TO DO:

This document is one that I’d suggest you print, save on your desktop, and share with your entire staff. It provides important communication regarding Covid and outlines step-by-step processes to many of the questions/scenarios you are likely receiving or wondering about. _______________________________________________________________________

When your school begins LIPI, you will have students on your campus around lunchtime. We would love to make sure these students have a lunch available to them. Please complete this document for your school so nutrition services will know how many lunches you’ll need on a daily basis. (Obviously, if your numbers change be sure you notify nutrition services so there are not extra or not enough meals.). You’ll find MS listed on the second tab. _________________________________________________________________________

Stay tuned regarding fall conferences. At present, these are scheduled for the end of this month. There is some discussion about making some modifications to these – but there is no decision made yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I learn more. __________________________________________________________________________

An inspiring MS math teacher reached out to the district in the hopes of finding a student teaching placement for the spring term (mid-January through mid-May). She is earning her degree from Liberty University, so not one of the two primary programs we support. I didn’t make her any promises, but if you have a math teacher that may be interested, here is her resume and a sample math lesson for a bit more background. Please let me know by next week if you have an interested teacher and I’ll help make the connection.

THIS and THAT:

As you likely have heard by now – or seen in the news… There is a planned protest this coming Monday, organized by parents who want our schools to open and kids return to classrooms. There is a statewide component to this protest, but I do not have a clear understanding of how widespread or engaged folks will be in it. There are two parts to this locally. From 4 – 6pm there will be a physical rally to be held on the front lawn of the Ed Center. The other component is more relevant to you – it involves parents being encouraged to not have their student log in and engage in school on Monday. Parents are also being encouraged to notify their child’s teachers in advance, so you may have heard/being hearing about this. ________________________________________________________________________

The following eight (yes, 8!) items are from Paul – who’s been quite busy keeping up with and interpreting ODE guidance for use within our district…

1. New Mask Requirement:  (The following language has been adopted by our district and will be shared in an all BLS Staff email on Tuesday.) A cloth, paper, or disposable face mask that covers the nose and the mouth is the requirement for all BLS students and staff with some exceptions. When exceptions apply, a face shield is permissible, but other safety practices should be implemented, such as more than 6 feet of social distancing and/or added ventilation of fresh air. The exceptions are described below:

A. For provisions applicable to staff/students protected by ADA or IDEA (details from RSSL referenced below).

B. For safety reasons, such as a bus driver whose glasses are fogging up when attempting to wear a mask under specific weather conditions;

C. For specific and time-limited instructional needs such as speech and language, LIPS reading group, ELL lessons or other examples when viewing a teacher’s or student’s mouth is essential to that portion of the lesson. As soon as possible within the lesson, masks should replace the shields;

D. For younger children moving into in-person education who exhibit severe emotional dysregulation when wearing a mask, staff should employ strategies to transition them from shields into mask wearing: mindfulness exercises, increase in the frequency of outdoor mask breaks, and other trauma-informed best practices.

E. People who are deaf or hard of hearing, or those who care for or interact with a person who is hearing impaired.

F. Other time-limited exceptions of short durations may be made with administrative knowledge.

A clear mask is an acceptable option, as is the use of a shield over a mask for added protection.

2. Visitors 

Only BLS staff and essential visitors are allowed to enter buildings beyond the lobby.  Examples of essential visitors are DHS, child protective services, law enforcement, student teachers and their supervisors, CASA advocates, Friends of Children mentors, cadet teachers, and ESD service providers.  When in doubt whether a visitor is ‘essential’, consult with your Level Leader.

3. School Family Connections – Please add your school’s family connections team leader to this document so that the District Family Connections team can collaborate with your school on how best to serve students and families.  See Paul if you have any questions.

4. Level leaders will be coordinating with other district departments to send out weekly “All BLS Staff” emails regarding items in their blogs and other important reminders pertaining to the return to school planning process.

5. Band, Music/Choir, PE Standards of Practice – Juan Cuadros will be coordinating with elementary music, PE teachers and interventionists to develop learning instructional practices that include safety measures aligned with the ODE blueprint.  He will then do the same with MS/HS band, choir, PE teachers and interventionists.  

6. Questions/Concerns about COVID-19 related matters.  Please share this flowchart with your staff.

7. Many thanks to the dynamic duo of Nole Kennedy and HDMS lead custodian, Tim Bennett, for creating this “How To” video instructing staff on daily cleaning routines of desks/tables.  

8. Operation School Bell – The district has approved OSB’s plans to run their program outside with 2 tables and 4 people.  We would go up to a car that drives up, ask them sizes needed for socks and underwear and give them out. __________________________________________________________________________

The OHA document found here is one that I had not seen before, but found to be one that provides nice details around requirements for in-person instruction. (Remember, test positivity rates has temporarily been removed as a metric due to Oregon wildfires.). __________________________________________________________________________

We’ve been working with Bend Park and Recreation Department to provide both a 2- and 3-day childcare option during balanced/hybrid instruction, beginning October 26th (or later, if the district has not yet transitioned to balanced/hybrid instruction by that date). These options will be significantly less expensive than the full program. BPRD hopes to be able to provide care for kindergarten students as well, if they are children of staff members or siblings of other program participants. Look for a survey coming out early next week to gauge staff interest in this option. ___________________________________________________________________________

A tech tip that your teachers may find useful… Here is how you can force YouTube videos to open in their own single window, full screen, without suggested videos off to the side, without ads, etc.: 

• When looking at a YouTube link, they all have the same general look such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOru6L22zoM
• To force the video to play in a single screen, modify the url just slightly…
  • Add _popup directly BEFORE the question mark, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=HOru6L22zoM

Note: This tip does NOT allow blocked videos through our filters though. _________________________________________________________________________

You may not know this, but I have a sister. An older sister. (Not sure why that matters, but seems important to mention.) She’s pretty funny. She sees herself as “not a people person.” (She really is, but says she prefers animals to humans. I love my sister!) Here is a little something she sent me recently that says it all. ___________________________________________________________________________

And this one I snagged from Skip. It’s regarding faculty meetings. It will resonate. Like, maybe too much. __________________________________________________________________________

REMINDERS:

I have previously shared with you a list of dates for this year’s Leadership (all admin) and Excellence and Equity Collaboration (all admin – focus on equity) meetings. [Here it is again.] Our first Leadership is next Wednesday (not Monday) at 3:30 in Lora’s Webex room. ____________________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to seeing you all Tuesday at 2:00. Reminder that we’ll be having a bit of a “challenge” – so bring your A Game! ____________________________________________________________________________

A reminder that Nole Kennedy is the MS representative who sits on our District Safety Team. If you have any safety issues/concerns that are connected with our staff (not student safety) please let Nole know. That team has resumed meeting and is ready to work through safety opportunities.