Dave Van Loo shared this resource: The Acceleration Imperative. In case you haven’t seen this, here is an incredible resource to assist with planning and prioritizing for the upcoming months and years. While elementary schools are the intended audience, there is a lot that applies to K-12.  The organizations and people who have been building this are simply top-tier. The Executive Summary and Introduction tabs are a great place to jump in and get a flavor for the design principles and focuses of the work. This is an open-source, living document that will be continuously updated in response to new evidence, ideas, and feedback.

To Do:

There will be an upcoming BIAS in Hiring training for all building admin. and supervisors. Here is a heads-up on the date/time so you can pencil one in to your calendar now (more info regarding this training will be coming from HR). Of these two dates/times, you only need to ATTEND ONE (your choice): April 13, 7:30 – 9:00am, or April 15, 5:00 – 6:30pm.

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Canvas as our 6-12 LMS is here to stay…even post-pandemic! With the transition back to in-person instruction, our teams are getting many questions about the “future” of Canvas and expectations for the continued use of this system.  Please help staff recognize that our implementation of the Canvas Learning Management System was accelerated by the pandemic.  However, the need for a consistent LMS was recognized pre-pandemic, and training and implementation had started prior to last March.  Please be sure your teachers understand that Canvas is our new LMS and will stay with us after the pandemic is in the rearview mirror! An LMS provides a consistent platform that teachers, students, parents, and support staff can rely on for communication, instructional support, and feedback.  It is important that administrators develop and communicate a consistent expectation for Canvas use to teachers as we transition back to in-person learning. Our team has created this document that you can copy and/or modify to meet your own site standards for now. We are currently planning for some administrator training that will help us plan for district standards for Canvas use. 

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If you haven’t had a chance to read Paul’s email earlier this week that contained some best practices around lunch, performing arts, school safety plans, and RSSL update, please do so. There is no doubt some information here that will be helpful to you (and a “to do” with updating your safety plan).

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In a recent, previous, blog I shared a return to athletics medical clearance informational letter with you (after a positive COVID result). That form has been updated and I’ve been asked to share this update with you and ask that you also share it with your families in future communication. Here is the English version of this letter. I was hoping to also share the Spanish at this time, but it is not quite ready – but will send it along to you when it is.

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Certified Bargaining: We have received a request to bargain from BEA as our last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) concludes in 2021.  We are interested in obtaining administrative input into confusing language or language that you’d like to see changed in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement 2017-2021.  
If you can recall any experiences that you’ve had in the past four years where you tripped over some of the CBA language, then we can work with BEA to improve it.  Please take some time before April 16th to fill out this google form with your ideas.

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Assessment Update from Dave Van Loo: This link should address the majority of questions pertaining to OSAS assessments this year. Be sure to read this and expect additional communication from the district next week.

https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Pages/Communication.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

In a nutshell:

• OSAS is happening which means ELA and Mathematics for juniors
• Opt-out procedures are the same as other years—it applies only to ELA and Math. Science remains a separate exemption process.
• The test window is April 13 – June 11.
• Training requirements are similar to previous years.
• Data will be reported publicly but not used for accountability.

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Dana Pedersen, earlier this week, sent you an email regarding FAN Advocate evaluation… and wanting your input. Here was the rubric that she sent – with the hopes of detailed feedback from you.

Information:

You may/may not yet be receiving inquiries regarding students wanting to return to your school now that the all-in announcement has been made. Juan shared the following communication (which now includes a date) with you on Wednesday via email, and I thought it is worth repeating. Please share with any staff who may be receiving these requests at your school:

As students from D CDL and BLPO share their interest in returning to their brick and mortar school for ‘all in’ please use the following party line …”Thanks for your interest in returning, there is a district process that must be followed to ensure all schools are allowing for adequate space in order to follow the safety guidelines, we are unable to address your request until we follow the process and get the green light.  We will be back in touch with you after April 12 and we have a better idea of the allowable space in our classrooms”. Please start a waiting list for those making this request.

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We are saddened to announce that Amy Stafford, in our office, will be moving to California for the immediate future. [Amy will return to Bend in the summer of 2022 and again seek employment within BLS… keep her in mind!] Her last day will be next Tuesday, April 6. We are working on acquiring a sub to fill in (at least part-time) until we post and hire for her replacement. If you are in need of any support that Amy has been providing please reach out to me for a path forward. We have temporarily moved a few of the ongoing building supports that require Synergy access or confidentiality (expulsion hearing request, STAS documents, suicide risk screens, child abuse reporting, and principal leave sheets) to Janet Bojanowski (yes, this is Scott’s wife – who was just hired to work with our school board) until we hire Amy’s replacement. You can email Janet or give her a call at x1017. I’ll keep you posted as this hiring process continues.

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Starting Monday April 5^th, UPS and FedX will be delivered directly to the schools and not diverted through the Distribution Center.

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We did order some of those steel outdoor tables we spoke of at our HS meeting this week. They will be delivered to the Distribution Center next week and then to your school by the following week (assuming the delivery does not get delayed). I will let you know how many tables your schools should expect to see, based on your requests.

Calendar:

Monday @1:30 Graduation WebEx for principals at comprehensive HS’s (others are welcome, but not required)

Tuesday @7:30 HS Admin Webex – SEL vision and discussion is the topic

Our regularly scheduled WebEx on Wednesday @10:30 is canceled this next week – I am attending CFEE Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.

To Do:

Michael McDonald shared this study on learning loss during COVID. It’s worth sharing and discussing with your staff.

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Check out this read on challenging coursework: https://www.educationnext.org/what-i-learned-in-23-years-ranking-americas-most-challenging-high-schools/

This read is particularly relevant as we were discussing this topic at last week’s Horizontal Team meeting. Equitable Access to Advanced Courses is an area of HSS eligibility we are not currently meeting in our high schools. Some adjustments for next year’s forecasting would help in this regard, such as removing pre-requisites that include teacher recommendations or a certain grade in a previous class or test score.

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Speaking of access and fees: just a reminder that schools should not be charging any fees associated with a class in which a student is earning a grade. For example, we are not allowed to charge for a graphing calculator for a math class – they run about $165. Every student should be provided a calculator so each student has the tools to access the content. I suggest you purchase those calculators and make them available for students to check out of your library, similar to how we could check out books or iPads. After reviewing your budgets and seeing the huge amounts still left to spend, now is the time to stock up! Also, we are not allowed to charge for materials in elective classes. If a student wishes to do a project not related to a grade that they plan to keep, we can charge for those materials. Please have someone read through your curriculum guides and remove any such fees. Also, be sure to reinforce this fact with your staff. Please reach out if you have questions about this.

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Here is an important to do from Andrea: We are excited to revive our Excellence in Education event and are ready to start gathering nominations for employees who have knocked your socks off during the 2020-21 school year.

We are looking to honor a certified and classified staff member from each school and departments are also encouraged to nominate staff members.

The nomination form is HERE and due back to the Superintendent’s Office by March 31 (email to me, or paper copy works great)

As you are well aware, we are not able to host large gatherings, so we are continuing to work on logistics of how to safely celebrate staff members, during the month of May…stay tuned 😊

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like nomination history for your school or department. Thank you in advance for your help!

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Please share this with your teachers: At the end of our professional development conversation with Doug Reeves Wednesday, he described the opportunity to participate in a problem of practice series this spring.

If you are interested in joining Doug Reeves and his team at Creative-Leadership-Solutions as you work on a challenge, define a problem of practice, and test out interventions and ideas as you create an action research project, then sign up for the OSU-Cascades class.  It is a 2-credit class that is offered in Spring 2021 (see the syllabus for dates and course requirements).  Registration is currently open but will close on March 31st.  

To register for the class, complete the registration and application form and upload them to this google folder.  If you have attended a BLS-OSU Cascades class in the last 12 months, then you do not need to complete the application form.  There is an initial $35 application fee which will be billed by OSU-C once they receive your application.

Additionally, we will compensate teachers for the five after school sessions (including May) and the time to prep for the May share out.  

If you have any questions, please contact Michele Oakes  ([email protected]).

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Information:

Update from Paul on the latest RSSL: There is not a whole lot of updated language in this week’s RSSL release of version 6.0.  This short document will provide the district’s stance on the primary changes related to cohorting, screening, and visual/performing arts.

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Happy Friday!  The second edition of the EdTech Bytes newsletter is here. Th post includes…

• Tip of the Week: Searching the Tech Blog for Resources
• Secondary Update: Recommended Notification Settings for Students Using Canvas
• Bonus: Book Recommendations for All Ages
• and more

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A message from Misty Groom regarding STAS: As students have returned to in-person learning, there has been an increase in aggressive behaviors and threats; this is to be expected with heightened stress and anxiety among our students.  Additionally, we are at the time of year in which we historically tend to see an uptick in aggressive behaviors. Please reach out to me, Julianne, or Scott with Level 1 questions or concerns.  Here is a Level 1 Quick Reference Guide for Administrators.  There are additional documents on the HDESD STAS website www.highdesertstas.org as well as the Staff Portal.

Calendar:

HS Administrator WebEx: Wednesday, March 31

Thursday, April 1: Dr. Steve will be visiting our district this week of March 29 and is hoping to see some of our schools. I will be taking him to a few of our high schools this afternoon. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to get to all of the high schools this time. His time with us is filling up fast!

I recently had a female teacher from one of our high schools reach out to me to share concerns about the “toxic masculinity” she has sometimes experienced in her time as a teacher. As I listened to her describe her situation, I realized that as a female administrator working in secondary all of my career, I have experienced this in varying degrees. This week, Paul Dean shared this article with the cabinet which goes into more depth about what is meant by this term (from this author’s perspective).

As leaders in our high schools, it is important we are aware that this culture can exist in our schools and reflect on how it can impact our female and male staff. This dynamic creates a reality that can lead to individuals feeling marginalized and as though they don’t have a voice or belong.

This is an example of an equity issue that impacts our daily work – and we are in the position to impact the detrimental effects. Our students watch how staff interact with one another and learn what healthy-or unhealthy-interactions look like. Adult role modeling is a POWERFUL part of our social-emotional learning work in schools! As a team, we have spoken about how our boys are struggling. We are in positions to foster healthy cultures in our schools from which students can develop positive interpersonal skills. Consider sharing this article with your staff and reflecting on the topic together.

To Do:

As you know, state testing (OAKS) has been a roller coaster. Oregon has requested a waiver to the feds to not test this year. The feds have said all states need to test students. Currently, we are at a stalemate – with no timetable for clarity. In the meantime, we are required to send out a 30-day notice of testing and provide an opt-out opportunity. Please share these next documents with your families prior to leaving for spring break: Parent message/English and Parent message/Spanish… as well as Opt-Out/English and Opt-Out/Spanish. I suggest you provide parents with some context for these letters – and steal some language out of the letters rather than create a description yourself may make the most sense. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Here is another communication to share with families. This letter is intended to be shared with families who have a child involved with any school-sponsored athletic activity. (This does not pertain to PE classes.).

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This is a “to do” and “reminder”… Don’t forget (for yourself and your staff) to use BLSend whenever you are sharing student information electronically. If information needs to be shared that includes a more than one piece of student information (name, assessment results(s), other identifiable info) then this should not be sent via regular email (Outlook) – but rather BLSend.

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Here is a reminder – and call to action – from IT regarding technology security: Our MFA info can be found at the portal page below.

https://portal.bend.k12.or.us/staff-resources/content/multi-factor-authentication

If admins are using their personal mobile devices for district email, and they don’t get MFA setup by April 1, they will lose that ability until they get MFA setup. I think it’s important to note (as Brad said yesterday) this MFA requirement isn’t just coming from IT. This is something required for district cyber security insurance.

Our Help Desk (ext 1200) and our team of IT field techs are available for MFA support. I’ve also asked the techs to check in with their building admins to see if they need any additional MFA support.

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Please share this with your teachers: At the end of our professional development conversation with Doug Reeves Wednesday, he described the opportunity to participate in a problem of practice series this spring.

If you are interested in joining Doug Reeves and his team at Creative-Leadership-Solutions as you work on a challenge, define a problem of practice, and test out interventions and ideas as you create an action research project, then sign up for the OSU-Cascades class.  It is a 2-credit class that is offered in Spring 2021 (see the syllabus for dates and course requirements).  Registration is currently open but will close on March 31st.  

To register for the class, complete the registration and application form and upload them to this google folder.  If you have attended a BLS-OSU Cascades class in the last 12 months, then you do not need to complete the application form.  There is an initial $35 application fee which will be billed by OSU-C once they receive your application.

Additionally, we will compensate teachers for the five after school sessions (including May) and the time to prep for the May share out.  

If you have any questions, please contact Michele Oakes  ([email protected]).

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Information:

Yesterday, we communicated all ACR approvals/denials electronically to our families. Questions or concerns from families about why an ACR was denied begin with the principal. If a parent/guardian is interested in appealing the decision, please have them contact me. I will follow up to get additional information about the family situation. We will review the requests and let the parent know the decision.

We will continue to accept ACR requests centrally.  There is no need for schools to continue to collect these requests. Please send any you receive to Amy in OSS so we can enter them into the excel spreadsheet Jo is managing for us. We will NOT be processing any requests received after March 1 at this time and will no longer be approving or denying requests at the school level. A huge shout out to Becky, Jo, and Amy for their amazing work to help us centralize this process. It will take a heavy lift off of our high schools!

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A note from Paul about Indoor Music/Band Rehearsals:

On Monday, I met with secondary admin and music reps to review our safety measures for indoor music rehearsals.  As a reminder, here are our requirements.  Music teachers who have developed proposals, had them reviewed by school safety teams and communicated information to families are able to begin indoor rehearsals on Monday, March 15th. 
Here is the English version of family communication along with their version of safety measures.  We are awaiting the Spanish translation of each document and will email them to you and the music teachers when we have them.

Funding for PPE and other Music Safety MeasuresSchools will not be charged for PPE supplies that are requested through [email protected] as we’ve used CARE dollars for these items.  Each school has a PPE coordinator responsible for ordering supplies.  We’d encourage music teachers to work with the PPE coordinator to order what they anticipate needing through the end of April and then submitting a second-order request to cover PPE items needed for May/June.

If we don’t have specific items in inventory, schools will need to order them and use their allotted operations funds.  We ask that building administrators work with their music teachers and, if necessary, boost their yearly budget allotment to support the added costs associated with indoor rehearsal requirements.  

Camp Tamarack & Bend Science Station. Because we have established relationships with Camp Tamarak and BSS, they both have district permission to enter schools for instructional purposes and follow all required school safety practices.  Their staff has been vaccinated.
New RSSL Update

We understand that an updated version of RSSL will be released next week and may include new language that impacts our ability to offer in-person education – in a good way.  Stay tuned….

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Nutrition Services is planning to have 3 grab and go sites (Bend High, MVHS, and La Pine High) on Monday, March 22^nd from 11:30-12:30 for Spring Break.  They plan to serve 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 5 suppers in 1 bag on that day.

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Please pass on this amazing opportunity to our teachers: There is funding from the Central Oregon Stem hub to train additional teachers for “Exploring Computer Science” this coming summer.  We currently have two teachers using this curriculum at Bend High and La Pine High.  It is week-long training and the teachers are paid for their time. We want to open this up to our high school staff to see if there is interest at other high school campuses to train a teacher and offer the course  Contact Scott McDonald if you have any questions. Here is a link to the ECS curriculum and the sample course description for course catalogs.http://www.exploringcs.org/for-teachers-districts

For Teachers & Districts – Exploring Computer Science NEW! Unit 5 or 6 Alternative: Artificial Intelligence Students gain an understanding of AI terminology while considering AI’s social, moral, and ethical impacts. Students design smart cities, homes, and schools and learn to build, train, and test an AI system through a NVIDIA platform.www.exploringcs.org

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Here is the sample course description:
Think-Make-Explore Computer Science Computer Science For All and Exploring Computer Science

This class is for everyone – no experience needed. Sign up with a friend! There are lots of opportunities to learn together.  
Make web pages, design your own program, design and control devices, learn what artificial intelligence is and why you care, understand how data is captured and used, learn how technology influences your life experience, investigate how technology impacts society, and create your own new technologies instead of being consumed by others’ creations.
Computer Science is changing everything. Entertainment, medicine, transportation, communication, public policy, agriculture, fashion, art, energy, society, and design all rely on computer science. Be part of that change, and have fun doing it!

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Our Instructional Technology Team has some exciting news.  They’re doing a bit of rebranding and will now be known as the BLS EdTech Team (to avoid confusion between IT for Instructional Tech, and IT for Informational Tech.)  They’re also excited to start sharing a bi-monthly newsletter, BLS EdTech Bytes.  You can find the first edition linked here.  Administrators who use the web version of Outlook will find it contains an easy & useful tip this week…so be sure to check it out for that and other exciting topics.

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In case you missed it, here is an article regarding our district’s look at grading practices (with a highlight of our schools with standards-based grading) that was published last Saturday in The Bulletin. Shout out to Steve and Stephen for their contribution to this article! Thank you to Roger and Stephen for presenting their grading systems at our last school board work session!

Calendar:

HS Principal meeting @ 10:30 on Wednesday, March 17

Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward one hour this Sunday morning!

To Do:

Yesterday you received an email inviting all staff to a virtual (Webex) meeting with Dr. Doug Reeves regarding a new district study on equitable grading practices. This will take place next Wednesday, March 10, from 2:30 – 4:00. Principals, please have your ICCL’s and admin team, minimally, attend this kickoff to our work on grading and feedback scheduled for this Wednesday. Every staff member is encouraged to attend.

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Reminder:  This spring, all language arts teachers are guiding their students through the district CDA (Common District Assessment).  Teachers were given permission to abbreviate the work this year, and suggestions were provided for how this abbreviation might look.  Teachers were asked to focus on facilitating a meaningful student experience with the CDA that would allow students to progress forward in the skills of decoding non-fiction text and essay composition.  Most teachers will be teaching the CDA in March or April.  You may want to check in with your English departments about this work.

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Here is a reminder regarding the symptoms of COVID that would be good to again share with your staff and families.

Information:

As we discussed at Horizontal, there will be a summer school option for our highest-needs students in addition to the BLPO option we have offered for several summers. Our HS planning team will be meeting next week to plan specifics. As part of our planning, we need a sense of how many certified and classified staff may be interested in working this summer. Here is a copy of the survey link that I will be emailing to your staff members later today. Feel free to remind your staff I’d love survey feedback by Monday, March 29. Only staff who are interested in working at summer school (Aug. 2 – 19) need to complete this survey.

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Our Synergy team is in the process of pointing students to schools for the 2021-22 school year. As part of this process, all students currently enrolled in BLPO or D-CDL will be pointed back to their concurrent school for the start of next school year, not the virtual program, with exception of 5th and 8th graders. 5th and 8th grade students will be pointed to their attendance area school. This means that the 1900 students who currently have a home school of Bend-La Pine Online will be counted at your sites, not the virtual program they are currently attending. Please let us know if you have any questions.

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Indoor Band and Choir Rehearsal Option: For the past several weeks, several district team members have been engaged with BLS secondary music teachers, local health professionals, Deschutes County Public Health, reviewed ODE’s Visual and Performing Arts guidance, and read the latest research related to the aerosol spread of the COVID-19 virus when people sing and play wind instruments.  

After careful consideration, we are prepared to allow indoor music rehearsals, under strict conditions, starting no earlier than Monday, March 15th, and only if a music/band teacher has completed a proposal and it has been reviewed by the school safety team.  We recognize that due to space constraints in certain buildings and/or the reluctance of some staff to sing/play indoors, not all music classes will be afforded the same opportunity to be indoors.  In those situations, outdoor rehearsals will be the primary method of instruction.  

Here are our requirements for indoor rehearsals. On Monday at 8:30 am, Paul will open his Webex room for a Q&A related to this.   He will be joined by music reps Cooper Ottum, Luke MacSween, and Keith Chaiet. It would be great to have an admin and music teacher from each school join so we are all on the same page as we move forward with this.

We are in the process of developing communication to music families in English/Spanish that your school can send out.

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Media: Reminder that reporters are considered visitors and, as such, are not allowed inside our buildings whether or not students are present. If you get a call from a reporter or have questions, please reach out to Alandra or Julianne for guidance. We are here to help support you! 

Photo/Video Sharing: When sharing photos or videos of students – whether on social media, newsletter to families, video montage, etc. – be sure to follow our guidelines for Social Media Best Practices. We are continuing to see a few photos of students or staff without masks pop up. Even if the photo is taken during a time, such as lunch, when masks may not be required, please do not share those photos. If you have questions, reach out to Alandra – [email protected].

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Our Instructional Technology Team has some exciting news.  They’re doing a bit of rebranding and will now be known as the BLS EdTech Team (to avoid confusion between IT for Instructional Tech and IT for Informational Tech.)  They’re also excited to start sharing a bi-monthly newsletter, BLS EdTech Bytes.  You can find the first edition linked here.  Administrators who use the web version of Outlook will find it contains an easy & useful tip this week…so be sure to check it out for that and other exciting topics.

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An SRO update:

One of our SRO’s, Erik Ammon who was assigned to MVHS, has resigned from the Bend PD. We will probably be without the fourth SRO for the remainder of this school year. 
Bend PD is going to move Officer Scott Schaier over to MVHS (from the middle schools and BTA) to replace Erik for the remainder of the school year. We will still have Office Jimmy Krauger at Summit HS and Office Amy Ward at Bend HS. They will each cover down on the feeder schools to their respective high schools as well.
Sergeant Tom Pine, the SRO supervisor, will be a floater for the team, helping to cover all our schools as needed.

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Last week I shared a document with you regarding HS athletics – that there will be no spectators, but events will be live-streamed. Here is the Spanish version of that same document. Please share with your families. (NOTE: MS track events will be virtual – there will be no physical meets and no live streaming.)

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Calendar:

As you know, we’ll be having a Leadership meeting this Monday, March 8 at 4:00 in Lora’s Webex room. The agenda will include a budget message (the same one that will be presented at the Board meeting the next evening), a timeline for staffing plans and hiring, summer school programming, Portland job fair info, and maybe a few other items.

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HS Administrator WebEx: Wednesday, March 10 at 10:30

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ACR Communication: Families will be notified regarding whether their ACR was accepted and students will be pointed to their schools Wednesday, March 10. Here are some talking points that can be used INTERNALLY with staff to assist with addressing questions from parents, students, and staff. They are not to be posted publically.

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8th-grade orientations are scheduled for Monday, March 15:  BSHS, CHS, and LPHS: Tuesday, March 16:  MVHS: Wednesday, March 17:  SHS. They will record these events and put them on their websites (or send them to you to help with this).

8th-grade forecasting is also scheduled the week of March 15.

BTA@MHS, Realms, and Skyline information nights were this week. Our choice high schools will be scheduling an additional night in the coming weeks.

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HS conferences are scheduled for the evenings of April 12 or 13.  Schools should plan to communicate specific information to families regarding their plans. Teachers have a comp day for fall and spring conferences on April 16.

Our own Caldera High School was highlighted in The Bulletin today! At our principal meeting this week, Chris shared some programming his team has been developing. We spoke specifically of rethinking and aligning our science, math, and social studies scope and sequence, including which years students take certain courses (for example, should we require a social studies class for freshmen, does Biology make sense as the required course for ninth graders or does Physics make sense), the concept of an advisory course, and ways to integrate our SEL TIER 1 work into our schools.

I shared that we are prioritizing SEL as foundationally important to how we work with students and families. Juan is leading a committee to review SEL curriculum with a team of teacher and counselor representatives. If you have a staff member you believe would be important to include, please reach out to Juan. Many of you are currently using a curriculum that is working for your students. Again, good work is happening and we want to build on what is going well. Please reach out to Juan and let him know what is working in your building.

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Here is an article by Joe Feldman that we asked our board members to read prior to our February 23rd work session on grading and feedback titled Grading for Equity.

To Do:

(From Lora) It has been so fun to be spending time each week visiting our schools…with students in them! Thanks again to all of you for your hard work in getting and keeping our schools open. One note: in my visits so far, I have noticed that some of the signage at the front of schools (welcoming words, important information) is only in English. Please make sure to have Spanish-language signs, as well.

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Next week is Classified Appreciation Week and Alandra and Rainier are collecting images of our classified staff members hard at work to celebrate all they do. Principals, if you have any photos you’d like to share to add to this effort, please send them to Rainier Butler (who is helping in communication right now): [email protected]

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Thank you for sharing this letter regarding no spectators at HS athletic events out to your families. We are providing free access to LIVE streaming of events for all of our families. Information, including links, is included in the letter. MS athletics will begin with track and all competitions will be virtual.

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Feel free to share this flyer with your staff and families if you’d like. Boys and Girls Club has openings for youth of all ages.

Information:

The latest from Tami on Quarantine recommendations: They do not apply to individuals arriving to Oregon from other states or countries or Oregon residents returning from other states or countries if:
 • They have received both doses of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine (or one dose of a single-dose vaccine if it becomes available), 
AND 
• It has been at least 14 days since their final dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 
AND 
• They have no COVID-19 symptoms. 
Individuals should still monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms during the 14 days after travel and, if symptoms develop, they should self-isolate and seek testing

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More from Tami: Although many of us who have received the COVID-19 vaccination have experienced our immune systems working hard (aka side effects). Please remember, even if you think that your symptoms are related to your vaccine, you are still expected to: 

• Stay home if you are exhibiting illness symptoms/side effects. 
• Report your symptoms to your supervisor. 

Side Effects 

Commonly known side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine are: pain and/or swelling at the injection site, fever, chills, tiredness, headache. Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea have also been reported. 

Not Considered Side Effects 

Cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and congestion/runny nose are not listed as side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Side Effects 48 hours or More Post COVID-19 Vaccination 

Side effects experienced beyond 48 hours is not common. It is recommended that you consult with your health care provider for further guidance if you experience symptoms beyond 48 hours post COVID vaccination. 

For more information about what to expect after getting a COVID-19 vaccination, visit: Common Side Effects of the COVID-19 Vaccine. 

Remember to notify your supervisor if you have illness symptoms. The expectation is that you will stay home if you are experiencing any illness symptoms.  

Please let me know if you have any questions. 😊

Here is a one-page document from Scott B. that outlines the steps to take for responding to a Safety Oregon tip.

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There is a new C19 attendance code. Here are two documents that will help explain this code and point you/your staff to see when a student is expected back to school after a C19 absence.

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From Dave Van Loo: Many of you may have heard narratives in the news that the US Dept. of Education is requiring state tests this spring or that they are not approving any waivers to state testing. None of that is quite correct. Here are a few thing we do know–

• Oregon has submitted a waiver from testing this year
• ODE has not heard whether the waiver has been approved, and they will be working directly with USDOE in the coming weeks on the waiver and testing requirements
• We do not know definitively if or when state testing will be required
• If testing is required, ELA and Mathematics tests will be substantially shortened from previous years
• If testing is required, it will be completely decoupled from accountability
• Oregon’s test window will not open prior to April 13

Calendar:

HS Principal WebEx: Wednesday, March 3 10:30-12:00

Principal ACR review: Wednesday, March 3 1:00-3:00

Save the date for a Leadership meeting on Monday, March 8 from 4 – 5:00pm in Lora’s Webex room.

HS Admin WebEx: Wednesday, March 10, 10:30-12:00

In the fall semester, as a part of the interdisciplinary learning expedition at Realms HS entitled the Power and Privilege, their new social studies teacher, Brad Horn (who happens to be a former journalist) had students conduct interviews of people here in Bend who are part of our communities of color. The Bend Bulletin did an article about it back in October. The Source Weekly recently published several of those interviews. HERE is the link for your reading pleasure. Kudos to Roger and his team for this terrific work!

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An Inclement Weather communication has been finalized and was included in our district’s newsletter sent to families this morning. Feel free to share these with your staff and families (again) as you see fit. Here is the Spanish and English version.

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Thank you for your engagement at our Excellence and Equity Professional Development session this week!  Here is the full-length version (less than 7 minutes) of the Bettina Love video we watched, in case you would like to re-watch and reflect.  If you have not yet completed the reflection tool, here is the link.  As always, if you have feedback, thoughts, or a need for some follow-up in between our Leadership PD sessions, please reach out!

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If an ESD employee comes to your building, know that they qualify to enter under our “essential visitor” designation. If this staff member is wearing their ESD badge then they only need to sign in and out for COVID contract tracing purposes… they do not need to also sign in using Raptor. If they do not have their ESD badge, then they do need to sign in using Raptor.

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Our TLC teams are getting ready to start the curriculum ordering process for the 20-21 school year.  We have been working hard to refine our system to make it easier for schools to determine what they need and want, and for our district-level purchasing and deployment teams to complete their parts of the process in an efficient, timely, and transparent manner that will provide more information back to sites and teachers as materials are ready for use in August.  As a reminder, this process encompasses both digital and print materials that need to be refreshed or purchased each year.  In preparation, we need a representative (or several) from each secondary site.  Please let Amy Tarnow know who your point person will be by March 1st, and reach out to her with any questions.

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Helpful Information:

Attached is this week’s secondary blog post. The focus is structuring breakout rooms during Wednesday meetings when both cohorts are together.

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Here is some helpful information from Becky about how to access help with IT or Tech:

Information Technology services include: Purchases (new/replacement) of technology equipment; Installation of technology equipment

Technology equipment includes fax machines, TVs, monitors, computers, headsets, and much more.  When considering new technology equipment at your building, please purchase the equipment through Information Technology.

Create a helpdesk ticket describing one of the services above, include a budget code for purchases.  If you need help or have questions about equipment call our helpdesk or connect with your site IT technician.

Approved technology equipment and pricing is available at: https://sites.google.com/gapps.bend.k12.or.us/teachertech101/more/classroom-tech?authuser=0

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Calendar:

Many of you are involved in the Restorative Justice training this year. Our next round is next Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30 – 1:00.

HS Principal WebEx: Thursday @ 1:30.

Interest in college is surging around the nation as more colleges drop the SAT/ACT requirement for admissions.

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Please be sure your safety committee is implementing this process for your staff: RSSL requires that schools Create a simple process that allows for named and anonymous sharing of concerns that can be reviewed on a daily and weekly basis by the designated RSSL building point-person. Example: Anonymous survey form or suggestion box where at least weekly submissions and resolutions are shared in some format.

Each school’s safety team is required to identify either a digital or physical method for staff to submit COVID related concerns.  There must be an opportunity for someone to submit a report anonymously.  The safety team will publicize how those concerns can be reported and communicate the team’s problem-solving resolution to the staff on at least a weekly basis.

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Information:

As you know, Area Change Request (ACR) forms are due on March 1. Here is the link to the district website where parents can access the form, complete a fillable form (that needs to be turned in to the home school), and the new electronic form (physical forms are still accepted). This letter (Spanish and English) was provided to all families of 5-11 graders Friday morning. Principals from the Bend comprehensive high schools will meet March 3 to review ACR’s.

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If and when you have a positive case at your school then a letter of communicating this to your families is required (as you know). Our experience, thus far, is that these notifications tend to not occur until after hours. Therefore, please have a plan ready, before you need one, in terms of who will be emailing this letter home to your families. Also, make sure you have access to these various letters so you can personalize them for your school before sending them home. (The requirement is to send a letter home within 24 hours of being notified – but in most cases, you’ll want to send it much sooner than this.). Julianne and Tami are your key people for helping with this!

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A Note from Paul in HR: If you remember way back to pre-COVID days, the classified rubric was updated last school year and you can find the new forms in this folder. On Monday, Feb. 22, HR will be sending you a list of employees that you are slated to evaluate during the 2020-21 school year – along with instructions on how to complete them before May 1, 2021.

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The next round of vaccinations (for those that received Moderna) is the weekend of Feb. 20 & 21. This means that there may be some staff who have a reaction that does not allow them to come to work on Monday, Feb. 22. (This is also the first day that Redmond students will be returning to school.) As of now, we are planning on requesting and securing subs (from HDESD) now for that day. We hope to have at least 25 subs (in addition to our roaming subs). If you have a staff member who is not able to report to work that day, please follow the regular sub-request process as we want to hold on to our roaming subs for late or emergency needs on this day.

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Following is an important piece of information from Scott B. regarding “essential visitors” and Raptor sign-in:

While visitors and volunteers are still not allowed in schools and facilities, there may be some situations where essential visitors are allowed. If there are essential visitors entering our facilities, they will need to sign in on the Raptor system and wear a badge while in our schools (in accordance with district visitor/volunteer policies). 

We have added a contact tracing capability to Raptor for those essential visitors signing in. They will answer the required contact tracing questions through Raptor and will not need to fill out the QR or paper logs for contact tracing when signing in through Raptor.

The IT techs are working this week on getting all the Raptor kiosks updated with the new contact tracing function at each of our schools.

Please continue to advocate for remote meetings with visitors through telephone or video conferencing. Building administrators have the discretion to determine if a visitor is essential and can meet in person at the school, ensuring all RSSL safety protocols are being followed. 
Examples of essential visitors – DHS worker conducting an investigation, fire marshal or law enforcement on official business, student’s medical service dog conducting mandatory training, etc.

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Project HELP update:  Mara Stephens will be leaving our district later this month.  Sandy Schmidt, a longtime FAN Advocate, will be taking over for Mara.  Thank you to Mara for the amazing work she has done for some of our most marginalized students! Please welcome Sandy to this new role when you see her at your school. 

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Next year’s district calendar will soon be loaded on our website – or you can find it here if you want a sneak peek.

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An important note from Scott McDonald: Several teachers have noticed that there have been some changes to Apple Classroom since we were last in the buildings with our students.  Our most recent Instructional Tech Blog post will give you step by step instructions on how to get started.    https://blogs.bend.k12.or.us/instructionaltechnology/2021/02/11/changes-to-apple-classroom-as-of-february-12-2021/

Changes to Apple Classroom as of February 12, 2021 – Instructional Tech @ BLSNow that many of us are back to face to face learning managing student iPads using Apple Classroom is essential. If you have not used Apple Classroom before, check out the quick start guide linked here for a list of features that are really useful for educators. Additionally, we have some earlier posts in this blog that may be helpful for first-time users.blogs.bend.k12.or.us

If you have never used Apple Classroom, then this may be a really good time to try it out.   Consider it one way to get closer than 6 feet to your student’s work.  
Apple Classroom allows you to:• monitor all iPads that are in your classroom• lock the screens of all the iPads when it is time for a discussion• lock students into a specific application• pass out resources directly to your classroom iPads• see a history of how students have utilized their time while working on a device.
The following document will give you some additional details on how Apple Classroom can be used to manage student iPads.   https://www.apple.com/education/docs/getting-started-with-classroom.pdf

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Calendar:

Our next Leadership Equity PD is on the afternoon of Feb. 17 at SVMS starting at 3:00. One of our focus points is to review and discuss your equity goals (that you documented prior to the holidays). You may want to take a look at this spreadsheet to make sure: 1) you wrote down your three goals, 2) make sure you have responded to someone else’s goals, and 3) see if you want to modify any of your goals. We will likely be asking that you share and dig deeper into your stretch goal when we meet on the 17th.

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We have scheduled a meeting on February 19 @ 8:00 with Doug Reeves and his team to share out some planning associated with the equitable grading initiative we will be working on over the next many months. I would like principals at the meeting and Sarah has reached out to your BEA reps to invite them to the discussion. Please encourage them to join us as their input is key in moving forward.

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We also have a meeting on February 19 @ 9:00 with the principals of the comprehensive high schools in Bend. We will discuss the coordination of forecasting in March and programming at Caldera. All principals are welcome to come, but you are not required as it may not be relevant.

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With students back in person, we will no longer schedule weekly HS Admin meetings. Our next HS Principal WebEx is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24 @ 11:00.

Thought provoking shares and think abouts:

February is Black History Month! Here is the LINK to the work completed by the LEAD Cohort this Fall. I encourage you to look it over and share it with your staff. You may or may not have seen this blog post regarding some highlighted Black authors and recommended videos that could be used for instruction this (or any) month. Here is a link that will bring you other educational resources.

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Remote learning isn’t a new concept. Schools closed in the 1930s due to the Polio outbreak and lessons were taught via radios. Check out the other correlations to our current situation in this article. I am so impressed with the work you are doing to recreate how we serve our families and students!

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TO DO:

With the bulk of staff vaccinations scheduled for Thursday and Friday of next week, we are moving to a remote learning format for next Friday, February 12 to accommodate the anticipated adverse reactions to the second vaccine shot. HERE is the letter to staff Lora sent out today. Schools will be open on February 12. HERE is the letter to families sent today. For high school, we will follow the schedule for the B Cohort Day (that group will have met Tuesday). There is no school on Monday, Feb 15 due to President’s Day, so as of Tuesday, Feb 16 our rotations for each cohort will be equal.

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What we are learning is that 20-30% of those who receive this second vaccination have side effects noticeable enough to keep them out of work for one or more days. If a staff member needs to be out of the building to get their vaccination shot or take leave due to symptoms after vaccination, please code both of these as “other leave” and put something like “illness due to vaccination” in the reason for leave. This will come out of a staff member’s 5-day COVID leave, and not the typical sick leave allocation. Contact HR if you have questions about this.

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Last week I shared with you a letter that outlines the communication steps that will occur every time there is a positive COVID case at a school. Here is the Chinese language version. Please share this letter (English and Spanish) in your next parent communication. [Don’t forget to make a copy of these letters first – as well as check the access to the link to make sure parents can view it.]

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Thank you Alandra for facilitating the completion of a new MS/HS safety video which is not posted on our district’s website. Please review it. I know many of you developed your own safety videos, but feel free to pass this one along to your families as you see fit. Here is the link to that video.

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Please share this substitute request flow chart with your office manager and anyone else that you think may need/use it. Please remind your Office Manager to put leave requests in early (as early as they find out) and check them often. A number of sub requests have not been getting filled through the ESD already this year.

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Information:

If you have any new/temporary certified staff for the remainder of this year, here are a couple pieces of evaluation news that you need to know:

The temporary teachers that we are hiring right now will not work the 135 days to count as a full year for TSPC.

Therefore, we are not required to complete the two formal observations.  Since we are halfway through the year, I would recommend that we have administrators complete a minimum of two mini observations.  I’d also like them to complete an evaluation so that we have a record of how the teacher performed this year.  Let Jon or myself know if you have any questions regarding this.

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Any temporary classified people hired after the dates below, will not qualify for medical benefits.  HR communicates this at time of hiring but we recommend schools inform interviewees too:

• EA ‐ HS (Bend and South County) (182 days) 02/18/21        
• EA ‐ HS (Skyline and Marshall ‐ Trimester schools) (181 days) 02/18/21
• EA ‐ HS (REALMS ‐ Trimester School) (179 days) 02/17/21
• EA ‐ MS (Bend and South County) (179 days) 02/17/21
• EA ‐ MS (REALMS) (179 days) 02/17/21
• EA ‐ ES (Bend and South County) (177 days) 02/16/21

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MOU: In order to satisfy this requirement in the MOU:

Each school site will post the school’s COVID-19 Safety Checklist and a copy of the OSHA emergency temporary standards on the safety bulletin board.

Please post a hard copy of your latest Checklist and a hard copy of this document (103 pages) on your staff bulletin board.

Here are links to two documents that Jon referenced in our Horizontal this week. First, the final MOU with BEA for Hybrid instruction. Also, this MOU key points document.

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Here are some notes from Paul:

New County Metric Guidance

Last week, the state issued new indoor/outdoor guidance that applies to our after-school activities.  Here is the information to share with your team (mostly applicable to high schools) for Deschutes County which is still in the extreme zone.

Rapid Testing

RSSL requires schools to have the capacity to offer rapid COVID-19 tests (BiomaxNOW) available to symptomatic students/staff by March 1.  Here is the rollout timing:

• Week of Feb 1 and 8: District personnel attend OHA trainings and develop district and school based protocols
• Week of February 16:  Information sessions for school personnel; BiomaxNOW registration and testing kit ordered by each school.
• Week of February 22: Final site coordinator and testing facilitator Q&A
• Week of March 1: Testing available for symptomatic students/staff at each school site

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Here is some important information related to quarantining from our district lawyer, Sharon Smith. This information may help you answer questions for staff and families.

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BLS COVID-19 Cases

The district will be creating a dashboard that reflects positive COVID-19 cases within our schools.   The data will be updated every Wednesday after OHA’s weekly Kindergarten-12th grade school report is released.  We will also include a list of FAQs to explain more information about the data.  

Non-Masking Students On Buses

If you receive a complaint of students not wearing masks on a bus, it would greatly assist transportation if you can gather the following information prior to emailing Kim/Tina:  

1. Your school and the bus route number
2. Reporting student’s name (to check their assigned seat number)
3. Seat number (all bus seats have seat numbers) or name of non-mask wearing student
4. Time of day (i.e. 2:15pm)

Students should report non-masking behavior immediately to the bus driver.

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A note from our communications team: Now that schools are reopening for in-person learning, we wanted to reshare this helpful media guide that also applies to school newsletters, websites, teacher emails, and any other communication to families. Please be sure that the photos you share reflect the consistent safety practices you have in place in your buildings. Here are a few helpful reminders:

1. Mask up! All photos on campus should include students/staff wearing masks over the NOSE and MOUTH 😊
2. Keep your distance. Make sure folks are spread out in any photo shared.
3. If you use a photo that is pre-pandemic, be sure to list the year it was taken when you share it.

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Cleaning supplies for electronics shipped to you: We are making more of the Grace Bio-Labs spray available via our PPE supply process. 1-4 (depending on school size) of these bottles will auto-ship to your school this week. We have more on order and plan to auto-ship additional bottles in the next week or two. These spray bottles are a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution intended for cleaning electronic screens (iPads), keyboards, mice, and trackpads. These spray bottles should be distributed to those at your schools working with computer labs, computer carts, and shared iPad carts.

We recommend spraying the solution onto a micro-fiber cloth and then cleaning surfaces with the cloth. Please see the attached document for questions on the product, but note that we do not recommend spraying the solution directly on to technology devices.

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Our athletic trainers can be allowed to schedule use of computer labs to administer IMPACT testing to athletes that have not responded to online testing.   These dates/times need to be:

1. outside of school day hours (after 4:00pm)
2. scheduled w/athletic director and principal of individual buildings 
3. small groups monitored by AT.
4. following all COVID school protocol

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ACT DECISION: We will not administer the ACT to all juniors this year. We are exploring how best to offer ACT to interested students in our district including schools becoming ACT test sites and reimbursing families taking the test.

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Here is the latest BLOG from our Secondary PD team: Last week, the blog focused on the unique needs of students entering classrooms for the first time in many, many months.

This week, we’re focusing on teachers.  We’re recognizing that all of the school’s staff (you included!) have been through experiences that are complicated, stressful, challenging, depressing.  If you have been fortunate enough not to have lost a relative during this time, you definitely know someone who has.  

We know teachers will best be able to care for our students, if they give themselves permission to recognize their own self-care needs.  This week’s blog encourages all of us to take simple actions to minimize those stressors during the workday.  

First Things’ First:  You Need to take Good Care of Yourself

Calendar:

HS Administrator WebEx – @1:00 Thursday, Feb 11, 2021

YouthTruth Training – @2:00 Thursday, Feb 18, 2021

We have landed on an MOU with BEA that we hope will be vetted by members in the coming weeks. Here is a condensed version of the MOU between the district and BEA. Please read this summary document carefully as some of these agreements change what has been our plan/practice – specifically around SIW days and our Wednesday schedule.

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This year, more than most, it is VERY important that all semester 1 (and quarter 2) grades are posted by the morning of Monday, Feb. 8. On this date all students who are moving from brick and mortar school into either BLPSO or district CDL will be dropped from your enrollment and Canvas Grade Pass Back will no longer be functional.

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Our core team met with Dave Williams and made some key decisions related to athletics and activities for semester 2. We will revisit these at our March, 16 meeting. Be sure to share and discuss this information with Athletic and Activities Directors and Coaches.

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As you know, each of your schools has a School Safety Checklist on our district website. What you may not be fully aware of is that these are being read frequently and thoroughly. It is really important that these checklists are not only up-to-date but also contain complete information (everything that you have in place at school should also be communicated in your plan).

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There are some updates that you need to know about (some are changes from previous communication) as they relate to COVID/RSSL/BLS practices. Here is a document from Paul that provides the latest guidance, based on what we know today. Please read this and share with staff as needed. [Note: Some of this information is also addressed by me later in this blog.]

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Here are two documents that you may want to share with your staff. One has to do with proper storage of disposable masks. The other are directions of how to put on and take off a disposable respirator mask (KN95).

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As I mentioned during our admin team last week, we are trying to get a sense of time staff may need to be out of the buildings over the next several months. Please send out this survey (re: upcoming appointments) next week. Please be prepared to share your raw numbers by our meeting Thursday so I can see where our overall HS needs might be.

Don’t forget to make a copy of the survey first before sending it out!

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Here is a copy of the letter (English and Spanish) we asked you to send to families today. This letter outlines the communication steps that will occur every time there is a positive COVID case at a school. Please share this with your staff and highlight this info with those who will be answering the phone when parents call with questions. Related to this, remember, and begin communicating now, that we are not able to share (due to HIPPA) who has been diagnosed as having a positive case in the school… and giving hints to help the questioner figure it out is not recommended either!

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Information:

If you get in a jam with not having enough front office coverage (e.g. staff are out due to quarantine) please know that Andrea Wilson has mentioned that she is willing to come help for an immediate need.

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At some point, it is likely that your school will have some exposure to a positive case. Our district has prepared a number of family letters related to a variety of exposure examples. You can find these letters on the Portal at this location. Additionally, here is the site on the Portal that includes many of our documents that are COVID-related.

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Please share this information with your staff and families:

Please consider these CDC quarantine recommendations if your family has plans for either domestic or international travel in the months to come. 

Bottom line for both – Individuals who have traveled out of state (domestic or international) are recommended to:

• Get tested 3-5 days after travel AND stay home for 7 days after travel. 

• Even if you test negative, stay home for the full 7 days.
• If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected.

• If you don’t get tested, it’s safest to stay home for 10 days after travel.
• Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not.

Also take these actions for 14 days after you return from travel to protect others from getting COVID-19:

• Stay at least 6 feet/2 meters (about 2 arm lengths) from anyone who did not travel with you, particularly in crowded areas. It’s important to do this everywhere — both indoors and outdoors.
• Wear a mask to keep your nose and mouth covered when you are in shared spaces outside of your home, including when using public transportation.
• If there are people in the household who did not travel with you, wear a mask and ask everyone in the household to wear masks in shared spaces inside your home.
• Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness.
• Watch your health: Look for symptoms of COVID-19, and take your temperature if you feel sick.
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html

Practicing masking at home has continually been reinforced… Let’s see what the CDC says about masking at home with your family.

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If we have significant snow, both late start or cancellations are possible. Language around what teaching/instruction will look like on a “cancellation” day is still being worked through with BEA, so don’t communicate any plans yet. Lastly, we are asking that you (and all of your building staff) continue to check-in and check-out every day at your site. This means you will either need to limit the number of doors to enter/exit, or provide check-in/out opportunities at each location.

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Here is an FYI regarding what attendance looks like in Hybrid and when calls home will be made:

• Teachers record attendance in Synergy for the students in person
• Continue to call parents informing them of their student(s) with an NPV code.  The call will go out the next school day following the virtual class.  The calls go out at 11:00 am.
• Students with an Unexcused or Unverified absence on a scheduled in-person day will get a call home on the same day as the scheduled in-person class

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Paul has been working with our music teachers to clarify what can happen in regards to choir and band indoors and outdoors. Students can play their instruments and sing outside as long they are able to maintain at least 6 feet of distance.  

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You likely also heard this news coming out of ODE around assessments for this year. Here is that news: The board approved a temporary rule at OAR 581-022-0104 that waives Essential Skills graduation requirements for students who graduate in 2021.

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I plan on resuming regular school visits in February. Principals, please email me a date/time when you’d like for me to come to visit with you – and have space where we can talk and remain socially distanced.

Calendar:

SLGGs should be completed by the end of next week.

HS Administrator WebEx: Thursday, February 4, 1:00

HS Principal WebEx with Dr. Steve Cook: Friday, February 12 @ 1:00

To Do:

Please share this special invite is for any of your staff working with BRYT including building administrators AND district administrators: Our friends at BRYT have been able to pull together an opportunity for you to hear directly from one of their model BRYT high schools. I hope you are able to participate. Here are the details:

Westborough (MA) High School and the BRYT team invite Bend-La Pine educators to a one hour virtual visit to Westborough High’s Center for Student Success (BRYT-model program) on Tuesday, January 26 from 8:00 to 9:00 am PST.

The BRYT team continues Westborough High’s Center for Student Success (CSS) to be one of the highest-performing and most innovative programs in the BRYT network—among many innovations, CSS has worked systematically to develop a shared framework and language about mental health, based in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), across the whole school.  This visit will provide interested district and school leaders, counselors, student success instructors and other Bend-La Pine stakeholders with:

·       An overview of CCS and virtual tour of the CSS room at WHS

·       Breakout groups: 

o   administrators with Brian Callaghan, Westborough High’s principal

o   direct service staff with Courtney Balacco and Stephanie Glenn, CSS social workers

·       Final wrap-up all together

This virtual visit will happen on Zoom; meeting information below.  Please email Amy Stafford ([email protected]) no later than Monday evening to RSVP for this virtual visit.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/98417083167?pwd=aHZOd1p5WXcxTmgrM3VMcjgzZE5OUT09

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You might want to take a look at the Willamette ESD Reopening Metric Dashboard. Select Deschutes County to review our area.

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As you plan for orientation during the week of Feb 1, consider what schedule of classes you want students to follow during their orientation day. Because it is the end of the semester, student schedules will still show classes in which they are currently enrolled. If you’d like students to attend their second semester classes then know that these will not be the courses appearing in Synergy during that week. You will need to communicate clearly with students where you want them to go that day!

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Please share with your staff these important notes from Tami:

Quarantine Time Change: Quarantine time has changed from 14-days to 10-days when an individual has been exposed to a positive COVID-19 case. 

COVID-19 Notification Process in Schools: Notification of a positive COVID-19 case (in a school building) will be sent out to parents and school staff within 24 hours of case confirmation. A separate communication will be sent to parents in cohorts affected by the case. Information in this communication will include quarantine instructions (if warranted).

Attendance Voice Mail Messaging: To help track illnesses, we are encouraging schools to add the following to their attendance phone line recordings:
“To help with illness tracking in our schools, please include any illness symptoms your student has when reporting your student absence.“

Nurses have been receiving some push back from school offices who do not want to change their current attendance recordings. If we could have (at least some) parents indicate what their student symptoms are, this would help reduce the number of calls our nurses would have to make to parents regarding why their students were out. If a student is out due to tooth pain or broken bone,  a nurse would not need to make a phone call to that parent because they would have indicated the reason/symptom (hopefully). It will save time.

*Please continue to complete the staff absence report form for any staff that are out due to COVID illness symptoms so that one of our district nurses can follow up and provide further guidance. 

Schools Wanting to Order KN95 Masks for Staff: Ordering KN95/N95/Medical grade masks for your school staff may not be a good idea (and it is not necessary for school staff). 

1. On average, staff will need 5 masks per month. Are you prepared to continue to replenish these supplies on regular, monthly basis? We are not sure how long this pandemic will continue. What happens if PPE supplies nationwide run low (which some supplies already are) and masks aren’t available? Staff will be upset and fear that they are not adequately protected when the CDC and RSSL Guidelines did not indicate that masks were needed for all staff to begin with?
2. Can you guarantee that these KN95 masks are FDA approved medical grade masks?

Continued education and staff reassurance for COVID safety is something we need to continue doing. 

Please make sure your staff knows that the district provides masks for them, that they have been delivered to your buildings and where they can access them if they need one. We are still hearing from staff that they believe we are not providing masks and they have to use their personal money to purchase them.

For students who cannot wear masks in the general education setting….For students who are unable to wear a mask (due to a disability and/or medical condition), precautions need to be taken for the student to safely be in the general education classroom. For example,  students who cannot wear a mask should have an area designated in the classroom specifically for their desk (such as the back of the classroom, near a window, with plexi glass surrounding their desk). Extra precautions should be taken to ensure that the student remains clear of other students while waiting in line to go out to recess, bathroom, etc. 

Our district has a large supply of PPE, specifically masks and gloves, available for you to request. You should have enough RSSL-approved PPE to provide for every staff member in your building that is needing it. Many of you have already accessed this and have adequate supply on hand. If you haven’t yet, please work with your Office Manager to request what you need. Please make sure your staff understands that the district will supply their mask AND that they know how to get one if they need it.

Safety videos for students and staff should be completed by this Friday, Jan 22, and posted to your website early next week. Use Paul’s check sheet for content of the video.

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I suggest you review our Supervisor’s Guidelines one more time. This is a document meant to help you think through your responsibilities at school related to Covid-related requirements and safety. You’ve seen it before, but it may be helpful to review it again so these are fresh on your mind.

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Calendar:

Next week and the following week (weeks Jan 25 and Feb 1) are asynchronous weeks for students, as teachers prepare for orientation week Feb. 1 and Hybrid Feb 8.

Next Tuesday, Jan 27, is a MAC Survey day.

Thursday, Jan 28 at 1:00 is our next HS Administrator WebEx