful for our awesome students and families. I have confidence that through proactive communication and support, our staff and students can continue to excel in a safe learning environment.
Information on challenges:
https://www.distractify.com/p/tiktok-school-challenges-list-2021
Cindy Couchman, Superintendent
Buhler Schools
We have an exceptional food service team working hard to provide delicious, nutritious meals and great service. They are also dealing with many of the same challenges as our favorite restaurants due to supply chain issues. See below for a message from them.
Our district, like many across the country, is having trouble getting certain foods delivered right now. We are doing our best to keep the menu each day as planned, but some days there may be last minute changes. Thank you so much for your understanding!
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with @DonorsChoose! Our teachers will be able to access over 4 million donors to support their classroom projects even more seamlessly.
We partnered with @DonorsChoose to help our teachers fund more of their projects.
Check out the new landing page for more information! www.donorschoose.org/usd313
