Yes! A survey on intent for a possible hybrid second semester was available to all parents/guardians in October. School-based staff also were sent a survey to express their intentions regarding returning to work.
HCPSS provided free meals this summer through August 28. Meal service will resume Tuesday, September 8 at all school locations, expect Burleigh Manor Middle School and Hammond High School.
The food services program during the 2020-2021 fall semester will consist of Grab-and-Go breakfasts and lunches served Monday through Friday from 8–9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Full details are available online.
UPDATE: October 26, 2020: Today the Maryland State Board of Education approved a start date of December 7, 2020, for high school athletics. HCPSS advocated for this plan, which was crafted by district athletics supervisors and issued by Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland.
All staff who are leaving the school system must return all HCPSS technology devices and property, including but not limited to Chromebooks and hotspots, to the Logistics Center within a week of the staff member’s last day of work.
Staff will need to bring the device to the HCPSS Logistics Center (9645 Gerwig Lane, Columbia, MD 21046). The building will be open weekdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., through Friday, July 10, with the exception of being closed Friday, July 3. Beginning Monday, July 13, the Logistics Center will be open weekdays from 9-11 a.m.
Senior Dues Refunds: Several high schools give seniors the opportunity to pay class dues at the beginning of the year to cover the cost of senior year events that typically occur throughout the year. All of the schools who collected senior class dues are preparing to issue refunds for money collected for any events that did not occur this year due to the extended school closure.
Senior grades are available for parent/guardian viewing in Synergy. Parents/guardians may view/download report cards for the fourth quarter by taking the following steps:
Please note:
Students who will attend an HCPSS school for the 2020-2021 school year and who currently are in possession of school system property—including Chromebooks, band and orchestra instruments, textbooks, media books, or other materials and supplies belonging to HCPSS—should keep the materials until school resumes in school buildings.
Once school resumes in school buildings, students will bring their school system property to whatever school they attend for collection and redistribution.
Update: May 28, 2021
Only students leaving the school system after the current 2020-2021 school year—including those unenrolling or graduating—must return their assigned HCPSS technology devices, including laptops, Chromebooks, etc. Hot spots need to be returned only if the family does not have other children who will be enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year.
Work has already begun to plan a Recovery of Learning and Instructional Delivery Model for the 2020-2021 school year. With no clear picture of the environment and variables that will exist in September, our planning process accounts for many possible scenarios and will be refined this summer as we understand more. Detailed information on planning for the 2020-2021 school year can be found online.
In April 2020, the Board of Education unanimously approved recommendations for temporary grading modifications to avoid penalizing students during emergency situations, such as the school closure caused by the coronavirus. The additional decision to eliminate final exams for the 2019-2020 school year also impacts the calculation of the final grade. As such, the grade ranges used to calculate final grades have been modified to mitigate the effect of the loss of points that students could have earned through strong performance on the final exam.
