January 8, 2021

Wow, what a week. Not only at school but in our country. I hope you all take care of yourselves this weekend and get out to enjoy some winter activities that will take your mind off all the craziness.. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the leadership you’re providing in bringing kids back to our buildings. I know that I have been slightly difficult to reach so I apologize if I did not return your call this week. Please don’t hesitate to call or text over the weekend if you have questions or need anything.

Focus on Excellence and Equity…

Just a reminder about getting your equity goals in this spreadsheet if you haven’t already done so.

Department News…

From Lora…

Re: Student teachers –  We have checked with TSPC and our partners at George Fox and OSU-Cascades, and student teachers can be hired with restricted licenses for the remainder of this school year. I have shared with the programs that the student teachers need to follow the regular application process if they are interested. NOTE: the OSU-Cascades student teachers would need substitutes for 8 Fridays between now and the end of the year. IF a principal believes that the OSU-Cascades student teacher is still the best candidate, the district will cover the sub costs as professional development.

Potential Visits  – Many of our board members, as well as myself, want to be visible in the schools as we re-open (even with small groups) or now with small group instruction-WITHOUT BEING IN THE WAY. PLEASE send us emails to help out with recess, kindergarten orientation, or the first weeks at school, lunch supervision, etc. Anything that could be a genuine help to you and your staff!

From Transportation – the transportation department is interested in each school’s process of unloading and loading kids.  Please take time to complete this survey

COVID Updates – An administrator cheat sheet has been created to assist building leaders in planning for in-person learning.  I’m still waiting for a link to the cleaning protocol and will let you know when that is ready.  I hope this helps consolidate your thinking with a task-orientated checklist.  

From Human Resources- A letter is going out to all classified staff to determine their return to work intent now that the K-12 phased-in plan has been communicated.  OSEA is reviewing the draft letter and we’ll copy you on the email to classified staff either this afternoon or early Monday when it is sent out.  As a reminder, please be actively reaching out to both your certified and classified staff as we transition in-person education so that you can respond to any work force issues of people taking Leaves of Absence.  We will not be holding people to 60 days of prior notice due to these unique times.  We encourage administrators/supervisors to post anticipated open positions ASAP for HR approval.  

From Paul – Paul will be crafting a Return To School email next week to address some of the most popular topics around meals in school, ventilation, masking and cleaning protocols.  Expect that the all-staff email to be sent mid-week.  There will also be a Leadership Team meeting next Friday, January 15th, at 1 pm to discuss other return to school topics.

Updates, Reminders, Info and Rants…

Evaluations – Jon Lindsay and Sarah Barclay tried to capture recommendations from the Evaluation Committee for this year’s observations and evaluations.  Here is what they came up with.  Jon and Paul will be working with OSEA to make similar adjustments to the classified evaluation. 

Youth Truth – Below is a recent reminder email sent from Whitney Ivie about Youth Truth.  Thank you for getting this done.

Happy week one of the three week survey window, with 11 school days after today remaining to survey students, staff, and parents/guardians (as a reminder, the survey will close end-of-day Friday, January 22nd). As promised, I am writing with your weekly check-in, to keep surveying top of mind and offer support as needed. Here is some helpful information:

• TRACK PROGRESS

In order to get the most representative feedback, we recommend surveying at least 75% of students and as many family and staff members as possible. To track surveying progress when it’s convenient for you, please visit your dedicated platform here: ytsurvey.org/Bendprogress21. This progress dashboard automatically updates surveying progress information a few times each day (between 5:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday – Friday). Click the tab at the bottom of the screen that corresponds with the survey you would like to check progress for: student, family, or staff. Tip: bookmark this URL for easy access during surveying! 

Please keep in mind that because the survey is anonymous, the progress dashboard will not list which participants have or have not taken the survey. If you would like to keep track of which respondents have taken the survey, please devise a plan for managing this piece internally (your Survey Implementation Guide contains instructions!). 

• PREPARE FOR SURVEYING

If you haven’t already done so, please read the email below for information about how to access your school’s Survey Implementation Guide, so that you can prepare for an implement the student, staff and family surveys. 

• A NOTE ABOUT FAMILY SURVEYING

As a reminder, because parents/guardians aren’t a captive audience like students and staff are, it’s important that school teams begin outreach around the Family Survey today, and send reminders – using all available modes of communication – to parents/guardians a couple of times each week during the survey window. Your Survey Implementation Guide contains plug and play resources (an email template, robo call script, social media kit, flyer, etc) and examples of ways other schools have increased their parent participation to serve as inspiration. 

It’s important to us that your YouthTruth surveying experience proceeds as smoothly as possible, so please know that we are available to help with survey administration issues at any point. If you run into problems or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me at [email protected] or directly at (415) 429-4892. Otherwise, I look forward to being back in touch next week with another check-in.

2 hr Office Assistant – call me if you are interested in adding these hours to a current classified staff member or plan on using a sub for this position. Otherwise that posting should be up soon and you can start the hiring process.

Inclement Weather Guideline for 2020-21 – The Bend-LaPine District will be able to respond differently to inclement weather events since we are in Comprehensive Distance Learning.  If we need to close our buildings, we can still continue to teach and provide services. Click here to read the 2020-21 Guidelines.  Families will get this same information but in a format that is tailored specifically to them.

Are we surveying CDL families?  Just a reminder that we are not surveying CDL students as to whether they are coming back or not.  Only BLP Online students need to complete a survey. We are assuming they are coming back.  In communications from you and from teachers they should ask families to notify the teacher and/or the school if they will not be returning to in-person instruction.

Remember this document? – you may want to review this risk mitigation document again and share it with staff

Calendar

And Finally…