Wayland Union Middle School will transition to temporary remote instruction starting Friday, Oct. 22, at least until Wednesday, Oct. 27.

In a letter to parents and staff, school district officials said:

“In the process of upgrading our network, our fiber lines were significantly damaged. We hope to have a temporary repair by Tuesday, Oct. 26, but it is difficult to give a definite timeline given supply and shipping delays.

“Losing our fiber network connection means that our phone lines are impacted, our Student Information System is inaccessible, our video cameras are unable to record, our copy machines are unusable, and our computers/iPads will not have Internet access. With our 1:1 iPad initiative, much of our coursework relies on Internet access making this a temporary, yet necessary need.”

During these remote instruction days, all extracurricular activities including athletics, will be cancelled.

The letter continued, “We hope to return to in-person learning on Wednesday, October 27; however, we will provide an update early next week: All other buildings will continue in-person instruction, following the established Wavland Union Schools calendar.

“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this causes our middle school families and staff. While we are disappointed that we must close our building, we are committed to making our remote learning program successful. Students will follow a normal (remote} ‘bell schedule’ with hourly instruction with their teachers and peers. Students should log-on to their first hour class no later than 7:45 a.m. ”

Those without Internet access may be able to work in designated locations within the high school building. Students who do not ride the bus should report to the Wayland Union High School Main Office. Someone will be in the office to greet the students and to take them to their assigned supervised work area for the day.

Students who ride the bus should look for Principal Carolyn Whyte and Assistant Principal T.J. Restau as they exit the bus and they will be escorted to a designated area within the high school.

Further communication will be sent by the Middle School office on Friday. Phone calls to the Middle School will be routed to a different building. Contact the middle school office with additional questions at (269) 792-2306.