Here we are welcome everybody to this conversation about ministry with Our local schools in the midst of their efforts to reopen in person virtually in the ways churches can connect with students teachers And families in this moment. So let us pray. Oh good and gracious God We give you thanks that you are with us and that you walk with us Even through these uncertain times that that continue God, we pray particularly for students and parents and teachers and administrators and all of those who are facing difficult decisions and face the challenge of making plans for Continuing the education of young people in our communities God, we pray that Your grace would sustain them and cover them. We pray that you would give them wisdom They gotta be pray that you would open our eyes to the possibilities for your church to come alongside them and To be a blessing to all of those different groups as they walk this difficult road God bless our time together May it be fruitful May it spark Ideas and give us new insight for ways that we can be the church in these days. It's in Christ's name, but we pray. Amen All right, so I already gave a little bit of the background Prior to starting the recording Let's just let's jump right back right into it We're grateful to have Reverend Tom Palmer and Bonnie and I'm Bonnie. I don't know how to say your last name Would you help me with that? Bonnie you're muted Sorry How do you say your last name? Canite Canite. Okay, great. Both are from First United Methodist Church in Mesquite And I think you're going to be very helpful to us as we begin by thinking specifically about The opportunity of using our church facilities, which of course are being underutilized in this season using those church facilities to provide safe supportive space for virtual learning for students in our communities And so again, that was the idea that emerged on Facebook that really sparked this gathering today So we want to begin there after we talk about this specific idea. We'll broaden the conversation and consider other ways And be administering these days so But with that what why don't I turn it to you and maybe you can introduce Bonnie since she's a need to us and then tell us a little bit about How this this your opportunity emerged in your context and what you're doing and what you've learned and Share the resources with the group. So Tom, right? Thanks. Thanks. I appreciate it in Catherine Thanks for the initial at least I think that was the initial Facebook and I'm not a big Facebook guy. So responding to your Facebook I had no idea it would generate and lead to something like this because but that's that's the beauty of the connection and I appreciate Appreciate the opportunity to get some other input and see how we can improve a model that we're trying to roll out Bonnie tonight is our director of what we call now Bonnie. Don't laugh faith prepper prep Faith prep faith preparatory I have trouble with preparatory So it's just faith prep, but faith prep is our private kindergarten and we're starting that this year It's been a kind of a hit-and-miss start and non start and stop process But we're fortunate that we have a family life center building which is Separate from our the rest of our campus. It's across a breezeway from the sanctuary building The first floor of that building has Academy kids and that's the basically from about six months to pre-k They're in that building and they utilize the entire ground floor of that facility the second floor is Has been just nothing. We didn't want to interact with kids security issues So the second floor was utilized for nothing So the idea of a private kindergarten be a natural transition from Academy kids straight into faith prep Came about and Bonnie's done all the legwork on putting that private kindergarten together But as we were talking about it and this whole evolving situation of COVID and school openings and school not opening virtual learning I don't know who came up with the original idea, but it sort of dawned on the collective group that What do you do if you're working parents and you've got a home at home school your kids? And I think it was Bonnie that said, you know, wait a minute our mission at our church is love God Love your neighbor and serve the community We've got these other classrooms going to utilize one classroom for faith prep this year But we've got these other classrooms on the other wing of the upstairs Why don't we create this space where we can have supervised help the kids parents can drop them off and Have some form of safety where they can have a place for virtual learning and then that evolved into and I think you've got the brochure that Bonnie came up with Virtual learning support center. We call it support center because we want to be very careful that it's we're not virtual learning center We're simply offering support to parents. I had a conversation a couple of Fridays ago with one of our school board members and He he dropped his fork in the middle of his breakfast eggs when I was talking about this concept and he said that's genius You're helping the school district. How are you getting the word out? I said, well, it'd be nice in school district to help us get the word out But they can't so the school district is very very supportive of this effort. They think it's great it's an opportunity to Fill a demand in the need and it fits our mission perfectly So that's where virtual learning support center came from I'm gonna let Bonnie fill in Bonnie connive who said is our director of faith prep She officially came on board as paid staff just a couple of weeks ago And I'm and she's a long-time member of the church and thrilled a thrill to have her in that position But she's gonna be coordinating the virtual learning support center also And she has a lot more information about it than I do and looking forward to all y'all's input as well So so Bonnie, why don't you get into the details of how this thing's gonna work? Okay Well as Tom said, we're gonna utilize the other wing that's not going to be associated with faith prep I mean, there's a shared entrance a secure chair to entrance downstairs And then at the top of the stairway if you walk straight that'll be the faith prep wing But as Tom mentioned, we have these empty classrooms that we'd like to utilize I spoke with our AK director because they're under state guidelines and talked about the actual square footage of the room And how many children we could put in there Their recommendations or their guideline is 35 to 40 square feet per child So with those numbers and then the social distancing Numbers we figured out or I figured out how many children we could Accommodate I'm at first I was going to use the four rooms that are available But after some discussion we decided to leave one room empty For activities it was originally going to be used for the indoor recess area of faith prep So there could be times when it's utilized for like an indoor activity area or we've also Thanks to somebody's great idea and God forbid in case somebody were to get sick during the day a child We would be able to isolate them from the rest of the children As we see it the rooms are going to be like little pods the children will be in at first I was like well, we could just have the children come up for school They could complete their needed hours for the day and then they can go downstairs To a school or program for academy kids, but after lots of discussion with fellow educators and parents We realized that it would probably be best if they were more self-contained So that's where this idea came from to kind of keep them in pods if you will The children will have a table And we're even going to allow them to use some like fancy wiki tape to decorate their little floor space So they know that that's their area. That's their office. That's their place every day Additionally the children will be issued devices from the district. So that's a huge You know plus for us we may need some additional backup devices just in case there's an issue with a laptop or an ipad or If there were to be a need for sometimes children need to do Something on a different device. So if that need were to arise then we could help facilitate that So keeping the children in small groups in their classrooms We looked at numbers and felt that one facilitator per eight children would probably be a reasonable fit for both the facilitator and the children I haven't decided yet how the children will be housed within their pods I might do it based on grade level and we talked about how the need for Here is for everybody from kindergarten through You know, basically age 12 But we decided that we would primarily focus on first grade through fourth grade Being our majority of or the primary area. We would like to focus For children in that that area that age range. I did have a call from a parent about kindergarten After some communication and some some more discussion. She's decided that she's probably going to use our faith prep So that's a another way that we can branch out and use those facilities But to see the children in their little pods in their groups, the facilitators will as I said help them with their activities Let's see what else I have two Two ships, if you will of employment one from 8 a.m. Until one and then one to 6 p.m.  I know that in mesquite They've said that pre-k through fourth grade will need to complete a minimum of 180 minutes Face to face or not face face. Excuse me, but 180 minutes of time logged in Students will need to log in by 8 a.m.  So the facilitators will be there to be sure they get logged on in time They're tracking their moments. I'm pretty sure That it will self-track their time But just we'll have to work through that once we see a better model of exactly how that's going to work But the facilitator will be responsible for not doing the work for the child But helping them through them guiding them through any technical issues difficulties logging in Creating assignments, you know, being sure they've had that communication with their adult Once that is over we the children will be bringing their own lunch And then after lunchtime in the afternoon, we intend to use that time for Like stem activities enrichment activities or even if the teacher Noticed or the facilitator noticed that just the child was struggling with an issue or struggling with a concept We can create a little bit of a one-on-one or maybe even a small group socially distant tutoring session for that child So supporting them through their learning that is going to be provided within their school district But helping out people helping out the parents so they don't have to worry about Completing it at night or what are they going to do to get those moments? You know that the children need to be logged in um I think that's pretty much We have a wonderful communications director that created the little logo. She saw my vision and and went with that So we flyers I intend to get out to Facilities within our district or within our neighborhood. I tried this in the spring to Our last spring to promote faith prep and found that many businesses are unable to post flyers They're willing to put them in their break room But even like hobby lobby in mardell, they don't publicly display flyers anymore So that's been an issue that we've had to you know, kind of work around word is getting out I do plan to make a stop at daycares and facilities around Maybe there's a like a privately owned coffee shop or small mom and pop businesses in the area And the surrounding area where we can display And get the word out, you know to even more people that this will be an opportunity for them and a service that we're providing at our church I think that's pretty much The rundown is Bonnie as you were talking Several folks were asking questions in the chat. I'm just looking at that. I may Curate some of those and keep the conversation going. So So you were describing the ratio of students to adults eight to one And um, Jessica Wright Who's that first United Methodist and Alan asks, um, how will y'all accommodate ministry safe requirements because Bonnie you want to handle that you want me to yes the facilitators will need to complete the ministry safe background Yes, but ministry safe training that we have in place. Yes If I understand right the part of that is, um You know If there's an enclosed space that the norm is that two adults would be in that space Right with children at all times We do intend to have two. Um, we're hoping to get up to 16 children and have the two If not, I will make myself available. I'm just right, you know, a couple doors away So we will be sure that that's um, and I see the facilitator as also kind of Standing between almost the doorways To be able to be visible Um, and to be able to assist the children But that's, you know, that's something that I will need to Um, making a note for myself to make sure that I am aware of and follow through with Good and and just know I'm asked I'm posing these questions from the group to you It helps all of us to hear you talk through them. Um, it helps all of us problem solve them. I think So Dritha Burris, uh, who's that first United Methodist and Rowlett just asks about how many kids Are you thinking will be in each classroom? I'm sorry. I'm having my internet's cutting it out. I didn't hear the beginning of your question Um, the question is how many kids will be in each classroom? Okay, we have broken it down based on the square footage And we're going to have a room of up to five another a second room of up to five children and a third room that can accommodate six children right, um Catherine Stremke is asking a question about Um, and Catherine I may ask you to elaborate but essentially, you know, what what relationship do Uh, if we're going to offer a program like this, do we need to have with the state of Texas? Um, what do we need to tell them? Um, you know Yeah, Bonnie before you answer that one we've we've been trying to get the academy kids program moved upstairs and That we cannot do that. That's a licensed state child care facility and it cannot be on the second floor period Uh between the city fire marshal and the state fire marshal nobody wanting to have the responsibility for signing the final Permit I plan to go to the legislature when all this mess is finished and do some more lobbying to see if we can't get that changed But it's very that's a pretext to say it's very important that this is not a child care facility licensed by the state of Texas so we're in contact with the academy kids child care provider Um, we have good relationship with that individual But the state of texas has no licensing requirements for something like this that we're doing same thing with our private kindergarten There's no state licensing requirements on that Okay, well my question is that the state of texas does require Being notified even if it's a home child care um With three or more children And so somewhere in there is going to be that fuzzy line between Notifying the state of texas and having to meet Some sort of licensing requirements And especially if those of us who are just looking at these online school days Until they're allowed to go back in person theoretically speaking We're only talking about 15 days altogether and i'm just I've been trying to read the texas state website. It's not helping right I think you can Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. As tom mentioned We do have a grandparent of an academy kids student who is aware of our plan for up here and she has Contacted somebody that works within the state by the name of angela washington and angela and i have been communicating through email I've been submitted forms. Um, as I said, I completed them submitted them. So we should be good to go To receive an exemption Yeah, bonnie, you cut out a little bit on that why did she said angela washington is our contact person? After that it cut out. Okay. Um, she is our contact person with the state for the um regulations And I have completed the exemption forms that she said would be necessary for us to go ahead and have Faith prep and virtual learning upstairs And bonnie if you can send those to us andy if you can post those on the resource page We'll be happy to share those if you want the blank document or do you want my completed documents? I don't give them all the details. No No Send the blank. It's just a form. Yeah Send both And we can put that up so everybody can have access to it and catherine to your point about you know 15 days We think that you're probably hopefully you're right, but we don't know we don't know how long this will last And we don't know how many parents even if the and who knows what kin paxton's going to do next Are the are the governor? I mean, that's just a crap shoot So we're preparing that this could be a long term Program because there may be parents that simply say they're not comfortable sending their kids back and districts may well say Um, you may homeschool your your children And and actually kin paxton is the reason i'm betting on 15 days because yesterday He leaned on the tea not to give the same amount of money To the school districts who are doing online as opposed to in person. So I'm still betting on 15 days. Oh Yeah, I think there will still be a need for parents to have some sort of virtual learning support center Well, no in our community what they're doing is allowing parents to choose between either sending your children or signing up for the virtual learning And they're talking about it being long term. They're not just referring to it as a 15 day solution. They're Last week that was the you know the latest options that they were giving parents and then children were free to Flip between the two if they found out that you know, the virtual learning wasn't working They felt safer or more comfortable. They could attend school or vice versa And that could happen every nine weeks with an elementary age child So we could have You know quite a turnaround at sometimes that we could have a rotating attendance policy or a rotating attendance for the students Yeah, I would just add to that by saying The school where my daughter goes she's in middle school Uh, they have those same options. There are 1,100 students at her school By last count 600 of those 1,100 opted for virtual learning So there are a lot of children and a lot of families Who when given the choice are not comfortable with sending their kids back to the school buildings so um All right, so I think uh bonnie. I think you addressed A question also from drita asking if Or maybe tom addressed it about if there's a need to apply for a child care license for this kind of program tom I think you said that that's not needed. Did I hear you right? Right just the forms that bonnie will forward you can post the exemption forms okay Someone asked about snacks if y'all we're providing snacks as a part of your program Um, we're going to allow for snack time. Um with covid we feel it would probably be best if the children brought their own snacks And we plan to have a refrigerator up here to To keep snacks that might be cold or lunch is cold and have a microwave so that we can You know take care of their Food needs that they have Yeah There are a couple of questions about the facilitators Um, are you paying the facilitators? Um, and I guess a related question. I know is answered in the flyer I've seen but um, you know, are you charging parents for this? Experience so maybe talk a little bit about I guess the financial side of the model. Okay We are charging or we are paying the facilitators 12 dollars an hour That rate was decided upon based on the amount That academy kids employees are paid and what our faith prep teacher is paid. It's kind of right in the middle So we thought that was a fair amount One I was trying to secure a teacher for faith prep I found that many people Are not wanting to commit to a five day I'm thinking of retired people or people that I was in touch with that were in my little group of educators weren't wanting to commit to the five days So with The the development of the virtual learning center. It's intended to Hopefully get some people who have Obviously education experience or You know at least experience working with children in the setting and some tech Some tech knowledge so they can facilitate in the best way possible Let's see what else So they would be paid 12 dollars an hour It's basically split into the two shifts a morning shift and an afternoon The morning is five hours. The afternoon is six And I'm sorry vice versa morning six after noon is five So as long as the hours were covered I would be open to flexible scheduling for the facilitators For example, if somebody needed to work mornings and have the afternoon off or flip that that would be we could work that out I know some people might just want to have A working job two days a week or three days a week So as long as we could work the staff and we could work out a schedule that would be Beneficial to the employees and the students. I'm open to those possibilities When it came to what to charge My whole reasoning for this idea was I didn't want children I don't want children to be at home unattended I don't want older children to have to worry about or middle high school children have to worry about educating their younger siblings. So with much thought and looking at prices The typical daycare price for this summer is about 130 dollars some of course are a little bit higher some are a little bit lower So after much discussion with parents parents are like, I'd pay a whole lot for that I didn't want to see this as a money making opportunity I wanted to be able to cover the cost of our staff and then provide a little bit for the use of the building So we came up with 130 dollars per week And those are for the hours of 7 a.m. Until 1 p.m. And then if extended care is needed The facility will be open from 7 a.m. To 6 p.m. And that cost would be 150 dollars So that's where those those mounts came from Talking with people in surrounding areas and like I said most daycares are about 130 a week So figuring if they've been paying that throughout the summer It's not going to make a huge huge difference in their budgeting for the fall and Who knows how long after if need be great Looking at the chat Jessica, right you asked a question about title in schools and it That seems to me maybe you have an insight into an opportunity that may be there If you're associated with the title one school, would you want to comment on that just for the We haven't since the children that were that are most familiar within our building in our care right now Are you know eight weeks or six weeks to pre-k we haven't Had a need or haven't had the experience to deal with students that are In a title one position This flyer was put out to the public so anyone is eligible to attend We haven't Worked on any additional funding to supplement title one students at this time Jessica would you want to add anything? Or share anything about an opportunity you see related to title one schools Well sure, and I'll also defer to mary beth because a lot of this is coming out of her heart and passion as it expresses itself at first alan But I know that our church is located exactly between To the two title one elementary schools in alan One mile exactly from each one of them And so when we're thinking about children who are most at risk And especially older siblings who might not have an opportunity to successfully complete their own learning because they are helping their younger Siblings successfully complete theirs Our first thought were those title one students who may not be able because there are some places in our local context who are providing A virtual learning support center. I think that's a great way to phrase it You know, we have a local gymnasium That will have but a lot of these are out of the reach of a lot of students who might be Most at need, you know in need of of some services. And so I think Um Our questions and our focus have been around those schools In those schools because of the funding that comes with title one there They call them in our district care coordinators and we have close relationships with them Whenever we need to get information to families because of the limitations of privacy around the school district We put it in the hands of the care coordinators and ask them to pass it along because they know those families And they also serve families because there's poverty in every school not just those title one schools So when a student leaves elementary and goes on to middle school, they know what middle school they're in and how to reach that family They also serve as a contact for all of the schools in allen. So That's been a great connection point for us to be able to reach out to those families Even though we can't directly email them or mail them ourselves But putting it in those care coordinators hands gets it there Yes, they could be a real ally in this work Um, I so one more question about facilitators. I see freddie ore is asking just Where are you finding your facilitators? Is there a Source that that you found that is helpful if we're trying to put this together Um, mostly it's been word of mouth. Um, I have some I myself am retired from the school district I have some connections with educators that are retired. Um Friends of friends who were anxious to you know, or wanting to do something To help out we support the one plus one reading program and stacey cook and who is in charge of that at our church Had suggested that maybe some of those individuals might be looking for An opportunity to help students since they're not going to be able to go into the public schools and help them So that might be another resource for us. I did speak with um A potential employee for the afternoon. She has experience working with children She's been a longtime member of our church grew up in our church And she additionally has management skills from her previous job So I thought she would be a great afternoon person to be here To take care of, you know, any busy business issues that may arise And just be a great facilitator for the afternoon and kind of be in charge of the afternoon shift So she's a potential candidate that we've looked at also Yeah, there's several comments And questions about just managing the relationship between Having a licensed child care facility or program in a church and then trying to add this alongside it Keep a green cedar hill specifically asked if we already have a licensed child care That covers all the hours of the day and includes after school Programming is there any reason why this kind of program couldn't be included in that In that existing facility. So Bonnie from your standpoint, what do you how would you respond to that? We had I had thought about that. I was like that would be an easy transition They will just go downstairs because our faith prep our faith prep children Will have the ability to utilize the before and after school care at academy kids But once I talk with some people and thought about it some more the whole reason parents are keeping their children home Or one of the major reasons Is that fear so if we can keep the pods of children or the groups of children smaller And have less interaction That would reduce the risk of anyone transmitting germs upstairs downstairs We don't want to do anything in any way to jeopardize their downstairs program So we want to keep this separate from and that's why we decided to use the child care timeline up here to You know help the parents and keep the children safe from our downstairs facility and as safe as possible upstairs And for everyone I do want to in case you're not tracking it Just want to call your attention to the chat. There's a lot of additional resourcing Good ideas that are emerging there I'll do my best to capture the chat and get that out as well, you know for future reference Um, so katherin surmkey is asking about sort of the medical Inspection piece of this Just how how are you doing medical inspections? And she said not just Or covet but other, you know typical school kinds of things like lice What can you tell us about that? well, as we stated downstairs is Under state guidelines and to end in order to enter the building. There is a keypad They have temporarily suspended the parent codes, which means that An academy kids employee must let you into the building You have to wear a face mask to enter the building and then temperatures are checked When children are dropped off they take the temperature of the parent and the child And then each day when the children leave their temperatures are checked So we will follow that same procedure in order to get into the building You will have to use those guidelines that are in place downstairs Additionally, we'll be doing cleaning throughout the day as needed And then in the evening they do a deep clean sanitization with a Handheld power spray mist that's been approved and purchased. So we'll be using those Um pieces of equipment at throughout the day and then in the evening Great. So there were there was questions about Just your cleaning protocols you spoke to some of those just now um so yeah Jessica ride was asking This question So, you know, basically families are enrolling their students for fee In this program. So what kinds of agreements or policies or protocols? Do you have in place? I guess I gather even like what agreements are the parents making? In order to responsibly participate in this program Okay, an online enrollment form has been created and it mirrors our faith prep enrollment form Which goes under pretty much the guidelines from downstairs. I'm using downstairs As a reference a lot because I feel that if they're under state guidelines Then we're going to follow them even that we're not required to We're going to follow them as best and as closely as possible If it will, you know, help us and be a positive thing. I'm in the process of creating the parent handbook I was working on that yesterday and I've created a whole kovid Paper for the first that tells it lays out, you know, specifically what guidelines we will be following and the reason for those guidelines and what procedures and policies are in place So the faith prep and the virtual learning handbook will virtually be the same And those will be available to the parents and there will be an acknowledgement form that they will sign stating that they have received it Online or they have access to it once they enroll we will give them access to That document online and then they will sign the form stating that they you know have access to it and hopefully have read it Right and there was a Jessica had a follow-up Um, particularly they around, um, you know, just how you what policies you have in place or how you intend to handle discipline Issues and I guess I would add because I know this has come up in various conversations. I've been a part of You know, how would you handle non-compliance? with Your expectations for students and families whether whether that's wearing masks or social distancing Um, you know, how do you intend to handle non potential non-compliance, right? Well, we will train the facilitators on basic. I mean, they do have they The potential employees will have basic information about student management classroom management If there is an issue that is becoming or if a child becomes an issue as far as a behavior concern Taking them out of the room to have a conversation. They might need to come into my office I've got extra space in here where we can set up a little, you know time Take them for a little walk around the hallway remove them We intend to have and I'm pretty sure that the districts are not expecting the children to Sit for a long time. So have little movement breaks little, you know songs jumping moving so that they can You know go to the restroom get their drink so not have them glued to the screen But allow them and be aware and be on guard for watching when there seems to be a need for a break for a student good I think I think we've lifted up most all of the questions in the chat. Are there any other Any other questions anybody here in the group want to pose to Our excellent folks from first mesquite Yes, Maggie Excuse me that last comment about the internet service bandwidth for additional use We have 5g we we use spectrum Bonnie's offices upstairs in the building. They just installed it So we believe we have adequate bandwidth for the number of students We expanded beyond that initial number of students We may be reaching a capacity issue, but I think we're okay on that Got the latest and greatest equipment from broadband or from spectrum Yeah, but that that does raise an important consideration for any of us thinking about offering this. Yeah Yeah, I'll see how lucky I am to have Bonnie I didn't say anything. This is great This is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm telling people I'm on a huge learning curve. It's it's you know coming together, but it's it's taken a lot of input from Friends educators pastor church members You know people like you who are bringing attention to things that I haven't thought of so I appreciate this time So there was there's one more question. I see that's come here just in the last minute And that is just concerns about liability Is that something that you all have thought through? How are you are you addressing that concern? Okay, Mike. I just had a little interruption. Did you say concerns about liabilities? Yes well um That's yeah, that's one thing that we I haven't focused on I guess in an embarrassing way to say that Tom is there some insight you could help me with here? I think the the issue of liability is going to be across anything you do no matter how good good it is But we may look at the academy kids program and what their policy on liability because we're following the state standards as closely as possible The student handbook or the parent handbook will probably have a statement I mean we probably need to have that statement in there similar to what academy kids has on liability That that we are covered the insurance company the you know per incident things of that nature We do have an emergency plan in pace Yeah, and Catherine's comment in the handbook that passed on in case there were their child were to be injured We are wanting them to have their shot shot records um All the guidelines that they are following downstairs. We'll just follow through up here Even though we have that exemption. It's just a really good working model downstairs Yeah, I know this concern about Liability has come up as churches have thought about reopening and being in ministry during this time And you know the the standard response is that And we've explored this with our insurance carrier We're not, you know, we're not covered. We're not released from all liability Should someone get sick? by coming to worship with us or being a part of a program or ministry at our church And there's nothing that we can do to prevent someone from Filing a suit. That's just the reality of You know the way things go in texas. However, I get what we have instructed church leaders like you all to do is is that if you all for a program like this if you have if you've Obviously shown your due diligence to meet the state standards for Safety and health and well-being of students in a child care kind of facility If you've done your due diligence for training your facilitators If you've done your due diligence and and can document that Then you're well positioned to be able to to manage anything that comes your way So, you know, the key is just to be to be thoughtful to be Careful to document Your plan and do your due diligence All right, so a good good question Everyone from the you know school districts to major league baseball. They're trying to figure this one out So, you know, what what happens if A child or a facilitator tests positive for cobit. What's the plan? okay, I Didn't get that part of your day. I've created I'm sorry I'm putting this here Um, I talked about if they're experiencing suspected or actual symptoms the child must be kept at home And we must be notified of his or her condition. It's imperative that a sick child and their family members not be on the premises Um, if a child does develop a fever or other possible symptoms during the school day The child will be isolated. It must be picked up. Um, as soon as possible If a child were to test positive here must he or she must stay home For the 14 days Even if the family if or if a family member tests positive And then we would need medical documentation stating that the child can return to care And what about the kids that are interacting with him? I'm sorry. What about the students that have been? Close to them to that student So that student is um suspicious to be Positive or has been tested positive. What about like kids that are with him during that day or during the week? We would have to suggest then that those that child also be tested contact their medical provider and Have them tested That's a really good question. That could be on a whole pot Right and that's a really good question. And I think that's something we'll probably ask the school board so because they're gonna have the exact same issue as Parents are sending kids back to school You're in a first grade classroom the kids test positive and I suspect bonnie will follow what the MISD policy is on that Because they have had to go through that drill Figuring figuring how to handle that because you're right those all those children within that classroom would potentially be exposed to it Along with the facilitators. Yeah the facilitator That's something we're going to have a research school district. Yeah now we have to put those in in quarantine All of them probably right Yes So this there's a A question this tom this may be for you to respond to I know that as I look at folks on this call Many of us are serving churches that are not yet open for in-person worship And yet, you know, we're considering A program like this that obviously will bring people together in person on our campus for something Tom is that your reality and if so How are you managing? Maybe just uh different reactions people in your church may have about that like well I can imagine a comment like this Well, if we can have students on our campus money through friday, how come we can't come together for church on sunday So I love our bishop. I love our bishop. I just I just hold that letter up and say here. That's why You know now seriously that that's a great question and fortunately that has not come up But I think it's not come up because we have academy kids downstairs in a separate in the separate building and People are aware that that's going on. They're aware that faith prep is starting as a private kindergarten And this is an extension. This is under the faith prep director bonnie. This is under the faith prep umbrella The virtual learning support center. It's a natural progression of serving in the community and So I believe that if the question does come up Which I seriously doubt it will I'll point to the fact that this is part of the virtual the faith prep program which we've been planning for for opening for a long time and And that it speaks directly to our mission Directly to the mission of the church So I I don't think we'll get that that comment and we are not worshiping in person. We are not live worship Thanks. Tom and I would add to that. I know I've been a part of a number of conversations along these lines In general while the bishop In the in dallas county in the metro district in particular other parts of our conference has continued to Ask that church is not reopened for in person worship The the conference the bishop has granted The preschools daycares, etc. Even in those areas to reopen And and we really are viewing You know sunday morning worship versus preschool kinds of experiences As to separate the apples and oranges and part of that is because Well, just the nature of a school preschools in general in our churches. They're led by Certified trained professionals who are accustomed to Meeting state standards for health and safety, etc. In some ways. This is nothing new. There's another layer of expectation But they're kind of they're doing what they typically do And anyway, we there other arguments, but the point is that This is not unlike that We have preschools preparing to open in the fall even in churches where they're not reopening for Sunday morning in person worship So that's pretty typical across the conference So Tom and and bonnie did you all Clear this program through kind of your church decision-making bodies trustees Church council if you have a reopening task force, is that something that you all have considered or done? Yes, when this idea first of all faith prep Went through all the proper channels to get support and portables And then when bonnie came to us with this virtual learning support center I took it first to the sprc just because bonnie director let him know this is sort of an additional duty She'll have and then to the finance committee the trustees had already approved use of the facility upstairs So there wasn't an issue with trustees We didn't have to make any physical modifications to the building and then took a church council a zoom call We had a long finance committee meeting about a bunch of stuff and virtual learning support center was supported 100 by all the committees and task force we had to go through there wasn't a question It was 100 support All right, but we hear we hear that you did move through those steps, which that's yeah, you gotta gotta check the boxes Yeah Very good And additionally we have an education board who's been supportive and is aware and been in the decision process Thanks, forget about them. That's that's an important box that we needed to check They've been a great support Very good any other questions Again either for our folks in first mesquite or just to the whole group about this particular Ministry opportunity Excuse me, this is freddy. I had a question that I wanted to to bring up. I've got it in the chat but Have you thought about the standpoint of making sure your parents understand That your facilitators are not teachers Because I can see that there is going to be a total different expectation As to what they are expecting to happen with their with their child Versus school versus the program like this So how are you going to make sure that they understand the facilitator is basically there to help them navigate their their online Work and where they can assist them in being able to work through some of that work But they are not teachers And I can see some people kind of going well. Hey, you know your teacher didn't do with my kid so and so Well, that's one of the reasons why we were calling them facilitators To try to make that right from the start that you know and let them know that And the word support put in the the title of the facility so that they understand that we are here to help And not to be the sole responsible person for the education but to support The education that they're receiving from their district to support their learning their their Student's teacher All right This people have mentioned it in the chat. I'll just echo This has been excellent. I can tell me Bonnie. I appreciate you all so much Again Catherine for raising the question a couple of days ago in the beginning and for everyone Having the patience to wait maybe another another day to have this conversation so even more folks can be a part of it This has been really helpful. I think I think what I'd propose we do. I've got 10 55 Um, I don't I suspect some folks tuned in today just to hear about this particular ministry opportunity and so want to kind of Bring this conversation to a close and and give if that's you that you just really wanted to hear about this give you an opportunity to step away graciously if you want to just hang on this call And be a part of a broader kind of brainstorming conversation about Other ways that the church could possibly Be in ministry with students families teachers, etc during this particular season Then hang on and we can do that for maybe another 15 or 20 minutes Um before we uh before we finish so it's 10 56 when uh, why don't we pause uh for Three four minutes let folks step away Let all of us stretch our legs and if you want to hang on for that general brainstorming conversation We'll resume that at 11. All right Andy let me make one point in the comments and uh about the licensing rep I think that's in the comment section is excellent. We have academy kids downstairs faith prep and the virtual learning support center upstairs They are completely separate entities and that's very important if you have an existing child care facility of really any sort You need to think through and make sure if it's licensed by the state of texas. There's no linkage between the two There's no linkage whatsoever. Our academy kids is a separate program Now we're using a lot of the protocols and paperwork and policies But it's very clear to the parents and to the our state rep that upstairs is completely separate And I guess before we the another good topic has come up. I'll just speak to you briefly concerns about um funding about You know parents in some circumstances being able to afford To have their children in an opportunity like this Um, yeah, I think uh, so in general the conference. I hope you all are are well aware Um, it's been very proactive to try to offer grant funding to help churches step into moments For ministry here during the pandemic and so I know the center for missional outreach currently still has Open grants for we call them rural missional grants. So if you're in a rural context You could definitely apply for a grant to under To support a ministry like this and then we also have I forget the exact title of it, but basically a grant that is aimed if your church if by doing this you would be meeting the needs Of under resourced communities in your area like title one schools in particular But again for families who couldn't afford this Think the program like this would definitely qualify for that kind of grant as well If you want to explore that more with me offline Feel free to shoot me an email But I know on the website we have information about those grant opportunities So, um, but yeah, if you're all in and eager to do this and see a need To fill a funding gap I'm open to that conversation. I think we have already grant grant opportunities for this sort of thing so So let's shift gears a little bit We know that Plans for reopening Is they're creating Different kinds of stress points and anxieties and needs Um, I think we've already broached the subject of teachers. I mean students and parents but for teachers in particular um as well And so actually I would propose we start there We know again teachers are being asked to Do what they do under Kind of new and stressful conditions They're being asked in some ways To make a choice between their own health and well-being and keeping their job And and fulfilling their vocation And they're being asked to uh become special like there are a lot like pastors in many ways in recent months They're being asked to become specialists and how to manage A communicable disease that's new Um When that maybe isn't that's not their training and and they're trying to have to figure out how to do that in a Why is it a responsive way? So I guess I would I would Try to start this conversation by asking What what ideas do we have For uh coming alongside and supporting and being in ministry with with teachers in our community In this time And I think at this point, uh, we don't have to be limited to the chat if you have an idea Um, you know unmute yourself and share that with the group. We'll just try to have a conversation together Well, this sounds kind of small, but I mean it's at least probably, you know a little step in the right direction We typically had a back to school like a backpack blessing each year and of course this year Things in the season of covet everything looks different. So we're having to drive through back to school blessing and Every time we would do this we Invite not only students but teachers administrators, etc. And we usually have a little Goodie we give them well this year our goodie is a mask um Because we feel like everybody might need one and at least put one in rotation that you can wash and um, we've got the we've got loving god-loving neighbor on this one and um Something we can provide to be a tangible piece of our love and support for students and teachers and administrators and staff and all those folks That's a great idea. I know we do blessings of the backpack and staff members who are uh church members participate But that's wonderful that you invite, you know neighboring schools in the district. I love that idea That's really special So when do you do it jessica? So alanis d start date is august 12th early, um My i'm in melissa and we don't start till the 25th and if the plan for what melissa is doing is supposed to come out sometime today We're going to do the drive-thru parade on the 9th, which I think is the sunday prior So we're going to invite them to drive through Um pastor mary beth and i'll be available to bless them in whatever way feels good to them if they don't keep windows up That's fine if they want to roll them down everybody mask um We'll have a photo op available if they want to park and get out of the car There's like a place over there, you know that they can go to and take their back to school pictures because that's also Just different and weird this year so But this this question of how to support our teachers is a hard one because I know um It's been a risk your life or get out of here um kind of experience for a lot of teachers what we're hearing So I wonder uh, I don't I wonder if um, there's an opportunity for Um communities of faith to become advocates for teachers in a way that feels authentic in a way that's welcome by the teachers in your community You know that might be an interesting conversation to have with teachers who are part of your church Or teachers that you are connected to in some way to ask them You know how how might People in the community advocate for you and your concerns. What are your anxieties? What are? Um steps you'd like to see the powers that be take to ensure your safety and to really be thinking about you And then how how could a church You know express that concern to You know the powers that be whether that's um tea or your State representative or I mean there may be an advocacy role that you could play Or that you know a large number of people in your church could play Well, I know my experience when I taught in mesquite. We actually had a church that adopted our campus And they were there they provided breakfast one morning during that back to school time they were there for play day activities and um Throughout the year in fact one year the the pastor Um MC the talent show I mean they were on campus for like we would do a winter wonderland activities And they would volunteer and be on campus and I know in our church we have that connection with an elementary school with the one plus one program So maybe we can incorporate the back to school drive through backpack blessing with that school I mean they're not far from here. Uh, we have a high school. That's you know a 6a high school right down the street so Now that you've mentioned that like my brain's going with how what the ways we can incorporate You know our community in a in a whole new way by just being here for them and supporting them I think that's a great suggestion. I love that virtual backpack drive through with Schools. I know we've talked about our family members, but I don't think we've Explored opening it up to a larger amount of people. So I think that's something that we need to focus on Hi, this is Martha Stowe and some reason my video won't work but We work with several schools and the the principals have been asking us to send Kind of ongoing notes of encouragement to the teachers Which seems like something everybody could do I was surprised by that Well, you know, I'm many of us. I'm sure have seen Um in the public space You know this conversation about teachers that While in the spring when everyone was at home, there was a lot of talk about how much we should appreciate teachers and wow, you know, I didn't realize how difficult Um instructing my children would be and there was a real groundswell of support and love for teachers But I now I mean I have a teacher in my home So I know that now they're feeling like well, that's been forgotten because now we're once again being taken for granted and just assumed that As it's been said we'll we'll step in and risk our lives and do this and You know, where was all that love we had in the spring? So so There probably is a deep need for that kind of appreciation just notes of encouragement and appreciation That could go a long way This is kiva, um, we set up last year, uh, where we have prayer partners With all the teachers and every worker at bray elementary bray elementary's like kind of catty cornered from our Property and so we've supported them. So we've supported them through the year anyway with notes you know once a month and gifts for the teachers and cafeteria workers and Principal and everybody else and so we've done that for the last year and so just trying to continue to do that Through all this even though they were doing it online But realize that we need to really reach out to them right now Each person has a prayer partner that's there to support them But realizing that we probably need to be doing even more so So in the thank you kiva in the in the chat Catherine serenity shared a wish list from their partner school about some school supplies Again, I have an educator in my home one of the dynamics That not everyone's aware of is that most teachers Have to buy a lot of their own supplies for their classroom My wife got a notice this week that That extends to PPE That you know, there's an expectation that teachers be masked, but the district's not taking responsibility for providing that That's on the teachers so So, you know Jessica mentioned about masks in a you know, kind of a gift package, but If that experience is true across the board teachers probably would really appreciate Being provided masks and hand sanitizer and gloves and Other kinds of personal protective gear that Will help them do their jobs that they'll be expected to have it, but they're expected to get it So there's an opportunity there I know in the past our women's group has done Back to school supply drive. I'm wondering if we could do it this year, but have a Different set of guidelines or a different set of supplies like the materials that we're needing I know some are difficult to find but instead of doing like the usual crayons and everything do the wipe sanitizer masks That would give people an opportunity to participate by donating as well as the receiving end of it So I need to maybe get with our United Methodist women's group And maybe make that suggestion to them or have a discussion with them about that. I think that's a great idea also And that way it gives opportunity for congregational members who might be feeling you know, disconnected at this time to have an ability to Provide something or the letter writing and note writing I mean, I'm thinking of people who have that ability, but just maybe don't have a connection To a group to provide those those notes and those cards I know we have people who write cards regularly, but to include the teachers. I think that's a fabulous idea That would serve several purposes I saw something over in the chat That talked about school supply collections. We're still participating in ours our local helping agency ACO used to be Allen community outreach notes all community outreach They're going to park an Allen ISD bus here on saturday and we're going to try to fill it up And then we're also partnering with one of our title one schools Because some of those families don't go to helping agencies to receive assistance because of concerns about Where information you provide to any organization might go And so we're also doing a collection for one of our elementary schools I think a lot of the folks are The way I understand it the surface contact potential If it sits for a moment for a few days before they distribute them, which they should be able to do The risk is really low. So I think what they're planning to do is basically quarantine the items And then distribute them Good, this has been helpful about teachers You know, I don't want to belabor the conversation, but I do want to Shift a little and provide a space For thinking a bit more about parents. I mean, obviously we began with a really creative Significant idea for coming alongside parents But are there other ways that we can be in ministry with parents of students at this time We think a little bit about it Parents who feel like they Must send their kids back to in-person school for one reason or another For economic reasons or just because they desperately need the support They're probably dealing with some guilt feelings Parents who keep their kids at home Are taking on An additional burden and they're going to manage that in different ways, but This wears on for nine weeks For a semester It's only going to become more and more challenging Yeah, Jessica put it well. It just feels like there's no there's no great choice here. Everyone's Taking the less bad choice. So But again, are there are there ways that we can think about the church Being in ministry with parents In this time I think that one of the things we can do is to support whatever decision parents make and You know people ask me all the time what's the right answer and I I can argue either side easily And so I think that's what's important is to be there no matter which way they go and be supportive of that Good word Friends again, this this has been a fruitful conversation All of you came to this for one reason or another Does anyone have any particular Itch that hadn't been scratched or any Idea that you just really want to make sure it gets out there to the group before we before we wrap up the morning I was having a side chat with one of our folks I found a great resource a prayer for back to school that I can Send somewhere so we don't have to linger while I type this all into the chat, but It might be a helpful resource Just you know nothing like a good liturgy Mm-hmm Jenna Johnson just said she's got A resource is being put together about tips for parents that might be Jenna maybe if you want that to be widely shared I feel free to send that to me that may be something we can disseminate Through us good so again Tom and Bonnie said they would send me some materials about their program once I have those I'll be sure to Post those in various ways probably on our covet 19 resource page, but also On the CMO website in a in a place that's obvious And we'll probably put them out in our newsletter That's going to be coming up in a couple weeks so But if you want to contact me directly for those items as well Feel free to do that All right, very good You know in general, I commend you all for being on this call. We've been saying for years that A place where there is a rich harvest Is within our neighborhood schools and as we cultivate our relationship With those schools it presents all kinds of great opportunities for ministry So again, I appreciate you all For recognizing that and for living into that in this time And I hope we all I mean Recognize an important lesson about how this particular call emerged If there's a conversation that happens I mean just via text between you and a colleague or on facebook And it begins to feel like it's growing and could be useful to others Um, let's try to I mean know all of us Um In our roles here at the conference office cammy oan and I in particular We'd be happy then to be looped in and um At host something that can again invite more people to benefit from the conversation. So Anyway, this has been great.