Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” As your superintendent I think we all need to take some time during this unprecedented time to take a humor break. Our total staff have dedicated a significant amount time preparing for the opening of school on September 10. This has entailed retooling how we operate as a school district as we start school remotely. I am enormously proud to say that the La Conner employees have accepted that we are doing business in a different way, but we have an obligation to serve our children. You will find this district well prepared to offer school in the fall and I want to thank all our staff for making this possible.

I also want to recognize that starting school remotely does pose new challenges for our parents and guardians. As parents and grandparents, we have tried to take your perspective as we designed our school day and the activities required of our students. We will make every attempt to help support you as the school year progresses and on the La Conner Connect portion of our website is a link you can use to request specific help. I cannot promise we can meet every request, but I will promise we will try to do so.

Currently, we are in Stage 2 of our re-entry plan toward full day on campus school. We are working toward Stage 3, in which we are selecting small groups of students to be on campus based on specific needs and following Skagit County COVID-19 health regulations. We have well defined protocols to maintain cleanliness and safety for various situation. As new knowledge is learned about the virus we will be shifting appropriately, so please look at the website frequently, and we will use various forms of communications to let you know of any significant changes.

I am very happy to be serving as your interim superintendent and I do expect a few bumps in the road as we implement our new way of teaching, but I believe problems can be solved as we define the problems and come up with effective solutions.

Also, do not forget to take time for a bit of humor.

With warmest regards,

Rich Stewart

Stewart is the interim superintendent of the La Conner School District.