REaCH (Rutherford Early College High School) News

Following continued improvement in local conditions over the past several days, I am pleased to let you know that Rutherford County Schools will reopen to students on Wednesday, October 9.

Numerous roadways in our county are still affected by downed trees and other obstructions, and those roads will remain closed to school bus traffic until they are cleared. We have assembled a complete list of roads closed to school bus traffic, and we will update that list on our website and social media platforms by 4:00 PM each day until all roads are open to school bus traffic.

Occasional obstructions, low-hanging limbs, and narrowed lanes exist even on some roads that are open to school bus traffic, so we recommend that drivers use extra care on all roadways. In order to maximize visibility as our school buses and other drivers resume school-related travel, Rutherford County Schools will operate on a two-hour delay on Wednesday, October 9, and then return to a normal operating schedule on Thursday, October 10.

As we continue to assess Hurricane Helene's impact and support our community's ongoing disaster recovery efforts, I want to share an update with you regarding school operations. We've defined a list of conditions necessary to safely reopen our schools following the storm, and we’re monitoring those conditions in real time on a site-by-site basis. Obviously, though, we haven’t satisfied those conditions, and it seems unrealistic to think that we will be able to reopen schools this week.

Rutherford County Schools will observe remote learning days for students and optional teacher workdays for employees on Wednesday, October 2, and Thursday, October 3. Those designations exhaust the number of remote learning days available to us this year. Therefore, our schools will be closed for students on Friday, October 4, with an optional workday for school employees on that date. Remote work remains authorized for eligible employees for the remainder of this week.

We recognize that remote work remains impossible for most and that other critical priorities still exist. No student or school employee will be penalized for not working remotely as we navigate unprecedented challenges together as a community.

Given ongoing infrastructure issues across our area, mass communication remains difficult. I hope sharing a single message outlining our complete plans for the rest of the week is helpful during these very difficult times.

We will continue to assess conditions for reopening schools and provide another update on school operations this weekend.

Thank you, and best wishes in the days ahead.

We continue to track progress toward reopening our schools using the eight criteria we identified earlier this week. Many of those conditions have improved considerably, and we are much closer to reopening than we were even a few days ago. We are optimistic that schools will reopen for students next week.

Our goal is to reopen schools for students on Wednesday, October 9. In anticipation of meeting that target date, schools will remain closed for students on Monday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 8. Both days will be required workdays for school employees. We are confident that those required workdays will give us the time and opportunity to ensure that we are fully prepared for students' successful return on Wednesday, and we are optimistic that, with continued improvements in the coming days, we can meet that goal. Once we do, we will share another update early next week confirming those arrangements.

We are pleased to let you know that our school nutrition team will be providing free school meals to all persons aged 18 years and younger on both Monday and Tuesday of the coming week. Drive-through meal pick-up sites will operate at Ellenboro Elementary School, Forrest W. Hunt Elementary School, and Spindale Elementary School from 11:30 AM until 1:30 PM on both days. We’ll share additional details about those free school meal services in a separate message.

Hurricane Helene caused widespread, catastrophic damage across our county and region as it passed through the area earlier this weekend. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers remain with every affected individual and family across our community as rescue, recovery, and restoration efforts continue over the coming days and weeks.

Given the widespread damage and destruction across our community, school operations are substantially disrupted. On both Monday, September 30, and Tuesday, October 1, Rutherford County Schools will observe remote learning days for students and optional teacher workdays for employees. Remote work is authorized for eligible employees on both days.

We recognize that remote learning and remote work are simply impossible for most students, employees, and families across our county given almost universal power outages and crippling disruptions to cellular and Internet services. Please understand that we are designating Monday and Tuesday as remote days only because that designation gives us the most flexibility as we navigate what may be an extended school closure. We recognize that remote work is impossible for most and that other critical priorities exist, and no student or school employee will be penalized for not working remotely as we navigate unprecedented challenges together as a community.

Our team will continue to monitor recovery efforts and assess damage to school facilities in the coming days. We will provide the next update on school operations no later than 4:00 PM on Tuesday, October 1.

A new food assistance program for school children. Starting this summer, families that qualify can expect to receive $120 per eligible child in grocery-buying benefits on a debit-like card. These benefits can be used to purchase food at retailers that accept EBT, including most major grocery stores.

Visit the SUN Bucks webpage at www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks to learn more.

IMPORTANT: Some families will get benefits automatically sent to the mailing address in their child’s school record. Update your child’s mailing address by March 28th by contacting your child's school.

Un nuevo programa de asistencia alimentaria para los niños en edad escolar. A partir de este verano, las familias que reúnen los requisitos pueden esperar recibir $120 por niño elegible en beneficios de compra de comestibles en una tarjeta parecida de débito. Estos beneficios se pueden utilizar para comprar alimentos en las tiendas minoristas que aceptan EBT, incluso en la mayoría de las tiendas de comestibles principales.

Visita la página web de SUN Bucks en www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks para obtener más información.

IMPORTANTE: Algunas familias recibirán beneficios enviados automáticamente a la dirección postal en el expediente escolar de sus niños. Comunícate con la escuela de tu niño para actualizar su dirección postal antes del 28 de marzo.

Today's strong storm system led to widespread flooding, numerous power outages, and hazardous travel conditions throughout our area. While those conditions are improving this evening, we are mindful that some continued flooding, debris in roadways, falling trees, and other hazards may continue overnight and into the early morning hours tomorrow. So that we can fully assess travel conditions tomorrow morning, and so that drivers have the benefit of improved visibility, Rutherford County Schools will operate on a two-hour delay on Wednesday, January 10.

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory and Flood Watch for Rutherford County, along with a Winter Weather Advisory in our northwesternmost communities, in anticipation of a strong storm system that will soon affect our area. Stormy weather is expected to develop overnight tonight, and conditions are expected to worsen throughout the day tomorrow.

Given the likelihood of flooding, downed trees, power outages, and hazardous travel conditions, Rutherford County Schools will observe a remote learning day for students and an optional teacher workday for school employees on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

At the January meeting of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education, board members approved the school calendars for the 2023-2024 school year. See the link for additional details.

Rutherford County Schools will offer healthy, free breakfast and lunch service for all students again this year

We continue to monitor weather and road conditions very closely throughout the county. In anticipation of worsening travel conditions this afternoon, Rutherford County Schools will dismiss all students at 1:00 PM today.

Conditions are expected to worsen significantly overnight tonight as the remnants of Hurricane Helene affect our area, with excessive rainfall and wind gusts approaching 50 miles per hour. Given those dangerous conditions, Rutherford County Schools will observe a remote learning day for students and an optional teacher workday for employees on Friday, September 27. Remote work is authorized for eligible school employees tomorrow.