Good afternoon,

We are pleased to announce that we will offer the Moderna booster to our employees on 10-29-21 at VHS. Since over 200 of our employees have signed up to take the booster, we will be making some changes to our schedule. That information and rationale is shared below.

COVID-19 has presented many challenges as we have tried to provide as much in-person learning as possible. One of our greatest struggles has been having staff in place, on a daily basis, to ensure we are able to provide all of the services offered by BVPS. Quarantines have been part of the issue, but the inability to fill open positions has caused issues as well. There have been several days this year that we have struggled to cover all assignments, bus routes, classes, etc. When you add potential adverse effects of the booster to schools being closed on Friday (Booster Administration) and Tuesday (Election Day), we are concerned that we won't have enough coverage to provide a safe and secure environment on Monday, hence our decision to adjust our schedule. Those adjustments include:

• Students will not have school on October 29th.

• Childcare will be provided 7:30 am - 2:30 pm for working parents of elementary and middle school students at Van Pelt Elementary and Virginia Middle School.  Please sign up for childcare at the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8SXK_3r5SECEpTBbgleqoZosTnuhxmVOg5yJiDIaPq5UOFozRFZZSUZHMkc4Rzc4MVc5V1oxUFVWRC4u
• Transportation (if needed) and meals will be provided for these students.
• Parents should notify their child's principal if they plan to participate and need transportation.

• Students will not have school on November 1.

• Childcare will be provided 7:30 am - 2:30 pm for working parents of elementary and middle school students at Van Pelt Elementary and Virginia Middle School.  Please sign up for childcare at the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8SXK_3r5SECEpTBbgleqoZosTnuhxmVOg5yJiDIaPq5UOFozRFZZSUZHMkc4Rzc4MVc5V1oxUFVWRC4u
• Transportation (if needed) and meals will be provided for these students.
• Parents should notify their child's principal if they plan to participate and need transportation.
• The School Board Meeting will be held as scheduled.

• We will follow the Election Day schedule on our school calendar for November 2

• Van Pelt Elementary and Virginia High School will be used as polling locations.
• Since this is a regularly scheduled closure, childcare will not be provided.

As a side note, the homecoming football game against Chilhowie will be played at 7:00 tonight. This change is being made due to the forecast of thunderstorms later in the evening.