Here are the ORCSD School Board updates published in Durham Friday Updates, Lee e-Crier, and school emails this week:
Oyster River School Board Highlights for May 16, 2022
Six teachers are retiring from Oyster River Schools at the end of this school year. The School Board thanks and recognizes Pam Felber, Kate Ameduri, and Whitney Burke at Mast Way; Susan Jackson at ORMS; and Mary Beaton and Esther Ott at ORHS. These teachers have a combined 129 years of service to Oyster River students and the school community.
Robotics teams from Oyster River Middle School and Oyster River High School shared their 2022 seasons success with the School Board. ORMS fielded 15 teams made up of 56 students from grades 6, 7, and 8 in the VEX IQ robotics program this year. Advisors Jon Silverio and Jason Duff along with 7 team members shared their experiences, including 3 teams that participated at the World Championship in Dallas. The VEX IQ program is finishing its 4th competition season at ORMS. The ORHS FIRST Robotics team wrapped up its first competition season since the team was founded in 2020. Lead advisor Michael Hawley and 4 team members shared their experience with fundraising, teambuilding, and community outreach in addition to designing and operating their robot.
Coronavirus infections and exposures continue to affect school operations. As of May 18, 41 district staff and 147 students are out of school due to COVID-19 infections. An additional 213 students and staff are quarantined. Staff across the district have been exceptionally flexible in covering needs from transportation to school nutrition and classrooms while staff recover in order to keep all schools open and operating. The School District thanks parents and students for their patience, flexibility, and cooperation as temporary adjustments to bus routes, concerts and events, and state testing have occurred in response to the number of students and staff out.
The remaining school board meetings for this school year are June 1, June 8, and June 15. June 8 is a school board workshop on communication. The school board workshop on June 8 is a public meeting, but with a limited agenda. The school board will not take any actions or votes. Workshop meetings are generally not televised and do not include public comments. The public is always invited to provide input by email to orcsdsb@orcsd.org.