I'm going to call to order Excuse me seeing a presence out core. I'm calling to order the meeting of the Amherst school committee at 631 p.m. On Thursday August 13th, and so we'll take a roll call attendance and please say present when I call your name Mr. Demling Mr. Harrington Present Miss Spitzer Spitzer present Ms. Lord Lord present and McDonald present Miss Hall Thank you. All right seeing the presence of a quorum I'll call to order this meeting of the Pellum school committee at 632 p.m. And we'll do a roll call attendance miss Dancer Stance your present mr. Manino Manino present Miss Barlow Barlow present miss Kenny Kenny present and Hall present And I'm seeing a presence of a quorum of the region school committee I'm calling that committee to order at 632 p.m. And I'll take roll call attendance. Mr. Demling Demling present. Mr. Harrington Harrington present Miss Lord Lord present Mr. Manino Manino present miss Seeger Seeger present Miss Spitzer Spitzer present Miss Dancer stance her present And so live in not present McDonald's present. We are now to order and I'm not consistent in calling out that we are being live-streamed on channel 15 and Amherst as well as online on Amherst media and we are being recorded Our first order is to approve our minutes from Three of our past meetings July 20th 21st and 28th, so maybe we'll start with July 20 I have a couple of things in July 21st in number six in the superintendent's update It it mentions a mr. Seek being appointed principal, but it doesn't say which school So I thought perhaps that should be included and on page five in the second paragraph I think the word lesion should be liaison. I think that's just a typo and On page six The next to last paragraph it says mr. Slav and I think it should be mr. Slovene just again that's just a typo and On that in the minutes for the 28th on number seven the superintendent's update second paragraph The last town it references the town leadership is meeting in person And I actually think it meant supposed to be the school admin school leadership team is meeting in person Not not the town So that's what I have I Did um before we got on all three of them minutes Um, I think it's important because these are joint meetings of three different committee meetings That for each member we cite which Committees there they're representing because several of several of the folks are From a town that representing the region so as an example Margaret stancer says pelham it should probably say pelham comma region Because not everybody on this list is a member of the region as well And then I also think that um i'm called out as chair I think miss hall should also be called out as chair of the pelham school committee And that that would apply to all three Mr. Demling um on a 7 21 minutes on page four under the phasing models section uh It's uh, it's I'm making a reference to fate. Uh, it's uh, it should be fate. It's so it's all it's uh after them all capitals f a p e Yeah, it's how One small thing on miss dancer's comment about the appointment of the principal. It was also a miss spell It should read mr. Sadiq. It said mr. Seek. It should read sadiq and miss kenny um So I I think it was on the 7 21 on it's page 25 of the whole thing. I didn't write down what uh, what page it was of those But it says Um, something about dr. Morris and mr. Dr. Graeba The the children are like her own the way it read it sound like dr. Morris said it But I think it was dr. Graeba who said it And then on the 20th in the superintendent's update, there were also jesse guidelines about chorus theater band and pe That weren't mentioned That was it I had a couple other um, just minor on page 17 of july 20th um About two-thirds of the way down in that big block paragraph. There's um reference to um Dr. Morris said that our human resources office Made documentation about health and safety for each staff member. I'm not sure that that's actually I think it's really just made has documentation about pre-existing conditions But I'm not sure exactly was what was said that it the documentation about health and safety doesn't I don't think is as is correct. Um And then just a minor just two lines below where it says accommodate the preferences, but If it does not state what happens if there is but it's so I think just delete if we should say but it does not state on um, the next page It's um page 18 in that same meeting um, the second big block of text that begins with dr. Morris said that staff Um four lines down it says miss mcdonald said we will accommodate staff and that we will come up with creative ways I think it should be we will seek to accommodate staff Um, and then under c future meeting plan planning It says miss spitzer said that the union for our organization is for the whole district I'm not sure that that may be accurate, but I as we called it Dr. Morris said that but It may be that miss spitzer was repeating something that dr. Morris said earlier. I don't know You don't remember. Okay Are there other um changes? his spitzer Very minor and maybe somebody already caught it but on page six of the july 21st meeting It says I think mr. Slove as a ov and it should be sloven Anything else? somebody like to make a motion Do we need one for each committee? I believe yes yeah, okay I move that the pelham school committee accept the revised minutes for of the of the joint school committees for july 20th 21st and 28th Great. Is there a second pelham? second All right moved by stancer seconded by menino any further discussion? All right, we'll do a roll call vote. Uh miss kenny Kenny aye Miss stancer Stancer aye Mr. Menino Menino aye and miss Barlow Barlow aye And haul aye All right, thanks Mr. Demling you had your hand raised Um, I move that the amherst school committee approve the minutes of july 20th July 21st and july 28th 2020 Um as amended Lord second Moved by demling seconded by lord. We'll take a roll call vote. Mr. Demling Demling aye Mr. Harrington Harrington aye Miss lord Lord aye Miss spitzer Spitzer aye And mcdonald aye Five zero And I'll make a motion for the region to approve the minutes of july 20th 21st and 28th of the joint school committee meeting Um as amended Second Was that miss spitzer? Yeah, I'm moved by mcdonald seconded by spitzer. We'll take a roll call vote. Um, mr. Demling Demling aye Mr. Harrington Harrington aye Miss lord Lord aye Mr. Menino Menino aye Miss segar Segar aye Miss spitzer Spitzer aye Miss stancer Stancer aye And mcdonald aye The minutes are approved eight to zero Give me a sec Um great and now we move on to um public comment. Um We have one voice message and um some text uh while I will Share the text um the email um now while I pull up the um the voice recording Are folks seeing that um and these uh these have been posted Also on our website so for folks that are watching um online or on tv and having a hard time meeting Um, it is available if you go to the region school committee agendas page This pdf is posted there too fast. Sorry Okay Everybody ready Um, I will now play a voice recording Um Dear school committee This is our unscanning Amy an amorous parent of three children in our schools And I have a better understanding of model four But I don't agree with the decision to keep students in grades seven through 12 fully remote for the first two months of school And then return to only one day a week of in-person instruction Grades two to six do get five days a week, but only start in person in october or november All students should be in school starting in september and seven through 12th graders deserve at least two days a week of school The long phase in of grades two to 12 is based on understandable and shared fear of covet We all want to keep our kids our teachers and our community safe And we all worry that opening schools could jeopardize that But the numbers tell another story As of yesterday august 12th amherst had 15 current cases That's out of around 39 000 people We can look at the numbers in a lot of different ways But 15 out of 39 000 just doesn't justify keeping 75 percent of our 3052 students out of school for months The damage done already is staggering All children lost a lot of learning in the spring and many suffered real emotional harm And consider students with moderate learning disabilities in grades four to 12 They are in school at all until november and most then only get one day a week Giving them little chance of catching up or having their IEPs and 504s followed with fidelity. However hard our educators try And then there's the issue of equity We know very well that there's a wide range among families and their ability to support kids with remote learning Which despite best efforts cannot measure up to in-person learning With model four you're asking thousands of families to come up with a plan to supervise their children at home on about four weeks notice Families who can will have to shell out thousands to hire tutors and nannies to teach their children at home Well families who can't afford that will have kids at home without real supervision and without adult guidance with distance learning The bottom line is that few children can get a free and appropriate public education under model four The massachusetts state constitution requires that our communities cherish The education of students specifically by supporting public schools and in promoting model four you are breaking that promise Finally as we approach november we approach flu season with symptoms that look very much like covid 19 making it harder Not easier to reopen schools safely If we have a bad flu season or if covid numbers rise this winter We may well not be able to safely reopen school this year at all Which will mean that students will go 16 months without in-person instruction suffering academic and social emotional harm that we cannot repair September and october is our chance to make sure kids are in school We don't know what the future brings but we do know that the numbers are low right now We have tents for outdoor learning. We have robust safety measures Take care of our kids and let them go to school. Thank you for your time and care in serving our children concludes public comment Moving on to our next um item. We have our superintendent's update from um self-turnover to you dr. Morse Sure, sorry to have a little connection issues. Um But I think the resolved if I get choppy if you all are hearing me in a choppy way just someone shout Um So, um I've got a number of small things So one is just that uh, we've been working for a while and uh, lining up an HVAC ventilation assessment for all of our schools And we've been successful and that'll start the end of next week the beginning of the following one And that's really looking at air flow and ventilation in our classrooms particularly focused on our the classrooms We're assuming will be our phase one classrooms Um as well as some others um because we have a little bit of time to focus on the ones not in there But um, that's something that we'll bring back to you in the public But something that I know um, there's concerns about ventilation and obviously HVAC folks are high demand But we've secured one that's working in a number of other districts in western massachusetts And that's what they have experts in is HVAC. They'll be able to Assess air flow a number of times air turns over and then also make recommendations for improvement Which is both of those things we need Uh, miss consolino our nurse manager will have full health and safety guideline out for next week We had most of that in the long document we sent to desi, but this one is more descriptive in terms of protocols For in you know, when students and families when students and staff return to school in a number of different situations pretty lengthy document We'll put that on our website Last night.  Um, got some positive feedback also from members of the community So I want to publicly thank the four doctors for making time and they're very very busy schedules these days To connect with the community and that way it's still available on youtube on the district's youtube page It's also on our um our fall 2020 page the video was saved and is uploaded there Tense starting to go up next week work with the town because the tents are large enough to be uh, they need permits They're not like the casual little ones you blow up behind the house These are 30 by 30 tents and so we're working effectively with the town and working on getting that Up and running, uh, which is great. Thanks to our facilities department for that Next week we'll have um admin professional development Focus on two things which I've talked about before the social emotional needs of students and staff and the bright Folks from the bright program not our bright program But the the the head of the bright program that works um and facilitates the program in multiple districts We'll be facilitating that as well as anti-racism work. Uh, miss cunningham and hr will Facilitate much and the HR department will facilitate much of that Work next week. I want to thank publicly. He's not on the call, but um obed Who you met at a couple meetings. He's been a fabulous intern from amherst college Today is his last day. So we thanked him all at our leadership team meeting this afternoon We're hoping to figure out a work away with amherst college where he can continue with us in in some ways in the fall um, and you know, he spires to work in schools and he's been we Continued say how much he's learned, but we've we've we've learned a tremendous amount from him and just has a bright future and we'd love to Continue to work with him, but want to publicly thank obed for his work this summer Um There are purifiers with hepa filters and UV lights are in they're being put together by facility staff The elementary schools are pretty much outfitted with them and getting on to the secondary now Um, so thanks to the facility staff. I really want to thank and this will be a theme of facility staff Um, if you try to buy these same products right now Uh, the wait is very long and so our facility staff, uh, really worked effectively With our public health staff both in the town and the schools to make purchases When things were available now everyone's scrambling to buy these things and so we feel really good We have tons of boxes If you've been in our middle school, which most of you haven't but I need one of you has You'll see a tremendous number of these in our facility staff have been Putting them together and installing them in spaces. So this one right side right side uh Next to my office that I hear running and so really appreciate the forward thinking on that because you know, that'll be a theme in a little bit as well A couple months ago. We also or about a month ago. We also purchased small desks for young students our youngest students typically use tables Um, we had enough desks but the middle school high school desks don't go down to the right size for our youngest learners These are also items that I hear from my superintendent listserv or out of stock for for um, I heard today till early november But ours are slated to be delivered in early september. Well in time for the school year to start So thanks again for our folks being on top of things Um, I will show you the first water bottle. You can see it. Um, it's got a really it's got our logo on it So we've purchased enough water bottles for all students in the district being that water fountains. Yeah, there we go Uh, cannot be utilized and um, so we're really pleased that those are starting to come in They'll be in by the end of the month in the full full amount um Another one where I just want to appreciate a staff member, um the um The there's a critic. I sort of referenced this last time, but I want to talk about it again There's a critical need or a critical slowdown on chromebooks internationally and that's because The producers of chromebooks used a vendor for a certain part and I can't describe the parts of computers but that that company was found to be guilty of labor law international labor law and so chromebooks that were literally in In the united states had to be sent back for good reason because of the labor piece But it's a huge piece a huge issue across the state Actually, the commonwealth has decided to support schools to do mass purchasing that we you know districts reimburse them for The slated estimated time for chromebooks is early october because of the slowdown and china's the supplier of many many chromebooks And our is department was able to find a vendor who could get us chromebooks that will arrive the first week of So many districts signed on and they're not going to get more chromebooks till october But we'll get them in time We also have purchased ipads for our youngest students just based on you know Where they are developmentally the touchscreen and using a keyboard not so essential when you're You're five years old And so all of those are also coming the first week in september So just you know really creative thinking and hard work to get all these things in in time and I want to think the is department not only for that but all the collecting of chromebooks they're doing now and You know many times I say why are you collecting if we're going to use them again? Because they need to be updated every year and otherwise if you don't then they will stop working and we don't want that to happen to our students So tremendous amount of devices in and out and you know really really wonderful job I was over last week to To Wildwood and fort river to see the progress on the update on the What used to be known as quads and both projects are operating very effectively they're ahead of schedule be done by the end of this month and Just enormous nice spaces It's sort of amazing the is department has now transferred the screens They want to make a more centered because it's instead of you know You only had a quarter of a room and I have half so that got done today So I know I'm just doing a lot of work updates, but I do think it's relevant to the committee and the communities to hear these You know we have some work that has happened We had an application for several schools for the harvard graduate schools diverse and equitable schools program rides And the application Was for some school-based staff to be involved in that and that would be supplemental to the additional ongoing interracist work and they actually did not get into the august Workshop because in the application they essentially cited that they all the work they're doing and they said no no no Our first year is people who aren't doing the things you're doing you can get in a little bit later So I appreciate the activism of our principles to be applying and also the recognition that this is part of ongoing work in the district This isn't brand new So thanks to them and thanks miss cunningham and many many community members who are contributing to the anti-racist curriculum That's being worked on over the summer Finally my last update. Sorry. This was a longer one Is that I do have updated figures out of 230 today. So the phase one family survey about return to school went out yesterday There are 216 responses, which is about 40 of the folks who got that survey Um And 156 or 72 of the people who got the survey indicated they wanted they chose to participate in in-person learning And 60 or 28 indicated they'll participate in fully remote learning So I'll continue to update the committee as we get more information But that's about you know 40 of respondents and those are the numbers we have As of 2 30 today, we did not have time to go back and check in the last five hours And that's my update Okay Miss seeker Oh, Dr. Morris. Can you repeat who the survey went out to? Sure. I'm sorry. I went to the parents guardians of Students who are in first phase. So that would be preschool students with disabilities kindergarten But I say grade levels. I'm talking about the upcoming year incoming kindergarten students incoming first grade students Slife or beginner ELL students students who are specialized special education programs or and students who do not have a permanent residence as per McKinney-Vento law Sorry, I should have been more explicit Any other questions? Um, thanks for the update. I have a couple things um So I guess one question I have is how long are we going to have to wait to get results from the hVAC assessment? um And I think it's great that we're doing that and I want to thank everybody who's worked on and getting that done I'll just go through all my questions at once. The other question is about the iPad and Chromebooks I think last year, you know, we encouraged students who had their own devices at home to use that I'm thinking specifically for the kids who were Young enough so they didn't already have a school issued one. So I'm curious This year. Are we going to be giving iPads to everybody? Is it only going to be going to the kids who State in need like I'm curious about how much we've purchased Have we got enough now for each student who could possibly ask for one? um, and then It sounded like you said 28 percent Requested remote. Was that right? Okay. I just want and then one final question was just about the professional development I think that sounds wonderful that we're doing into into racism and the bright work. I'm wondering um When we're going to potentially see some professional development around using some of these new tools for remote learning Because I think there's been at least I've been hearing from from folks that they'd like to have more professional development around the tools that are needed for remote learning Families and caregivers No, I think everybody could probably I was thinking about staff actually particularly with that comment I know that we have those extra 10 days now built into the calendar Are we going to wait until that point to start the professional development? Or will there be some potentially starting sooner and maybe this is something for The executive session later on this evening too, but um Thank you Timeline for HVAC my sense from them is it's pretty quick work. They have a I can't tell you what it is but an expensive machine that they bring in and then it tests airflow and How many times how quickly the air turns over? and Then they look at the building systems and they you know It's not something that it takes three weeks for them to come back with that information I can't give you Exact dates, but when mr. Roy Clark and I spoke to them over the phone The data readings they're getting they're able to do 15 to 20 rooms a day And collect those and I think some of the recommendations make a little longer But they understand that schools are under, you know tight timelines for for that work In terms of devices It doesn't really matter in person versus remote because as you know, we're not going to use computer labs and things like that So we've ordered enough where there'd be one per student Whether they choose to be you know, whether ends up being a student accessing it remotely or a student who's in school You know, I think at the kindergarten level in school, we're pretty we try to be pretty light with Screens and things like that But but there are opportunities some of our literacy programs And math programs do have applications and particularly literacy as applications that are Accessible via ipad and ipad is actually the preferred source because you know It's the touch screen makes a huge difference when you're You know to space on the age of the child and the pd I think well that'll come up in the virtual on the agenda in the Virtual education or virtual learning updates. So if you're okay waiting for that, I think it would just it's in the slides So I think I can describe it more definitively Okay, thank you Any other questions for the superintendent? And we'll go to miss kenny first and then back to miss spitzer Is kenny so Thank you. Um, so the ipads and chromebooks will be for all students in all of the districts. So like First graders in palom whether they're in school or at home will have ipads I think first grade Yeah That we're thinking about for ipads Yeah, palom is a little bit of a different draw and we have to be a little more creative with how we fill the needs Because it is a different budget and the coven funds aren't don't go quite as far in that community as they do and In Amherst or the region so but that is where we feel we're collecting them now So assuming we collect what we expect to collect and have a yield. That's not wildly different We don't expect 100 coming in in perfect condition, but we we expect most We should be okay. Um, and we do have some backup plans if we're not We're not there it was the case last year too that many families in palom chose Who are doing remote? Well, we're all doing well, but many families in palom Opted or suggested they did not need a chrome books Last year so we want to supply for families who need but um Palom had really different patterns than Amherst the region in terms of needs of both hotspots and chrome books Any other? Oh, oh, yeah, mr. Sir As long as nobody else has another question, I I forgot to give another things hit rundown. Oh just one question for the kindergarteners I know there's always this issue about getting people registered and given the timing of everything We're we're sending out the kind of the binding survey around are you coming back or not? And sometimes at this point in year we haven't actually identified everybody who's going to be starting with kindergarten so could you give us just an update on where we're at with registration for kindergarten in regards to like past year's expectations and things like that Yeah, so they're they're um, if you look five years ago as in uh, live births They're they're sort of tracking pretty consistent that they're a little lower But not particularly people have done a fabulous job doing outreach And we've gotten a number of families who have registered actually in the last couple weeks Um, once we get our yield, you know, the survey is good till next Tuesday We'll look at what our class size is and if we do get additional registrants after and we do have space in classes Then we would want to give families that option Um, and if we don't then that's going to be a more difficult just candidly more difficult conversation because much like families who choose virtual at the beginning of the year we can't casually have Um students move into in-person learning If there's not space and we have to be really cautious about that So, um, you know, I want to really thank Dr. Gavar and Ms. Richardson. Uh, you've met both of them I think in the past, um, Pelham folks might not have met Ms. Richardson She's our ELL director or coordinator, excuse me And they've both done tremendous amounts of outreach in various communities and we've seen a big uptick Particularly in certain areas or certain pockets of our community of families registering And Ms. Martinez who's our registrar as well Um, so thank them for the work the numbers compared to like even a month ago are significantly different and And we feel like we have a better handle on the yield Mr. Demling Um, so I'm glad Ms. Spitzer mentioned, uh, uh, kindergarten registration because I wanted a question for me about, uh, Kamenontes So we spent a long time last year talking about the ramp up the Kamenontes program and the enrollment the balancing of the numbers Obviously when we designed that program we did not anticipate where we would be now I would imagine that that is Quite the massive curve ball to this very young program that we all care so much about if you could give us Maybe just a little bit of update about where that's all at Yep, so Ms. Chamberlain, uh, Ms. Richardson, uh, and I have met about it probably three times in the last eight days something like that, um and You know, we are tracking particularly the spanish-speaking population of kindergarten Um, or the bilingual population, you know the Kindergarten students with spanish-language backgrounds is the accurate way. I should have said that And we want to make sure that we're, um, situated to have relatively balanced classes Uh, until we get feedback of which students are returning, uh, like I don't know any of the kids I just got the raw numbers from Ms. Ms. Ms. Moreland when we actually look at the students who are choosing to return We'll be better able to, um, do that at this point Uh, I think it's better to wait till we talk about virtual education in kindergarten Because there's actually some logical places that we should, uh, when you look at the virtual education kindergarten, uh, draft schedule I think some natural questions will come up about coming on days and I'd rather do it a little more within the flow of the That's what you have, Mr. Demling All right Any other questions Ms. Barlow Hi, um, could you please repeat what percentage of the families and answered the phase one survey? I'm also curious if you could share if there were discrepancies by school or was it just 28% that shows, um, remote learning across the board? Were they pretty even? So I did not do that level of data analysis yet. This was something, um, you know, it's The good news is we have it translated into five or six language. The band loses Collecting results for those five or six languages is it creates a little bit of a data slowdown Um, so we have 216 responses. I'll just repeat the numbers Um, uh, so far it went out to about the families of about 500 students in that vicinity. So it was about 40% of the respondents The total people that was sent to 156 or 72 indicated they would participate in in-person learning 60 or 28 percent Of students indicated that they would participate in fully remote learning. I did not yet have a breakdown and I you know For me, I'm curious about, um, by school but also by, um, you know, are these kindergarten first grade students? Are they preschool students with disabilities? Are they um, we can event those students who's responding who's not responding in the first day? You know, we are actively, you know, going to work on a reminder system on monday and make phone calls if needed because we know, um We're trying to do a number of forms of outreach not to convince of families of anything to be really clear Just to make sure they got the information if they have questions. They have a place to go Um, so again, thanks to dr. Gabbara miss richards and same people I've referenced earlier They're kind of leading the charge and dr. Brady actually on the special ed front They're leading the charge to see who's responding and who needs a contact And again, I want to be really clear. It's just about providing information We really feel like this should be a family's choice that they shouldn't be any Preferences from anyone who contacts them it's just making sure people get all the information and can make the choice That they think is right I mean, I think one thing I like last night that the doctor said is, you know, when families make You know, whatever choice families make it's the right choice for them, you know And I think that's right and that's the that's sort of the motto and the ethos that we're trying to enter this You know, we someone a couple people look at even the survey questions to make sure You know, we wanted to be really balanced about how we approached it and we'll see if those numbers shift over time We do have the town halls on monday You know, I know some families want to hear a little more and that's an opportunity for people to hear it So we made the deadline Tuesday originally the deadline was going to be monday But we felt like that was the right thing to do once we realized that we couldn't do the town hall sooner But I'll certainly Keep the committee updated once we get the final tallies and at that point, absolutely we're going to break it down by school and in many other ways I think we've Had all the questions. I just want to call it. I know you've said this doctor Morris already that sort of appreciation for the forward thinking of Of many in the district staff in terms of ordering supplies and furniture and equipment and everything and I just want to Call that out again because I think we're in a position That we're able to able to consider in person um learning At the beginning of our school year because of that forward thinking and that and that Planning the budgeting you're putting things into place and that's that's huge So I just you know huge kudos to everybody that was involved in getting you know, whether it's hand sanitizers ppe Desks furniture Air filters the construction. Um, that's happening in our schools. It's it's phenomenal. So I just want to express my you know great deep deep appreciation Yeah, and if I could add to that someone I should have mentioned And he would not want me to do this is Doug slaughter our finance director A heck of a year to be a first year finance director You know and the good news is we keep on getting grants and we've applied for more. We're going to hear more next week Which is really great for the budget and also adds a tremendous workload not just him but Shannon in his office and You know again the cares act all those things are great but from a budgeting and Record bookkeeping perspective it adds an additional layer layer of challenge and we're buying subsequently different things that we have in the past And everything's on a tight timeline. So, you know Not to go overboard on but I think the business office and dr. Slaughter really need to be acknowledged as well Mr. Demley Yes, just on that exact same theme I just did also want to publicly thank the town of Amherst and that's specifically the town manager and the town council There are a number of districts in the commonwealth that are not getting all the cares money They need from their respective towns and that's not necessarily to say that The towns themselves don't have their own needs, you know, this is this is a zero-sum game of funds We happen to be in a position where all the cares act procurement that we need to do The town of Amherst, you know, the town council and the town manager have been very accommodating with with all our needs, you know, according to superintendent. So You know, we that's not the case everywhere and it's a word. I'm very appreciative of that And I just want to publicly acknowledge that that's that's a very positive thing for us Right now and it enabled all that proactive activity going forward Okay, um Great. So I think um, we'll move on to the next agenda item, which is a chair's update I don't have anything to update. Um, so maybe that will catch us up a little bit. Um, chair hall. Did you have any? Nothing tonight. Thank you um and A school committee announcements. Does anybody in the committee have an announcement? Miss Segar and then mr. Sullivan and miss lord Miss Segar I recently Wrote a letter to senator cumberford and represented the play about Homeschooling this year and the district's being held harmless If anybody would like a copy of what I sent you welcome to Take it changed as you see fit and send it along as well I heard back from representative play that she was gonna take my questions and pass them along to folks Because she had a bunch herself But it would be a shame if parents did choose homeschooling for their children and the district was penalized for it because Um, all options are on the table and families need to do what they need to do and the school district shouldn't be penalized so thanks Mr. Sullivan Take this mask off now. So it's just some observations I joined the meeting at seven when my mask on At seven oh eight. I had to adjust it for the first time because it was uncomfortable At seven ten. I started playing with it and by seven fourteen I lost interest in listening to mr. Moore dr. Morris and I started Hope you're muted. Oh So I couldn't keep my attention on the speaker because I was Just struggling to keep the mask on to see how long I could do it So I failed I it was like 28 minutes that I was able to Somewhat keep it on so I guess that was my experiment for the night miss lord I'd like to invite everyone to the school equity task force meeting Wednesday August 19th from six to seven thirty. Thank you Okay, thank you Um, okay moving on to new and continuing business. Um, we have the we're now going to review the 2020 2021 school calendar and I believe Is there a new one that's not in the packet? I was going to ask if I could display and explain the changes so Before I put it up last night. We received some what I consider excellent feedback from the apea on the calendar So, um, I it's a little different than what was in the packet not tremendously But I want to display the new version. It was emailed to the committee just earlier today Because it took us a little while to integrate that feedback in that we received yesterday afternoon or evening It's all blending together So the short story on this is that um staff would return. No, it's hard to let me see if I can display it It's hard with vertical files But staff would return when they were planning to return, which is the 31st But given the state's uh reduction in the number of days in school from 180 to 170 The first 10 days would be for professional development. The 11th day the 15th of september would be for convocation And the first day of learning for all students in grades one through 12 would be the 16th Obviously some some virtual some in person We'd have orientation days preschool and kindergarten with the first day of those being the 18th of september Some of the feedback was and it's totally accurate as we were doing schedules We did Remove inadvertently some of the early release days That occurred during the course of the school year. So we added those back in Another change was on january 6th, which is celebrated as three kings day There was a request To include that that came actually from principals last year as well Because a significant number particularly of staff members were taking the day off to celebrate as as they should And it actually was getting hard to staff the buildings. So we wanted holy oaks and other districts Do have that day off For that and and we thought that was a good idea Juneteenth, which you knew because I've shared with you in june Was a holiday that people were able to take off this year and there was a request that it would be Even though it's a weekend this year that it's It's explicitly listed that way And the last request was to move push back some of the elementary early release days That are designed for parent conferences a little later given the later start of the school year So they're now pushed back To late october 30th and november 2nd and again all of those were great ideas So I appreciate the a pea leadership sharing those with us in time to make those edits and be able to present them for you The does the three kings day does push the last day of school to june 21st Please note that no snow days are included. And so all inclement weather days would be distance learning So we can be confident that june 21st is the last day It did come up when we had the canceled meeting. What if there's a day with No internet connections if there's an electrical storm So there's you know, what I find in the era of covet is you know, you peel the onion and you can never really get to the inside, right? It's there continues to be layers And so I think that is something that we will have to Plan around that it really if there's power outages and widespread power outages That don't allow for distance learning. We may have to come back to that question. Thankfully, there are fewer of those and there are snowy days Uh, especially in our towns of shoots baron leveret. Um, but also in amerson pelham as well So that so we did make some edits, but it was based on feedback from our association again appreciate the feedback and We we tried to integrate in all of their pieces of feedback Because we thought they were helpful. Um, I know that many families are looking forward to having a calendar um and So that's I think what I have to share and I'm open to any questions Mr. Demling Yes, uh, so thank you for this. Um So one question on on november 3rd and november 4th so uh november Third is going to be a busy day in the country. Hopefully the next day is a happy day for for most of us but um As as those of us in amersed, uh, we're following recent events. No, um Many people in town are going to be walking through our schools during election day with the polling Uh, and obviously that's a safety issue in covet times So I won't I won't attempt to summarize the entire town council. Um discussion on it, but basically, um That's going to be happening. And so, um I was I'm curious what what the what the thinking is in terms of um Of november 4th of the day after right so we have we have the third office is no one's in the building no no students in the building um, so that's when when people are going to be using buildings as polling places, but um, I assume then that we want to do some level of Cleaning prior to uh Having the students back in the building So could you just walk us through what the what the plan is there and what level if of involvement If any town of amersed has with that and what that all means So I'll have a little more information in our morning. Mr. Roy Clark myself are meeting with the town Uh, but what I do know in the conversations we've had with the town over the last week Um, that's uh voters would not be walking through the building They would be um using external entrances to enter the crocker farm library the wildwood gym and the fort river gym So those individual spaces would undergo significant, um hydrostatic cleaning Uh and would be off limits to staff the next day We're not planning on using those spaces and those schools On a on a routine daily basis That couldn't be adjusted for They're they're bringing in their own bathrooms that will be outside, you know port-a-potty kind of things And they will be the doors will be locked and there will be explicit support for the volunteers to not allow any voter to enter any space That is not uh and the high school gym the same that's what one of those three spaces So we do feel at this point confident that we can have school in in buildings the next day We do not feel that those spaces would be suitable for students to enter into and we may have to do some adjustments Because of that for students and staff. I should say so, you know, it could be the case that You know both pe and library Those staff would not be able to return to those rooms the next day because my quick sense is there'll be a lot of cleaning that night But the thorough cleaning is going to occur the next day as you note on the 4th of november But since since voters will not be entering the school building Other than those spaces and the doors will be locked. I feel and the constables will be there I feel very confident that we can run school the next day With the adjustment for those individual spaces being off limits to student and staff This is an adjustment particularly for those of you about crocker farm where voting used to be in the gym There's no way to get to the gym at crocker farm without walking through the building and that's why We've slated it for the library at crocker farm so that there's an external entrance And exit and it will not involve visitors to the building being in the building really just that one space Any other questions on the calendar? So two things i'll start off with a smaller thing. I think in the path I think it was before before covet this year We heard from a group of jewish students who were concerned about recognizing the jewish holidays in our calendar And I realized this is a There are many many different faiths in our school. So it would be difficult to necessarily call it one But i i'm bringing it up because they did come to us and and Submitted comment about this. So could you what we've done if anything to? Be able to those questions I'm so glad you remembered that um, and um, so really we should be shifting That first early release date to the 28th Which would have was originally and I think in the transition to covet calendar and other changes that got lost. So I believe I can check for it, but one of the holidays I believe is on the weekend this year. Um, and one is during Yeah, so rosh Hashanah the week is on that. Yep. Um, and so if the committee would, um Allow for That to be an edit to this calendar and I want to really appreciate miss spitzer for recalling that Conversation commitment we made to students and boy does that feel like a while ago, but it's no less important. Um that we do that now so thank you And and so my other comment is is sort of a big picture Kind of thinking outside the box thing that i'm not expecting to be resolved today But I I do think it you know as somebody who's been reading almost Everything I've had about schools and they For covet or calendars a little backwards like really it would have been nice to have our kids in school all summer And then to have them home with us during the cold and flu season um So that's one thought and something I've been reading also the other thing is that You know as somebody who I'm hoping my kids will be in person and care And I'm also really hoping I can spend the holidays with my family. So things like you know Whether it's you know Thanksgiving or these other holidays I could imagine that a lot of families are going to be really weighing Do I keep my home my kid home for two weeks so they can technically quarantine before we get together over the december break for holidays? and and so I don't I just want to plant the seed as something for us to think about especially if this year proves I'm really hoping we get a vaccine But i'm a little worried we could be living in this new world for a while And thinking about the ways that we can potentially change the calendar so that we have More time in person when cold and flu are not around and also thinking about if you know Now we kind of do the holiday up front and then you get a week to spend with your family But what if we did that week ahead of time so people could Quarantine at home including our staff who are going to want to also see their family Um and then get to spend the holiday feeling more confident that they're not potentially Impacting their loved ones I don't know if anybody else has I've been having these conversations with other parents about about the holidays and what I'm going to be doing um, so I just wanted to plant that seed and Maybe we can talk about it later Dr. Morris, I think we should talk about it now You know, I'd love to get this voted tonight to be honest with you I think it'd be a relief to families and staff to know what the schedule is going to be Um, I'm I don't have strong feelings either way and by that I don't mean that I disagree with your comments miss spitzer I mean, I truly can see both sides of that. I think the other side is That's a long break for some families who aren't going to be traveling. Um, it's a long time to not have access to adult in school Um, and I think your point is really well taken in this era I tend to agree with you at my hopes for a vaccine everything that I'm reading is, you know People assume that uh, some people assume that it's like a 98 percent polio style vaccine Uh, I think there's no evidence that that is going to be likely. Um, that if the vaccine comes It's going to be hopefully better than the flu vaccine, but you know, probably in between there and and what we want it to be Um, so I think we're going to be in this world for a long time. Um, sorry to be a downer But that's all the science that I've read points in that direction. Um, so I'm very comfortable You know, I think what your suggestion would be is that Um that the 18th of december would be the last, um last day if I'm understanding you correctly Um Of school and then we'd return on the january 4th. That would push us the school. You're going to the 24th of june um And I'm very comfortable with that. I'm also comfortable staying with the course really whatever the committee is operationally, um, we'll be fine either way. So it's really, uh, you know, however the committee feels about it We will make that work and You know me if I have strong feelings, I'll tell you but I think I could I'm very comfortable either either way on that I I wonder if you could Instead of starting on the 18th Just add if we wanted to do that. Um Add the fourth and fifth of january I know that's counter to what you just suggested miss spitzer about having the break before the holiday But if we're if what we're trying to get to is a two-week quarantine It seems it would feel a little less disruptive if it was Um a contiguous two weeks that rather than coming back to school for two days and then have another holiday in there. So um That it would still get us a two-week, um Break at that time frame I'd be fine with that and I I'd also say like potentially I mean this year we cancel leaves a big chunk of spring break. Um to Shorten the school year so people could Because people weren't traveling and who knows what the world will be in april and and i'm also happy staying with this calendar But I think for 2021 22 if if we're you know in january still in the same place I think we may want to fundamentally think about how we're doing this and That's part that was also part of the reason not necessarily for changing this calendar If people feel like it would be too disruptive for families who are dealing with so many changes But to start to start that conversation even about next year now miss seager Yeah, I think that's a really good point about looking at the months and thinking that like the april break april may and june are the perfect times to have the windows open and to be outside more and so that I don't know if we want to think about that tonight But definitely look at reevaluating April break break at some point during the school year to see if it's better done Earlier a different time but because those are going to be the times and it's probably best to I think what we're trying to do is get to what's our default calendar right now and and vote that and obviously if If pandemic requires us to do things differently we'll adjust in the same way that we adjusted this year But I think what the superintendent is asking for from us tonight is to Vote on what is our default calendar assuming there's no other emergency closures or changes So set another way if if we're thinking about the april vacation, that's something we need to be deciding now Mr. Harrington Yeah, I was just kind of kind of kind of add on and just add a little bit of Different perspective in terms of lengthening that so I'm in full agreement with the idea of kind of extending that winter breakup or well the holiday break a bit I'm not I'm not sure which side I'd lean more towards but That's like it's kind of like a reset and retooling time for the facilities department And I think all things considered that having that extra little buffer time. I think it benefits Everyone involved you get to My son who hasn't seen his grandmother for forever will get to Have that time and so will some staff and other students But then then also being able to reassess where we're at right then and You know actually get some some progress done during that period. I think would be beneficial as well Mr. Demling Yes, so just to clarify of what we're talking about here. So is the Is the mcdonald proposal for lack of a better term? adding January 4th and January 5th as Paul as uh As break days as as non-school days in which in which case the last day of school bumps out two days Is that the is that the variant? And then and then the other variant and then the first variant that miss spitzer proposed was um Adding the 20 december 21st 22nd and 23rd. Is that the okay? Yeah, I mean if if dr. Morris is truly 100 agnostic on the educational impact Then I guess i'm fine either way. I I guess I do like that the um The fourth and fifth a little better um Because it it keeps the the the natural academic rap I guess academic wrap up is a relative term at the high school when your finals are are later in january um, I say that mid comment um Yeah, I I guess i'm i'm not feeling strong more stronger either way. Um so, uh I guess the strongest feeling i'm feeling is that I want to vote a calendar tonight and so um If if there are members of the committee that are have compelling reasons one way or the other I'm I'm more than happy to hear them and So that we can decide one way or the other. Um, it does seem like when you add the 21st 22nd 23rd I'm just looking at the grid right now. Um, but when Not when that then connects to the weekend you get a whole lot of days in a row again when kids are out of out of school and and you know, um Not connecting with the teachers that does seem a little long So I I guess I guess I have a small preference as I'm thinking out loud for january fourth and fifth But again, it's not a strong preference at the moment Dr. Morris Actually, I just wanted to see if miss gripco. I'm really curious about the student experience and and as you don't have to comment But you know given the the three options one is the one that the schedule as as listed the second would be fourth fifth and sixth and the other one would be starting You know with the 21st 22nd and 23rd You're probably the expert right now on what would feel Better both as a student but also as someone who might want to see her family and During that time I don't mean again not to put you on the spot But I seem to be the person who does that sometimes but I'm just I only do that because I'm curious about your opinion if you're willing to share it Yeah, so I think um having I mean in my opinion, I think having time before The holidays is make sense But I think as listed it's fine. I think it's it's um Something that people can sort of agree on and it still gives time for people So I guess that's my comment I guess one of the things that I struggle with is is the concept of quarantining so that folks Visit family or travel Because in theory if you're if you're visiting somebody you should be quarantining for two weeks before you see them And then if you've gone someplace else you need to quarantine when you for two weeks when you come back So I'm not sure how we're addressing that by tacking on A few days whether it's before the holiday or after the holiday just because In either scenario, you don't really have a full two weeks to quarantine and we certainly don't want to be encouraging people to travel Um over any of the break of any length and then come right back to school on the fourth Um without without quarantining after traveling. I mean, it's assuming that we still have the same travel restrictions that we have today Um, so I guess I'm a little torn to be honest. I'm not sure if we're really Accomplishing what we're what we're trying to Um at that point And the question of how many people would really be able to travel From that perspective Um miss spitzer, but I'm not even considering like um Traveling, I mean, it's just like even if your family lives within the same town as you you may cut off connections with them I mean now you can socially distance you can be outside and you can wave but in the middle of december It's going to be a lot harder to have a socially distance visit with with a loved one even if they live within your same community Um, the other thing that we could do to address this Well, and then there's this issue of like the air flow and we're encouraging You know classrooms right now to be outside to open windows. I'm just thinking december is going to be a hard month for us to do that Um, so adding if we took time from warmer months and put it You know breaks and warmer months to the colder months I could see the advantage not necessarily about the quarantining, but you're just Improving the likelihood that people are going to be able to actually get in-person instruction um, the other argument I'd make in favor of it, um Would just be that Or not another argument But another way we could achieve the same goal that wanted to affect the calendar would be potentially Going virtual for some of those days, but I think it's hard to argue that when we're in november You know just going to be bringing back some of our students Um To them could be putting them back into virtual after just bringing them back. So anyway, I this is why it's important How to conversation about it's complicated miss hall So actually I just have a really quick procedural question that I should probably know this is I mean, I understand that I can share my opinions I kind of find either way But this is strictly a region vote, right? This is not doesn't the vote of the calendar just sit squarely with the region Yes, and I feel like I can go either way It's hard for me time has no meaning anymore. I can't even think about December So I can't even formulate an opinion, but just wanted to confirm who is working any other comments questions miss seeker So I feel really um But I think it's really hard for me to to Think through this right now Um, and I'm just going to toss out an idea of saying like what if there wasn't the april break Last year in the spring. We uh, at least in levered I think we canceled a few days of it and had a couple days of it But people really just wanted to keep going. I felt like they finally got the their their routine happening and Remote schooling working for them. So I just wonder if that's going to be the similar way and if we didn't have that week those days could go into Covering the summer 21st 22nd and 23rd as well as the 4th and 5th of January um, that being said, I I I am just I I still feel like that's even a crazy idea because Educators by the time they get to april they probably want that break families want that break So I I feel like there aren't a whole lot of good options here, especially considering Just having a few days Leading up to the holidays in december like Miss mcgottel mentioned There's not a whole lot of time to quarantine there And so if you had a longer time then then people could actually quarantine maybe travel a little bit and see their families But then it's a lot of time for the students to be away from the school So that just feels like there's I'm really confused on what to do and there's like no good answer here Dr. Morris Yep, so a couple things one is that the regional school committee has a policy that uh, we have Vacations in february and april So I think if you really want to go down that road you'd have to suspend the current policy that you have the second thing is um I just also want to caution us that everything we heard from medical professionals yesterday is we're not really trying to encourage travel particularly to areas at that given time maybe hot spots quarantine or not that is um We can't control what people do, but there may be a 14 day We don't know what life will be like in december. There may be a 14 day quarantine if you're returning from um the state of Whatever i'm not going to pick one because then someone get mad at me, but um It could be from when you leave the 413 right and you enter the 508 there may be a quarantine period So I think there's a lot of variables here I think the idea of having a little bit longer winter break and adding days in june where it's more possible to be outside I think that's a sound principle regardless Given the situation we're in And you know and i'm comfortable going either way, but i'm supportive of extending that break because I do think you know It just will make a whole lot of sense Uh when we get there um, so, you know, I am supportive I don't have a strong preference either way about you know adding days before or Adding days afterwards. Um, it will push this end of the squeer to be a little later But I think that's okay and actually Frankly for many of our students having a longer break then and then a shorter summer break is actually a really good thing you know that if you look at research about when the Achievement gap or opportunity gap grows the most it's summer months It's very low growth there in the school year and significant growth in the summer. So I'm all for that I'm now turned over. I'm not neutral I don't have a I don't want to make a decision for the committee, but I think I think you're hearing the conversation It makes sense Whether it's before or after Makes little has little impact for me If I had to make a suggestion, I probably would make it longer before And I think that's because I'm not worried about having disruption a little when we come back and having a four-day week I actually kind of like four-day weeks after a long break I think that there's a nice flow to that and the reason why we don't like Having five-day weeks to start the year and after a long break. I think that makes sense. So I guess my slight preference would be Start having the 18th of december be the last day of school and having that long break It does push us, you know kind of late in june, but again, I think there's some upsides to that as well So the conversation generated an opinion for me. That's the way it's supposed to go So if you go with a different opinion, I'm totally fine. I'll make it work. We'll make it work regardless But that's where I am at the moment Please mr. Manino you had your hand raised I support uh professor morris's uh non-neutral suggestion Is that is that emotion mr. Manino? Yes, it is emotion I move that we extend the Holiday break and add a couple of days to the end of the year. I guess that's the sense of the motion And approve the calendar, um, oh to approve the calendar definitely so, uh, I said another you moved to Mr. Manino has moved to approve the calendar with the addition of the 21st 22nd and 23rd of december as holidays And adding the appropriate number of days on the end of the year I'll second that Is that mr. Seeger Moved by Manino second by seager. I'm seeing some discussions. So I'll start I saw mr. Harrington's hand first and mr. Spitzer and mr. Demling Oh, no, I was I was just gonna ask Which part of the extended holiday break you wanted and then he did those clarified so i'm good. Okay, mr. Demling Um, so did we get that I'm losing track now. Do did we get that change to the uh, young corpore Day in september as well Would mr. Manino accept that as a friendly amendment to the motion? Yes. Yes Thank you Miss spitzer That was my comment as well. Thank you Miss seager So what then would be the official end of the year with us holidays and the extended break? It would be the 24th of june Okay All right one comment Yes, miss stancer. I just wanted an observation that that week first week in january wednesday is Going to be a holiday this year too. So there will be Just just an observation. That's the three kings day that's been added as a vacation day Okay, so we'll take a um a roll call vote of the region only Mr. Demling Demling I Mr. Harrington Harrington I Miss lord Lord I Mr. Manino Manino I Miss seager Seager I Miss spitzer Spitzer I Miss stancer Stancer I Mr. Sullivan Sullivan I And mcdonald I The motion passes nine to zero Thank you and now We will move to the next item which is discussion about outreach with the community the virtual town halls um And I saw a slew of Of notices and schedules. So um dr. Morris. Maybe you could update us on what's been scheduled so far Sure, I just want to go back. I think I mentioned a superintendent update But I want to thank the committee many of the committee members were able to make it to A Event last saturday on east Hadley road Thank you for coming. I don't know you all felt I really enjoyed being it. It was an in person event I want to thank the community south point the management company for welcoming not just people at south point But a number of different Housing areas all along east Hadley road. We had a really nice turnout I'll reference some of the feedback we received Actually two times in an upcoming presentation. It's really impactful to me We're doing the same kind of event on saturday. Um, it's for olympia oaks and village park families And again because of covet and other things We're asking just for the families who live in those two areas to be able to come It's at 10 o'clock all of you are welcome to come if you like it's on the olympia oaks side Of that which if anyone has questions, just let me know and I'll get to the right place But really really enjoyed that and and again the dialogue I found really helpful Um, we're doing virtual town halls on monday. Nine o'clock is the secondary nine to ten And four to five at the elementary these was emailed out. They're on youtube so we can ask live questions We'll have a brief slide deck that we'll share out We're also going to do a narration of that slide deck and for other languages and send it out to the families Who identify that as their primary language? Um, like like I mentioned before for those live town halls will also have google meet information So people can follow live and ask questions through the interpreter In their language who do the translation and type it in So we're looking forward to those And that's I think the next couple days of Of engagement for us on that matter on the return to school matter I can answer any questions that anyone would have Mr. Denley So we've got some feedback on the previous and now these about Possibility scheduling some town halls outside of work hours. Can you comment on that possibility? Yeah, so I think one of the things that that that's difficult about that is that we want to have a broad representation So for instance, all of our principals are participating Our nurse manager, perhaps our facilities director And so it gets a little hard to schedule everyone's Time at those times, but the sessions are recorded and if people do have questions beforehand They want to make sure we answer they can certainly send them to me at morris m.arps.org And we're we're happy to include those in the conversation on monday For that, but you know, if you follow that link like all of our other youtube ones that link stays live indefinitely and so People can track along they can ask questions make sure they're answered You know by emailing me and we'll integrate them as best we can into the presentation any other questions Mr. Demling So as as the information overload train Speeds along and parents get kind of inundated, you know, we're gonna have a lot of different information sources Which is great faq and forums and emails If a parent is going along and then has like a specific detailed question, right between now and the starter school What's what's the best source for them?  So like we're we're we're ought they to go What what should we recommend? Yeah, I think in this situation the first place is always a building principal Sometimes if they're concerned that it's more of a districtwide issue they can, you know, cc that building principal or cc me And we can direct that I think we've been reasonably good at responding to questions Or comments that we received by the information flow getting managed Mr. Small and miss figaro in particular are really good at figuring out where questions need to go and Making sure they get to the right place But I think for most people the the person they know the best The exception of the incoming kindergartners and maybe preschoolers Is their principal and and even if it's a question that ends up getting routed Elsewhere I think starting in that place typically makes the most sense Any other questions? No Okay Moving on and we'll now move to the next item, which is public health metrics for opening and phasing models For you dr. Morse Sure, so we started this conversation last week since last week We've done a significant amount of research into what other states and communities are doing Since last week the state has also come out with their own metrics, which um I'll describe why I find their metrics Not particularly helpful for our needs in a little bit But we have some significant changes that of What I believe should be our metrics for opening school and phasing since we since we talked about this last week So I'll start by sharing a slide deck Let me one quick second to get that going Okay That's on the not on the first slide. All right. Is that visible to folks? Okay So, um, I want to thank the folks in Cambridge, Massachusetts We did not actually end up going with the same metrics they did But we did borrow a lot of their language And you know, whoever's their graphics person did a fabulous job So, uh, we want to I want to publicly thank them and thank them for their work and their use of that So really, you know, starting from even last night's conversation There are medical risk factors and ways to reduce risk and you know People with underlying health conditions encourage support to stay at home, of course Health procedures and and I think the the medical professionals were great in talking about this that face coverings ventilation Like our purifiers making sure classrooms have windows all those types of things Handwashing hand sanitizing those are really critical And they contribute to the overall number staying low and they're really critical Our approach actually frankly much like Cambridge. We have similar models Have younger students coming back first along with students at the highest needs And also that the density in classrooms and school buildings Is significantly reduced and we talked about de-densifying a lot and and that really matters for for air quality and all the other things You know, we want to monitor the community conditions I think one of the things we heard last night, which I think was spot on is If community transmission rate is low school transmission rate will be low If community transmission rate is high school transmission rate will be high That schools aren't in and of themselves unrelated to the community They are part of the community and they're a place where if the community metrics and health is is going well It's highly likely that school will and vice versa And that that's proven true in many many areas So I think we're seeing some really negative examples In southern states that have started with have really high community transmission rates And it's not surprising that the school transmission rates have been problematic And the same thing would be true here if our rates were the same And I think the last point I want to say here it was completely borrowed from Cambridge, but You know, it's important to keep in mind that for some children There are heavy risks associated with being at home and to making decisions. We must balance those risks I thought that was a really helpful comment that I am happy to credit and Cambridge and and steal from them So when we get to metrics, we did more analysis of other states and other places I want to note that we Intentionally did not include metrics that we wouldn't agree with so for instance states like Oklahoma have metrics of when you would need to wear a mask in school We didn't include that because that's not, you know, it's no disrespect to to the state of Oklahoma But that's not something we would implement here It goes against all of the recommendation that received from national organizations. So We really only pick the metrics That we felt like we're helpful in describing it if we wanted to make our metrics look like really different than them We could have because some of the metrics that have come up in other states Are wildly different than what we would consider here New York state has a five percent testing rate in the region And a fourteen eight average and if it goes a greater than nine percent even in a seven day, they have to close CDC World Health Organization also both have five percent and there's citations to that New York City because of their density has described that three percent positive testing rate in the city would be their average They feel like because of the high population density in the city, they needed to go lower than the state average I think it's worth noting that both for the state and New York City They're talking about regions and New York City in itself Having grown up actually being born in New York City. It's a region into itself. There's eight million people who live there And in New York state, they're telling you regions and I've seen that a lot I think one of my critiques in the summer bill mayor talked about it this Last night is that when you look at town by town unless you're talking about large urban areas Just and I don't mean to be flip about it, but our borders are porous From where I live I can walk to three towns If I'm really feeling motivated I can run to another town that's in a different county And so when we think about town by town numbers Um, they really aren't as helpful as we look at the communities and the region And so we we we are looking at Hampshire and franklin county As our numbers and we'll get into the kind of the weeds on that in a little bit But you know, if you look at the statewide map and again, I'm not trying to pick on governor baker or whoever put that together You know more than half the communities are in white on their map And if you've seen that map white means that the population is too low to come to any conclusions based on cases Um, that's not for me very helpful as a guiding metric Three of our towns fit in that category that they will be white forever Um, you know on that map and then that white is something that doesn't change because it's Too small for the the metrics to use So, you know, I think having a regional approach is what I've seen in other states And I think it makes sense to me. So I do appreciate the work of the state. I just don't find it helpful um Harvard goes institute harvard Excuse me global health institute recently came out with a report that talked about 3 positive testing in the area of the region And 1 to 2 7 1 to 10 new cases daily, which works out to 7 to 70 new cases per week per 100,000 Medicaid use that same metric, which is less than 70 cases new week per 100,000. They also have a metric around Uh growth or increase in cases, although it's not as finite as I'd like it to be personally uh Cambridge, uh, again, no disrespect to cambridge. They came up with a lot of the slides, but um, they have a Need to two out of three to open a five percent testing rate um Then uh less than 25 cases per day for us. We're looking at per week. So that'd be 150 new cases per week And um, and then 100,000 people and uh per 100,000 people and then the sewage waste water monitoring, which, you know I'm not going to get into here. Um, I think cambridge also is using a two county model Or I know cambridge is also using a two county model Middle sex and one of the other ones which I uh suffocate perhaps, but I'm not so good at my counties in eastern massachusetts So I apologize But there are a very similar approach where cambridge is a much larger community and they recognize that people Um, not if cambridge is really between two counties or two counties and uh, that regional approach seemed to make sense to them So what uh, what I feel like is is appropriate for us is to look at fewer than 70 new cases per 100,000 Hampshire and frankly and Franklin and and waiting Point seven for hampshire and point three for franklin county based on their relative populations Two of our four towns half of our four towns are in franklin county in the region Uh, and the other two border franklin county. So I do think franklin county should be considered in this And also less than three percent percent positive rate. Again, um, that one it's doesn't need waiting It's basically what I've done and representative dom is trying to help us with this, but uh, I add up all 46 towns and cities in franklin county count frank hampshire and franklin county every wednesday night And I just do percent positives in each town and then divide. So there's no preset metric I will tell you that there are more tests taken in hampshire county than there are in franklin county So it's sort of the metric sort of adjusts for population naturally Uh, and I want to note that really the approach we've taken and you all have been leaders on this Is we look at what's being recommended and we choose the most conservative option So in other words the all those agencies five percent three percent percent positives and and in every case We've chosen the most conservative estimate that's being recommended by reputable organizations and I feel like this should be no different Um, so that's sort of the approach that uh, I would recommend. Uh, when I pause there I saw there was a hand up. Um, I got more to get through on this, but um, See if there's a question at this point Mr. Manino I think you addressed this now When are these metrics available on a monday wednesday that type of thing? Is it once a week? Sure, so the um Why don't I'll get to that in a minute. Okay. Yeah, we'll get to that in two more slides um That's okay So the phasing piece You know, I think we keep the same numbers for the phases that's some feedback I I received is why would there be different metrics for different phases and I think that's true I think the only metric we add is you know, if there was an increase from prior weeks data We might stay in a phase it still might be under our other metrics But we might not want to add students until we see whether that was a a blip Or something where we're actually headed in the opposite direction Um, and I you know, I did some math on it There's no perfect way to do it because our numbers frankly are so low at the at the moment if you It's hard to plot to plot all this out But it looked like if they went up more than 33 percent In any period with a seven or 14 days that would be a cause of concern I'll show you our current numbers in the next slide. You'll see that Mathematically, you know, you need more than a 33 percent increase to actually get to the metrics from where we are right now To to get above the limits. Um, so but I felt like that's a pretty big increase even as a percentage Um, when I do one more slide and then open up for questions if it's okay. Ms. McDonald and Ms. Hall um, so to get to mr. Manino's point, um For 70 cases less than 70 new cases per week per hundred thousand that's updated every day And if you click on this link, which I won't um, you know But you can it links you to new york times Which updates daily a number of new cases per county across the country So for instance today or yesterday, I think last night when I checked Hampshire county was at still at 24 Franklin county was down to seven Per hundred thousand people. So if I had updated this last night this metric, it would be like instead of 19.5 I think it ended up, you know closer to 19.0 But not really there was like 19.3 or 4 or something like that That updates every day the second one that percent positive tests That is um That data file is produced every wednesday evening by the commonwealth of massachusetts. So you do have to wait Uh, you can't do that daily. You could see that last week's data was 1.3 percent for all towns combined Last night. We found that it was down to 1.1 percent For hampshire and franklin county. So, uh, the the top one is a little more It's updated more daily and that's a little easier to track that way Well, it's easy to track. You just have to do one click the bottom one takes, uh, you know What is now a pdf of an excel file? I just wish they would just make it an excel file for us Then it would be easier or just give us county by county data But we do add them up for the 46 cities and towns in hampshire and franklin county and we do the averaging on an excel file Um, and you know, so at this point we're well below both metrics Um, we're less than half of both metrics even the conservative metrics we're using um And i'll pause for comments or questions. There is a little more to the end of the slides, but Mr. Menino What happens if the metrics are exceeded? Do we Go to distance learning or cease the uh phase in status? so, uh, if we either of these two metrics if we Any of either of them went over the limit we would move to distance learning Mr. Demley So kind of follow up on mr. Menino's uh question. So I think it was mr. Menino and maybe miss kenny that brought up the uh You know the rapid switch problem Right. So what happens if you're kind of on the You're on the threshold you trigger once And then and then that metric is going above and you know, so have you thought through a little bit more of Of you know practical implementation. What what would we do in the scenario where we've you've crested the threshold You've switched modes And then do you do you sort you stay in that mode for a defined period before reassessing? Yeah, so I mean the way I was kind of loosely thinking about it is two weeks seems like the right span just given That the data is often 14 day data And it seemed like if it gets better, you know, you're starting to get Two weeks old data out of your system, right? And it also felt just practically that felt like doable from a teaching and learning perspective that if we're doing one week And you're finding out on a wednesday Particularly if it's a second metric, you know, do we send a connected message or school messenger thing on wednesday night saying? We're having school It felt like the right brain size of time to say we're going to pause we're going to see how this data tracks So that's sort of where we landed now I can't say two weeks exactly because if it's depends which data source it is the one that updates daily You can you know make that sort of assumption because you can update it all the time the second data source Unless it's up unless the state changes its methods We only get that data on a wednesday So, you know, I think two weeks is a general time frame because it sort of depends on which metric But that seemed like the right amount of time to reassess and make sure teachers aren't and students aren't feeling whiplash from being back and forth any other questions miss spitzer so I guess I'm wondering if there's anybody else in the town who's actively Doing this tracking and so I think it's really I like the way you're going with the metrics and that we're going down to We're not kind of changing the rate based on phase I like that. I like that we're going conservative and and kind of keeping with with the most conservative guidances I'm really supportive of that, but i'm curious about like I wish there were more robot I guess this is just a frustration with both the state and the federal government And i'm really wishing it wasn't on each and every school committee to to be in charge of this And I feel like the way you're shaking your head you share that sentiment Um, and so I guess my other One other thing I'd like to point out is I think that they actually make the raw data available because the other day when I was Looking at these slides So I think you kind of I downloaded an excel file with the test for each so just as an fyi to save you some time going from pdf to We can talk offline and I can show you how how I was able to download the excel file um But then I guess my my other question is just to raise an issue with positivity test rates Is that it kind of depends on how much testing we're doing? So like I I think it's good that we pair them but i'm wondering if There's a minimum threshold of testing that needs to be being done in order because if we move back to I I don't think there's any indication that this is going to happen But again because things change all the time and they're not always changing the direction we want If if testing suddenly becomes as limited as as it is in some other states We could be see the positivity test rate go up artificially even though if the case is per 100,000 people stay low and the opposite could happen So one of the things as they were like if we suddenly get all of this Ascent if we suddenly have an explosion in asymptomatic testing I think we could see the positivity test rate go down artificially because we're doing like say we start testing every college student or every you know Student in any of the schools in the community. We're going to see a potentially In increase in the lower so that anyways I just wanted to raise that and wonder if you thought at all about what we do if there was a change in How much testing's going on in the community because I think that matters Well, there is and there will be a change, you know, for instance Amherst college is testing students twice a week and that that's starting in 11 days and it's asymptomatic testing and and it does bring up a challenge for us. I did talk to a physician out of Brigham and women's about that because they have similar issues going on in that part of the state as well And he sort of referenced it's good to have the two data points. You're going to get some some odd data because right now Um, testing's been relatively constant. I know there's kind of slight downward trend You know in our area of testing and and what we heard last night is that you know more testing is going to be available by the end of the month Um, but we're we're still in pretty we're relative to the rest of the country We're in fantastic shape in terms of availability as well as turnaround time Um, so I think it is something keep the track of and that's again where the recommendations I receive from both locally But also from the eastern part of the state is if you do a regional test it it's a much more accurate It will be less sensitive to swings that might hit one community or another Uh, we are one of those community that's likely hit a swing where we may end up to your point The prediction this person made is will our positivity rate will go down, but our numbers will go our um Numbers per hundred thousand will go up because if you're testing lots of people You're testing capacity is so high That it'll have a inverse a relationship or could have an inverse relationship And and I think again having a regional approach really helps with that so that the swings aren't as dramatic Um, because the data is going to be testing both apples and oranges to use that cliche Uh together when it's primarily been testing apples this whole time Does that help mr. Spitzer? Okay Mr. Luvino Is there a single definition of positivity rate? The reason I asked is I listened to that medical panel you had I forget yesterday and one doctor suggested that It was asymptomatic people that didn't include symptomatic people. Yeah, so um, so what happens now for instance, um is um In our area someone and I think I Yeah, let me just say it this way So someone goes to the doctor and they have a stomach bug a stomach bug is not necessarily symptomatic of covet Right, it's not necessarily on the list of the long is a long list of things But if someone has a stomach bug no fever no other symptoms Uh, so in certain parts of the country that person wouldn't get tested for covet Because testing is not in in supply to be able to do that. We happen to fortunately live in an area where um Primary care providers are saying well, it's probably not But why don't you go get tested? And so people are getting tested even they're though they're technically asymptomatic in other words They don't have many if any of the list they may have something unrelated And so I think that's the piece that we want to keep an eye on is what's how many people are we able to maintain? That asymptomatic test so that people are getting tested because what we you know, what we don't know about covet is Yeah, let me say it differently. That's a good thing We are a healthier community Because people who are are asymptomatic are able to get a test and get results within 24 hours And so if that changes our numbers will change along with it And so we want to maintain that our community the capacity of our community to respond to asymptomatic cases remains sufficient And and so we talk about asymptomatic. It's not just like oh, I want to get a test for some reason It's actually oftentimes in our area asymptomatic tests have been given because there's Or there's potential exposure. I was with someone They're concerned that they have coveted. They haven't come back positive. Can I get a test? And that's a really critical question when you think about community spread Right and in many areas of the country the answer that the answer to that question is no You know, and I'm not saying I can't speak for every individual in Western Mass But I've had enough stories and talked to enough providers where they've been able to Access testing for people who are not yet showing signs of covet and that's one of the key factors of keeping community safe So the significance of a positivity test can differ across jurisdictions Well, I think we're seeing I mean if you look at positivity tests in different states, they're wildly high And some of that isn't just because there's more covet some of it is But some of that's because the only people who can get a test have to show so many symptoms That you know you see I mean I've seen you know areas where it's over 20 percent Right, so we're talking about three or five percent. They're over 20 percent and it's yes They've got community spread problems But one of the problems they have is you have to click many check many boxes to get a prescription to get a covet test And and so when you're going to get a covet test, you're much more likely to have covet than here Where again the vat 90 right now 98.9 of people in Hampshire and franklin county Are not getting they're not covet. It's not because all those people have symptoms They're getting tested because of other factors that make them think it's a good idea to get tested Sorry to be long-winded about it, but this is a really important point Mr. Harrington It's I don't mean to muddy the water here, but here we go I'm kind of thinking about like school choice students But even more so like staff That live outside of hampshire and franklin county. How do they factor into all of this because um Like I realized that recently that that most of the staff that I work with Well, not most I'd say a significant portion of them actually don't live here And I think the same goes for our teaching staff as well Yeah, so the majority of our staff writ large does live in hampshire or franklin county They may not be true in in certain segments of our staff But in general they do live in one of those two counties, but you're right. We have wister county. We have hampton county Berkshire county and I don't know right now But we used to have southern new hampshire and southern Vermont staff who lived in there as well as well as northern Connecticut So, you know for me, it's not muddy in the water at all. I think At some point, you know, it's trying to make a decision About where the majority of our students live the vast majority of our students and the majority of our staff You know, we we have many more students than we have staff members and so to calculate I did try to think about how could you calculate our A ratio for all the people who might be in school and my head started spinning and It started getting to the point of looking municipality by new municipality To be a task that that seemed Like it wouldn't it wouldn't yield much different results Then what we have now you're absolutely right that we do have staff members who live in other counties than those two But if you look at all the students and all the staff The vast majority of students and the majority of staff live in one of those two places And so, you know, as I talked to Cambridge is another good example and did connect With somebody connected to there and they have the same thing even more so than where we are I mean Cambridge people commute to Cambridge from From Amherst, frankly As well as I mean we're on the outer edge But I know people who commute to Cambridge who live in in this particular community And so the best medical advice I got is trying to get the bulk of where The people live who are in the community And knowing that you're not going to be it's not going to be a perfect one to one of every single town or every single county It's intended to be a gross measure to the larger point you're making I think we do have to keep an eye on surrounding communities as well, you know that that I think you're 100 right I think the mathematical one Sort of started breaking down when you when you get into the weeds of it But on the larger picture making sure that we're aware of Particularly Worcester county, Berkshire county and frank and Hamden county as being the three Next largest but but even looking at the staffing roster because it The the lion's share do live up in in franklin or hamding hamshire county, excuse me But it's definitely something we're thinking about and appreciate the the comment and feedback Mr. Henry I just want to say briefly that I appreciate the Lining up all of the regional and national approaches and taking the most conservative Um, and then taking it a step further in terms of robustness Regardless of what the state is Is recommending, you know, it's it's funny. I've been really critical of the state and I continue to feel like they're I continue to feel critical of their approach Um, I thought the one silver lining of what they talked about this leak is this week is at least they They brought the idea to the public consciousness that you ought to be focusing on local conditions that that ought to be front and center um about about in the school reopening conversation, right and Um, I think they they kind it's I think it's really late In their in their support of local school districts. I think it's really oversimplified Um, uh for the reasons you reasons you mentioned It's it's literally not applicable to our regional school districts Like that they have no way and and this isn't a criticism Like they're they're up front and center that they have no way of applying it to the 58 regional school districts in the commonwealth and they told us that we're going to have to wait a few weeks on that so Um, so I I like that. We're being more conservative. I like that. We're being more robust um, you know, I shared the frustration in the spitzer Um, uh comments on earlier that, you know, it shouldn't be the role of superintendents and school committees to be Identifying these things, but but here we are. But you know, this is the responsibility. We have and I'm just I'm just grateful that we started these conversations in may and in june You know, I don't think had we been like a lot of districts that Really started looking at the fall in july Um, that we would have gotten to this point nearly at all. So um, and I'm also thankful to our community I mean, you know, yeah, you talked about how um, the school Spread the school um, coveted situation is directly affected by the community situation And we have the community to thank for for the current For the for the current numbers, you know, um, and that's that's all about compliance and behavior and social distancing and masks and You know and hopefully that continues But you know, but it's that's that's really the group effort that we have to thank people for That's making this possible. So, um, I'm glad that you pointed that out because it's a big big variable in this equation I apologize. Miss.  Did you want to speak? Well, I was actually gonna just I was gonna mention about what mr. Harrington was He brought up and then I this might get tricky, but Who of our I know a few employees that live between Granby and Holyoke for the Amherst district and now they're in the red Do we think about provisions for staff that are coming from red zones? Sorry, I'm gonna be uh, it's not about your question miss lord, but I want to respond. So, you know, there was a town in in, um Franklin county that was in the red last week because it went from two cases And they had a percent positive testing rating. They went from zero to seven percent And then a week later now, they're back to zero And you know, I don't know who the two cases are obviously that's confidential and I wouldn't have access, but it might be Two siblings or a you know a set of partners. So, you know respectfully, you know To the state as well as to your question when we when we put labels on relatively small and universities I have a really hard time right so I can walk to belcher town belcher town last week was high now It's low I felt just as safe on my run when I crossed this border that said welcome to belcher town as I did as when I said to amherst because You know people in western massachusetts as well as elsewhere people don't all work where they live and live where they work You know the majority of our staff do not live in the town of amherst Or the towns of amherst palem leverd and shootsbury and so for me We have to be aware of that if there was a huge spike, of course But when we're talking about relatively small communities These numbers and raw numbers are really small and I really question, you know bluntly the statistical significance when we talk about small communities and we talk about, you know Putting labels on them. I have I struggle because I I don't think again our borders are porous intentionally so and so In part of it. Maybe you'll you'll forgive me. I'm from new york, which is a very county based system because I think the county wide systems account for the fact that um towns are really small And so I I struggle with why we have a map that has two thirds of as I said two thirds of towns don't even count For getting a color and then most of the towns in western massachusetts Are so small that they're going to continue to change from green to red to yellow based on very very small differences numerically in raw numbers So that's I think my concern about the state. I grew with mr. Demling Um, I try not to be critical when when because there's no playbook for covet I don't know why we're seemingly the only state that has um Is looking at towns in such a small way in my opinion. So, uh, I think your larger point is well taken miss lord It's not about at all what what you said. I think being aware if there are communities that are going up But at the same time those rates are still really small in the overall context and unless Staff members are showing symptoms I don't see a reason to exclude them from coming to work and the same with students who are school choice students Because the relative difference between grand b and amish right now Or pelham or lever it is not that great if you look at the raw numbers But when you put a percentage in a small town like grand b or belcher town And then it gets a certain color designation That's where I struggle. I think for large communities. Frankly, it does make sense I want to be realistic about that if you're talking about boston if you're talking about springfield That that's a more densely populated areas where community spread is more can be more traced and tracked a little bit more than Uh in western more rural western massachusetts. I still think of amherst's rule I know it's not really but I grew up in new york. So, you know, forgive me And miss hall I saw your hand Yeah, um, so yeah, I mean, obviously I know a lot of people have stated this over the course of these meetings I'm not an epidemiologist or a public health expert. I do I do like how compared to other metrics ours is more conservative. Um I share the frustration that there's little guidance from state and federal authorities But I think too the part on one of the earlier slides from here to point out is that like This is you know, this is really important We have to have these metrics, but it's just part of a much bigger conversation about risk generally and that There are very serious risks for some students staying out of school And I think that You know, it's good to have something so it's less about like how how we feel About going back to school, but like what the numbers show and that You know, we do have information and data on what the risks of keeping kids out of school for too long is And so we're forced to sort of You know go to this place where we have to see what other people are doing and do our best, but I um, I like the conservatism of this and Just generally feel good about where this is Yep, thank you miss segar I I too feel generally pretty good about where this is An echo of the sentiments that a lot of people have shared One thing that comes up for me in thinking about this and I don't know what the plan would be for how this would play out or I imagine dr. Morris you would make a decision based on the current environment and that's in your court Um, what I was thinking too that that's not reflected here And I want she would want you a superintendent to feel empowered to do is is to use your best judgment too Um, if you have if you know something that's not reflected in these numbers To make the best call based on that because you hear something from amherst college You hear something that's more local than you know and not registered here um Because I know the positivity tests are from a state number and they come out every wednesday um That I I would want your best judgment to be part of these metrics as well Which I imagine they would be but i'm just going to explicitly say that Yeah, and we're in close to close contact with not just the amherst health department But the quabbin which includes pelham as well as levered in shootsberry and you know when there are potential cases There's some close communication with all four. I mean I in my perfect world We wouldn't have four health departments to be in touch with in a regional district But I think it gets to mr. Demling's point earlier, but you know, they're all wonderful to work with and that's what we'll do I See mr. Menino and then I think if unless folks have really urgent comments on this one move on after mr. Menino's question I'm all in favor of mike norris using judgment, but i'm also in favor of a hardened fast cut-off rule Uh, I don't want you to say well blah blah blah. We're going to ignore the cut-off How do you plan to handle that? The cut-offs the cut-off I think what I took from miss seager's comment and missy correct me if i'm wrong is If if i'm hearing that oh my god, there's this You know situation that's going to come out in a day and because the health department gives me a call I may have access to data or to information before it becomes public and that I wouldn't have to wait for sort of a public Accounting of numbers Before making decisions and if I was off miss seager then I apologize and i'm not i'm not looking for more power than Then uh has been granted me by the by uh by you all but I think that's what I heard from you That that is exactly what I meant. There's these limits, but if you know something that should Push us over them before they're actually published. Yes, exactly Thank you miss seager for the clarification. Yeah, no, thank you for asking that because I agree with you There's metrics and then and then using your best judgment before we reach those metrics Hopefully that's clear Okay um, so I think we'll move on on the agenda and I'm I'm Recognizing that I think we have some other guests on the call that are presenting as part of the Agenda item two agenda items from now, so I'm just looked at dr. Morris. Would you like to? And if the committee agrees um our folks amenable to swapping D and e on our agendas Since we're a little behind Seeing nodding heads, okay, so we'll move on. We'll we'll come back to item d. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I think there was a hand up Oh, sorry, mr. Dimley. Well, unless I miss something do you have a couple slides left on this item? We did but I think I they sort of came up with mr. Manino's comment before about how um You know the differences and what they're measuring the percent positive is measuring testing capacity primarily The number of new cases is is measuring community spread Um, so I could go over those but I think it's also in the name of time I'm I'm happy to do whatever the committee would like but I will move on. Um, we'll come back to d. Um after this next item and we'll Move on to um item e which is our distance learning update And so, uh, sorry more slides, um, but you want to hear from me because we've got mr. Yaffe Mr. Sadiq and mr. Sloven. So, uh, I'll do some intro slides, but you'll get to hear some different voices, which I'm sure will be welcomed Okay, so, uh, you know, I'm trying to work on different semantics Um and talking about virtual education and I'll explain why in uh in a minute So a little different than what was listed on the agenda um So the first thing you've already seen all of these Slides that are the data But I do think it's worth going back to what happened in the spring and what were some strengths and particularly what are some challenges that we need to consider as we head towards the fall Given that most of our students will start in a in a in a virtual learning environment This was um based on staff responses. Um, you can see the satisfaction dissatisfaction rate Uh, one again, thank obed for putting these together. Um, and so, you know, what can we do to improve? This was from qualitative data, you know We've talked about stream of communication being clear clear expectations for students in terms of attendance participation and graded assignments You know change the structure of the class more synchronous learning breakout rooms professional development for them and Assessing how much access and support students have so those are some of the ideas that staff had Based on the parent or family responses better communications seem like a pretty key one More organized structure and clear expectations in that virtual environment and higher quality instruction The student responses remember these were middle school and high school responses There was a large component of students who talked about struggling with staying motivated. You can see those numbers that Just about or 44 percent always or usually struggle to stay motivated and distance learning and actually sometimes is 38 percent so really across the board our middle school and high school students expressed a disengagement from distance learning And some of the things they talked about being important were having more in-person time with other students Particularly with other teacher better systems again for organizing work And then the accountability piece knowing the assignments were required and graded seem really important and the final set of data was from Also from the staff responses You know the level of personal connection and and the majority of staff Suggested that they felt somewhat just too connected or much too disconnected from students during our spring semester I say all this not to be critical of what happened What we had was emergency distance learning. This was not predictable We didn't have training. We didn't have training. So none of this is meant to be critiques But it is important to look back and say, you know, what are areas we need to improve for the fall for students for staff and for the community And so some different expectations actually coming from the state that I find helpful as compared to our other conversation You know in spring, we really focused on resource delivery There was not as an explicit and focus on instruction For most of the spring semester, there was no instruction on new content k to 8 That was permitted only at the high school and and very limited There was an expectation that students would only be doing half a day of school work And remember if you remember our surveys that that was true Our students indicated that they were doing on average about three hours of work a day The professional development for staff was very rushed and the little bit we did for caregivers also rushed And it was really focused on tools and applications. How do you use google calendar? What are the structures of How to do that? How do you submit assignments? It was very technical in nature and it should have been because we didn't have the technical skills We're not a virtual school and and so it needed to be But that was really the intentional focus and people did a fabulous job Our tech team did outstanding work last year creating trainings for staff on those technical pieces But really what I want to move to is talking about virtual education and not distance learning So the focus is on instruction. It's not on resources. It's not on creating resources for families exclusively to do with their children It's on teaching children And teaching our students and we heard that loud and clear. I want to say when we were over Ani's had the road on saturday that they're really the expectation of that community was That we teach their children not that we provide resources for them to teach the children But that we as educators are in charge of the instruction and they're Responsible for their children even in a virtual context. I fully endorse and agree with that At all grade levels new instruction on new content and standards 170 days and as compared to last year the time on learns time on learning standards Our time on learning numbers are not released So in other words, we are responsible for 850 hours at the elementary of 935 hours at secondary of time on learning As I mentioned earlier last spring all of that was relaxed and that's not the case And I very clear director from the commissioner, which he got from his board that those will not be relaxed this year Um, we are approaching this with a thoughtful approach to professional development We have 10 days prior to the school year and I rarely use bold Language in my slides, but it's not just about the tech tools. Let's get about the pedagogy How do we teach online? What is how do you take an in-person course and transition that to online education? Uh, you know, we'll talk about in a minute, but one thing we learned last spring is having 20 students on calls Particularly at the K88 level, but I think beyond that it was not the most appropriate approach in school That works pretty well We have a lot of good track record with having 20 students in a classroom in a virtual environment Like we're having here if we were had five people on this meeting We'd have an opportunity for a lot more dialogue and in exchange Even as adults and you think about six year olds and seven year olds You can imagine how much that extrapolates. So, you know, we're really thinking about how do we provide professional development? What are the roles? How do we delineate roles and this really goes back to the guiding principles work that staffed in the spring Both at the elementary and secondary level of what this could look like, which is foundational for us And the last thing there is a is a quote from the desi guidance on I think they call it distance learning And I'll just read it out loud students have must have regular consistent opportunities to access live synchronous instruction Students-to-student interaction Collaborative assignments and projects teacher feedback and other needed supports as they are critical for student academic growth And meaningful student and family engagement I fully endorse the state's commitment to that. It's what our students need It's what we heard from families in the spring is what we continue to hear from families as needed For distance learning or virtual education in the fall So our training plan for august and september pd day is there's four primary objectives to that training that we want to support The acquisition of of skills and competencies of our staff One is on student agency. We want students like in the you've heard this term before I think mr. Yaffe used it last year when he was presenting a school improvement plan actually That we want students to be actively owning their own learning and leading their own learning I think that was mr. Yaffe's quote And that's true even more so in the virtual environment that if we don't before not able to engage students And have them take a leadership role given the nature of virtual education. We know that we won't be successful So that's why that one's at number one Second one's on relationship building. We know that it's critical that students feel connected to their educators And that is a challenge in a virtual environment and we want to support our educators to gain tips and strategies Because unlike last year, they won't necessarily have a relationship at the beginning of the year last year They had six seven months to build that relationship and to fall back on as we were moving to distance learning They won't have that this time around Third one, which again all of these address some of the critiques that you saw from staff families and students is about wayfinding wayfinding The the the way you might think of wayfinding is let's say you go into a grocery store and it's one you haven't been in before How do you know where the grocery where how do you know where the bananas are? Let's say you're looking for fruits You know, you look for signage, right? You want to know that where everything is you can get what you need and Be successful in your experience in a grocery store And that's the way we think about online environments. We want to support our students and families So they know where their assignments are they know when their synchronous times are They know one click and they're in the number of that if we can reduce the number of clicks for students and families We will be much better off It's particularly focused on equity because what we know about different learners who may have different abilities About accessing content. They also may have different experiences and with technology. Some of our students are using phones since they're You know before they're speaking And then other students are accessing Chromebooks and other things for the first time So wayfinding is really helping supporting students and families So they can get to what they need and they can access the curriculum And the last one's about assessment, you know traditional tests don't make sense in an online environment Don't make particular sense We could have a larger conversation where they make sense in an in-person environment another day But they certainly don't make the same kind of sense in a virtual environment So how do we know what students are learning? If we're doing what we're doing talking online and doing learning online And that's a really different thing. And so I feel like if we can do those four things well Uh, even just those four things we will have a dramatically better experience for our students in the spring Uh, the scooting that our students had in the spring I'm not going to go through because of the hour But if you want to click on the summary of norms and online competencies of a place We're working with developed I thought a very helpful list of what are norms? What are goals for online and what are competencies we want our staff working on? And we're providing that training again in the before the school year starts. I've taken a training with them around this Mr. Sheehan our curriculum coordinator our element and mr. Sadiq our elementary principles are taking a training this week as well And we want to make sure that we're positioning our leaders to be effective in this way too At this point. I want to turn it over to mr. Yafi who's going to briefly talk through the elementary draft schedule I want to note that these are student schedules that any time we're talking about a change in schedule That's a arguing. It's a topic that occurs in bargaining So these are draft, but they are based on the feedback We received last spring from those groups worked on guiding principles at the middle school high school level There's also been staff The existing leadership struggles structures have been involved in this But at the elementary level Actually, why don't I do Some of this nick and then I'll turn to you for the one through six if that's okay So, you know, again, I'm not going to go through the priorities and structure I'm not going to read down it But what we want to be is we want to have consistencies so students and families know what's happening when and it's consistent every single day of the week We want to we we know that small group instructions wear that for our youngest students and we want to provide that for our students We want to balance Screen time that's a concern of many many families and we want to get the right balance between having synchronous and asynchronous lessons and content And off-screen activities And again, we want to foster those communities through social emotional time So i'm going to just talk kindergarten and then mr. Yafi is going to talk one through six So when we thought about kindergartners kindergartners are generally five years old when they're coming in They have not typically unless they were in our preschool program been in our schools before Many of them have not been on Calls like this before so we really wanted to balance what we thought we could do for students in an online environment and really what it boiled down to is we wanted to have Lessons on social emotional learning critical point of kindergarten We wanted to have many lesson on literacy And we wanted to have a mini lesson on math And even though there's lots more we'd love to do with our youngest learners We feel like from a screen time perspective from a age developmental perspective the fact that we're in a distance learning environment We didn't feel like we wanted to tax our youngest students or we'd be successful Working with students and getting them on screens more often. And so what we developed is a sample day Where a kindergarten class essentially a typical kindergarten class. Let's say it's 18 students We'd be divided in half And there'd be a morning shift and an afternoon shift So that all day there's you know, when they're in their Synchronous lessons, there's a small group all the time for our youngest learners We didn't see a lot of value of having 18 students In kindergarten on a large call We also didn't see value of spreading out lessons for beyond the time that we have now from a screen time perspective as well It's just developmentally So this is a shift We're not thinking of half day for in-person kindergarten But when we started thinking about what a full day of virtual learning would look like For five-year-olds We sort of came down that we wanted to go quantity quality over quantity And we wanted so that's sort of where we landed it was a way to keep our group sizes small And keep focused on the most important parts of of kindergarten that we felt like we could achieve In a virtual environment I miss anything nick or am I doing okay Okay, so I will Okay, before we go to one through six Um, I think there was a question earlier about coming on days and uh, perhaps I'll just pause to see if there's any questions before I turn it over to principal yaffi to go through a one through six schedule Mr. Manino This is a silly question. I saw morning meeting this circle. How do you do circle? And a distance of learning environment I thought I saw some great examples of young teacher of not young teachers, but teachers working with young children It looks different. You're right But you know, one of the most successful things that I saw in kindergarten classrooms was sharing and You know our chairs do this from time to time where they'll go around and they'll ask everyone for their opinion on a topic Uh, what that looks like in kindergarten is there may be a couple days A couple kids on mondays And they present something to share which would be something that would happen in a typical kindergarten classroom But everyone else is able to comment on that. Um, so the structure actually, it's not perfect It's not as good as in person. I will never say that mr I mean, you know, I think actually it was successful at at promoting student agency Uh, and I think some of our kindergarten teachers really were able to create that environment For for rather short periods of time. It's not sustainable if you have all nine kids talking by the time you get to the ninth kid What the first kid doing right? We want to be realistic about attention span and screens for young kids But you know, that's an example of something I saw that was really successful that teachers kindergarten teachers did last spring miss fit sir Um, so I'm looking at this and and recognizing that the kindergarteners. I think will be in the first phase so I guess this will be the choice for folks who Who choose to stay home or in the event that we Need to close schools because of the public health metrics or something some emergency type of situation arises but I think one of my questions is The the number of transitions potentially seems like a lot here um And i'm curious about like is that you're going to have the parent log the kid on once and the kid's going to hopefully Be able to get from 850 to around 11 with that with minimal parent involvement Or is there an idea that there will be and I shouldn't say parent I should say like some some adults who who can navigate this technology helping them with these um frequent transitions between between the different sections Yeah, so uh, we talked about that this afternoon actually in our leadership team meeting. Um, and um You know, I think two things one is You sort of have two choices either you keep kids online for long periods of time Which has proven unsuccessful for our youngest learners Or you have them on time in in rather small segments with breaks in between So I think you're right that some of the training that we're planning is for caregivers That's the term I'm going to use for because I think there's a whole range of people who will be in the caregiver mode This year it will involve care I don't think we're going to expecting Students who haven't been our school to be able to navigate things We are also looking at seesaw, which is a different online platform than google classroom It's more designed for young learners and it it allows for a little more It's easier to navigate. I'm just going to it is easier to navigate I think that's you know, it sounds like an opinion or fact, but I think it's pretty close to one To facilitate both for caregivers and for our youngest students And some of the training that we want to do is how do we train students to be more independent in doing that? But um, you know, you're right about the transitions and yet If you go into a kindergarten classroom now, you'll notice things. They're not on a formal schedule But kindergarten are transitioning throughout the day because it is a very fluid environment for our five-year-olds And we don't have a bell schedule. So, you know, yes each year Mr. Yaffe and his colleagues create kindergarten schedules and you know It's not true that at 10 o'clock all of a sudden everything stops in mathematics because that's not the way, you know We'd be in my opinion. We view Kindergarteners and our youngest students that there is a lot more fluidity to it But you know the idea of having young students online for for hours at a stretch I think it's just developmentally not where we're going to be at So I'll address there was a question before about common aunties So I want to be really clear about that one and then I'll turn to mr. Yaffe to go to one through six We are really envisioning common aunties to be an in-person program for kindergartners It's a little different when students have been through a year of it Um, but common aunties requires a high level of oral language and development involves speaking and listening Because of the the two languages being spoken It is the case that students want to not attend In-person school, you know, we're trying to figure out other pathways to join in first grade given this unique environment But you know when we think about the expectations we have and How intense frankly common aunties is on students because there is so much oral language Because of the two languages, you know, we don't see that as being a good fit for an online environment And you know, it would require more screen time than we're comfortable with or would require a caregiver to be bilingual And neither of those do we feel like we can count on reliably So in the conversation side referenced earlier with miss Richardson and miss chamberlain We are saying this is going to be a different year That families who choose a virtual option That's not going to be something we also can't assume that the common aunties teachers can teach both the students who are in school Plus the students who are online Because there's there's not that many of them. It's not like fourth grade where you could figure out the staffing That's not our situation But we are thinking about an on-ramp particularly for Spanish speaking or families with Spanish language backgrounds But for other students as well to see what we can do for first grade assuming the situation has improved the year from now So I wanted to be explicit about that because I think it was a good question I think mr. Demling brought up but maybe not someone brought up during a superintendent update But you know, what we don't want to do is push students into our program that we don't feel We're have sufficient. We are able to provide sufficient time for oral language development Particularly for our youngest children pushing kids to be online for longer stretches a day We I think we have evidence is unsuccessful both locally, but also from a research base But also we don't if we can't provide that oral language development I think it really begs the question for students who haven't been in a dual language program before how successful it'll be So we are trying to think about what we could do for a first grade on ramp in that situation But it is the case that we don't feel like a half day program We're in a full day if we tried to stretch it would be developmentally appropriate for our kids And with that I'll turn to mr. Yaffe and I'll turn the slide Thanks, Mike. Just want to check. Can everybody hear me? Okay, how are you all good? How are you all holding up? So if you were a classroom, I definitely think you would need a movement break right now in the schedule So I just want to point out that we did include that in the schedule Movement breaks and so, you know, I I can't remember how many weeks it's been since I spoke to you last And talked about joy And referenced the cultural figure Marie Kondo remember that some of you were there And so that's that's true of this schedule as well That for all of us to think of this is the framework That will allow our staff who are very creative to infuse it with joy An