Check out our Secondary Blog post: We continue to build community and safety into our day-to-day interactions with and between students. This week’s blog is written by BLS partners at BRYT, a group that has helped us create spaces for our most vulnerable students with mental health needs. They provide some classroom ideas that can help support all students to regulate themselvesand SEL strategies for adults.
“Teachers systematically underestimated little boys’ reading abilities—both at kindergarten entry and as they made their way through elementary school. Previous studies indicate that this might be because of the “good girls” theory: Teachers think little girls are better readers because they tend to behave better, and think squirrely little boys are poor readers, even when they aren’t. Furthermore, teachers tended to believe that their best readers were disproportionately girls, even when the literacy assessments themselves did not show that to be the case.
As the authors explain, that perception gap could have serious real-world repercussions for boys, as they are placed in lower reading groups than they qualify for, and are handed less challenging books than they can handle.
Collective Efficacy work for cert and classified staff: Next week is our first Educator Network Day (formerly know as District SIW.) The goal of these meetings if for teachers and some classified staff to connect and discuss topics related to their disciplines and job alike responsibilities. Each HS Administrator is assigned to one of these meetings (some in person and some virtual.) Your role is:
Be there for the leaders and provide them supports as needed. This includes keeping the conversations on track and intervening, as needed, with anyone stuck in a non-helpful spiral. The expectations are that teachers/classified staff engage in productive conversations and not be grading papers etc. Cameras should remain on during virtual meetings.
You will be asked to track attendance at the Educator Network and submit that information to Dean. This is so that we can track PDUs for teachers. Next week Dean will send you a list of possible attendees. We realize that some teachers would fit in several of the available meetings. Hopefully anyone who is unsure about where to go can work through that with their department and admin for guidance.
If you have other questions please reach out to Dean or me.
TikTok challenges: We are experiencing the unfortunate impact of the “Devious Licks Challenges” posted on TikTok. Our School Resource Officers pulled together this document correlating the “challenges” to criminal violations. While this document highlights the serious ramifications for students if they choose to engage, we know that when students land in the juvenile justice system, that can dictate their future trajectory, which can include incarceration.
In our positions and our daily work with students, our mission includes helping our students to learn prosocial behaviors. Our Culture of Care Team put together some amazing resources to help us think about how we can respond to students using a restorative lens.
Parent Conferences will be virtual this year (K-12) with a focus on our students from multilingual families. Kinsey and I will meet with principals this Tuesday at 7:15am to talk about the process.
Essential volunteers (defined as people from organizations with which we have contracts) are allowed to be in our buildings as long as they have completed our background check process (check with Scott if you a question about this). Some examples include: Herff Jones representation and Reps with Avanza and Juntos. Let me know if you have a question about whether a person is an essential volunteer.
Indoor music concerts and drama performances: we will allow indoor music concerts and drama performances and will be sharing specific guidelines in the coming days. One required addition is for students to submit a completed COVID Activities Participation Agreement. This is the same document athletes must submit prior to being allowed to participate in their sport. I shared this information with Keith Chaiet and Luke MacSween who are leading on this. They intend to share this with their counterparts during the Educator Network Day October 13.Please work with your music/drama teachers to ensure this doc is submitted by each student and kept at the school.
Field Trips – we would begin allowing outdoor field trips during the school day if the following conditions are met:
The field trip should not involve the use of school bus drivers.
The field trip should be directly related to curriculum standards.
Students must wear masks.
Students must keep 3 ft apart to the extent possible.
Management and instruction of students has to be done by school staff – no parent volunteers can be utilized.
From Lora re: Student Teachers – I recognize we’re all desperate for substitute teachers, but TSPC has sent a directive to all teacher prep programs in the state reminding them of their liability if they allow their student teachers without substitute licenses to sub in schools. As a result, at least one of our program partners has directed their student teachers to LEAVE THE BUILDING if they are asked to cover a class without a certified teacher present in the room. Student teachers CAN be asked to present a lesson if there is a certified teacher in the room, as well.
After we finish the intense process of verifying vaccinations, HR can move forward on requesting emergency sub licenses for all our student teachers. Once that process is complete, (and we will notify you when that is done), student teachers CAN sub in their cooperating teachers’ classes without anyone else present. They should not be asked to sub in other classrooms.
Calendar:
HERE is the calendar for meetings for the year: You will notice we will be in schools on Thursday afternoons for learning walks. Lora and Dean, as well as our secondary TOSA’s may be joining us on those days. The goal is to get into schools/classrooms most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here is a sample Learning Walk schedule you can use as a guide to plan that visit.
School Design Plans: On Tuesday, September 28, we met with Lora & Dave about school design plans. They shared the link with the docs. Here is the link. At our October 26 Professional Development meeting, we will ask each school to share their DRAFT of their plan.
We are noticing Synergygradebooks without grades and Canvas gradebooks without the nightly sync enabled. Please remind your teachers they need to enable this feature. Here is the video tutorial. Nightly Sync for Canvas Gradepassback
From Paul and Steve in HR: Thanks to your efforts reaching out to staff, we now have over 68% of our employees who have successfully completed their document uploads into Frontline. We have 700 more to go. On Monday, we’ll send you an update list. Vaccine Requirements in Spanish. Today, Paul sent you vaccine emails/information in Spanish including OHA Exception Forms. We’ve have added a Spanish Upload form into everyone’s “My Forms” section within Frontline. People who want to fill that out can go to “Forms I Can Start” and “Start this Form”
Please continue to urge EVERY staff member to download documentation (either their vaccination card or an exemption doc) into Frontline. We really need 100%.
We are hosting a WebEx vaccination Q and A Monday at 4:00. Please encourage folks with questions to join the WebEx. See information below
From Alandra: Quick heads up that we shared information in our staff newsletter today about a vaccine Q&A Monday at 4 p.m. This event is aimed specifically at individuals with questions about state mandate and the upcoming Oct. 18 deadline.
We are directing people with questions to use google form, linked below, to share their question in advance. We will try to address as many questions/topics as we can during the event Monday, likely to last about 30 minutes.
Here’s language we shared today:
Vaccine status deadline nearing for staff
Oregon Health Authority released its Administrative Rule requiring all educators and volunteers in Oregon K-12 schools to provide either proof of vaccination or documentation of medical or religious exception on or before Oct. 18, 2021. Read about the rule.
Bend-La Pine Schools’ employees are requested to upload proof of vaccination, religious exception form, or medical exception form to the Vaccine Status Upload page.
Questions about the vaccine mandate and the upcoming deadline? Supt. Steven Cook and the Director of Human Resources Steve Herron will answer questions during a live Webex Monday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.
Educator Network Days: Building Teacher Efficacy across schools: The schedule for the October 13th Educator Network Day is attached here. We are waiting on a few teacher facilitators to give us the last bits of information. When the Draft across the top is removed you will know that it is ready to share. You will notice we are assigning an administrator to each PLC. We will ask you to take role and, in some cases you will facilitate the PLC. If that is expected, Dean or Katie will reach out to you.
From Dean: On Friday TLC sent out an email to recruit District Level ICCLs in areas where we do not currently have teacher leadership. We hope to continue to support teachers to support other teachers by creating a collective efficacy mindset. The positions include: Band, Orchestra, Choir, Fine Arts, MS Social Studies, HS Social Studies, CTE, and Health/PE. We hope to continue to have more opportunities to include teachers’ voice in our curricular and instructional supports. Reach out to Dean with questions.
Secondary BLOG from Dean: Like all good publishing efforts, it took us a bit to figure out how best to utilize the blog as a support for classroom teachers. You may not have received one post or several. As this new school year gets well underway, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with a “Best Of” Table of Contents, listing a select variety of last year’s posts that are still timely and worth considering.
Here is an important addition to this training (you’ll see this referenced on the last slide):
We are asking all staff district-wide (cert, class, admin) to complete a brief survey about their experiences as employees in our organization. Here is some language you can use when you introduce this at the end of your Civil Rights training, and via email or staff memo/blog as a reminder the week after.
Here’s an update from ODE concerning the Essential Skills waiver:
Assessment of Essential Skills Waiver: The Oregon Legislative Assembly passed SB 744 which directs the Oregon Department of Education to review state requirements for high school diploma options, as well as to review state requirements related to demonstrations of proficiency in Essential Skills. Allowing for this review, students will not be required to show proficiency in Essential Skills as a condition of receiving a high school diploma during the 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 school years.
ODE is in the process of reviewing the Essential Skills requirements. The legislature is requiring a final report, with recommendations, by September of 2022. Pending this review of the state requirements for high diploma options, ODE will provide additional information of Essential Skills to Oregon districts and educators.
The YouthTruth Survey is coming in January! Yes, we will be asking you to push out this survey to your families, staff and students again this year. Be thinking about how we can incentivize folks to take these surveys.
From Jackie Wilson, our Sustainability Coordinator:
October 6th- Walk and Roll to school day. This is a great way to gather baseline data on students walking and biking to school. Details Here: commuteoptions.org/walkroll_day
STEP 1:Encourage your students to walk or roll to school or walk to the bus on October 6th. Provide the link for them to register their trip on our Walk + Roll Google Form and they will receive Walk+Roll prizes (Deadline to register: 5pm on October 8, 2021). Google Form_English AND Google Form_Spanish STEP 2:On October 6th, complete the Walk+Roll Student Tally in each class. Ask your students how they got to school the day before and on October 6th. Print the form and return the completed form to the main office for Safe Routes to School Coordinator to pick up or fill in the google doc and email to [email protected]. Walk + Roll Student Tally [Word]Walk + Roll Student Tally [PDF]
The Peoples Ecochallenge – Starts on October 6th – The People’s Ecochallenge is a 21-day challenge to take action for a better-shared future. From October 6 – 27, 2021, you commit to trying and doing new things. Fun actions encourage new habits. Small steps lead to big change. Together, we build a sustainable world and a healthy planet. If your school has a sustainability advisor – they will get a school team together and share it with the rest of the school staff. If you do not have a sustainability advisor on staff, please see if there is a staff member who would like to be the captain of the team and reach out to [email protected] for details. There will be great prizes for schools with the most points and participation
October 14th, Celebrate Farm to School Month with the main menu item, Chicken pot pie with 70 pounds of local potatoes from Sakari farms.
From Tina Bandy in Transportation: It is time for bus evacuation drills at your school. To keep things as simple as possible, we will use the same format as last year. Please have teachers play the video below for their students. Students who ride the bus will receive extra training from their driver; you may see a small delay in the morning as they exit the bus.
What can the Culture of Care Team do for you? Here is a link from the HDESD Culture of Care Team, letting you know of all the amazing topics that they can present to your staff. Reach out to them with any questions.
From Lora: surveys and prior notice: Please remind your faculty that prior notice to parents/guardians is required before conducting student surveys. I know that some schools through their counselors might have already given student surveys, but in the future please give parents/guardians prior notice. I am attaching the board policy.
Calendar:
HERE is the calendar for meetings for the year: You will notice we will be in schools on Thursday afternoons for learning walks. Lora and Dean, as well as our secondary TOSA’s may be joining us on those days. The goal is to get into schools/classrooms most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here is a sample Learning Walk schedule you can use as a guide to plan that visit.
Staff who do not vaccinate or sign religious/medical exemptions – If you have staff who are asking you what will happen after 10/18 if they do not get vaccinated or sign an exemption, you are to tell them “As of 10/18, you will no longer be employable.” You are not to interpret what that means and you can direct them to reach out to HR with additional questions.
Speaking of vaccinations – We need 100% of your staff to complete the Frontline vaccination form they received via email. If they cannot find the email from Frontline, have them check the “clutter” and “junk” folders, as it has gone to all three places. This survey asks staff to upload their vax card or their waiver form. We will be reviewing staff lists next Friday and notifying you of those staff who have not completed this request. Please provide time or assistance as needed. This is very important. Again 100% participation from every staff member at your school.
Developing teacher leader teams: In TLC we are excited about increasing our support to teachers with our TOSAs. To support Linda and Colleen in this work, we are seeking 4 Math ICCL (2 MS, 2 HS) and 5 Science ICCL (4 content specific in HS and 1 MS.) An email went out to Science and Math teachers on Friday to apply for ICCL positions. Please encourage your teachers to apply by Sunday October 3rd. We hope to have the ICCLs selected by the end of that week. Those names will be included in this blog.
PSAT testing Saturday, October 16: Several schools are hosting the PSAT in three weeks. If you are one of those schools, please follow the COVID protocols outlined in this letter (linked here) AND plan to send this letter to families registered for the PSAT at your school.
Staffing plans – now that hiring has calmed down we need everyone to put the final edits on your staffing plan. Please look at people, positions, and hours and make the necessary updates. Thanks!
Information:
HS Admin Learning Walks: We completed our first Learning Walk Thursday at BSHS. It was awesome! Chris prepared this schedule for our team. Feel free to use this as a template for our visits to your school. Next stop, LPHS next Thursday!
HS Admin calendar – agenda topics for work session/business meetings: Our first work session/business meeting is schedule for October 12th 8-9:30. Here is the HS Admin calendar with all of the dates. We will use these session to problem solve together issues that are common in our schools. Examples of topics may include: tools to support students with challenging behaviors, calibrating discipline across the schools, student management during open periods, and school budgeting. Eric Powell will be collecting the work session/business topics for these meetings. Look for an email from him.
Educator Network Days: As I explained in the HS admin meeting this week, we are planning district wide PLC work for our certified staff (including counselors) and some classified staff on these days. Here is a description from Lora about the purpose and plan for those days. Please do not schedule any building PD on those days. We will have the schedule in next week’s blog. HERE is the (SIW schedule) so you know which days to save for cross school PLC work.
Expanded Options and COCC online: A few counselors have inquired if Expanded Options money can be used for online classes at COCC. We do not normally allow that because COCC charges an extra $40 per online course. This year they are waiving that fee. Because of this, we will allow the use of EO money during the 2021-22 school year. Every school is allocated a certain number of credits for Expanded Options. If schools run over that number, you can use your building budget to pay for the additional EO requests. Just a reminder that the intent of the law is that schools prioritize this money for historically under served populations.
Staying virtual with Open House: With county metrics and changing frequently, what we are allowing in terms of events and activities can change as well. Because of this, plan on scheduling Virtual Open Houses this year.
From Dean:All new hires in the 21-22 school year (with the exception of counselors, world language and special education) to Bend-La Pine will be involved in the Disciplinary Literacy Training this year.
The first training will be held virtually on October 20th. This may conflict with a staff meeting or other building activities. I apologize for that, with other activities, we were not able to do it on the Educator Network Day. Please prioritize this professional development for our teachers. It is generally a small number of teachers per building. I will send you a list of the teachers I believe to be required to attend the training next week.
Meet our secondary TOSA’s: This year, we have the exciting opportunity to reap the benefits of a small but mighty secondary TOSA team. For many years, the elementary schools have benefited from the TOSA role as supportive coaches, PD developers, PLC leaders, and curriculum planners. As employees of the Bend-La Pine district, we are so pleased to be able to offer those same roles to secondary curriculum areas.
YouthBuild is amazing opportunity open to students 16 and older looking for a work based credit earning opportunity. Students transform their lives and roles in society through earning their GED, high school diploma, or college credits, learning job skills, and serving their community through building affordable housing. Recruitment sessions are scheduled for the next four weeks beginning Tuesday, Sept 28. Reach out to [email protected]for more information.
Calendar:
HERE is the calendar for meetings for the year: You will notice we will be in schools on Thursday afternoons for learning walks. Lora and Dean, as well as our secondary TOSA’s may be joining us on those days. The goal is to get into schools/classrooms most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here is a sample Learning Walk schedule you can use as a guide to plan that visit.
Please make a record here when you’ve completed the Civil Rights training with staff at your site? This should be done by the end of October.
As you engage in this conversation with staff, if you find format tweaks to make this more meaningful or effective, please share your ideas!
Here are the slides and notes/talking points. Here is the Trivia Sheet.
New: here is a poster/handout to print and make available for easy reference for reporting (and/or, bookmark the form link). Either you (if you’ll collect and report each incident) or your staff (if you have teachers report incidents themselves) should have this readily available.
Reminder: this reporting tool is for staff use only at this time.
Contact Kinsey and/or Steve Herron if you would like support with this presentation.
Complete by October 31: Standard Response Protocol training: Please make sure that your staff reviews this doc by the end of Oct 31: updated video and that your students watch this student video
A note from Lora about assuring your staff have money for classroom supplies: It’s absolutely critical that site administrators are providing teachers with the funds they need to purchase the supplies they need.
Providing classroom materials tied to a grade in a class: Speaking of not requiring students to pay for classroom supplieswhich are required to be successful in a class, if your math teachers are requiring students to use a T81 or T84 calculator – at an estimated cost of $80-$125 bucks each, you should purchase several using your discretionary money from your building budget. Your teachers or students can then check them out of the library, just as a student would check out a text book or a library book. This is NOT a request that FAN is expected to fill. This is something that should come out of building budget funds.
Information from Amy Tarnow: Please share this with your teachers! Here is a consolidated list of the resources our team has been asked for the most this week: Bend La Pine Canvas Expectations
We are working to update all dashboards and access in Grade Guardian. As a reminder, this is the tool that lets staff visually see how students are doing and identify those who are at risk of failing. If you have specific access requests or dashboard requests for your site, please send them to Laura Clark. If you or anyone on your staff needs a review of Grade Guardian, here are the enrollment codes for some self-paced tutorials: Grade Guardian 101 for Advisors click here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/LCL76A) Grade Guardian 101 for Teachersclick here to enroll (https://bls.instructure.com/enroll/B4P3CF)
This fall, Canvas is offering FREE virtual 1:1 sessions for teachers to review and refine their Canvas courses with an edtech and instruction design expert. This is such a cool opportunity! “Panda Pro’s” are prepared to give advice ranging from best practices with modules to accessibility, functionality of included tools like speedgrader or the rich text editor, and course design. Teachers can learn more and schedule their own 1:1 session from this link: https://www.instructure.com/canvas/resources/articles/get-free-instructional-design-coaching-support-with-the-panda-pros
Information:
A note from Walt Norris: Here is some updated information about cleaning protocols: School Cleaning Protocols
SIW is 90 minutes: This question came up from a few schools this week. To confirm, we have traditionally used 90 minutes as the scheduled length of SIW activities, though it is not specifically addressed in the CBA.
Occasionally, school leaders HAVE scheduled longer activities, due to special training or speakers, but these have been done as “trades” for early release for staff on the next Wednesday, for example. Please reach out if you have questions.
An important note from Sean and Jennifer about requests for tele-counseling: It appears that some parents are requesting that their students have telehealth counseling appointments during the school day in outbuildings. This does not include our partners The Child Center and Trillium, which would be permissible. We are advising against this for these reasons:
1. Kids have medical and counseling appointments during the school day already. Parents check them out and then check them back into school in these instances. Therefore, during the Dr. appointment, they are under the supervision of their parents. We don’t want a student getting a counseling appointment at school while under our supervision. The exception would be if it is an entity that we have an MOU with, like The Child Center or Trillium.
2. School would have to provide a quiet environment for this. That would now be an administrative challenge.
3. What if the student is triggered and has an emotional break? Who puts that back together?
We propose that parents can come and check their students in and out of school for these types of appointments. If you want to discuss a specific scenario, please contact Jennifer or Sean.
Calendar:
HERE is the calendar for meetings for the year: You will notice we will be in schools on Thursday afternoons for learning walks. Lora and Dean, as well as our secondary TOSA’s may be joining us on those days. The goal is to get into schools/classrooms most Tuesdays and Thursdays.
September 21 – HS Admin meeting @ Summit HS 8:00-9:30
“So, if we test students as soon as they return to school, we might find that students cannot recall things that they knew 18 months earlier, and it would be tempting to assume that this is an example of “lost learning.” However, if they knew it well 18 months ago, storage strength for that material is high; it’s retrieval strength we need to work on. In other words, what students can do on their first days back in school is likely to be a poor guide to what they have actually learned in the storage-strength sense.” https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/why-testing-shouldnt-be-the-first-response-to-last-years-learning-gaps
To Do:
Update Extra Duty lists by Monday! Principals, Human Resources sent you your list of folks on extra duty contracts earlier this week. In order to get these folks paid beginning Oct 1, we need you to update those lists by Monday, Sept 13! Sorry about the quick turnaround.
Open Period Letters: Pre-covid, we set the expectation to serve our 9th grade students on campus all day. Older students have the option of having an open period, as long as parents sign off. Please use this template and fill in the appropriate supervision plan for your school. Here is a spanish version of the letter (specific to SHS, I don’t have the master). Please have the process of collecting signed letters completed byOctober 1 and have a plan to keep these signed letters on file in the event they need to be accessed.
School Counselor ICCLs needed for the High School Level:
We are looking to build a HS counseling leadership team! Here is what Jennifer Hauth, who will be leading this group, has in mind: School Counselors who are selected to be part of this team will work with me in a leadership role on future planning around professional development and the direction of the school counseling program. (Counselors who) are interested, please submit a statement (no more than one page) describing why you would like to hold the position as well as one reference to Candy Gelatt in HR by September 15th. Interviews will be held after finalists are selected. Here is the job description. Please push this information out to your counselors!
Contact Eric Powell for any questions related to supporting students with challenging behaviors. He and Kay Ann continue to be our go to people for problem solving with you! Eric keeps important links and information on our procedures related to discipline and Restorative Justice Practices updated here: BLS RP Admin. Support Sheet
College and Trade Visitations coming: Our School to Career Coordinators plan to schedule in college and trade schools on Wednesdays period 7. Please connect with them about this and support their efforts to get students to those sessions.
Our STC Coordinators would like to offer the ASVAB at our schools and will be approaching principals about this. I am supportive of providing this opportunity for our students. Let me know if you have questions.
We are requiring all building leaders to be trained in Restorative Practices. If you have not yet been trained, please connect with a Culture of Care coach regarding the next opportunity. If you participated last year, HERE is a flier about monthly dates to connect with other leaders about RP.
Our District Athletic Director, Dave Williams, is close to signing a contract with HomeTown to move to digital ticket sales at athletic events. Here is a LINK to more information if you are interested.
A note from Jim Boen,Regional Director of Mental and Behavioral Health: The Connect Workshop is a FREE, two-hour opportunity for parents and guardians in Deschutes County to learn factual, unbiased information and skills to start conversations with their kids about marijuana and other drugs. Each participant will receive a $20 Visa eGift Card after completing the workshop. Workshops are being offered online using Zoom. Here is a link where you can register for one of the upcoming Connect Workshop. (This website has also been translated into Spanish and there will be two presentations provided in Spanish as well.)
COVID questions: We are collecting questions on THIS DOC and processing answers during our weekly COVID Ready for Schools meetings every Thursday. I will share the answers in my blog. Here are the topics this week:
Faucets: We are not turning on drinking fountains and they should be covered or shut off. However, students and staff are able to fill their water bottles at the filling stations.
PPE orders should continue to be managed through your office managers, who will then confer with your school nurse prior to ordering. This includes special masks (required) for band and choir. Bell covers for instruments are NOT required and can be purchased using building funds.
QR code check-in: is not required for entry and exit at this time. Itinerant staff should be checking in and out on paper/pen at the front office for any school they are working at. (requirement prior to COVID as well).
Cleaning protocols: Staff should follow the cleaning protocols prior to COVID. Engineers are doing a deep cleaning every night and no additional cleaning is required on the part of certified and classified staff.
Helpful safety info from Julianne (email sent Tuesday):
When students are in school, and air quality is deteriorating, Scott Bojanowski sends regular air quality updates to Office Managers and Administrators so that decisions about outdoor activities can be made.
In addition to the use of AQI, schools and department leaders can use 5-3-1 to determine conditions in your area. From Oregon.gov, “Smoke levels can rise and fall rapidly, depending on weather factors including wind direction. Making visual observations using the 5-3-1 visibility index is a simple way of estimating smoke levels and what precautions to take. While this method can be a useful tool, persons should always use caution and avoid going outside if visibility is limited, especially persons who may be sensitive to smoke.”
Please take a moment to refresh your understanding of the 5-3-1 index and how you can use it to determine smoke impacts at your specific school site, outside of using the air quality readers in the area, which may be miles from your site.
Air Quality Website and App
The DEQ/Oregon air quality website and Oregon Air app are the only district-approved locations to check air quality for school purposes, because they give hourly readings and not accumulative readings over 24 hours. Simply search for OregonAir in your app store.
School/Department Guidance
Refer to Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Guidance for School Outdoor Activities During Wildfire Events guidelines to make real-time decisions about outdoor recess, PE, or athletic events during the wildfire events. Consideration of total time spent outdoors, activity level, and student groups sensitive to air pollution, when applying appropriate guidance. Please print this document and refer to it as you make decisions about outdoor activities.
In short:
When air quality isGood(AQI 0-50) it is a great day to be active outdoors.
When air quality is Moderate (AQI 51-100), it is a good day for students to be active outside.
When outdoor air quality is Unhealthy for Sensitive Individuals (AQI 101-150), it is an OK day for students to be outside, however, some students may be bothered if they are sensitive to smoke and are strenuously exerting themselves.
When conditions are Unhealthy(AQI 151-200), consider moving all students indoors or allowing only light outdoor activities. Any outdoor event that is planned to be more than two hours in length will be cancelled. Events of less than two hours in length should be moved indoors.
When conditions are Very Unhealthy/Hazardous (AQI 201+), all students must be kept indoors. All outdoor events are cancelled.
OSAA Guidance Additionally, Bend-La Pine Schools’ follows Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) guidelines, created in consultation with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), to make decisions concerning the cancelation, suspension, and/or restarting of athletic practices and contests based on poor air quality.The OSAA is a non-profit, board-governed organization that regulates high school athletics and competitive activities via athletic conferences in Oregon.
The OSAA’s guidance is traditionally more restrictive than OHA guidance, due to the level of exertion and extended length of time students spend participating in practices and competitions, as opposed to recess or PE activities. For example, when conditions are Unhealthy (AQI 151-200), OHA allows for light activity, such as a 15-minute recess, to take place outdoors, while OSAA requires a 2-hour cross country or football practice be moved indoors or canceled.
Staff Guidance
When AQI rises to 201 or above, move all employees indoors or provide them with KN95 or N95 for outdoor work.
Meals
When AQI is Very Unhealthy/Hazardous (201+), all students will eat meals inside, following their indoor meal plans. Students will be spaced 6 feet apart, and be encouraged to stay seated and keep talking to a minimum. Immediately upon finishing lunch, or getting up to dump the trash, students will put their masks back on. Students who are sensitive to air pollution may eat inside at lower AQI readings.
Middle and high school students will eat in designated areas such as the cafeteria, hallways, common areas, or some classrooms.
Air Handlers/HVAC
District HVAC systems replace the air in our facilities an average of 5-6 times each hour. During significant smoke events, HVAC systems will continue to run in our buildings with MERV-13 filters, and windows and doors should be closed. Schools should not turn air handling systems off, as the use of MERV 13 filters will help improve our indoor air quality during a wildfire smoke event.
Outdoor Temperatures
If the indoor climate becomes uncomfortable, due to outside temperature, move to a more comfortable location or limit/increase activity. Use box fans/ceiling fans, as available. Be mindful of airflow, if using box fans. Keep doors and windows closed.
Evacuations The first priority in situations is responding to the evacuation and safety instructions of local and state fire officials. Regardless of COVID-19, if you are asked or ordered to evacuate, you should do so.
Meal Plans by Tuesday: please add your MEAL plan (lunch and breakfast) to this link!
Next, please share your school meal plans on your website the first week of school. Please call the document “Meal Plans” and post it to your School Information page. Deby Bryon can assist if folks run into challenges.
Please be sure you are following this law about the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week:
ORS 339.875 Procurement, display, and salute of flags.
(1) Each district school board shall:
(b) Provide students with the opportunity to salute the United States flag at least once each week of the school year by reciting: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
(2) Students who do not participate in the salute provided for by this section must maintain a respectful silence during the salute. [Formerly 332.100 and then 336.045 and then 336.630; 1999 c.137 §1]
iPad Insurance and AUP – Here is the English version of the iPad insurance form and the AUP. We submitted both for translation but as of today, we haven’t received them back. As soon as those come in we will send them out in a separate email. Please remember, purchasing iPad insurance is not mandatory for a child to receive an iPad. However, if a family doesn’t want to pay the high cost of iPad repair due to damage or loss, purchasing the Bend-La Pine Schools’ iPad insurance will be in their best interest. The AUP should be distributed to 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 9th-grade students as well as new students to your school. Cross your fingers that we have a digital solution for the AUP next year. This is a priority for the department.
Standard Response Protocols (SRP) SRP training for the SY 21-22 has been updated to include the HOLD and SECURE protocols. The Secure protocol replaced the term Lockout from the previous SRP protocols. The protocols to conduct a Secure have not changed from the Lockout protocols, only the terminology as Lockout and Lockdown were often confused as protocols. The current posters that you should use to replace the outdated ones in your school are here.
In lieu of Scott Bojanowski, Julianne Repman, and the SRO coming out to schools and going over the protocols during a one-hour in person training this school year, we ask that you have your staff watch the SRP 2021 What’s New video (6 minutes in length) that discusses the SRP protocols.
Please have staff complete watching the video by October 31, 2021 and type in your school name and the date you watched itherewhen you are done. If after you watch the video and want Scott, Julianne, and the SRO to come visit and answer any questions, they would be happy to come for a visit–just reach out.
BRYT Admin Lead As part of our BRYT program launch, we would like to have one administrator identified at each site that we can collaborate/support and train in terms of supporting the Student Success/BRYT implementation. Please verify that the person listed here, is correct.
Information:
Media on your Campus: As the start of school approaches, we are seeing an uptick in media attention. Quick reminders about media. Media can film your school from the public sidewalk or street. They should not come onto campus (in your parking lot, etc.) without permission. All media requests usually come through Alandra and Julianne. If we expect media to come to a school, we will let you know. Please reach out if you get a media inquiry or have media members show up unexpectedly, we are happy to help. Alandra’s cell: 541-255-9112
Attendance update from Rachel Mavis: Your Attendance Secretaries were trained on this information this week and HERE are the instructions Rachel shared with them:
10-day Drops are back and so are quarantines
When a student is quarantined, the office will place a C19 on the school days that fall during a quarantine. The C19 code is an excused absence. If the quarantine extends past 10 days, the student will need to be inactivated.
IF the student attends class virtually, the attendance office may enter PVQ. Present Virtual Quarantine (PVQ) is a School Activity code that does not generate an all-day value. This code may be used before 10 consecutive absent days.
Teachers will not have access to C19 or PVQ. Only the office staff will have the ability to enter these codes.
A suggestion from Rachel: If a student would like to attend class(es) virtually, a counselor or teacher may call the student and parent to arrange a plan for the student to attend virtually. The student and parent need to know the expectations regarding virtual attendance. Then the counselor or teacher may work with the office staff on the dates for the PVQ code.
NOTE to parents about transportation: FYI: This message will be going out to parents from Central Office once translation has been completed:
Bend-La Pine Schools, like many other service providers in our community, is facing monumental labor shortages in some critical operational areas.
One such area is student transportation. We are currently down more than 25 bus drivers from the start of the 2020-21 school year, despite significant investments into recruitment efforts: actively marketing driver positions for many months, increasing pay and providing more robust training and support to those who are interested in this fulfilling work. We have consolidated routes and rerouted students as much as possible. Currently, just to have enough qualified drivers to run our current routes, qualified office staff, trainers and repair technicians are driving routes to start the school year, in addition to their normal job responsibilities.
Yet still, we find ourselves in the difficult position of not having enough drivers for bus routes this fall. Even in the past two weeks we have experienced driver resignations and retirements. That is why we are reaching out today to families on select routes to ask for your help.
As an alternative to providing a school bus to transport your child(ren), we are offering to reimburse families registered on selected routes for transporting their own child(ren) to school to start the year. We will reimburse $2.00 per mile, to and from school, to families that are able to assist in this way. This would allow us to temporarily consolidate a few more routes until additional drivers complete the required training and are available to drive our routes. We are asking for your help through October.
Please complete this form and let us know whether you are able to help:
TEMPORARY PARENT TRANSPORT FORM
If you can help, thank you! We will follow up with more details about the reimbursement.
We are also investigating other transportation options, such as using Suburbans, vans or other fleet vehicles, driven by a district staff member with a Type 10 license. This option will be extremely limited, based on driver availability, and made available to those for whom this change creates extreme hardship.
Thank you for your support and understanding as we continue to navigate these difficult times. We hope that you will help us to get all students to school this year, where we will continue to ensure every student has the teaching and learning environment they need to be successful.
Field Trips: Currently, we are not allowing field trips with buses. Walking field trips are allowed as long as masks are worn at all times and socially distancing is maintained. We will revisit this on October 1.
Volunteers and Visitors:
As you know, the district is restricting volunteers in our schools during the school day while Covid-19 transmission rates remain high. However, there are a few organizations whose services have been deemed “essential.” These are listed below:
OSU-Cascades interns and supervisors
George Fox interns and supervisors
Friends of the Children mentors and supervisors
Camp Tamarack/ODS staff
Human Resources will work with these organizations to assure all volunteers meet our vaccination mandate on or before October 18, 2021. We will notify schools if any staff from these groups does NOT comply.
Booster club members/concession stand workers are allowed into the building AFTER school hours. We will provide more guidance as we get closer to October.
Staff from Bend Police, Deschutes County, etc. are not considered volunteers: they are contracting partners and should be allowed in schools whenever necessary.
Once HR has a process in place to verify vaccinations, we will consider allowing other groups into our buildings. We are legally required to verify vaccinations prior to letting anyone in the building by October 18.
Concerts and Drama Performances: Schools are highly encouraged to schedule concerts and performances outside whenever possible. Masks are required. When scheduled inside, masks are required, and socially distancing should be maintained to the greatest extent possible. At this time, there are no capacity requirements.
Locker Rooms: Students can access locker rooms. They must be masked at all times and should not be in the locker rooms for more than 15 minutes.
COVID FAQ from Alandra – Here is a link that has been created for Admins to use to get information that has been vetted for accuracy and translated into Spanish.
Notes from Scott McDonald, Director of Technology:
Hotspots We will again be prepared to support families who do not have internet by providing mobile hotspots. Our team in IT has made some significant improvements that should be known before we start connecting families with hotspots. Some of the improvements include:
School district Hotspots will only work with student-issued school iPads. This is because they have their own unique network that is only visible to Bend-La Pine student devices.
Internet content is now filtered in a way that is near identical to our school network. (no more Netflix)
The set-up process has been simplified and should require little or no support from staff.
Distribution: At this time, we plan to support only those families without internet access who are either involved in Targeted Remote Learning programs or referred by a FAN advocate or building principal. The check-out process is more formal than last year but is also straightforward.
Students or family members obtain a Loan Agreement Form from a school FAN advocate or principal.
The completed form is used to redeem the hotspot from the school media center or the education center.
We will have active hotspots available beginning September 21st. As we get close to that date, I will send both our Loan Agreement Form and set up instructions to principals and our FAN team. Last year’s hotspots 🙁We are still looking for over 500 hotspots that were not turned into schools last spring (500 is not a typo). These hotspots are not active and not of any use to students. Please continue to message that we need to collect hotspots so that they can be reactivated and put to use by our families who need them.
Last week’s Innovative Teaching Conference was a huge success. Thanks to all of the teachers and administrators who came to engage in lifelong learning. Here is the Google Folder that participants can access information from the presenters.
We are charging for ASB this year. The cost is $25 with scholarships available for F and R students. It is important that all schools charge the same amount.
OHA 3560 COVID-19 Testing in Oregon’s K-12 SchoolsFor some students, COVID-19 testing in K-12 schools may represent their only access to a COVID-19 test and the importance of this access cannot be overstated.sharedsystems.dhsoha.state.or.us
School Administrator Responsibilities
Oversees implementation
Fills out and submit COVID-19 Testing K-12 Registration Form *Highly encouraged to do this asap. See link above “OHA 3560 COVID-19 Testing in Oregon’s K-12 Schools”.
Identify at least one, preferably two, Testing Coordinators (other than school nurses for they have multiple school sites to support)
Meet with your site’s Testing Coordinator(s) and Testing Facilitator(s) to finalize responsibilities
Meet with the team periodically to review procedures and clarify expectation
Testing Facilitator (Test Administrator) Read OHA 3560 COVID-19 Testing in Oregon’s K-12 Schools BookletView The Abbott BinaxNOW training modules here. Module 1: Getting Started (~ 2 min)Module 2: Quality Control (~ 4 min)Module 3: Specimen Collection and Handling (~ 2 min)Module 4: Patient (Individual) Test (~ 3 min)Review PPT slideshowRead FAQsRefer to flow chart steps below*** New Disposal Information 3/11/21*******OHA has clarified that USED test kits, swabs, and reagent are not considered biohazard; may be disposed of in regular trash. See DEQ factsheet for information on disposal of medical waste exposed to COVID-19: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/COVID19MedicalWasteFS.pdfOHA has clarified that UNUSED kits and reagent should NOT be disposed of in regular trash. They should be returned to OHA at the conclusion of the testing program
COVID-19 Testing Reminders
Only designated staff who have completed the OHA BinaxNOW training are authorized to administer the test.
Results of EACH test must be promptly logged in the Abbott BinaxNOW Testing Log. Testing logs must be kept in a secure location and may be audited by OHA.
OHA requires all COVID-19 test results, both positive and negative, to be reported daily.
All positive cases should be reported immediately to the local public health authority
All students must have written consent (see Appendix C) on file prior to COVID-19 testing.
COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing inOHA 2390Z (8/24/2021) 1 of 7 PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing in Oregon’s Schools FAQs (Updated 8/24/2021) Q1: What is the purpose of the COVID-19 diagnostic testing program insharedsystems.dhsoha.state.or.us
Question #22 We are not having students or staff return to campus on after day 5 or 6 for testing post-exposure. Individuals identified as close contacts to a COVID-19 positive case must have a negative NAAT or PCR test to return to school. Results must be interpreted by the school nurse for clearance to return to school/work. Question #23 – Information for athletic programs
Contact tracingand Seating Charts are REQUIRED– Please let your teachers know that if there is a positive case in their class, middle and high schools will be receiving an email from a contact tracer or nurse requesting information about whether masks were worn consistentlyduring the class and they will be requesting a seating chart to identify any close contacts. The expectation is that teachers will respond to emails asap (we understand that they are teaching classes) – ideally before 5pm on the same day. If we do not receive a reply by 10am the next day, we will assume that students consistently wore masks and were at least 3 feet apart. We do not have the capacity to track teachers down to get this information.
Ordering PPE from Scott Bojanowski: As a reminder, when ordering PPE for your schools (masks, band masks, hand sanitizer, etc.) please coordinate with your school nurse to make those orders. This will help streamline the ordering process for PPE through our distribution center. Please attempt to make one weekly order for PPE, to the best extent possible. This will also help the distribution center in gathering the PPE products and getting them out to your schools. Many schools have emailed me with their PPE orders over the last couple of days. I have coordinated with Tami Pike to get those orders in for your schools. If you have sent me a PPE order this week, you do not need to make a reorder for those products with your nurse.
Links to Covid 19 Safety Posters. Your Office Manager and School nurse already have these posters. Check with them about how you will use them in your building. Poster 1, Poster 2
Family Liaison Team: We have an amazing team of Family Liaisons to support both our staff and our culturally- and linguistically diverse community. While hiring is not quite complete and IT is still processing their phone extensions, I want to share the information I do have at this time: What do Liaisons do: See some examples here. Which Liaison supports me: Please see this list for the Family Liaison who will support your school community. We will put out a family-facing communication about our team soon–for now, this list is just to support your office team! (Disclaimer: I tried to minimize changes, but it was not possible everywhere…and there could be small tweaks in the upcoming weeks.)How do I connect with them: Again, phone numbers aren’t functioning yet for new liaisons, so contact them via district email until they tell you otherwise. When will they be in my building: Next week they will flood support for Transportation and grades K, 6, and 9. Regular weekly schedules in your buildings will begin Sept 13–more info coming soon.
Civil Rights Training: Here are the slides for the abbreviated version of the training we are required to cover with all staff. Remember, there are talking points in the Notes section under each slide. If you would like additional support, contact Kinsey and/or Steve Herron–we’re happy to co-facilitate with you. Here is the Trivia Sheet referenced in the training, and (new!) here is a poster/handout you can print and make available for easy reference for reporting (and/or, bookmark the form link).
Concussion Research Letters to Parents: We are still involved in the concussion research project with U of O, the HDESD, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A letter describing the project and parental consent in English and Spanish was sent to your parents today. Please reach out if you have questions.
The first full week of school – Sept. 13-17 — we are going to celebrate Care & Connection week, in conjunction with this ODE initiative. We want to celebrate all the wonderful ways our schools and staff are building relationships, connecting with students and families, and helping support students’ mental and emotional health. At the district level – we will be showcasing programs and staff that connect with this theme – including sharing a family version of the video we created for the Welcome Back. We know your plates are full; participation is optional. If you’re interested, you can join in by: Highlighting staff members whose roles focus on care and connection (share in newsletter, web, or social), sharing district resources about the week, planning an activity related to the Care & Connection (my guess is many of you are already doing things that would connect with this theme). Please let Alandra know if you’ve got something in mind, she’s creating a list of participating schools, activities, and ideas. Thanks, everyone!
From Cate Hill, Title III Coordinator: This is a reminder to not send student identification information through our regular email server, which isn’t secure. We are noticing that it is happening again, already this year. Please advise your staffs to either share documents via Google Drive or BLsend.
FAN Advocate Update: Here is the link to the most current FAN Advocate update. If you are a school that is currently without an advocate, the link lets you know who will be covering your school. It is also a good heads up for those of you who have advocates who have additional schools to support. Please spread the word that we have two positions to hire for if you know of anyone who may be a great candidate.
A Note from Lora: Steve and I and possibly some school board members may drop by the first couple days of school. These visits are to celebrate the opening of school and to check in to see how things are going. Administrators are NOT expected to interrupt their busy days for us.
September 21 – HS Admin meeting @ Summit HS 8:00-9:30
September 22 – Leadership training @Ed Center 3:30-5:00
October 31 – SRP video due date
Your Calendars – if you have a couple free moments in the upcoming days or weeks please complete your work calendar. Remember, this is your best guess at the days you will work and take off. It can be adjusted throughout the year. Tammy and I would like calendars completed by the end of September. If you need assistance please contact April Jorgenson.
Mark your calendars for June 20 and 21, 2022 for our Leadership Training Academy.
“We now have the opportunity not to just reimagine schooling or try to reform injustice but to start over. Starting over is hard but not impossible; we now have a skeleton of a playbook. It starts with creativity, teacher-student relationships, and teacher autonomy.”
Here is a fascinating article from Education Week that Dave forwarded to several of us.
To Do:
HERE are the CANVAS expectations we worked on earlier this week. Laura has included the links for teachers to set up auto synch to Synergy AND set 50% as the floor if they use a 0-100% grading system. Be sure to share these with teachers next week.
Music Masks are required indoors! Let me know if you need “music masks” for your band students and how many you need. Julianne will be ordering more next week. These masks have a little opening for kids to play their instruments while still wearing a mask and will help to mitigate spread.
We are not hosting in-person family events until further notice. In terms of Open House events coming up in September, plan to hold them virtually.
9-12 lunch: Students in grades 9-12 are highly encouraged to eat lunch outdoors and to maintain appropriate social distancing by maintaining six feet apart when possible. When meals are eaten indoors, six feet of social distancing will be maintained between students in designated areas, to the greatest extent possible.
Info for parents (priority) – Some of you inquired about a district communication that describes for families our back-to-school practices and procedures. You should include in your newsletter a link to this website. It should provide the necessary information a parent will need.
Safety teams – Once again a reminder to start up your safety teams and use them to help create safety practices at your schools. As you make those decisions, make sure you are referencing the latest RSSL document and aligning decisions with practices and procedures specific to our district. Here is the 2020/21 Return To School Cheat Sheet For Administrators to help guide some of the areas to review and focus on (remember, this is from last year so things have changed). Here is the updated 1 PAGER based on current RSSL guidelines.
Targeted Remote Learning – Here is a DRAFT of a step-by-step Targeted Remote Learning Plan but it should be ready by Monday. Next week it is important that you share it with your teachers so they have time to plan for it and start following some of the recommendations.
Sign in and sign out – Please ensure approved district visitors, ESD staff (including all subs), and approved essential volunteers are using a paper sign-in/out form located in your office. These are critical for contact tracing purposes.
Proof of Vaccination and Vaccine Opt-Out – I know you have many questions about the opt-out of vaccines for medical and religious reasons. HR will be getting out a document soon with the steps to follow. For now, just hold tight and tell anyone who is inquiring about opting out that directions from HR are coming soon. Same goes with when and how we will be collecting proof of vaccination status.
Coming to work sick or symptomatic – pure and simple, DON’T! On day one with staff this needs to be communicated very, very clearly. There have been several cases already in which adults have come to work with “allergies” or a “cold” and eventually found out it was really Covid, unknowingly spreading it to others. This has to be a tight practice.
Important info from Tami about how to address illnesses andwhat to do……
Staff/Student Illnesses
Student and Staff Algorithms – Please follow these algorithms. (The COVID-19 Communication Booklet is currently being updated.)
STAFF
Non-primary symptoms for staff will be handled by the office managers (or whomever is the designated person covering absences in their department.) They will follow the algorithm for when staff can return. This does not get reported to the school nurse. *Office managers are more than welcome to reach out to staff who do not leave a detailed message with illness symptoms. Unfortunately, school nurses do not have the capacity to do so.
Primary symptoms for staff – The office manager (or whomever is the designated person covering absences in their department) will complete a Staff Primary Symptom Report Form specific to their school site. (They are currently being made.) School nurses will have access to their specific schools’ spreadsheet.
School nurses will follow up with staff who are reporting Primary COVID-19 symptoms.
Once information is collected, the nurse will send an email to all pertinent staff.
For Nurses – If the staff person wishes to return prior to the 10-day isolation period, they must show the school nurse their negative COVID-19 test.
PCR/NAAT – no health care provider note needed
rapid antigen test – health care provider note needed to return to work.
STUDENTS
Non-primary symptoms for students will be handled by the attendance/health office staff following the algorithm. These non-primary illnesses do not get reported to the school nurse. *Attendance/health staff are more than welcome to reach out to families who do not leave a detailed message with illness symptoms. Unfortunately, school nurses do not have the capacity to do so.
Primary symptoms for students – Designated staff monitoring student absences will complete a Student Primary Symptom Report Form specific to their school site. (They are currently being made.) School nurses will have access to their specific schools’ spreadsheet.
School nurses will follow up with parents/guardians who are reporting their student with Primary COVID-19 symptoms.
School nurses will email or send a paper copy home to parents with information on when the student can return to school.
Quarantine
School staff should refer quarantining/close contact and positive case questions to the school nurse. Please remind staff that fully vaccinated individuals identified as close contacts do not need to quarantine. If the fully vaccinated individual develops symptoms, they should follow the BLS “When to Keep My Child Home” guidance. (I am currently updating the guidance to reflect fully vaccinated individuals.) This guidance also applies to staff as well. https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/parents/health-immunizations
BLS will be following the quarantine guidance set forth from OHA and Deschutes County Health. The gold standard amount of time for quarantine of an unvaccinated individual who had close contact exposure to a COVID-19 positive case is 14 days from the last date of contact. Should a staff/student wish to return to work/school sooner than 14 days, they can follow the guidance below:
Quarantine for the full 14 days – Earliest return to school date: Date
Quarantine for 10 days – Earliest return to school date: Date
Test for COVID-19 after day 6 from the date of last exposure. **The COVID-19 test must be a NAAT/PCR COVID-19 test. – Earliest return to school date (must quarantine through day 7): Date
I have also attached quarantine information for fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals who have been identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 positive case. Office Managers/Attendance/Health Room Secretaries – Look for access to the Staff Primary Symptom Report Form and Google Spreadsheet responses and to the Student Primary Symptom Report Form and Google Spreadsheet responses coming soon!! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Due to COVID, we are a little behind in out 3 year rotation for the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) 3 year training rotation. Please check the link below to see if you school is due for a training this year. If, yes, you can then click the link to find a Wednesday that will work for you building. I have taken the liberty to combine a few schools that share the same SIW times which are in RED. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks
Question, Persuade, Refer1.5 hour training where participants learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Offered on Wednesdays
All building/district staff
Every 3 YearsLook HERE to see if you need to sign up this year.
Please save the date for Oct. 21-22 for this fall’s ASIST training. Each build needs at least two ASIST trained staff. Further, all new school psychologists and school counselor will need to attend this training, as they are the folks in your building that respond when a student present with suicide ideation and need a screening and safety plan. We are working on updating our list of trained building staff and will share with you shortly.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Suicide prevention protocol first responder training. Each building has a minimum of two ASIST trained staff to respond. Look HERE to see who is trained in your building.
A note from Michele Oakes, our Mentor Coordinator: The Mentor Program likes to double-check that we have all of our beginning teachers enrolled in the program and supported by our amazing mentors. If you have a beginning teacher in his/her first or second year of their career, please send the name to Michele Oakes. We are especially trying to catch those educators hired in the last few weeks.
From Dave Van Loo: Please send Stephanie Bent the email addresses of any staff to include on our district’s assessment and accountability email listserv. These communications will contain information necessary to coordinate and support any essential district or state assessment activities and data collections. Give Dave a call if you have questions.
Information:
Masks are required for INDOOR PE – but NOT for outdoor.
From Alandra: Friday, Aug. 27 we are sending a district newsletter home to families in ENG and SPAN with content about returning to school. It will include an FAQ addressing items like masks, vaccines, quarantines and more. If you would like to also share this info with families, please use this approved content rather than creating your own for these topics. (Alandra can email you a copy after Friday if you’d like it.)
Improved BLPO support: Amy and her team at BLPO have integrated many of the positive components of CDL into our BLPO program. These improvements will allow families to choose the level of support that best fits their needs. Alandra sent out a media release about these changes this week. HERE is a summary of the program changes.
Substitutes: The HDESD let us know that they added some subs to their list but the sub situation is not what it was a couple years ago. We will be hiring 5 additional district subs which will help but it won’t nearly solve the shortage issue. Be prepared with contingency plans within your building.
From Paul Dean: OSEA mentioned that there is some collective angst among EAs who didn’t know about the added calendar days before making other plans on days that they normally have not worked. We agreed that I would craft some language to send out to administrators to address this.
EA Calendars: Our Educational Assistants have advocated for added workdays for more professional development and increased time to better prepare for their role in supporting teachers and students. Thanks to SIA dollars, we’ve added days to their calendar for the 2021-22 school year and hope to be able to continue this practice in the coming years. It took extra time this summer to develop work calendars for all of the impacted EA positions and because of this, we were not able to provide them with proper notice before many of them had made plans based upon their historical workdays. We are asking leaders to be understanding when engaging with EAs about conflicts that are a result of these added days. If you offer training and an EA cannot be part of it, please utilize technology or other means to provide them with an opportunity to access that training. Find trade time opportunities when an EA can’t work on a new calendar day. We intend for all EAs to work their full work year obligations, but it may require administrators and EAs to find collaborative solutions when there are conflicts.
Thanks for your patience and understanding and we will proactively plan next summer so that EAs receive calendar information in a more timely fashion.
I shared this information in an earlier BLOG and thought I would bring it to your attention as some members of our community are inquiring about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and whether our schools are teaching it.
What is it? Critical Race Theory is a big topic that deserves substantial unpacking. In an effort to get you some tools for responding now if you need them, here are some initial resources:
ODE’s stance on CRT here, and talking points here. These are just for your own reference if you’d like to borrow any of their language. This is an article about what CRT is, and how it relates to education if you’re looking to read more.
If you have families inquiring about CRT or our district’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion work, and you’d like a partner in that conversation, feel free to reach out to Kinsey.
To Do:
HERE is the link to the slide deck from our HS Admin meeting last Monday. HERE is the slide show that Jenn shared during her session. She has provided several links to support our work of modeling SEL for Adults this year. I challenge you to think about how you can model ADULT SEL work in your leadership with your students and staff. Here is the template I used for our connections meeting this week: 3 Signature Practices for Adults. It is from the CASEL framework.
Dress Code Policy: Last spring we discussed our district student dress code policy. Recommendations for updating this were designed to align with current best practices, minimize disparate impacts on particular groups of students, and uphold our equity lens. After a conversation with secondary administrators, Cabinet, and student leadership, the recommendations are now in the final stages of the approval process. While this will not be official before mid-September, the recommended policy (draft) is here for your own reference. In the meantime for your handbook, you can always just refer to your school dress code being in accordance with district regulation “JFCA-AR: Student Code of Dress, available here,” (this is the currently adopted version), so that the upcoming change does not make your handbook outdated. If you have questions about the content of the recommendations, please reach out to Kinsey.
In TLC we are super excited about the Innovative Teaching Conference next Wednesday and Thursday (8/25-26) at PCMS @ 8:30.Sign up is now closed. We are at 200 people for each day. Check out the schedule/break-out sessions HERE. If you did not sign up to attend, please come to the keynote and invitation only sessions for your level:
Wednesday:8:30-9:45- Mary Ehrenworth Keynote – Gym AND2:30-3:45– High School Leaders: Leading Power Standards Work in your building – Doug Reeves – Room D116
Thursday: 8:30-10:00– Ann McCarty-Perez -Keynote – Gym
If you have staff who have been asked to attend sessions (Special Education and BRYT focused work) and have not signed up, please have them attend those sessions.
If you or your staff is attending an invitation-only session without signing up, we did not order you a lunch.
Leave Sheets need to be completed every month: Every school administrator should have received a leave record calendar via Google Docs from April Jorgenson. This calendar is for keeping track of your non-contract time, as well as any other leave that you may take (i.e., sick, bereavement, etc.). Per district protocol, leave sheets are to be done each and every month, regardless of you taking leave or not. April will send out a reminder once per month to let you know the dates that your leave should fall into. If you have leave to report, please follow the directions on the “Directions” tab of the calendar. Once you are done, please email April and let her know you are done. She will print off your leave sheet and get the appropriate supervisor to sign it. If you don’t have any leave to report, just email April and she will note that you don’t have leave, print out your leave sheet, and have Katie sign it. If you have any questions, please reach out to April at 541-355-1056 and she is more than happy to walk you through it.
We are in the process of adopting the new 5-year sustainability plan. As teams are planning the return to school, Jackie Wilson, District Sustainability Coordinator can present a brief synopsis to staff and will have additional information about the goals for all teams as we begin the school year.
Here is the Sustainability Advisor description: Sustainability-Advisor-Position-2021-2222 . In 2019 we had sustainability Advisors in 22 of our schools and are hoping to have one in place at all schools for the coming year. This staff member is the liaison for all things sustainable and works as the leader of the student green team. The staff member will be compensated for this position for 40 hours at their curriculum rate. Please work with your staff to identify who will serve as the Advisor at your school!
As office managers and Administrative teams are preparing for the first of many newsletters, it is important to get out some information to parents about idling in the parking lots. This fall there will be campaigns at several schools where we will be collecting and sharing information about the numbers of vehicles idling in school pick-up zones. Part of the program is to educate parents and staff and driving students about idling. Here is a word document (For-first-newsletter-August-idling-info23) you can use as a template for communication with families. Please plan to share this information with parents before school starts.
The administrator responsible for assessment in your building are required to read THIS document from ODE. It is information about essential skills requirements. Be sure staff, particularly counselors, are aware of the requirements.
Information:
We will move to a virtual format for our district welcome back on the morning of Tuesday, August 31. More details to come on this, but we will not be celebrating in person at BSHS.
HERE is the district ABC calendar for this year, including the start/end times and the graduation dates. We have discontinued providing the ACT test for all juniors, so that date has been removed. We will discuss how to continue to offer this option on a Saturday to interested students and families.
Canvas First Responders are BACK! We will support the Canvas work in your buildings by timesheeting up to 4 first responders per building, up to 5 hours each per week at the hourly curriculum rate. If you would like more than 4 you can timesheet these folks using your building budget.
Results of Survey Feedback: Thank you for providing your feedback on the High School Teacher Day times, the HS Meeting day/time. The majority of those who responded voted for 8-4. So, 8-4 will be our official HS workday. Scheduling our HS meetings on Tuesdays 8:00-9:30 was the winner for meeting times/days.
Here is a DRAFT of our thinking related to the School Design Plan as well as the timeline for completion: School-Design-Plans-2.0-8-20-update21. It will be helpful as you work with your leadership team.
Here are the slides and resources shared during Safety Day on Tuesday: Tri-County Schools, CSECRT slides, Scott’s slides on drills and SRO’s, and SAM prevention slides.
Mask requirements for Choir and Band: Students should be wearing masks while singing or playing an instrument inside and should socially distance 3 ft to the greatest extent possible. When students/the teacher are actively playing instruments, they are not required to wear a mask. However, we highly recommend that teachers use any risk mitigation strategies they have, including the instrument caps we purchased last year.
Checking in and checking out: We are no longer requiring staff to check-in and out using the QR code. Volunteers and Visitors must check-in using Raptor. Adults who refuse to wear a mask will not be allowed to interact with the general student population. If you encounter an adult who refuses to wear a mask, a building administrator should problem-solve with the adult until they agree to wear the mask. Please follow the pre covid procedure that requires itinerate and staff visitors to sign in when they come into the building.
New Teacher Orientation Day: We look forward to seeing you on Monday, August 30th at Summit High School. HERE is the letter that went out to all new 21-22 staff along with staff that was hired last year (and rehired this year) along with the agenda. Plan to arrive early so you have time to welcome your staff as they arrive and interact with them before the festivities begin. The doors will open for registration and breakfast around 7:00.
At least one administrator from each school should be in attendance to welcome and introduce your new staff. Also, we would ask that you work with Sean and Kinsey to ensure that itinerant staff at your school are invited and feel included. With the high number of “new hires”, we are asking that you keep introductioninformation to a minimum. No school swag – we will be providing the “swag” this year.
I thought you might find this information interesting about the estimated percentage of employees vaccinated in our district. This was shared with media this week:
More than 88.5% of Bend-La Pine Schools certified staff, which includes educators, and 75% of our classified staff, who support all of our operations, responded that they were interested in the vaccine when surveyed last spring. We believe staff may have met or exceeded these vaccine acceptance percentages by now.
We have just over 2,200 employees working every day to support teaching and learning for our more than 18,000 students.
Holding spots at choice schools: For the first semester of the 2021-22 school year, Choice Option students who enroll in Bend-La Pine Schools Online (BLSO) and remained actively enrolled for the entirety of the first semester will not lose their spot at the following Choice Option schools:
• Amity Creek Magnet at Thompson School • Highland Magnet at Kenwood School • Westside Village Magnet at Kingston School • Realms Middle School • Realms High School • Bend-Tech Academy at Marshall High School
If there is a waitlist at the Choice Options listed above, opportunities to fill the open spot will not be offered to anyone while the student is actively enrolled at BLSO. If a student in the K-12 Dual Immersion Choice Option desires to enroll in BLSO then they must contact Kinsey Martin at 541-355-1026 or [email protected] to discuss the conditions under which the student would not lose their spot in the Dual Immersion Program.
If a Choice Option student enrolls in BLSO and subsequently fails to complete the coursework for the first semester, they may lose their spot at the Choice Option. The principal will consult with the superintendent or designee to determine if that student will be readmitted to the Choice Option. In addition to the BLSO option, incoming Kindergarten students may postpone their entry into a Choice Option School until the start of the 2022-23 school year without losing their spot.
If a Choice Option student enrolls in a program or school outside of Bend-La Pine Schools (including district charter schools) for the 2021-22 school year, their spot will not be held. This AR will be reviewed again in January 2022 in order to determine if it will remain in effect for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year.
Here is some information about FAN staffing for the coming year from Dana Peterson, who oversees our FAN program.
Several factors have led to a reevaluation of FAN staffing for the upcoming school year.
As you know, FAN is staffed based on school demographics. These factors include school size, free/reduced lunch percentage, language diversity, and homeless population. I have worked with Austin James to obtain district wide data. Additionally, the changing secondary school boundaries, Dual Immersion program changes, and the opening of Caldera HS require us to make changes in staffing to best meet the needs of students and families.
Changing demographics at schools and DI placement make it necessary to consider where our Spanish speaking FAN Advocates are assigned to best meet the needs of FAN clients.
Attached you will find the school assignments. I will call each Advocate personally on Monday to relate this information to her. Advocates start their school year on Monday, August 30.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
We are installing machines that allow for access tofree feminine products in our school bathrooms. This has been something students have been advocating for the last several years and we are happy to be able to provide this service!
Instructional Tech Assistance: The instructional tech coaches are putting the finishing touches on a one-stop document for staff that introduces them to our systems and resources. This should be especially helpful for new staff. I will have them send it out to schools as soon as it’s ready. Also, the online method for buying iPad insurance is already up on the InTouch system. The flyer for insurance is getting translated right now. That will be sent out as soon as that is done.
A note from Scott McDonald: BLS is staying with $30 for insurance for the upcoming school year on iPads.
As for our sadly out-of-date AUP (user agreement). We may need to continue with what is on the website. It is out of date, but we have not been able to prioritize an update. That said, Roy Fuller will be doing what he can to update it before the year begins. So, do not print anything or advertise until you hear a global announcement from me late next week.
COSA is sponsoring a mindfulness program, tailored for school leaders. Amy Joynt from the HDESD is actively involved in promoting the program, so she is happy to give your groups more information.
At the very least, will you share this link with information in your blogs on Friday?
Mindful Leadership Program | Coalition of Oregon School AdministratorsFall Program – Begins October 27, 2021. Overview Learn a life-changing set of mindfulness skills for calm, resilience, emotional intelligence, and effective leadership that will help you foster an education environment rooted in presence and compassion.www.cosa.k12.or.us
A message from Steve Herron, our Chief Human Resources Officer about the masking requirement: This is to follow up Director of Safety & Communication Julianne Repman’s email of Friday, July 30, in which she shared that Governor Brown directed the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to create an administrative rule requiring the use of face coverings in school districts’ indoor settings by all individuals over 2 years of age and that Bend-La Pine Schools was immediately implementing the Governor’s standard effective Monday, August 2.
It is my understanding that staff have begun asking supervisors whether there is any latitude for non-compliance, and have referred to inconsistencies in implementation and enforcement during the 2020-21 school year in justifying their query. This email is to reinforce Julianne’s July 30th message: Superintendent Cook has stated that, regardless of prior interpretations or practices across the district, face-covering/mask requirements must be implemented and enforced.
Superintendent Cook and his team understand the discomfort and inconvenience created by lengthy mask-wearing and are committed to mitigating the impact by supporting breaks during which staff can move outdoors and take a break from wearing a face covering, and other mitigating measures. Lackadaisical enforcement of the mandate, however, cannot be allowed. Among other consequences, lax enforcement may:
create OSHA liability exposure for BLS,
waive BLS’s HB 4402 COVID-19 liability immunity,
waive the individual administrator’s right to be indemnified under ORS 30.265,
result in reductions to BLS’s general school funds,
result in other financial penalties, including civil penalties of up to $500 per day per masking rule violation, and/or
certified staff may face licensure penalties, including but not limited to loss of license.
If you have staff with authenticated medical restrictions that prevent compliance with the mask rules, please let Human Resources know and we will coordinate with you to navigate accommodation — which may include unpaid leave of absence as may be allowed under their collective bargaining agreement. Unwillingness to wear a mask after being instructed to comply is an act of insubordination and should be processed as such; the same standard applies to supervisors who are responsible for enforcing the face-covering/mask requirements and neglect to do so.
We realize that there are those of our staff and supervisors who do not agree with the Governor’s requirements, or who may find the requirements and our enforcement restrictive; while we are sympathetic to the feelings of those who disagree, we do not have the luxury of inconsistent compliance or enforcement. Thank you in advance for your understanding and assistance in diminishing the opportunity for transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant, and making every effort to keep one another and our community safe from further spread of infection.
A message from Ann Birky about Building Usage: I wanted to give you the latest status on facility use after hours in the schools per my conversation with Brad this morning. At this time, we ARE allowing inside and outside use of the facilities and the groups will need to follow all state guidelines for masking, distancing, etc. We should definitely focus on requests from our partner groups which include Bend Park and Rec, Camp Fire, Deschutes County Girls on the Run, Driver’s Ed, etc. We can begin renting out the auditoriums, gyms, etc., however, as we know from previous experience guidelines and mandates can change rather quickly so if the group is a paying user they should understand that what is mandated today may not be the case when they have scheduled use of the facility. It may be necessary to cancel their request due to guidance from the state. Also, it is dependent upon what school needs are and those always come first. COBO is already reaching out to me about fall/winter use and at this time, it would be okay to plan for their use but 100% dependent on what happens with COVID as we head closer to November. If you have any questions, feel free to call Anne Birky.
Calendar:
August 24@9:00 –Principal OR one building admin WebEx discussion on Targeted Remote scenarios – Katie’s WebEx Room
August 23 and 24 – HS ELA Writing training
August 25, 26 – Innovation Conference @ PCMS 8:00– see your commitment above
August 30 – New Teacher day @Summit 7:30
August 31 – All Staff Welcome Back in the am – virtual!
September 8 – Frosh Welcome Day
September 13 – Begin ABC rotation (see district calendar)
September 21 – HS Admin meeting @ Summit HS 8:00-9:30
September 22 – Leadership training @Ed Center 3:30-5:00
In a recent training, I came across this research paper about the importance of PRINCIPALS to successful schools. Lora referred to this study during our administrator retreat yesterday! It is a long read but worth a review. Principals matter to student learning!
TO DO:
COVID requirements: Review the Executive Summary of our Operational Plan for COVID safety protocols. Pages 8-20 highlight specifics related to masking/quarantining/social distancing and more. Here is a copy of the slide show presented to our Board at the meeting this week. Either could be used as resources with your staff.
As you plan for large events at your schools – such as welcome back assemblies the first week of school, class meetings or staff meetings, a good rule of thumb is if you can maintain 3 ft of distance with everyone masked, you may be able to safely hold your event indoors. If you can not do this, move the event outside or reduce the number of people at the event. For example, for our large comprehensives during 9th grade only day, split your 9th grade in half with and rotate each group through different sessions. For large comprehensives, schedule your staff meetings in the auditorium or commons/cafeteria where people can spread out. OR, schedule small group sessions and have groups rotate to different locations with different areas of focus.
Update your Staffing Plans: It is safe to say the none of the plans you submitted in the spring are the same today. Please update the summary sheet including the cert and classified sheets by Friday, August 27.
Supply lists and donation requests – We may not require families to buy anything that will impact a student’s ability to earn a grade or credit. That includes consumables for any elective classes, or specialized calculators for high level math courses. Please ensure that no such requests/requirements are being communicated to families in your websites/curriculum guides/facebook accounts or teachers’ syllabi.
HERE is the draft of the Director of College and Career Readiness position we are looking to post. As noted during Dave’s data review of our Youthtruth data yesterday, College and Career Readiness is by far the lowest area for high schools. In discussions with our cabinet, we see this area as a K-12 issue and that is the scope of the position, but much of the responsibilities culimate with our work at the high schools. The timeline for starting is negotiable as we would not want to pull a successful candidate out of a school until there was a qualified replacement. Your input on this draft is welcome.
Schedule for the first week of school for BSHS, CHS, LPHS, MVHS, SHS: Wednesday, Sept 8 – 9th grade only day (special schedule); Thursday, Sept 9 and Friday, Sept 10, same schedule periods 1-7.
Begin ABC rotation on Monday, Sept 13 (A Day), Tuesday, Sept 14 (B Day), Wednesday, Sept 15 (C Day), etc.. April Jorgenson, our new TLC Support Person is designing the ABC District Calendar.
ABC Calendar and TLC support:April Jorgensen is currently getting trained on the ABC calendar and will be pushing that out to HS Office Managers next week. April was hired this year to replace Amy Stafford. She is taking over leave sheets for admin and management of several accounts in the TLC office including the HSS grant, among other responsibilites. April served as the Office Manager at Elk Meadow for nine years and will be supporting me as well as Juan, Skip, and Tammy in the TLC office. Wendy Reeves will be working working side by side to support her in that transition. April is located at the desk to the right when you first walk into the TLC office. We are SO fortunate to have April on our team! When you see her or talk to her – say HI and make her feel welcome!
Office of School Support is no more: We are consolidating our OSS into one large department: Teaching and Learning. Our goal with this move is to become more integrated and collaborative in our work to support our schools! Many in the Ed Center are involved in major transitions. Some departments are reorganizing, Executive Directors, Directors and coaches are moving offices and there are many new faces involved in training and coaching. Your patience with us as we work to onboard new people and help everyone learn their new locations and jobs is greatly appreciated.
The department most impacted by change right now is our Human Resources Department. Steve Herron, our new Chief Officer of Human Resources is doing an outstanding job. However, there has been significant turn over in the last two years and he is working to build his team while simultaneously learning his new role. Because of this, Juan, Skip and I may be assisting a bit more than we normally would as we support our HR teammates and YOU as you work to open school! Please reach out with questions and suggestions!
HERE is the SIW calendar for the year. As Lora explained yesterday, we will schedule our administrator training during the teacher independent workdays. Please reserve those times on your calendars.
HERE is a digital copy of the Three Signature SEL Practices for meetings. This is from the CASEL framework – which is guiding our SEL work K-12. This is an example of a meeting structure that models social emotional learning. Consider using this for your meetings!
From Paul, EA Work Calendar info – Our HR/Payroll staffs want to make sure that we are all on the same page regarding the calendars that your EAs will be following for the 2021-22 school year. I’d suggest that you work with your office managers and EAs to review this calendar to make sure that they are clear on their assigned start/end and non-contract dates. If there is any uncertainty about which calendar applies to an EA, please reach out to Derek or Kelly in our office and they will assist you.
All EA – Student Instruction, Inclusion, Student Success, ELL, Transition Co-Op employees have moved to new work calendars for District approved in-classroom trainings to better prepare them before the return of our students. If you have a different titled EA at your site, they will follow their original calendar. I have attached our new Classified calendars for your review.
If you find an EA on a calendar that is not aligned to your needs, you do have the flexibility to add days by having them timesheet for the extra time (paid from your school’s budget) or by having them trade one day for another. If you choose to do this, the EA would need to be involved in the collaborative conversation and be willing to make those adjustments.
Innovation Conference – Aug 25 and 26 – mark the date! – As we stated earlier, the Innovation Conference is August 25 and 26. The schedule is still being finalized but we do know that Mary Ehrenworth will be the keynote speaker on the 25th. We’ll also have administrator sessions on Leading Power Standards from Doug Reeves on the 25th. The high school admin session is scheduled for 2:30-3:45 with Doug Reeves on the 25th and it is mandatory that all our high school admins attend this session. Look for another all-district email reminder and sign up to go out the first part of August with the final schedule included.
iPad insurance–Purchasing iPad insurance is not mandatory for a child to receive an iPad. However, if a family does not want to have to pay the high cost of iPad repair due to damage or loss, purchasing the Bend-La Pine Schools’ iPad insurance will be in their best interest. We will be getting a flyer out to schools to give to families about how they can go about paying for this. They can purchase insurance online starting today until the last Friday in September.
Supe’s On!–If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Dr. Cook’s podcast, “Supe’s On!”, it is a great way to also find out important information going on in our district. The first one was safety (mainly covid) with Julianne Repman, the last one was our Covid protocols with Nurse, Tami Pike, and throughout the year he will be having special guests on a variety of topics. You can tune in at bls.fyi/podcast on the district website, or find it on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
This OSAA update provides information regarding OHA Masking Requirements for Indoor Spaces as well as updates to the OSAA’s Air Quality Guidelines board policy. Note that this information may change based upon changes to national or state directives.
OHA Masking Requirements for Indoor Spaces
This morning the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released its newly adopted statewide rule regarding masking requirements in indoor spaces (OAR 333-019-1025). The rule is effective beginning today, August 13, 2021.
We encourage you to review the rule in its entirety but here are some specific sections of note.
(4) Individuals, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask, face covering or face shield when in an indoor space unless the individual:
(d) Is engaged in an activity that makes wearing a mask, face covering or face shield not feasible, such as when actively swimming.
(g) Is practicing or playing a competitive sport at any level.
(h) Is performing, including but not limited to playing music, delivering a speech to an audience, and theater.
This means that masks are not required by the OHA when practicing or playing a competitive sport indoors, such as volleyball. The OHA rule also does not prohibit a school or school district from applying a more restrictive requirement. That would be a local school decision. Schools are encouraged to consult with their legal counsel and/or PACE with any questions regarding liability.
As stated throughout the pandemic, communication with your own school community, opposing schools, and officials’ associations regarding any specific mitigation policies for masks, contact tracing, physical distancing, capacity limits, etc. that your school has in place will be more important than ever.
The OSAA will continue to seek further clarification on this rule and communicate more information to schools as it becomes known.
OSAA Air Quality Guidelines
In conjunction with the OSAA staff, Dr. Koester and the OSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) have recently been reviewing potential changes to the Air Quality Guidelines board policy. The changes specifically relate to permitting practices when the AQI is in the orange zone (100-150) provided they are no longer than 90 minutes total for the day, the level of activity is less than a “normal” practice and the practice includes rest periods. In alignment with OHA’s School Outdoor Activities During Wildfire Events contests are still prohibited when the AQI is over 100. Amendments to the board policy were adopted by the OSAA Executive Board yesterday, effective immediately.
Calendar:
August 16 – HS Admin Connections Mtg, 7:30-12:00 in MVHS Library – includes breakfast and lunch
August 17 – Safe and Secure Schools, 7:30 @ Summit
August 18, 19 – Taking it Up
August 19 – Admin Canvas Training – Virtual 8-3, must register, required to send 1 admin from each school (see Amy with questions)
August (23 and 24 HS ELA pre conf) 25, 26 – Innovation Conference – see what your commitment is
This is a good reminder that doing PLC work well is anything but simple and that looking at student data minus the supports to adjust instruction equals no difference in student learning:
Be sure to register your school team for the BRYT work session and lunch: June 23, 9-2 in-person @Pacific Crest MS. Participants include: building admin team, Student Success Clinician, Student Success Instructor, and Grad Coach. We will timesheet cert staff.
If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to get your Equity Stance in before you take off for the summer. These will be used/referenced at the August 12 Leadership Retreat.
Bend-La Pine Schools will continue its implementation of a “no zeros” policy as a grading practice at the middle and high school levels through the end of the 2021-22 school year. A 50% represents an F, or half the points possible on a traditional 100-point scale and will be the lowest possible grade reflected on any assignment or assessment. Therefore, students will earn an F (50%) for not completing the work or completing it at a less than a passing mark yet are not severely penalized below a failing mark (50% rather than 0%). Note, the “no zeros” policy does not apply to 1-4 or 1-6 point grading scales or the MYP / IB grading scale. This is reflected in the BLPS Grades and Credit administrative regulation IKA-AR.
This article: The Case Against the Zero published by Doug Reeves provides the rationale for this practice.
HS Building Leaders:
The members of our Equitable Grading Think Tank are reading Grading for Equity, by Joe Feldman this summer. If you would like a copy, let Marta Broberg know by June 22, and she will order it for you. Here is a list of the Equitable Grading Think Tank members and an overview of the goals and scope of the work for the team.
From Amy Tarnow: We are excited to bring the Canvas Leadership Virtual Workshop to our administrative team on August 19th, 2021. This virtual workshop will take place from 8:00-3:00, with a break from 11:00-12:00.
The purpose of the Virtual Canvas Leadership Workshop is to provide 6-12 leaders with the best practices and strategies needed to support a meaningful Canvas implementation at their site. The single most important element of a quality implementation is the engagement and support of the leaders who will be side by side with teachers, students, and families throughout the school year. Upon completion of this Institute, you and your leadership team will have the knowledge and skills required to lead forward in Canvas with confidence and competence through the development of a plan for Canvas that will be actionable and specific to your school & its culture.
From Dave Van Loo: Below is a link to a Google Drive folder containing resources from this year’s six high school meetings on achieving excellence and equity through effective teaching. Right now the folder contains “final” versions of six slide decks we used in our meetings. Also included is a summary document highlighting many of the big ideas from these slide decks organized by meeting, and a document containing talking points about why focus on these teaching strategies. My hope is that the summary documents might be a useful quick tool or ‘CliffsNotes’ type of resource when you want to refer back to anything we hit on in our meetings.
Feel free to let me know if you find any of this helpful (or not), if any of it is confusing or unclear, or if there are other types of related resources you would like to see added.
Summer School Programs Schools that are hosting summer school programs from August 2 – August 19 may need some support from staff members whose normal work calendar has them in the building during those dates. Please let your custodians, office managers and/or other front office staff know about this so that they aren’t surprised when they return to your building in August and may be needed to support Summer School.
If you anticipate needing more support, you can ask other secretarial staff if they are interested in time sheeting additional hours before the start of their normal work calendar. They should code it as “Summer Program rate of pay” and will receive $36.45/hour (which is the classified summer school stipend amount of $3500 divided by 96 hours).
All Admin meeting June 21@4:00 – in person at the Ed Center; McNenamins after
BRYT work session and lunch: June 23, 9-2 in-person @Pacific Crest MS. Participants include: building admin team, Student Success Clinician, Student Success Instructor, and Grad Coach. We will timesheet cert staff.
Mark these items on your calendar for August:
August 12-Leadership Retreat @Riverhouse Convention Center (will NOT include ICCL this year)
August 16@ Ed Center Board Room 9-11am – Equitable Grading Think Tank Meeting
August 17- District Safety Day
August 18-19 – Taking it Up
August 19, 8-3– Canvas Leadership Virtual Workshop
January 3rd-28th are the dates for the YouthTruthsurvey next year. Our HS participation rate needs improvement, so we will be asking you to think about how to get better results next year!
