Updated April 26, 2018 at 9:30 a.m.

Meals available on Friday at some schools
Please check with your school's kitchen managers to see if they will be offering breakfast and lunch to students who need a meal on Friday, April 27.

Shakespeare Festival is still on
The 34th Annual Shakespeare Festival will continue as scheduled on Friday, April 27. We have encouraged families to call your school's front office for information about transportation and meals at the event.

Childcare resources
We have encouraged families to contact your school regarding information about extended care and community partners who may be able to assist with childcare. You can also direct families to the Family and Community Engagement team’s family hotline at 720-423-3054.

Updated April 25, 2018 at 5 p.m.

We wanted to provide additional resources to support you and families in preparation for the non-student day Friday, April 27.

Letters to families available in all Consent Decree languages

To support you and your families in planning for Friday, we've created a template letter that you can send to families and your school community. Visit thecommons.dpsk12.org/april27studentrelease to download templates English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Amharic, Somali, Burmese, Russian, French and Nepali.

If you're updating these templates in Word, please ensure you've downloaded the appropriate language by visiting Multilingual Document Repository and clicking on "Services and Programs."

Robocall going out to families tomorrow

DPS will send an automated message to all families (not including charter school families) on Thursday, April 26, to let them know about the class cancellation on Friday. This message will be shared in all Consent Decree languages based on each family's preferred language.

Shakespeare Festival is still on -- more resources available

We'd like to provide additional guidance on communicating with families about the 34th Annual Shakespeare Festival, which is scheduled as planned on Friday, April 27.

If your school has decided to cancel participation in the festival, please use this letter in English and Spanish to immediately communicate that with families. Also, please contact transportation@dpsk12.org to immediately cancel any planned festival excursions for that day.

If you have confirmed that your school is planning to attend the festival, please use this letter in English and Spanish to communicate with families immediately about your school's plan for transportation, meals and day-of communication during the festival. In the letter, we recommend telling families to directly communicate with your festival lead or front office about transportation because it varies so widely by school.

Contact transportation@dpsk12.org if you have questions about transportation to and from the festival, or to and from school.

If you have questions about bagged lunches for students attending the Shakespeare Festival, please immediately communicate with your kitchen managers. If you have other questions about meal options for students attending the Shakespeare Festival or meals during the student no-contact day, email Theresa Hafner.

Note: Some information in letters specific to your school will need to be translated by a member of your team. If you do not have a member of your team who can translate the information into Spanish, please contact translation@dpsk12.org as soon as possible, and they may be able to assist. To expedite requests, please keep this information brief.

If you have questions about the festival, contact Anna Estes.

If you have questions about any of this information, please contact your Instructional Superintendent, or reach out to Nicole Veltze, Brette Scott or Jen Holladay.

Updated April 24, 2018 at 6 p.m.

DPS has made the decision to cancel all classes on Friday, April 27. Visit thecommons.dpsk12.org/april27studentrelease to learn more about this decision. Below is more information, updates and resources to support you and your school community on and before Friday.

Letters for families

To support you and your families in planning for Friday, we've created a template letter that you can send to families and your school community. Please find this letter in English and Spanish. More languages will be shared as they're available.

Meals will be available at some schools

Schools that have 50% or more free-and-reduced-lunch student population will be able to offer breakfast and lunch to their students at no cost on April 27. These schools will need to determine what meals they want to serve and at what time, and then work with their kitchen staff to make that plan for meal service. If you need support with planning, or if you're not sure whether your school qualifies, contact Theresa Hafner.

Transportation

As a reminder, innovation and charter schools that want to opt out of cancelling classes and operate on a normal schedule should have emailed transportation@dpsk12.org if you plan to continue with your school's normal schedule. Click here to see a working Google form with the schedule Transportation has planned for your school.

Transportation will not be able to accommodate special requests for this day. Schools that have students with special needs who are picked up by American Logistics Company should email transportation@dpsk12.org with any questions.

Shakespeare Festival

The 34th Annual Shakespeare Festival is scheduled as planned. Schools that are scheduled to participate in the Shakespeare Festival should have received an email this morning with a survey to capture whether your school is still planning to participate in the festival. If you haven't already, please fill out the survey by 10 a.m. Wednesday. If you have questions about the festival, contact Anna Estes.

For the festival, schools that have an approved excursion via Trip Tracker will have their students picked up in the morning during their normal morning routes. Students will be dropped off at their school and must be met by a school employee. The excursion will arrive at the approved time and transport students to the Shakespeare Festival. Students will be picked up at the approved time and dropped off at their school. A school employee must meet and be with the students until they are picked up by the regular afternoon route buses. Please direct all questions to  transportation@dpsk12.org.

Discovery Link support

Families that are currently enrolled in Discovery Link can sign up for full-day care, which will be held at designated locations throughout the city. Interested families can sign up for care at discoverylink.dpsk12.org.

If you have questions about any of this information, please contact your Instructional Superintendent, or reach out to Nicole Veltze, Brette Scott or Jen Holladay.

Posted April 23, 2018 at 8 p.m.

Due to significant anticipated teacher absences, DPS is cancelling all classes for Friday, April 27.

This is still a working day for DPS staff, and teachers and others who choose to participate in the rally must work with their supervisor to take appropriate leave, as described below.

Innovation schools and charter schools can opt out of cancelling classes and decide to operate on a normal schedule. Please email transportation@dpk12.org no later than 4 p.m. Tuesday if you plan to continue with your school’s normal schedule.

As we have been communicating with you, DPS has been working in partnership to press our state government to restore education funding to our schools. The Colorado Education Association (CEA) is planning a statewide rally of educators on Friday, April 27, to advocate for greater state funding and expects that many of our teachers will participate.

We had originally planned an early release on Friday, but due to the number of teachers planning to take the entire day off on Friday, we do not believe we will be able to keep our schools open that day. This is the case with most of our surrounding districts as well.

The decision to cancel classes is not one made lightly, but given the current situation, we feel we will not be able to provide a productive learning day and fulfill our promise of a safe school environment for our students.

As this is still a working day for DPS staff, please determine and share the working priorities and assignments for your team members for the day. If you plan to participate in the rally, please work with your supervisor to secure the appropriate approved leave.

As a reminder, educators who plan to participate in the rally must take personal leave, unpaid leave or can contact a DCTA representative to ask if they can use a union business day. According to the master agreement, personal leave is reserved for hardship or emergency needs, however, this is a one-time exception to the master agreement in light of the extraordinary circumstances.

Here is some additional information about the day to support you in planning:

• Athletics: District-scheduled high school athletic games will continue as scheduled. Middle school athletic games are cancelled.
• The African-American Young Ladies’ Summit has been rescheduled for May 18. More information will be shared soon.
• We are working across schools and school-support teams to keep the 34th Annual Shakespeare Festival scheduled as planned for this Friday. It is a day of great joy and our students and educators have worked very hard to prepare for the festival. It is key that we have enough adult chaperones for the festival participants. We will be providing more personalized communications to schools registered for the festival on how we can provide additional support. Please contact Capucine Chapman with immediate questions.

We are compiling updated letters for you to share with your school community. These letters will be shared with you as soon as possible. Bookmark this page -- thecommons.dpsk12.org/april27studentrelease -- for updated information and access to these resources as soon as they’re available.

We know that this change may cause an inconvenience and burden to families. Please work with them to identify extended care and community partners who may be able to assist. If they have additional questions, please encourage them to contact the Family and Community Engagement team’s family hotline at 720-423-3054.

If you have questions, please contact your Instructional Superintendent, or reach out to Nicole Veltze, Brette Scott or Jen Holladay.