Markham Colocation Update

Dear Markham families,

We want to begin by thanking everyone who participated in last Thursday's meeting. It was a very productive discussion, and we continue to be incredibly grateful to Dr. Brown-Warrens, the Markham staff, and all of you for your passionate and thoughtful advocacy on behalf of our students. If you were unable to attend, you can watch the video below.

We continue working on several issues raised during the meeting:

Classrooms

This week, we took steps to explore the feasibility of portable classroom units at Hayhurst and Capitol Hill. These are possible locations based on the size of the campuses. We still need to confirm that both sites have adequate power for the classrooms and, if each does, obtain the necessary permits. We have engaged with the city to expedite the permitting process and should know more by early next week.

Additional Staff Support

We are also working with our human resources department to add more support staff at the host schools. These roles would most likely assist with administration and counseling and social-emotional support. The transportation team will also be supporting at Jackson to ensure buses – both the shuttles and the normal bus routes – arrive and depart smoothly.

Nutrition

We connected with our nutrition team at each host site and determined that no site has run out of food for any meal or snack. Our students have menu options and our food service program is federally funded. As such, we are legally obligated to meticulously account for all the food we serve. It is possible a child’s meal preference runs out, and when that happens the student can select from a menu of what’s available. We know that feeding additional students has been a strain on the nutrition staff at host schools, and we want to thank them for ensuring students have access to healthy and nutritious meals.

We continue to invite your comments through Markham’s Let’s Talk page, and we are also finalizing updates to the Markham and Gray FAQ page in response to questions raised last Thursday. Those updates should be finished by tomorrow at 1 p.m. We will be in touch early next week with more information.

Sincerely,
Dr. Jon Franco, Chief of Schools

Dan Jung, Chief Operating Officer