TO DO:

I do not need to tell you that people in our community (staff in our school community as well as families in our broader community) are feeling maxed, anxious, and worn out. While at the same time I believe there is also an element of feeling empowered. Some of this empowerment, I believe, is positive and healthy, while other displays of empowerment are not. Last week’s unlawful event at the US Capital may be a prelude to other unlawful and/or disruptive events that may occur in the coming days. I am asking that each of you share the following information related to talking about controversial issues with your staff (specifically those connected with the current political climate – but any topic that may potentially be controversial). First, talking about tough topics is absolutely something that must be a part of a student’s educational experience. These should not be avoided – if done right. Here is a very helpful checklist for a teacher to consider. (All steps are not required, but are rather meant to be a support when planning, conducting, and reflecting on teaching/dialogue related to equity and anti-racism.) To set the stage for controversial conversations to be productive and not reactionary or isolated, the classroom climate must be developed intentionally over time–our LEAD Cohort’s website has tools for steadily building a climate of equity dialogue. We also have district Administrative Regulation (GBG-AR) regarding Staff Participation in Political Activities. I’d like to highlight the third and fourth paragraphs. In essence, I interpret these as saying that teachers can talk about politics in their classroom, but the keys are to make sure both sides of the issue/topic are presented/represented, and that the teacher’s own viewpoints need to be represented as personal and not that of an official district stance. Finally, it may be helpful to remind staff of this BLS Election Guidance that was sent out earlier this fall. All of these documents should be seen as support for teachers in how to prepare for and facilitate difficult conversations within the classroom learning environment. ________________________________________________________________________________

I have begun to collect (mostly from you, but a few of my own as well) questions that are HR-related. Jon will be able to attend the first 30 min. our MS Horizontal next week to address them. If you have a question that is not on this list so far, please add it. Deon Logan will also be joining us so you can meet him. He is the newest member of the HR admin team. _________________________________________________________________________________

As you know, we are asking all parents to complete a survey for each of their kids in the district to inform us of what their plan is for second semester learning format. As of the time of me hitting “save” on this blog, there are total of 1,978 MS responses. This represents 48% of our total MS students. Of those, 1,740 said they are planning on Hybrid, 112 plan on BLPO, and 126 are planning on the District CDL. ________________________________________________________________________________

Here are two updates that you will likely want to share with your staff: First, a student who starts semester 2 in either BLPO or District CDL will be allowed to take classes within these programs and also take elective classes (e.g. Spanish, band, etc.) at their neighborhood school as long as there is room (think social distancing requirements) in the class they want to take. Transportation is the responsibility of the parent – it will not be provided by the district. Also, if the student wants to take more than one class at your building and these classes are not back-to-back in the schedule, you do not need to find a place for this student to wait on campus based on the restraints placed on us due to this pandemic.

Secondly, in the Leadership meeting today Paul wrote in the chat that we need to pause all in-person choir and band classes for a week. Because these classes are not meeting at the MS level, this pause should not affect any of your teachers/students. I want to provide you a quick snapshot of the conversation that will take place regarding this: A music representative (one who is passionate about being able to work with kids in the classroom) will be meeting with Paul and other health professionals next Friday to explain why allowing band and choir – having choir in this discussion was new to me – should be allowed to occur at school, inside. From there this health advisory board will make a recommendation regarding this. The district will consider this recommendation before making a final decision on what to allow as we start Hybrid in a month. Stay tuned… ________________________________________________________________________________

THIS and THAT:

We don’t have a lot of applicants for the posted SEL EA positions. If you do have an applicant that you’d like to hire – and that person currently works in another building in our district – you may offer this individual a job (after going through the hiring process), but they will not come work at your site until the building they are being taken from can replace them. We are not going to pilfer one school to fill a position at another school. Also, if it is helpful, you may convert these 7 hours of classified into certified hours. If you are thinking of doing this please let me know. ________________________________________________________________________________

And speaking of SEL EA positions, these positions will look very different in scope of tasks and responsibilities this spring then they will next year (fingers crossed) when we also hire a certified staff and open up BRYT classrooms. I say this for you to know that you should not grow accustomed to what this person does for you this second semester to continue into next fall. ________________________________________________________________________________

I’ve spoken with Alandra about creating a video highlighting all of our middle schools that can be used as part of our 5th-grade forecasting process. She is in agreement that this would be great! And, that it will not be available this spring (as the priority now is to have one created for 8th graders highlighting our high schools). So please plan on creating your own videos (or using the one you already have) for this year. Likewise, you should plan to have all parent events associated with next year’s transition of this year’s 5th graders into your building will be conducted virtually/remotely. As you think through how this will look at your site, please plan for your Spanish speaking families to receive the same information and opportunities your English speaking families receive. _________________________________________________________________________________

The week of Jan. 25, as you know, is scheduled to be an asynchronous instruction week and time for you to meet and train your staff on the new safety systems and other processes that you’ll be implementing in Hybrid. How much time you’ll have daily for meetings/trainings is still to be determined. Attendance will not be taken this week. All students will have a VP attendance code. _________________________________________________________________________________

If anyone asks: “When will ‘deep cleaning’ occur?” please tell them that this will happen nightly. Your custodians will be busy not only cleaning but also spraying down classrooms and offices so that each morning all surfaces have been disinfected. And, this reminds me, you may want to let your staff know that if they leave papers out, the next morning they will show signs of curling. ________________________________________________________________________________

Gloves are not required to be worn when teachers clean desks during classroom transitions. However, if a teacher would like to wear gloves, please request these via PPE request process that your Office Manager is likely aware of. _________________________________________________________________________________

Here is an update from Dana: FAN Advocates should be working from the building as we all transition to in-person learning.  I have asked them to connect with you as they revise their work schedule.  FAN Advocates need to be visible and available to students, staff and families on a weekly basis.  They are aware that bell schedules have changed, and they will need to change their schedules also.  The MAC survey is coming up in the next two weeks.  More to come.  Mara Stephens will be leaving our district in February.  I will introduce our new Homeless Liaison as soon as we have someone on board.  As always, please call/email Dana Pedersen if you have any questions regarding FAN or homeless education.   _________________________________________________________________________________

REMINDERS:

Please remind your staff (and model yourself) of the importance with checking in and out of the building every day (for those who are coming into the building). This is the established way of knowing who interacts with whom if/when a positive case is found. _________________________________________________________________________________

MS Horizontal next Tuesday at 2:00. See you there! _________________________________________________________________________________

We have a district admin equity PD with BRYT this next Wednesday from 3:00 – 4:30. We will be meeting in-person at PCMS (same rooms as before). Thank you in advance to Scott O. and Vanessa for helping to facilitate our two groups. If you haven’t yet, please have your feedback on someone else’s goals completed before Wednesday’s training.