Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
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15:25 - Today board members will assemble in the boardroom
15:27 with the exception of Ms. McDougall
15:28 who will be joining us telephonically.
15:31 The public may join us via our usual streaming channels.
15:34 Before we get started with a roll call this morning
15:36 and our pledge of allegiance,
15:38 I wanted to just give our public
15:40 a little bit of information about
15:42 what today really is about.
15:44 Typically when we are under normal functioning circumstances
15:49 the board would have an opportunity to have a work session
15:52 around issues before they come to us at a board meeting.
15:55 And so today is our opportunity.
15:57 The board’s first opportunity to see our reopening plan,
16:00 ask questions and request additional information.
16:04 We’re not making any decisions today on the reopening plans,
16:08 but we are going to dig in and make sure that we understand
16:11 and get any additional information that we need to get
16:14 prior to the reopening plan coming to the board,
16:18 to the board meeting next Tuesday.
16:20 And I think it’s important to note too,
16:22 this has been an incredibly emotional topic.
16:26 There is no lack of understanding for the seriousness
16:32 of our role and the responsibility that we have
16:35 to ensure the health and safety of our students
16:37 and our faculty and staff.
16:40 And while it is emotional, I want to encourage our public
16:43 that we are aware that we have this huge responsibility.
16:46 We have a fabulous team who’s been working to ensure that.
16:49 And at the end of the day, we may have some disagreement
16:52 on how we achieve those health and safety measures,
16:55 but I think it’s important to note that we’re all here
16:58 to ensure that we can bring everyone back safely
17:00 and continue strong quality education in the fall.
17:04 So those are our goals today.
17:07 This time, Ms. Escobar, would you please call roll?
17:15 - Mrs. Belford? - Present.
17:17 - Ms. McDougall? - Present.
17:20 - Mr. Susan? - Present.
17:22 - Mrs. Deskevich? - Present.
17:24 - And Mrs. Campbell? - Present.
17:27 - If you would please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
17:32 - I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
17:35 of America and to the republic for which it stands,
17:40 one nation under God, indivisible,
17:43 with liberty and justice for all.
17:49 - Okay, Dr. Mullins, I believe at this point,
17:51 I’m turning it over to you to begin our discussion.
17:54 - Thank you, Ms. Belford, board members,
17:57 thank you for the opportunity to present to you
17:59 and bring forward for discussion and further consideration
18:04 of the 2020-21 reopening of schools.
18:08 I’d like to start by just acknowledging
18:11 and recognizing the team that came together now
18:15 a few weeks ago and really has been meeting tirelessly
18:19 and in some instances endlessly
18:23 to carefully consider all of the impacts, implications
18:29 to reopening our schools in the midst of what we’re facing
18:34 as a community, a country, and as a nation.
18:39 And I would like to just acknowledge
18:41 that every individual was completely
18:44 and fully invested in the process.
18:47 The team consisted of 14 members across the district,
18:51 a very cross-functional representation
18:54 of every function, aspect, and element of the district.
18:59 In addition, the task force, the team,
19:03 sought aggressively the input and feedback
19:08 from every possible constituent stakeholder
19:12 across our community.
19:14 They stood up a web-based portal for input.
19:19 My last awareness was there was over 13,000 comments
19:24 and inputs provided.
19:26 I want to assure our community and stakeholders
19:28 that every input was reviewed and considered,
19:32 collated, and brought to the task force
19:34 as they continued to work through
19:36 some of the different challenges and situations.
19:41 Our school advisory councils at all of our schools met,
19:45 which, as the board knows, consists of stakeholders
19:50 across the local school community,
19:52 from parents, students, and so on.
19:55 And they provided input along the way,
19:57 which was brought to the task force as well.
20:01 And we met with our union leaders,
20:03 and we met with teachers and considered
20:08 the full array of teacher-type circumstances in our schools.
20:14 When we think of a teacher, we may think narrowly,
20:18 a classroom teacher is a classroom teacher.
20:20 But there is a broad array of the different environments
20:24 that our teachers work in,
20:25 and all of those were taken into consideration.
20:29 So I’d like to just give my very public
20:33 and sincere appreciation to the entire team
20:37 and all of the work that has gone in.
20:39 And clearly, the work has not ended.
20:42 There will be a follow-up after our conversation today,
20:46 for sure, but I wanna thank them.
20:48 But this was on top of all of the other duties
20:52 and responsibilities that they have had along the way.
20:54 Leading the task force, I wanna give special recognition
20:58 and my appreciation to three cabinet members
21:01 who have really carried a tremendous amount
21:04 of the responsibility as well as the work
21:06 to prepare for the information
21:09 that we’re bringing to you today.
21:12 First, Dr. Stephanie Sullivan, Assistant Superintendent
21:16 of Secondary Leading and Learning.
21:18 To her right is Ms. Jane Klein,
21:21 Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Leading and Learning.
21:24 And then again, to her right, Ms. Chris Moore,
21:27 Assistant Superintendent of Student Services.
21:30 And they’ve been working even into the night yesterday
21:35 to prepare for today and the information.
21:37 So I appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge these folks.
21:41 If you look at the end of the presentation,
21:43 all of the individuals that have contributed
21:47 to the task force are listed and represented there.
21:51 I do wanna give special acknowledgement
21:54 to our Department of Health representative.
21:57 Patty, I never get your last name right,
21:59 Seibert is with us today and the health department
22:03 was represented on the task force as well.
22:06 So Patty, thank you for being here today.
22:08 At this time, I’d like to turn it over to Dr. Sullivan
22:11 to get us started in the presentation.
22:13 The board, I provided a handout that delineates,
22:17 we’ve built in pauses throughout the presentation
22:20 for the board to ask questions.
22:24 We thought that would be a better organizational means
22:27 than slide by slide or certainly wait until the end
22:31 because there’s a lot of information.
22:32 So you’ll see that we’ll pause there.
22:34 If you’d collect your questions on the slides
22:36 that are presented, then Madam Chair,
22:39 I’ll turn it over to you to take questions
22:42 from the board members.
22:43 So with that, Dr. Sullivan, get us started, thank you.
22:47 - Ms. Balfour, thank you for your preface.
22:49 That was an important part of what we’re doing here today.
22:53 And thank you so much for our board members being here today
22:56 and helping us flesh out this plan
22:58 before we finalize some decisions prior to Tuesday.
23:02 And finalized decision is a very weak term
23:07 because the climate changes daily.
23:09 The past three days we’ve had different
23:11 Florida Department of Education conferences,
23:13 webinars and information.
23:15 And so as we move forward,
23:18 we’ll be sharing with you today our recommendations.
23:21 We have pens in hand ready to cross off,
23:24 erase and mark up, take your feedback
23:28 and then make those amendments prior to Tuesday
23:31 as we put it out to our community.
23:33 So really appreciate that you’re gonna take the time
23:36 to go through it with us.
23:37 It’s a real testament to your commitment
23:38 and we really appreciate it.
23:40 It is very text heavy as you can imagine.
23:42 We’re handling a lot of complex issues
23:45 and appreciate your willingness to flesh out
23:48 even the tiniest of detail without the team
23:51 to make sure it truly represents the best work
23:54 that we can do in this current situation.
23:56 Something that was really important to us
23:58 as we began this process was to reground ourselves
24:02 in what we believed in in Brevard Public Schools.
24:05 We did not wanna take on the task of reviewing
24:07 the best way to open up the district
24:10 without really reflecting on what were already
24:12 pre-identified priorities of this board,
24:15 the superintendent and our school community.
24:18 And so as we take a look at our strategic plan goals
24:21 and initiatives, I think we can see very easily
24:26 that they don’t change in this circumstance.
24:29 They don’t differ from what we want and hope
24:32 and expect to provide for our students.
24:35 When we look at objectives like ensure every student
24:39 has daily engagement with complex
24:42 grade appropriate curriculum.
24:44 That all of our students have certified skilled teachers
24:48 who hold high expectations for learning.
24:51 Our emphasis on equitable supports,
24:54 our students who have diverse learning needs,
24:57 and of course early literacy.
24:59 Early literacy is paramount to success
25:01 for all of our students regardless
25:03 of their post-secondary goals.
25:06 When we go and look at our objectives
25:08 regarding to exceptional workforce,
25:10 again, every decision that we make
25:13 and plan that we propose is grounded in these ideas.
25:18 We want strong, developed, diverse and skilled workforces.
25:22 We want people to have the appropriate
25:23 professional development.
25:25 And you know what?
25:26 Our priorities this year are different
25:28 than they were a year ago.
25:29 And so we are ready to adjust
25:32 and customize professional development
25:34 based on the needs of our teachers.
25:35 We took a step back and pulled out
25:38 of our district mandated professional development
25:41 during pre-planning because we know
25:43 what our original perspectives were
25:45 don’t necessarily represent the needs
25:47 and desires of our local school communities.
25:50 And then of course community connectivity.
25:53 None of this is possible without a really clear
25:56 collective partnership with our school communities
26:00 including our parents and our students,
26:02 government agencies, local leaders.
26:05 They’ve all been really invaluable to the process.
26:08 And then boy, you would have thought
26:11 we knew this was coming when this first objective
26:13 was written, provide safe, healthy
26:16 and fully equipped working and learning environments.
26:19 And so again, by revisiting what were already
26:22 our organizational objectives, what were already
26:25 our goals, it really helped focus the team
26:28 on continuing the work that the board has done
26:31 in focusing our efforts to improve student achievement
26:35 and overall culture of our schools.
26:39 But of course all of this is anchored
26:41 in an equity framework.
26:44 I think that we have been extraordinarily overt
26:48 in our passion and our commitment to equity
26:51 and revisiting our academic programs, our supports
26:55 that don’t necessarily help us meet that vision.
26:58 And so all of that work didn’t stop ‘cause of COVID.
27:02 And in fact, that work was amplified because of COVID.
27:05 And you can see that we take a lot of pride
27:08 in this statement that we put forward
27:10 on the equity framework because we know that COVID-19
27:14 further complicated and exacerbated social
27:17 and emotional inequities because of the additional impact
27:21 on our workforce, our social systems, housing, employment,
27:26 all of those factors that we know contribute
27:28 to the wellbeing of our children.
27:30 We know that that safety groundwork takes us all back
27:33 to Maslow, so we’ve all read Maslow.
27:36 Boy, it’s never been bolded more than it is right now.
27:40 And we are not minimizing the impact that that has had
27:44 on our students and community.
27:45 So our emphasis on equity was simply amplified.
27:48 It was not derailed ‘cause we were struck with a crisis.
27:51 And so we really wanted to emphasize that for our families.
27:57 Content, resources, and references.
27:59 Well, one Google search will tell you
28:02 that there are no limits to the amount of expertise
28:06 out there on an unknown situation.
28:09 We read it all, we relied on it all.
28:12 We were agnostic when it comes to research.
28:16 If there was information out there, we wanted to read it.
28:20 That being said, what you see in front of you
28:22 are the priority resources that for obviously many reasons
28:27 we really anchored our work in.
28:30 Centers for Disease Control,
28:31 I think that goes without saying.
28:33 Very recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics
28:37 just put out a comprehensive guideline.
28:39 We’re really pleased to get a document like that
28:41 from an organization of medical professionals
28:45 that specialize in children.
28:47 And we felt like that was really important.
28:49 Of course, the Florida Department of Health,
28:51 we’ve all become BFFs with Patty and her team
28:55 at the Health Department.
28:56 And we are so thankful for their gracious time.
29:00 I can’t imagine a public organization busier
29:02 than the Florida Department of Health.
29:05 Every single time we called, which was a lot
29:07 and continues to be a lot,
29:10 they found a way to continue to support us.
29:12 And that generosity is so appreciated
29:18 as we tackle these challenging issues.
29:21 And then of course, from an educational perspective,
29:23 the US Department of Ed and the Florida Department of Ed,
29:27 and of course, because of the dynamic nature of this crisis,
29:31 their guidelines change.
29:33 And do we get frustrated by that?
29:35 Well, yeah.
29:37 However, of course it should change.
29:40 None of us should be in a position where we think
29:43 that the decisions we make today and right now
29:46 are gonna withstand the dynamic nature of this crisis,
29:49 the needs of our families and our communities,
29:52 and what is the right decision at the right time.
29:54 So flexibility is key.
29:56 And so we might grit our teeth a little
29:57 at another daily update, but at the same time,
30:00 we are so thankful that the state,
30:03 that the federal government, that our local officials
30:07 have the courage to change their minds,
30:08 have the courage to say, okay,
30:10 we thought this was a good idea yesterday,
30:12 not so much today.
30:13 And we think that’s important to this process.
30:16 So a little frustrating, sure, essential, absolutely.
30:19 And of course, OSHA, we rely on OSHA guidelines
30:23 to keep our employees safe as they are managing activities
30:28 that could be potentially hazardous.
30:31 Dr. Mullins mentioned briefly our community feedback.
30:36 I’ve spoken about our grounding
30:37 in our organizational objectives and goals.
30:40 I’ve spoken to the robust research
30:43 and information presented to the community,
30:46 but our community feedback has been
30:48 the cornerstone of our work.
30:52 When I say thousands of thousands
30:55 upon thousands of feedback, I’m not exaggerating,
30:58 I have to give a quick pause and credit to Kathy Whittle,
31:00 my administrative assistant, who personally correlated,
31:04 managed, read, organized everyone
31:06 so then I could read them all
31:08 and so that we could take that feedback in.
31:10 I wanna talk about our parents and our legal guardians
31:14 and the feedback that they provided.
31:16 It was genuine, it was passionate,
31:19 it was representative of their hopes and dreams
31:22 for their children and their fears for their children.
31:25 It represented the entire range of emotions
31:29 that everybody is feeling in this climate right now,
31:32 and we were so thankful for it.
31:35 For every one or two that we read
31:37 that felt passionately in one direction,
31:39 there was equal that felt passionately
31:42 in the other direction.
31:43 And having that information is really powerful,
31:46 and we really honor that.
31:48 And Ms. Belford made reference to the fact that,
31:51 boy, we’re not gonna agree on a lot.
31:54 It’s impossible to, because this crisis is so personal,
31:58 and we have personal beliefs,
32:00 we have personal interpretations of things,
32:03 and that’s okay.
32:04 And when it comes to one’s children’s,
32:06 the rules in the book go out the door.
32:08 All logic goes out the door when it’s your baby.
32:10 And so we allow for that, we honor that.
32:13 And so I ask for all of our community members,
32:17 for our board members, everybody in our organization,
32:21 to not be frustrated by the discord,
32:23 to not be frustrated by the differences,
32:27 but to really respect and honor that
32:29 because that’s a robust society.
32:33 And so did it cause us challenges
32:37 in trying to find the right answer?
32:38 Of course it did.
32:40 But we landed on the fact that the feedback was valuable,
32:44 and we tried to put together some options
32:47 that would meet the best needs of our communities.
32:50 Are they perfect options?
32:51 Of course not.
32:53 We don’t have unlimited resources,
32:54 we don’t have unlimited personnel,
32:56 we don’t have unlimited buses, buildings, things like that.
33:00 But we think we found something for everyone.
33:04 And I’m just thankful for that feedback.
33:07 They were long, they were passionate.
33:09 Sometimes they were brief and they were curt,
33:11 sometimes they were kind, sometimes not so much.
33:13 But that’s okay.
33:15 Everybody’s allowed to have those feelings.
33:17 Our teachers and staff,
33:19 boy, we got a tremendous amount of feedback from them
33:22 through various means.
33:23 Many of our teachers and staff took the opportunity
33:26 of using our generic portal,
33:27 and we were able to pull those out
33:30 and realize their feelings and passions.
33:32 And of course, through school advisory council,
33:35 several of our schools,
33:36 when they reported their participation
33:38 in school advisory council,
33:39 they had upwards of 50, 60, 70 teachers
33:42 participate in school advisory council.
33:45 I’m gonna encourage them to keep participating in it
33:47 as the years go on.
33:50 But we got a lot of great ideas from there.
33:53 And of course we have a wonderful partnership
33:55 with our union leaders.
33:57 I can speak for me, Jane and Chris.
34:00 We did not hesitate to pick up the phone and call them.
34:03 They absolutely didn’t hesitate
34:04 to pick up the phone and call us.
34:06 And we love that.
34:06 We wanna know the pulse.
34:07 We wanna know what concerns are weighing on people’s heads
34:10 and which concerns we can help mitigate.
34:13 And our community leaders,
34:15 this was a big surprise for me.
34:17 And I shouldn’t be surprised ‘cause of how far it is,
34:19 but I was surprised at how many representatives
34:23 who did not have children in the system,
34:25 who were not teachers in our school community,
34:27 who were not students themselves,
34:29 took the time to give us great feedback.
34:31 We got feedback from numerous physicians in our county
34:35 and different perspectives,
34:38 even within the medical community.
34:40 And seeing that was important.
34:42 Seeing that this doctor provided this feedback,
34:45 this doctor provided different feedback
34:48 was important to see as well
34:50 and to get the different perspectives of their profession.
34:52 We got a lot of professional feedback.
34:55 We got some great feedback from our partners
34:57 at Patrick Air Force Base.
34:59 In fact, the feedback’s anonymous,
35:03 but they attached their entire reopening plan,
35:07 which was fantastic information for us.
35:10 Our philanthropy groups.
35:12 There was a great insertion at about like 9,000 and something
35:17 from E-Angels, which is one of our great partners,
35:20 that said, “We’re just here to help, tell us what you need.”
35:23 I partnered them with CoCo High and Palm Bay High
35:26 to support their graduation efforts,
35:28 and it was simply because they took the time
35:30 to give us community feedback.
35:33 And so that was really wonderful.
35:36 And finally, our students.
35:37 We had a lot of student feedback, a lot of student comments.
35:41 We especially cherish those.
35:42 I love students that advocate for themselves.
35:44 I love students that are willing to take part
35:46 in the democratic process, provide feedback, engage,
35:50 and that was invaluable.
35:52 There are lots of elements in this plan
35:56 solely based on that feedback.
35:59 There was kernels and snippets that, you know,
36:01 you read 1,000 that sound about the same,
36:04 and then suddenly you’re like,
36:05 “Ah, we didn’t think of that.”
36:07 So I’m incredibly appreciative of all that feedback.
36:10 And even for those that think their feedback
36:13 wasn’t necessarily considered, it was.
36:16 And we took those little things.
36:17 Sometimes it was one little last line
36:19 while a community member was commenting
36:22 that made its way into the plan.
36:24 And so I know that was a long explanation.
36:26 I just thought it was really important
36:29 for everybody to know that none of that time was wasted,
36:32 and we could not have landed on a lot of decision points
36:36 without all of that.
36:38 Finally, I’d like to, not finally, hardly finally,
36:43 Max, I’d like you to take to see the opening guidelines
36:47 that we landed on.
36:48 We had multiple drafts of our own perspectives.
36:51 We potentially hijacked language from multiple other plans.
36:58 We looked at all kinds of different language
37:00 on what are the things that are gonna drive our decisions.
37:03 And the American Academy of Pediatrics
37:05 provided some language that we just couldn’t help
37:09 but use in full and, of course, cite appropriately.
37:12 And you’ll see some of the language
37:14 from the American Academy of Pediatrics
37:16 throughout the plan.
37:18 And whenever we did that, we quoted in full.
37:23 We didn’t think it was appropriate for us
37:24 to interpret somebody else’s language and recommendations.
37:28 We felt it was important that our plan
37:30 had that language in full.
37:33 So I’m just, I’ll pause for a moment
37:34 and highlight a couple of things.
37:36 Of course, flexibility is gonna be key.
37:39 We’re all gonna be tired of that word.
37:40 We’re gonna ban it next year with t-shirts with lines
37:42 through it, but for right now,
37:45 we’re still wearing the flexibility t-shirts
37:47 and continue to live in that framework.
37:51 Obviously, developmental appropriateness
37:53 is very important to us.
37:55 Many of the things that amplify safety
38:00 and health considerations are in direct contrast
38:04 to what we know children need to depend on
38:07 for developmental appropriateness.
38:10 So we’re gonna have to really think through
38:12 some strategies to attack that affective domain
38:17 and their social-emotional considerations
38:19 just for their natural development.
38:21 You know, when we think about the power of play
38:24 in our youngest children’s and tactile experiences
38:28 and the limitations on tactile experiences
38:30 in this current environment, we have to be creative.
38:32 And I believe in the skillset of our teachers
38:35 and their knowledge of developmental milestones.
38:39 And of course, all of the diverse needs
38:42 of our communities and their situation.
38:45 And so those were the guidelines that kind of,
38:47 we tucked away in the back of our head
38:48 when we were at an impasse.
38:50 We went back and looked at ‘em.
38:51 We looked at our guidelines.
38:53 We looked at our equity framework.
38:55 We looked at our goals and objectives
38:57 and everything we said we believe in
38:59 and was this decision consistent with that?
39:05 In the following page, you’ll see the summary statement
39:09 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
39:11 on their belief in schools.
39:13 Again, these statements are taken in full as direct quotes.
39:18 But we thought it was really important
39:19 to share their perspectives on the power
39:21 of the educational experience for the child.
39:31 I’m gonna take a break with the mic
39:33 and turn it over to Chris Moore,
39:36 who’s gonna take you through while we were planning,
39:40 while we were researching,
39:41 while we were considering every bit of data,
39:44 we couldn’t wait to act.
39:46 We had to simultaneously take some important steps.
39:50 And so, Ms. Moore?
39:52 - Yeah, before I jump in,
39:54 do we take a pause for some questions?
39:56 - Oh, sorry.
39:57 - Is there anything that is building out there?
39:59 - Yeah, thank you. - I apologize.
40:00 - Thank you, no problem.
40:02 Ms. McDougald, did you have any questions,
40:05 comments, concerns for the first section?
40:08 - Not at the first section, no.
40:09 - Okay, very good.
40:10 Mr. Stetson? - Later on, yeah.
40:12 - Yeah, due to the, I had one question
40:14 and I just had one request due to the fact
40:17 that I think this is gonna take longer than two hours,
40:20 was making sure that all our other board members are okay
40:22 with just extending it until it’s finished.
40:24 Are we good with that?
40:26 Okay, good, Dr. Mullins?
40:28 And just the one question I have in the beginning
40:30 is not towards this, but I was wondering
40:33 if there was a way that I could get the percentage
40:36 of free and reduced lunch students
40:40 who signed on with their computers during the COVID piece
40:43 from March till the end of school, that’s all.
40:46 Those attendance rates, stuff like that.
40:47 And that can come in an email later,
40:49 I don’t need that today.
40:50 - Absolutely, that’s data we can provide
40:52 and follow up with, no problem.
40:54 - Thank you.
40:55 - Any other board members have questions or comments
40:57 for the first section?
41:00 - I have just one kind of keeping in line
41:04 with Dr. Sullivan, your focus on,
41:06 I think the important message
41:08 that our priorities have not changed,
41:11 that we just have had to maybe adjust the way
41:14 that we approach those priorities in some ways.
41:16 But I just wanna point out,
41:18 along with all of our wonderful community partners,
41:20 we have been very focused on safety
41:22 and provide public schools for some time.
41:24 And I know there’ve been a lot of concerns
41:26 with some of the recommendations
41:27 about how we maintain our commitment
41:29 to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas safety elements,
41:33 even though we may be looking at safety
41:35 slightly differently right now.
41:37 But we are blessed that Lieutenant Brian Neal
41:40 has also been on the task force
41:42 to ensure that we have that lens of safety
41:46 from that perspective as well.
41:47 And so Lieutenant, I know we appreciate your contribution
41:50 and making sure that you guys have your eyes
41:52 on all of the changes that we’re making
41:54 as well as we move forward.
41:56 All right, Ms. Moore.
41:57 - Hey, good morning, everyone.
42:00 So as Stephanie said,
42:02 we’ve been through some rapid shifts.
42:04 We had to scale up a whole different way
42:07 of educating kids basically in a week.
42:10 And as we took this project on
42:13 and started pulling the research on,
42:15 and now what comes next,
42:18 it became really evident to us really quickly
42:20 that we couldn’t wait to start
42:25 implementing some of the things
42:26 that we were reading in the research.
42:28 And Jane and Stephanie worked with their principals.
42:30 Every time we came up with a question like,
42:33 well, what do clinics look like in schools?
42:37 They started a Google Doc,
42:38 sent it out to their schools and said,
42:40 principals, we need to know right now,
42:42 what do your clinics look like?
42:44 And the principals were responsive on a dime.
42:46 And so as we go through this,
42:48 know that it was all of this rolled out
42:52 as research rolled out and as we worked with the schools.
42:54 And so this is all prior to us even going operational,
42:59 going to the opening.
43:01 So under the operational heading,
43:03 as we looked at the research
43:04 and we looked at ways to maximize space
43:08 and mitigate contact,
43:10 we knew immediately our classroom situations
43:12 needed to change.
43:14 We asked all schools to start getting rid
43:16 of anything extra in their classrooms.
43:18 You know, all of us have bits and pieces
43:21 that we brought in to make our rooms homey,
43:24 but the fact of the matter is,
43:26 we need to spread the desks out as far
43:27 and as wide as we possibly can.
43:29 And so that was all taken out of the rooms
43:33 in cooperation with the teachers.
43:37 We knew that because this is an airborne illness
43:40 and it spreads through droplets,
43:41 that although we know educationally,
43:44 it’s better for students to be collaborative,
43:46 it’s better for them to work in groups.
43:49 It is safer now for them to all be facing in one direction.
43:53 And so we asked for all of the tables
43:55 to be seated in that way.
43:56 We asked schools to start looking at their plan
43:59 for traffic patterns.
44:00 The footprint of our schools are so different
44:03 that if all of them were built the same way,
44:06 we could have very easily from up here said,
44:08 and this is the way it shall run.
44:10 But that’s not the case.
44:13 Some schools have very tight corridors.
44:15 Some schools have very few corridors.
44:18 So we asked them to all start working on their plan
44:21 of what their traffic pattern is gonna be,
44:24 what their entrance and exit plan is going to be,
44:28 and so to mitigate contacts.
44:34 One of the questions we quickly asked was,
44:37 what does your front office look like?
44:38 What kind of barriers do you need?
44:40 And from that point on, we realized all of the other areas
44:45 in which a barrier, a plexiglass barrier,
44:48 might need to be needed.
44:50 What you’re gonna see, and that’s a great example,
44:52 is a little asterisk at the end of that.
44:54 Whenever we realized that something was going to need
44:58 COVID CARES Act funds, we’ve shown that with an asterisk,
45:04 that that has been funded through the CARES Act.
45:07 We may have missed some, I’ll be honest.
45:09 As we go through it, we look and we go,
45:10 oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that was funded by the CARES Act.
45:12 So if I see any of those,
45:14 or if you guys see any of those, step up.
45:16 One of the things that helped us tremendously
45:19 is as part of our budgeting efforts,
45:21 we were pulling anything back that we possibly could,
45:27 that we recouped due to not being in school
45:32 before we knew what the CARES Act funding was gonna be.
45:35 And we were fortunate enough
45:36 that we were able to set that money aside
45:38 to start purchasing some of those things.
45:40 So our procurement department has been amazing.
45:47 They have, Johnny on the Spot ordered thousands
45:51 and thousands of supplies for us,
45:54 gallons of hand sanitizer and plexiglass
45:57 and face masks and face shields.
45:59 And it was only because we had already started that work
46:03 to call aside some money that we were able
46:05 to put that order in while we waited
46:08 for the CARES Act funding to come in.
46:10 So you’ll see that denoted by that asterisk
46:12 in all those areas.
46:14 We asked schools to look at any area in which
46:17 students congregated.
46:19 We asked them to look at their schedules
46:21 that provided time for them to congregate
46:24 and ask them to mitigate or limit those things.
46:30 You know, as things, I’ll tell you two days ago,
46:33 somebody said, “What about water fountains?”
46:37 So that’s kind of how we have operated
46:41 because as we get into the weeds,
46:43 more things that are of equal importance
46:45 to everything else come up.
46:48 And so as you can see, we’re gonna limit
46:50 water fountain use to just refilling bottles.
46:55 God love ‘em, I don’t think they were really meant
46:58 to be used in a sanitary and clean way.
47:01 So we’re gonna have signage up to limit that.
47:05 Again, I said PPE and hand sanitizer cleaning products.
47:08 We have ordered and they have, some of them have come in.
47:13 We are waiting for others to come in.
47:16 But procurement, Christie Rodriguez and her team
47:18 have done a tremendous job.
47:21 And we have started the work with bus drivers,
47:24 our cleaning staff, our cafeteria staff
47:26 on what the cleaning procedures are and protocols will be.
47:33 Continuing with operational, I wish I could speak
47:36 intelligently about HVAC, but I won’t.
47:39 I will tell you that Suhan can and she has
47:42 and we thank her for it.
47:46 Dr. Miller has been working tirelessly.
47:50 As some of you guys know, our bus runs on our best day.
47:55 We had subs on our buses, sub drivers on our buses,
47:58 three to a seat.
47:59 We said to him, we can’t have that.
48:04 So we have asked them to design routes
48:06 with only two to a seat and added
48:08 additional safety measures in there.
48:12 We have looked at everything, all of our policies
48:15 and procedures as it relates to mitigating student contact.
48:19 If you’re sick, stay home.
48:22 Visitors, thank you, we appreciate your being there.
48:26 But anytime we could tell somebody that we do not want
48:29 an additional contact in our schools,
48:32 we have taken the opportunity to do so.
48:38 That fourth bullet down, adjusting clinic space.
48:42 I will tell you, we knew very early on
48:45 that our clinic was going to be essential
48:48 to the functioning and the well-being of our schools.
48:51 When Stephanie mentioned the time,
48:55 I will tell you, just as praise
49:00 to our local health department,
49:02 I talk to Patty probably no less
49:05 than three to five times a day.
49:07 She helps me problem solve through all the issues.
49:10 If she is not there, I can go to somebody else.
49:13 I have a backup to the backup to the backup.
49:17 And yesterday when I was asked,
49:20 “Hey, do you think a Department of Health member
49:22 “could be here in case there are questions?”
49:25 In the afternoon, Patty said,
49:28 “Yeah, I’ll absolutely be there.”
49:30 And I can assure you all, it wasn’t because
49:31 Patty had five or six hours free today.
49:34 So to talk to the community about the partnership
49:37 that the school system has with the Department of Health,
49:40 I think that’s just exemplified in the fact
49:42 that Patty is here today.
49:45 So we took a look at our clinics and said,
49:47 “How do our clinics have to function?”
49:49 And I know Patty and her health department
49:51 have been working with the school nurses
49:53 on what that’s gonna look like,
49:54 but our principals had to look at what space they had.
49:58 If we have a student that we believe
50:00 may have an infectious illness,
50:02 we can’t have him sitting in the clinic
50:04 or her in the clinic as other students come in
50:07 to pick up their medication for the day.
50:10 So we took a look at all of that.
50:14 We are working on developing videos
50:18 to help teach our kids appropriate hand washing,
50:23 when and how to wear face masks,
50:28 how to avoid and mitigate coming into contact
50:32 with one another, why we use hand sanitizer,
50:36 how to minimize the likelihood of infection
50:40 getting on and off buses and into classroom spaces.
50:44 So we’re working on all of those things
50:46 as well as companion training for our teachers.
50:50 And we’re trying to make sure
50:51 it’s developmentally appropriate.
50:53 So our students who have intellectual disabilities
50:57 understand why we’re not hugging each other.
50:59 Our five-year-olds understand
51:01 why we’re not hugging each other.
51:06 Total 180 from the relationship building
51:13 that our kids might be used to.
51:18 So we’re gonna do some direct instruction on that.
51:20 We’re doing some training videos as it relates to that.
51:26 The last two bullets I think are really important
51:28 and that is the continued work and discussion
51:31 around when we are going to exclude students and employees
51:36 from the work site, when we are going to close classrooms
51:40 and schools and how we are going to handle active cases,
51:43 presumptive cases and contacts to cases.
51:46 That has been ongoing.
51:49 We call the Department of Health on every,
51:52 in fact, I call the Department of Health and I say,
51:55 I know the answer, I talked to you about this an hour ago,
51:57 but because it’s a different school, I’m calling you again
52:00 because I just don’t wanna take the chance
52:03 that I am not relating the exact appropriate information
52:06 to our schools.
52:08 And then the other part of it is that just yesterday,
52:10 just yesterday at around three o’clock,
52:14 we got new guidance from, was it the CDC
52:16 or the Department of Health?
52:17 The CDC, the CDC about cases and contact to cases
52:23 and bringing people, excluding people from areas
52:26 and bringing them back.
52:27 So I don’t ever wanna take the chance
52:29 that something has come to the Department of Health
52:31 that hasn’t made its way to the school board yet.
52:33 So we stay in constant communication
52:35 and we’ll continue to do so.
52:37 Yeah.
52:38 - I relate to what you have to mean to me.
52:40 What we’re going to do is I talk personally.
52:43 - Oh, thank you.
52:45 So,
52:49 I’m tired.
52:50 (laughing)
52:53 I will tell you that when we talk about people standing up
53:00 a whole system of retraining, how we do education,
53:05 and then you stand it up again.
53:08 There are people doing two and three jobs.
53:13 One of the things that I know can’t continue
53:16 as we go into school is for my office
53:22 to be the central line of communication on all cases,
53:26 presumptive cases and contact cases.
53:30 And so after many people said to me,
53:34 “Chris, you can’t keep doing this.”
53:36 It finally dawned on me, I can’t keep doing this.
53:40 And so it was Dr. Sullivan’s idea because she’s a genius
53:44 that we write into the CARES Act a liaison
53:48 to work in our building that is a member
53:52 of the Department of Health.
53:53 And so I called up Patty and I said,
53:55 “Patty, if we do this, can it be done?”
53:59 And she said, “Not only can we do this, Chris,
54:01 “but we were thinking the same thing.”
54:04 So we are working to get a Department of Health nurse,
54:08 she’ll be sitting, or two, she or they, he,
54:12 he or she or they, will be sitting right outside my office
54:16 and will be the first stop of information
54:20 for our principals and will sit on our response team
54:25 as we have to make decisions about excluding kids,
54:28 closing classes, and closing schools.
54:31 So that is going to be a tremendous support
54:34 for the district.
54:37 In addition to the creation of that position,
54:42 which will be paid out of CARES Act
54:43 and connected to our current Department of Health contract,
54:49 we stood up two different teams.
54:51 One is a response team.
54:52 I alluded to it just a second ago.
54:54 I’ll talk more about it later.
54:56 It hasn’t come together yet.
55:00 Our first meeting is next week,
55:02 and that’s a response team that will look at each case
55:06 in terms of when schools will close
55:08 or when students are gonna be excluded in large numbers
55:13 so that it’s not just one person looking at all the data
55:15 but a team, and it’ll be a rapid response team.
55:19 The other team that has been stood up
55:22 and they have actually already been implemented
55:24 is the custodial strike team.
55:27 They are still waiting to hire five custodians,
55:30 but the team is led by Jim Powers and Pete Conica,
55:34 and they have already been implemented,
55:37 been used out at our schools as cases come up.
55:41 They rapidly respond to the head custodian
55:44 and provide support in isolating areas for 24 to 48 hours
55:49 and cleaning them in the manner that is in line
55:54 with the current protocols.
55:57 Is anything on there?
55:59 We’re good?
56:00 All right.
56:01 So again, this is all prior to opening.
56:06 We were looking, we took a look at the early warning system.
56:08 We took a look at the data that was available at the time
56:12 to bring some students in for summer instruction.
56:16 It was both virtual and in-person,
56:19 and I know that Jane could probably speak more about that
56:22 if you guys had any questions,
56:23 ‘cause a lot of it was elementary,
56:24 some of it was student with disabilities,
56:26 and I can speak to that if you’re interested in that.
56:30 The Department of Health has been working all summer long.
56:33 They have pulled all of our documentation
56:36 of medically fragile students.
56:38 They have been creating health plans
56:40 to mitigate as much as we can the likelihood of infection.
56:47 We are now treating those new health plans
56:50 like we do a 504 plan.
56:52 Every teacher has to read them, sign off on them.
56:56 They’ll be meeting with, as a team,
56:58 to discuss what needs to happen
57:01 for those medical health plans to be implemented
57:04 for our medically fragile students.
57:08 We’re also assessing our students with IEPs,
57:11 their progress toward their goals.
57:14 If there is regression there,
57:17 we have written into the CARES Act a ESY,
57:22 and typically you hear of ESY, extended school year,
57:24 as it refers to summer school.
57:28 Actually, ESY can happen before school,
57:30 after school, weekends, and summer school.
57:33 So we’re ready to stand up an ESY plan
57:36 based on students’ progress toward their IEP goals.
57:40 That is different than compensatory time.
57:43 Compensatory time applies
57:45 if a student was not offered services.
57:48 So you may hear them used interchangeably, and they’re not.
57:52 So if you have any questions about that,
57:54 please stop me when we get to the end,
57:56 and I’ll be happy to answer them.
57:58 Russ and his team have been looking
58:00 at assessing tech needs and gaps in schools,
58:03 both hardware and software.
58:05 I’ll tell you, in terms of the team,
58:08 that’s always one of our biggest concerns,
58:11 is if we have to shut a building down
58:14 for three days or two weeks or three months,
58:17 are we gonna be able to provide equitable supports
58:19 for all students, especially when
58:22 it is technologically heavy?
58:24 So he has been working on assessing that with the schools.
58:29 Our teams, both Russ’s team and our leading
58:31 and learning teams have been working
58:32 on creating professional development
58:34 to support that blended learning experience.
58:37 You know, we threw a lot at our schools,
58:39 and although a lot of our digital tools
58:41 have been available a really long time,
58:42 teachers teach, they like to teach.
58:45 And so a lot of them don’t access those digital tools
58:49 because they were uncomfortable and unfamiliar with them.
58:52 When we went remote, they had to learn real quick.
58:55 And so there’s a lot of experimenting going on,
58:59 there was a lot of, you know, is teams better,
59:01 is SCAT better, what’s better, how are we gonna do this?
59:04 So I know that Russ’s team led by Don Bronstein,
59:10 sorry, sorry, Don, by Don Bronstein,
59:12 had been working on training on all of the tech supports
59:17 as well as the platforms that were ready to roll out.
59:22 And finally, our students in transition,
59:26 we have been supporting them all summer long.
59:30 Our transportation department had drivers who provided,
59:37 drove meals out to different areas of the county,
59:40 supplies, social work support, provision.
59:45 I can’t even tell you the efforts that went into
59:49 trying to meet the needs of our students in transition.
59:52 So my resource teacher for that area
59:56 became a bit of a router,
59:58 she became a bit of a everything,
1:00:00 but she continues to work
1:00:01 with the Brevard County Homeless Coalition
1:00:04 and will continue to do so as we go through this year.
1:00:10 We also took a review of our social emotional curriculum.
1:00:12 I alluded to this at our meeting last week,
1:00:16 we have developed a plan to best support our students
1:00:19 or at least to hopefully support our students
1:00:21 as they come in, just based off of the challenges
1:00:25 that were exacerbated by them being out for three months
1:00:27 and now coming back in this really uncertain time.
1:00:30 We created, as I told you last week,
1:00:32 the trauma-informed compassion fatigue.
1:00:37 I was on the phone with somebody crying today,
1:00:40 and it’s not somebody who cries,
1:00:45 but it is really hard.
1:00:46 It is really hard as we deal with
1:00:49 how are we protecting our families,
1:00:51 how are we protecting our staffs,
1:00:52 how are we protecting kids,
1:00:55 and never more so than now.
1:00:57 And so as we talk more about compassion fatigue,
1:01:00 we hope to layer in more there.
1:01:06 We have looked at the scheduling process.
1:01:10 That is used, that allows technology
1:01:12 to be used from day one.
1:01:14 And by that, I don’t mean our scheduler.
1:01:16 I mean we wanna make sure our teachers
1:01:19 are using tech day one,
1:01:22 because we don’t want to worry about the integration of that
1:01:25 to start when kids have to leave.
1:01:28 And when we close the school,
1:01:30 we wanna make sure it’s integrated
1:01:31 and they’re used to using it every single day.
1:01:35 We already did some small group assessments this summer
1:01:38 in ACT and EOC,
1:01:41 and we really looked at identifying ways
1:01:43 to accelerate students.
1:01:46 Our whole goal is to try to mitigate contacts,
1:01:49 as we told you from the beginning.
1:01:51 So there are gonna be some students
1:01:52 that may be able to graduate in December.
1:01:55 We wanna afford them that opportunity.
1:01:57 And again, just mitigate the number of kids
1:02:00 that we have coming in and onto campus.
1:02:03 That doesn’t mean they have to,
1:02:05 it just means that they can
1:02:07 and we can afford them that opportunity.
1:02:14 Are we breaking for questions now?
1:02:16 Okay, so I wanna be just quiet
1:02:17 and give you a chance to read some of that,
1:02:19 because I went through it fairly rapidly
1:02:20 and then ask any questions that you might have.
1:02:25 - Ms. Dustovich.
1:02:26 - I have a couple questions, Ms. Moore.
1:02:28 Thank you so much for all of your work on this.
1:02:31 And Patty, did I get that name right?
1:02:34 Thank you so much for the partnership
1:02:36 with the Department of Health.
1:02:37 I think it’s essential at this time.
1:02:39 I’m curious about the nurse.
1:02:41 Is she, or he, will the nurse be an RN
1:02:45 or what’s the qualifications of the nurse
1:02:47 that will be here if we’ve identified that?
1:02:50 And is it a contract and what’s the contract length for?
1:02:54 And you said the CARES Act will cover,
1:02:56 is it covering the entire cost
1:02:58 or will we have to pick something up ultimately in the end?
1:03:01 - I’ll start with the last question first.
1:03:03 Yes, it is covering the entire cost.
1:03:06 We didn’t put a timeline on that contract right now.
1:03:08 Our DOH partnership is three years.
1:03:11 When we no longer need a CARES Act liaison,
1:03:14 we will no longer have a CARES Act liaison.
1:03:16 So for my purposes, we’re gonna keep that position in
1:03:21 as long as we are handling COVID cases in our schools,
1:03:25 cases, presumptive cases, or contacts to cases.
1:03:29 In terms of the qualifications, that I’ll have to ask Patty.
1:03:36 (audience member speaks off mic)
1:03:54 - Okay. - Can we get Patty
1:03:55 a microphone ‘cause the–
1:03:57 - Yeah, I was just gonna repeat what she said
1:03:59 for those that didn’t.
1:04:00 She responded that the position will be a registered nurse
1:04:03 with a background in epidemiology.
1:04:06 - Epidemiology. - Epidemiology.
1:04:08 - I’ve gotten really good at that word, epidemiology.
1:04:10 - You would think right now
1:04:11 that I’d be really good at that word too.
1:04:13 - Thank you, Mr. Cheatham. - I’d add to the CARES Act
1:04:15 questions, we wrote it in for two years.
1:04:19 The CARES Act allows for funding for this next school year,
1:04:24 the following year, and then it closed out
1:04:26 in the fall of the subsequent year,
1:04:28 fall of September of 2022.
1:04:33 - Okay, thank you, Dr. Sullivan.
1:04:35 And then my next question is about the GEAR program,
1:04:38 which I think started yesterday.
1:04:41 I think it might be for you, Ms. Moore.
1:04:42 I’m just curious, we’ve had two days of students so far.
1:04:46 Have we had any, you said the concerns are coming to you
1:04:50 if there’s a student with symptoms
1:04:52 or something of that nature.
1:04:53 In the first two days, are we good to go?
1:04:57 Or you’ve gotten 28 million calls already
1:04:59 that kids are sneezing and coughing.
1:05:01 What’s our status there?
1:05:03 - So we started return to activity before we started GEAR.
1:05:12 We have had cases and we have had presumptive cases
1:05:16 and we have had contacted cases.
1:05:19 And we have handled all of them in collaboration
1:05:21 and cooperation with the Department of Health.
1:05:25 With our start with GEAR, we have not had a case
1:05:34 we have not had a presumptive case
1:05:37 and we have not had a contact to a case
1:05:40 as of nine o’clock this morning.
1:05:48 - Thank you. - You’re welcome.
1:05:52 (indistinct)
1:05:56 - I can’t see you. - Yeah, okay.
1:05:58 Ms. Deskovitch, I do wanna add one thing.
1:06:02 It makes me very uncomfortable to speak in a public forum
1:06:06 on our employees, our students and or their family’s health.
1:06:10 So I want to make sure that as we ask questions,
1:06:15 and you hear me hesitating, I’m being very clear
1:06:19 that that is not what I’m doing.
1:06:21 And I will not do that.
1:06:24 That is a violation of their HIPAA.
1:06:26 It could be a violation of their FERPA.
1:06:29 And so I will answer really general questions
1:06:32 in a public forum.
1:06:33 And I will answer as specifically as I can if you call me.
1:06:37 And if I have information that I’m allowed to share.
1:06:40 - Thank you, ma’am.
1:06:44 - All right, so just like everybody,
1:06:47 I don’t wanna start asking questions
1:06:49 without taking the time to thank all of you
1:06:50 and the ones who aren’t here for the time
1:06:52 that you’ve put together.
1:06:53 And I just have to say, as I’m listening
1:06:56 to some of these things, and you talk about,
1:06:58 I’ve never already had these three words written down
1:07:03 before you talked about hugs.
1:07:04 But I just, you know, part of this process
1:07:08 is I wrote down grieve the loss,
1:07:11 because I think we have to grieve the loss.
1:07:13 We’re gonna talk about some things later
1:07:14 as I’ve skimmed through the things of changes
1:07:16 that really, they’re gonna be losses.
1:07:22 I mean, we’re grieving the loss of people
1:07:23 in our community and our nation.
1:07:25 But we’re also, for our students, grieving the loss
1:07:28 of some really good things that we’re gonna be missing.
1:07:32 And it kills me to say we’re grieving the loss
1:07:34 of kindergartens wrapping their arms around your legs.
1:07:37 And there’s kindergartener teachers right now
1:07:38 who are probably crying, I’m about to cry.
1:07:41 But I just thank you for taking the time
1:07:44 to acknowledge that this is gonna be a loss,
1:07:46 and hopefully not for very long.
1:07:50 Now back to specifics.
1:07:52 Because I’ve had people from the community
1:07:54 ask some specifics about certain things.
1:07:56 And Ms. Han, if you wouldn’t mind,
1:07:59 when she talked about the HVAC filters,
1:08:02 are these, like, are we getting new kinds of filters,
1:08:05 or doing things differently,
1:08:06 or are we just gonna change them more frequently?
1:08:08 How is, what is that detail?
1:08:11 - Several air conditioning systems,
1:08:12 they have specific filters that go in those systems.
1:08:15 And we looked at, for example, more robust filters,
1:08:19 but they don’t actually fit.
1:08:21 So we have to use the filters
1:08:22 that are assigned to those systems.
1:08:24 So we ordered something along the line of 13,000 filters.
1:08:30 And as a given, we’re deploying them in schools.
1:08:33 - Okay, and those are new?
1:08:35 - These are new filters.
1:08:35 - Okay, great.
1:08:37 And then, I know we’re gonna get
1:08:39 to transportation later, right?
1:08:41 - Yes, ma’am.
1:08:42 - Okay, so I’m not, I know that some of these
1:08:44 were just broad topics,
1:08:45 and we’re gonna get to specific details later.
1:08:51 I think that was it, ‘cause you either answered
1:08:52 all of my questions or we’re coming to ‘em later.
1:08:54 So I’m good, Mrs. Alford.
1:08:56 - Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
1:08:58 Mr. Susan, did you have, Ms. McDougall,
1:09:00 did you have questions you’d like to ask?
1:09:02 - I do, I do.
1:09:05 And maybe this will come down later,
1:09:07 or maybe I’m asking specific questions.
1:09:09 But first, thank you very much
1:09:11 for all the work that everybody’s put in.
1:09:13 I know this has been, in many ways,
1:09:16 a labor of love and concern, and I appreciate that.
1:09:19 But I have also, as Ms. Campbell alluded to,
1:09:23 that many people have reached out to us.
1:09:27 There’s so much that we don’t know yet.
1:09:29 So how will, you know, when you have computer labs,
1:09:33 are we still gonna have computer labs?
1:09:34 Do we clean the computers after everybody goes?
1:09:38 Are we sharing art supplies?
1:09:40 Are we, what happens with PE?
1:09:42 I mean, there’s a lot of things
1:09:43 that I’m getting questions about
1:09:45 that I don’t know if we can answer yet,
1:09:47 but I know we need to be thinking about this.
1:09:49 And more importantly, on page 11 and 12,
1:09:55 and a lot of the great operational things
1:09:58 you have in place, but how do we know
1:09:59 that they’re gonna be done with fidelity?
1:10:01 How do we know that it’s really gonna happen?
1:10:05 And I’m not saying, I’m not pointing fingers to anybody,
1:10:08 but we’re a big organization, and we’re all very busy.
1:10:14 So how do we make sure this really happens with fidelity?
1:10:18 So those are some of my concerns at this point.
1:10:24 - Mrs. McDougall, I’m gonna take the mic first,
1:10:27 because several of those programs you mentioned
1:10:28 operate out of secondary leading and learning,
1:10:30 even in the elementary art and music programs.
1:10:34 In the presentation, you will see some explicit guidance
1:10:38 in some really narrow areas,
1:10:41 and you will see the absence of explicit guidance,
1:10:43 because our teachers will be working together
1:10:45 on some protocols with their principals
1:10:47 and with resource teachers and content specialists.
1:10:51 Our resource teachers and content specialists
1:10:54 have been working all summer through the guidelines
1:10:58 of their national organizations.
1:11:00 And so, for example, Ms. Cindy Johnson sends me
1:11:04 with great regularity.
1:11:06 The national organization just recommended this,
1:11:08 just recommended that, and so some of those things
1:11:11 that are global are in this plan.
1:11:13 Some of those things that are more narrow
1:11:15 will be fleshed out in additional information
1:11:19 to this grant plan.
1:11:21 For example, music is a good example.
1:11:23 Ms. Johnson is working through the national recommendations,
1:11:27 has a team of band instructors that she’s working with.
1:11:32 They’re creating a video and creating some guidelines.
1:11:36 You mentioned computers, the same thing.
1:11:38 Those things are being looked at
1:11:39 by our Career and Tech Ed program
1:11:40 in collaboration with our educational technology.
1:11:44 So, yes, there will be an expectation
1:11:47 that any shared materials are cleaned
1:11:50 before they are shared.
1:11:52 What we can’t put in a plan that wouldn’t be 1,000 pages
1:11:57 is how each item will be cleaned prior to it is shared.
1:12:01 So we’ve also asked schools,
1:12:02 when you get to one of the second last pages,
1:12:06 talks about principal guidelines,
1:12:08 we have some clear expectations
1:12:10 on where we expect schools to work those things out
1:12:14 in terms of whether it is a custodial team,
1:12:17 whether it is a teacher who says,
1:12:20 I wanna clean up myself, give me the spray bottle,
1:12:23 or the older kids that might assist in that.
1:12:26 Every special situation, whether it is a culinary lab,
1:12:30 an auto body lab where they share a wrench,
1:12:34 we have a plan during the week of pre-planning
1:12:37 for those content specialists and resource teachers
1:12:40 to collaborate with the teachers across the district
1:12:43 in that shared occupation.
1:12:45 They’ve already provided us a lot of feedback
1:12:47 on one of those teacher feedback ones.
1:12:51 But again, in some cases,
1:12:53 it’s securing additional resources.
1:12:55 For example, schools might buy more calculators.
1:12:59 There may be a different way of managing things,
1:13:03 but in every school site, in every type of class,
1:13:08 it is a little different.
1:13:09 So we are certainly empowering them
1:13:11 to create policies and guidelines
1:13:13 as supported by the school
1:13:14 and, of course, supported by the district.
1:13:16 So some of those really granular topics
1:13:20 will be fleshed out more prior to the arrival
1:13:22 of the students, but with complete collaboration
1:13:26 with every teacher in that area.
1:13:28 So before any final decisions are made,
1:13:30 Ms. Johnson will collaborate with all the band teachers.
1:13:33 We’ll collaborate, Ms. La Traverse will collaborate
1:13:36 with all of the art teachers,
1:13:38 Ms. Ely with all of the media specialists.
1:13:42 So yeah, they may not be explicit here,
1:13:45 but the plan is in place.
1:13:48 - Right, so if I’m understanding them,
1:13:50 then the district will be able to review
1:13:54 some of those narrow plans, is that correct?
1:13:57 - Oh, sure.
1:13:57 All of those teams are under,
1:14:01 one of the cabinet members stream a flow.
1:14:04 So all of our tech specialists work under Mr. Cheatham,
1:14:09 our resource teachers, whether they’re
1:14:11 the assistive technology resource teacher
1:14:13 and how we work with students
1:14:14 who need assistive technology or art supplies.
1:14:17 So we have dispatched them to that task.
1:14:20 And for example, this week we made the decision
1:14:23 on dressing up for PE because we already had clear guidance
1:14:29 from national and state organizations.
1:14:31 We could not collectively determine a good way
1:14:34 to do that in a locker room.
1:14:36 So we were able to already clearly identify that.
1:14:39 Ms. Winston with her teachers will identify
1:14:42 healthy practices for physical education,
1:14:44 fresh air and those activities within those guidelines.
1:14:48 - Okay, thank you.
1:14:50 - No problem, good questions, thank you.
1:14:53 - I do wanna address the other half of that.
1:14:55 And it was the question of how do we know?
1:14:56 How do we know this is happening?
1:15:00 And I’m gonna address that in two ways.
1:15:03 The first is, first we assume the professionalism
1:15:07 of our staff.
1:15:08 We have to go in with the assumption that our teachers,
1:15:11 our bus drivers, our clerical staff, our custodians,
1:15:15 all the support personnel are operating
1:15:17 under the same level of professionalism
1:15:19 as we expect of ourselves.
1:15:23 And that when we put out guidance
1:15:24 that they’re going to follow it.
1:15:26 The second thing I can address toward that
1:15:29 is that we have to focus on past practice.
1:15:33 And like I said, we stood up our return to activity plan.
1:15:39 One of the scariest things is to have your first plan
1:15:45 roll out be one that’s activity oriented.
1:15:49 Which just by the very nature of what it is,
1:15:52 is an area in which kids interact with one another,
1:15:57 with equipment, with coaches, in large groups.
1:16:00 And when we put out our guidelines
1:16:02 for the return to activity and said thou shalt not,
1:16:07 I wasn’t sure.
1:16:10 I wasn’t sure if we would be able to hold
1:16:13 the thou shalt not.
1:16:16 And in fact, the instances that we have worked through
1:16:20 with schools, we have been able to work through
1:16:23 with schools because they were following
1:16:24 the plan to the letter.
1:16:26 They were evaluating kids as they came in.
1:16:29 They were keeping kids in small groups.
1:16:31 They were keeping kids as separate as they could,
1:16:35 six feet apart.
1:16:37 We were able to mitigate illness because our coaches,
1:16:41 our athletic directors and our administrators
1:16:43 were following the plan.
1:16:45 So I would say that I can’t guarantee anything,
1:16:51 any more than I can guarantee that nobody
1:16:54 is ever going to catch COVID again,
1:16:56 ‘cause I would love to make that guarantee.
1:16:58 But I can say that with the assumption of professionalism
1:17:01 and our past experiences with our people
1:17:04 following the plans that we put out,
1:17:06 I have high expectations and high hopes.
1:17:10 - Thank you.
1:17:11 And I did not mean this as a disparage
1:17:14 against our staff at all.
1:17:15 I know we have great professionals.
1:17:17 I just get concerned.
1:17:25 - Thank you.
1:17:26 - So I have a couple of questions
1:17:27 and I was just gonna go page by page.
1:17:30 The first one is when are the cleaning supplies
1:17:32 gonna get to the schools?
1:17:36 - I can answer that in part.
1:17:39 So the schools should have cleaning supplies.
1:17:42 We had schools order heavily in the spring.
1:17:48 We had our kind of quiet period to close books
1:17:52 and that period has opened now
1:17:53 for them to do additional orders.
1:17:55 Through the CARES Act, we allocated additional resources
1:17:59 to every school beyond what we also ordered for them.
1:18:04 So in CARES Act, we focused on personal items.
1:18:08 We ordered a huge supply of masks,
1:18:11 a huge supply of hand sanitizer.
1:18:14 For example, every teacher will start the year
1:18:17 with a gallon jug with a pump.
1:18:19 So picture a gallon of hand sanitizer.
1:18:22 We ordered face shields for teachers
1:18:25 who would prefer a face shield.
1:18:27 We ordered the plexi and something else
1:18:30 that I just can’t remember at this point.
1:18:31 So we ordered large batch things
1:18:33 that we wanted to make sure were there.
1:18:35 Oh, the thermometers that were there day one.
1:18:38 Separate from that, schools have varying levels
1:18:41 of custodial supplies towards the end of the year.
1:18:44 Jim Powers from Sue’s office communicated extensively
1:18:48 with the head custodians and the teams at the school
1:18:53 on what additional supplies to order,
1:18:55 what would be appropriate for that in-process cleaning.
1:18:59 So as of, I think, today, if I’m not mistaken,
1:19:01 Ms. Lisinski, the accounting system’s open again.
1:19:05 The new money allocated via our CARES Act
1:19:08 is in their accounts for them to order additional supplies
1:19:11 that make sense for their campus.
1:19:13 And so what makes sense for an outdoor campus
1:19:15 might be different than an indoor campus.
1:19:17 And so those allocations are loaded,
1:19:19 and they have the information for anything else
1:19:22 that they may want to purchase.
1:19:24 So some was the school’s bot, some was our bot.
1:19:27 Separately, Ms. Han is gonna talk later
1:19:30 about this fantastical misting product
1:19:35 that we ordered for every school.
1:19:37 Those will be delivered as soon as upon arrival.
1:19:39 But at this point, through procurement,
1:19:41 everything that we’ve purchased for start of school
1:19:43 will be here prior to the start of school.
1:19:45 - Beautiful, thank you.
1:19:46 And that was one of the things.
1:19:49 Did we clean out all of the teacher’s furniture
1:19:51 and everything else?
1:19:52 Have they done that, or is that something
1:19:53 they’re gonna be doing when they get back?
1:19:54 - It’s in progress.
1:19:56 So the schools have been reaching teachers
1:19:58 and handling it with the custodial staff.
1:20:02 I can’t give you a percentage,
1:20:04 but they’ve been working on it since the spring.
1:20:06 - Okay.
1:20:08 The desk’s in the same direction.
1:20:09 When I was looking at that, being a teacher,
1:20:11 I taught Socratic circles, I taught group work,
1:20:13 I did all that stuff, right?
1:20:15 Are we saying that that is not gonna be part
1:20:18 of the curriculum, even if they’re socially distanced?
1:20:20 Or are we saying that they’re allowed to do that
1:20:23 as long as they’re socially distanced?
1:20:24 Does that make any sense?
1:20:25 - The CDC guideline is that desk should all be faced
1:20:27 in the same direction.
1:20:31 - Okay.
1:20:31 - I would, Mr. Susan, I would
1:20:36 suggest that it’s a hard decision to make in general.
1:20:39 In some of our schools, it’s really easy and common
1:20:42 for a teacher to go outdoors and utilize outdoor spaces
1:20:46 for things that aren’t best able in a classroom.
1:20:50 I think, by and large, most of our classroom spaces
1:20:53 could not handle, in a safe manner,
1:20:56 students in a circle in the classroom,
1:20:59 but perhaps that day they utilized the cafeteria
1:21:02 or made an arrangement with their principal
1:21:04 based on cleaning protocols.
1:21:07 So what we wouldn’t want is taking a new space
1:21:11 without working with the principal,
1:21:12 ‘cause we wanna make sure those cleaning protocols happen.
1:21:15 And so, I would suggest that that is a hard question
1:21:22 off the top, but.
1:21:26 - It might all change next week, too,
1:21:28 when the CDC comes out with new guidelines, right?
1:21:30 - It could be changing as we speak.
1:21:32 And so, I just think that the goal of the seats forward
1:21:37 is just, we all know the spits, you know, the droplets?
1:21:41 What’s the right word?
1:21:42 I shouldn’t say spit. - Droplets is the right word.
1:21:43 - Droplets. - Droplets is the right word.
1:21:45 - You know, if we can avoid it,
1:21:46 but if there is a safe alternative, it depends on the school.
1:21:49 In some of our schools, the classrooms,
1:21:52 the safest thing is to keep them the way they are.
1:21:55 We’ve got some unusually large classrooms somewhere
1:21:57 with maybe smaller kids.
1:21:59 We would really trust our teachers
1:22:01 to collaborate with their principals.
1:22:02 - Plus, the viral load is different in age groups, too,
1:22:05 so I agree with that.
1:22:06 Hallway patterns for the face-to-face interaction,
1:22:09 are we allowing them to print out at their schools?
1:22:12 Is that up to the school-based location
1:22:13 on how that’s gonna work,
1:22:14 or is that gonna be something that the print services
1:22:16 and the print services cover for the schools?
1:22:19 Who’s printing those signs?
1:22:20 Who’s doing all that stuff?
1:22:22 - Got it, I lost the question there.
1:22:24 Little bit of both.
1:22:25 So some of our schools have already ordered,
1:22:27 before we even, it was a glimmer in our eye,
1:22:30 the principals had already begun.
1:22:32 Some of our schools already have one-way hallways.
1:22:35 Some of our schools had minor changes,
1:22:37 and because of other reasons, wanted one-way hallways.
1:22:41 Some of them ordered them before we even talked about it.
1:22:43 So Molly Vega is our point of contact on print materials.
1:22:47 We built a budget into the CARES Act for print materials,
1:22:51 so she’s working directly with print shops,
1:22:55 so that there’s not a million different people doing it,
1:22:58 and working with our schools,
1:23:00 and ordering signage for the schools,
1:23:03 and then providing them information
1:23:04 on ordering additional signs.
1:23:06 - And you’ll see throughout my questioning,
1:23:08 my concerns was that a lot of it would fall
1:23:10 on the cost of the school’s budgets and stuff like that,
1:23:12 and I applaud you for everything that you’ve been saying.
1:23:15 Thank you so much.
1:23:16 The ordering, phenomenal.
1:23:17 The money that we’ve packed for CARES Act, phenomenal.
1:23:20 I just wanna make sure, as we’re going through,
1:23:22 that those are checked off.
1:23:23 - Good questions.
1:23:24 - Plexiglass barriers, we’re seeing in offices
1:23:27 and reception areas, did we look at that
1:23:29 in the areas of classrooms that may be smaller?
1:23:33 I know some of my schools are smaller.
1:23:34 So I have some classrooms that are smaller
1:23:36 because of the way they’re designed than other schools.
1:23:40 Have we looked at possibly using those Plexiglass barriers
1:23:43 in those classrooms that are smaller
1:23:45 and have kids closer, basically?
1:23:48 - Yeah, so to start the ordering,
1:23:51 I might butcher this a little bit,
1:23:52 but I’m gonna be pretty close.
1:23:55 For every school, we made sure every school’s front counter
1:23:57 had a pretty large Plexiglass thingy,
1:23:59 so however large this thingy is.
1:24:02 For their front office, our high schools
1:24:06 that also have a attendance office that’s separate,
1:24:10 parents come in, we got another large thingy.
1:24:13 And then we also got large thingies
1:24:15 for the media center circulation desk,
1:24:18 because that’s also another point of contact.
1:24:20 Separate from that, we ordered an additional 10 to 15,
1:24:24 depending on the size of the schools,
1:24:26 smaller thingies that could be moved.
1:24:30 And for the schools to figure out,
1:24:31 just to have them to start, to figure out
1:24:34 where it made sense.
1:24:36 So if a teacher wanted to have one of those
1:24:39 in their classroom, it made sense that the school
1:24:40 could, of course, order it,
1:24:42 which is why we put additional funds in their account.
1:24:44 So we spent some upfront and some additional.
1:24:48 Our procurement folks are putting together
1:24:51 kind of a one-pager for schools
1:24:53 on if you want more of these things, how to do it.
1:24:56 I wanna back up a little on funding.
1:25:01 A significant portion of these supplies and materials,
1:25:05 the cost can be co-split with FEMA and CARES Act.
1:25:10 And so I’ve become FEMA friends
1:25:14 with our friends in risk management.
1:25:16 And so the way the budget works,
1:25:18 if we took $100 and spent them on this type of equipment,
1:25:23 we are budgeting $12.50 of that out of CARES Act,
1:25:29 and the 87.5 will come through FEMA.
1:25:34 And so all of those budgets are running
1:25:36 through my office right now,
1:25:37 ‘cause we don’t have a grant coordinator,
1:25:40 the other duties as assigned.
1:25:43 And so every single purchase that the school makes
1:25:46 will come through my office so that I can track
1:25:50 to make sure every one of those dollars
1:25:53 are reimbursed either through FEMA or through CARES Act.
1:25:56 And so the FEMA portion of it is allowing us
1:26:00 to amplify our CARES Act dollars on all those supplies.
1:26:04 So everything that we’ve discussed and purchased
1:26:07 is not general fund purchases.
1:26:09 They are purchases that will be either reimbursed
1:26:12 through FEMA and/or CARES Act or a combination thereof.
1:26:17 And we set up a pretty tight protocol
1:26:20 to make sure all those expenditures
1:26:21 are being tracked properly and eligible.
1:26:24 And that protocol right now is me,
1:26:27 but we hope to expand that protocol soon.
1:26:30 - That’s amazing.
1:26:31 Dr. Mullins, do you know what the time lapse
1:26:33 on those FEMA reimbursement,
1:26:35 ‘cause I know we were two years behind on that hurricane.
1:26:37 - This is a rapid version.
1:26:40 I assume I asked all those questions.
1:26:43 This is a process that’s slightly different
1:26:45 than with a typical hurricane reimbursement process.
1:26:49 I worked with the folks that do it,
1:26:51 and the state has set those guidelines.
1:26:53 It also works, expecting a rapid replacement.
1:26:57 - Perfect, because we don’t wanna get into a situation
1:26:59 like we were before, we’re two years behind.
1:27:01 - No, this is a very explicit kind of like sub-project
1:27:04 of FEMA that we work together on planning for.
1:27:09 - So what I’m hearing you say is that if a school
1:27:11 has additional requests based upon the fact
1:27:13 that they’re a different setup,
1:27:15 that they can make those not affecting their school budget,
1:27:18 but actually make it, and we can use the CARES Act
1:27:21 and FEMA reimbursement for majority of those things.
1:27:23 - Correct, 100%.
1:27:24 - Beautiful, thank you so much.
1:27:26 Okay, that answers a couple of these other ones.
1:27:31 And then can you explain the school schedules
1:27:33 will be designed to minimize congregation
1:27:35 in communal areas, cafeterias, gyms, courtyards.
1:27:38 School teams will also develop arrival
1:27:40 and dismissal protocols to minimize interaction.
1:27:43 This is a big deal for a lot of the people around.
1:27:45 Can you kind of explain that, how that process–
1:27:47 - We’ll tag team elementary, secondary,
1:27:49 so I’ll let Jane go first.
1:27:50 - And if at any time I ask a question
1:27:53 that may be in-depth referred in the back of the document,
1:27:56 please tell me and I’ll wait until that point.
1:27:58 I just didn’t want to miss it and then not catch it.
1:28:01 I’ve gone through it.
1:28:02 - Let me go a little bit deeper into that.
1:28:04 - Perfect, skip it then, just skip it.
1:28:08 I don’t want to waste time right now
1:28:09 ‘cause I’m thinking about ordering lunch right now.
1:28:14 - We have a principal work group
1:28:18 that is going to be for elementary
1:28:20 who are going to do the work group
1:28:22 actually began on Monday.
1:28:24 And they volunteered to work on
1:28:26 what are best practices for elementary
1:28:29 based on the design of the school.
1:28:31 So not every school in elementary
1:28:33 is going one way or the other.
1:28:36 We’re going down cross paths in those elementary schools.
1:28:39 So what process will take place
1:28:42 is also scheduling to over the age,
1:28:49 the best tips for the learning about how to get through this
1:28:53 or the mind to look for that process.
1:28:58 Also, the power was being used.
1:29:00 We’re going to go a little bit deeper in that later.
1:29:03 - Okay.
1:29:05 - First, for secondary lunch scheduling
1:29:08 is a really good example.
1:29:10 A lot of our schools operate under a power hour.
1:29:13 And as you can imagine, not ideal for social distancing.
1:29:17 So they’re adjusting their lunch schedules.
1:29:19 A school that might have had two lunches
1:29:21 is now operating three lunches,
1:29:23 or sometimes even four lunches
1:29:25 to minimize to the best of our abilities.
1:29:29 Our presidential schools are working together.
1:29:31 Their courtyard areas have some unique challenges.
1:29:35 I do want to emphasize that this is one of those things
1:29:38 that is a multiple commitment.
1:29:42 It is going to be a commitment from parents
1:29:44 and their expectations of their children,
1:29:46 children and their respect for the guidelines that are set.
1:29:50 It is human nature to congregate
1:29:52 around people you care about.
1:29:54 And it’s going to have to be some deliberate steps
1:29:57 to be avoiding of that.
1:29:59 And so I don’t want to suggest
1:30:03 that there’ll be no pictures on Facebook
1:30:05 at a congregation of people, potentially.
1:30:08 Everybody’s going to do the very best they can
1:30:10 in the physical footprint that they can.
1:30:12 But our principals are collaborating, changing schedules,
1:30:15 changing where kids get dropped off and wait.
1:30:18 We have some sort of cattle call areas.
1:30:20 And just adjusting some of those routines and procedures.
1:30:24 - Mr. Susan, I did want to,
1:30:27 you were talking about Plexiglas
1:30:29 and Dr. Sullivan talked about the face shields.
1:30:32 This is a shield.
1:30:34 So teachers will have it.
1:30:35 It’s elastic, foam. - It’s great.
1:30:39 - So super lightweight and you can wear it and teach
1:30:43 and do everything you need to do.
1:30:46 - That’s awesome. - I would mention
1:30:47 that we purchased one for every teacher
1:30:50 and every assistant type.
1:30:52 And if by no means implies they’re required to wear it,
1:30:55 we just wanted to have ample available
1:30:57 at the start of school for any teacher
1:30:59 or instructional assistants that felt more comfortable
1:31:04 and felt that that was a good decision
1:31:05 for their teaching practice.
1:31:07 So those are, I think here or here any minute,
1:31:10 those will be at the schools
1:31:11 and the schools did not have to order those.
1:31:13 We ordered those.
1:31:14 - And when that happened, it was right at the beginning
1:31:17 of the end of the school year.
1:31:18 And I had called ‘cause the shortages on masks were going
1:31:21 and I called and they said, Mr. Susan, we got this.
1:31:24 - We do. - And I just want to tell you
1:31:25 how happy that made me feel that this was already ordered.
1:31:28 Everything’s already been in place.
1:31:30 You guys did a phenomenal job there.
1:31:32 My next question is the communication liaison
1:31:34 for the health department duties and responsibilities.
1:31:36 Have we gotten that job description,
1:31:39 what they’re gonna be doing, what that scope is,
1:31:42 any of that or is that just in flux right now
1:31:43 and we’ll get it?
1:31:46 - I will tell you that right now that is in flux,
1:31:48 although I imagine that the people who are already
1:31:51 being the epi liaisons at the department of health,
1:31:53 they already have that in writing.
1:31:55 So it’s just a matter of us collaborating on who that is.
1:31:58 That person will be an employee
1:32:01 of the department of health, not a–
1:32:02 - Okay, so we don’t need a job description
1:32:04 to come before us. - No, we don’t.
1:32:04 - We don’t need any of that stuff ahead of time.
1:32:05 - Correct. - Okay.
1:32:09 One of the issue that I consistently had coming up
1:32:12 was consistent messaging from one source.
1:32:16 A lot of our parents and individuals
1:32:18 and across the entire district wanted to have one place
1:32:22 to go to so that they consistently went.
1:32:25 Is that the overall theme of what we’re gonna be doing
1:32:27 is one consistent place and that’s gonna come out
1:32:29 of our communications or I remember you saying something
1:32:32 about your team.
1:32:34 - The source for the, I’m gonna hesitate here for a second,
1:32:38 source for what?
1:32:39 I just need more information.
1:32:41 - Well, one of the issues that we have is source
1:32:43 for information coming out of the district.
1:32:45 So if we have school-based decisions coming
1:32:48 out of this place, we have COVID-based decisions
1:32:51 coming out of this place, we have other decisions,
1:32:53 the parents are gonna have difficulty finding that thread,
1:32:56 that pipe. - Understood.
1:32:57 - So the idea would be that we have one consistent place
1:32:59 that all messaging’s coming out from one platform,
1:33:02 one website, wherever that is,
1:33:04 even if it’s multiple departments to go through
1:33:06 on one consistent messaging or a place they can all go.
1:33:08 - Yeah, our communication is gonna come out
1:33:10 through government and community relations.
1:33:11 - So they’ll have a website with everything set up
1:33:13 that they can go to for the messaging,
1:33:15 they’re not gonna have to go to five different websites
1:33:16 to find the information or anything like that?
1:33:18 - Right at the beginning of all of this,
1:33:20 government and community relations stood up a website.
1:33:22 We have put everything that we have produced
1:33:25 in the district on that website and they will continue
1:33:29 to add to that as we move and grow and add more
1:33:34 to our response.
1:33:36 - So parents will be able to go to that one spot
1:33:38 to find out any communication or any issue
1:33:39 that they need and is it going to be in multiple education
1:33:43 or in multiple languages?
1:33:45 How do we deal with the multiple language piece?
1:33:48 - Yeah, it’s currently stood up on our current website
1:33:51 and there’s a function on our website
1:33:54 that translates it into multiple languages.
1:33:56 So that’s already taken care of, so that’s not a problem.
1:34:01 The other question was–
1:34:03 - Well, so, and that’s amazing and you guys did that
1:34:05 and I wanted to thank you ‘cause that was a big deal
1:34:07 at the beginning and I wanted our people online
1:34:09 to understand that ‘cause that was a big thing
1:34:11 coming into this that I kept getting
1:34:12 coming out of my Melbourne area.
1:34:14 The other piece is that we have videos
1:34:16 that we’re gonna be talking about.
1:34:17 We talked about doing all these videos.
1:34:20 Is there a way to engage translators?
1:34:23 I know Ms. Diaz over there was saying
1:34:24 that she may be one of the people,
1:34:26 but is there a way to do that in Spanish
1:34:28 and in some of the other languages that are most prevalent?
1:34:30 - We have a, I don’t know what to call it,
1:34:33 a mini group within the team, within the task force
1:34:37 that is working on that project to include
1:34:41 our primary second languages in Brevard Public Schools
1:34:45 and for them to all be easily accessible.
1:34:49 So yeah, there’s a team working on that.
1:34:51 Nikki Hensley is our liaison
1:34:56 with government and community relations
1:34:58 and is working with the professionals in each area.
1:35:01 So they’re working on transportation videos,
1:35:04 cafeteria videos, hallway videos.
1:35:09 Chris Moore taught us the chamfered
1:35:12 or something like that, she said.
1:35:14 We’re really just showing multiple videos
1:35:16 on behavioral expectations and those will all
1:35:20 be very public on one side, all embedded
1:35:22 within that one current site as well.
1:35:25 So Nikki has joined, Nikki’s an unofficial member
1:35:28 of the task force, but she’s been
1:35:30 in all of our task force discussions
1:35:32 and she and I meet regularly in the communications
1:35:35 task force cross-walking these topics.
1:35:38 - And that’ll go something like a video
1:35:39 with the words across the bottom or something.
1:35:42 Somehow my families will be able to go on there
1:35:44 and see it in the other languages that they have.
1:35:47 You are awesome, thank you, right?
1:35:49 I finished it out, I just said thank you.
1:35:51 - We’re definitely not that awesome yet,
1:35:52 but it’s in the works.
1:35:54 - Everything’s in the works. - It’s in the works.
1:35:56 - If you need any help in those,
1:35:58 there’s a lot of community organizations
1:36:00 that are calling for it.
1:36:01 It would be great to task them to help out in that area.
1:36:03 - Yeah, we are utilizing a lot of resources
1:36:06 that are already available on top of the ones
1:36:08 that aren’t available, creating some that aren’t.
1:36:10 But we have no shame in working with others
1:36:13 and getting those things supported.
1:36:15 - Good, and didn’t just that.
1:36:16 And then we’re gonna talk about the whole piece
1:36:18 where you said in here about what happens
1:36:22 when a student gets sick and what the policy is
1:36:24 and the breakdown. - Several pages
1:36:25 on that later. - In depth.
1:36:26 - Got it? - Lots of detail.
1:36:27 - Just wanna make sure. - In depth.
1:36:27 - I saw it back there, I just didn’t wanna go.
1:36:29 All right, page 13.
1:36:32 One of the issues that I have is that a lot of this says
1:36:35 we’re gonna have policies and procedures for teachers.
1:36:37 We’re gonna have policies and procedures for this.
1:36:40 The time period that we come back
1:36:42 is gonna be a minimal amount of time
1:36:44 to get all of these pieces done.
1:36:46 And we’re talking about,
1:36:48 and here these are all future tense,
1:36:51 we’re going to, we’re going to,
1:36:53 so a lot of these– - So this was all
1:36:55 the prior to school opening.
1:36:56 So that is representing the work we’re doing right now.
1:36:59 So everything on this list is being prepared
1:37:03 for the start of school.
1:37:04 They’re not future, we hope to one day.
1:37:06 These are the things that are already,
1:37:08 we’re in the midst of that will be ready to roll.
1:37:12 So do you have a specific question?
1:37:14 - No, no, no, here’s where it’s gonna come is
1:37:16 is that we’re gonna have a new IEP
1:37:18 that’s gonna be a health piece IEP.
1:37:19 I love that, right?
1:37:21 How does that fit into if a teacher does not follow
1:37:23 that 100%, is it gonna be kinda like the other IEPs
1:37:26 that we have?
1:37:27 Or is that piece right there, does that make sense to you?
1:37:31 - Yeah, I just wanna work on the language just a little bit.
1:37:33 It’s not an IEP, it’s not related to a federally–
1:37:36 - I know, I know, but it’s a piece that–
1:37:37 - It’s a health plan, and we currently have health plans.
1:37:40 And the way we typically do health plans now
1:37:42 is we say they’re in the nurse, the clinic–
1:37:44 - I have a kid that has asthma.
1:37:45 - And you guys come down and you review it
1:37:47 so that you know what it is.
1:37:48 We’ve just changed the process
1:37:50 so that we are more deliberate
1:37:52 in getting it into teachers’ hands
1:37:53 and ensuring that they’ve read it
1:37:54 and ensuring that they’ve signed off on it.
1:37:56 That’s the piece that’s different.
1:37:58 - Okay, then the last piece on this page
1:38:01 that I was gonna ask about is that there seems to be
1:38:04 a log jam at the school level on the forms
1:38:06 that the parents are filling out.
1:38:09 So I have a student that has a health concern
1:38:14 or anything like that, they fill the form out,
1:38:16 and then the process by which it takes
1:38:18 to turn that form in and return that form back
1:38:21 is an extended amount of time.
1:38:22 I heard that from four families from different schools.
1:38:25 So I have a feeling that as students are registering
1:38:29 that we’re going to see an abundance of individuals
1:38:32 coming forward with medically needed situations possibly.
1:38:36 Are we ready for the influx of extra need in that area?
1:38:40 And is that process streamlined to address it
1:38:42 to where that time period may not be as long?
1:38:45 - So they could be talking about several different things
1:38:48 when they bring that to your attention,
1:38:49 so I’m gonna need more information.
1:38:51 They could be talking about a health form.
1:38:53 They could be talking about a 504 plan.
1:38:56 - Nope, health form, health form.
1:38:57 - Or are they talking about a chronic illness form?
1:39:00 - Chronic illness form and a health form
1:39:01 were the two that they were talking about.
1:39:04 - The health form is something
1:39:05 that just stays at the school.
1:39:06 It’s reviewed by the school nurse
1:39:08 and then rolled out to the teachers.
1:39:10 So I’m not sure that there would be a log jam there.
1:39:12 The chronic illness form, there could be a log jam
1:39:15 because it takes several levels of approval to say,
1:39:18 yes, here’s this chronic illness,
1:39:20 and we’re going to waive these absences
1:39:23 because of this chronic illness.
1:39:25 So in terms of that, yes,
1:39:31 I think there are going to be more chronic illness forms,
1:39:34 and we are going to have
1:39:34 the same number of people handling them.
1:39:36 And so we will do the best that we can.
1:39:39 But as long as we continue
1:39:43 to all follow the same health guidelines
1:39:45 and the nurses will triage those chronic illness forms,
1:39:49 we’ll handle the most concerning cases first
1:39:53 and work through them.
1:39:55 If we could get, the more we could get in now, the better.
1:39:58 Our nurses come back.
1:40:02 The day school starts, isn’t it?
1:40:04 - Well, they usually get a day before–
1:40:05 - The day before. - To get their clinics.
1:40:08 We bring them back to doing service.
1:40:12 It’s challenging right now with social distancing.
1:40:14 Instead of doing 120,
1:40:20 we’re going to be able to fragment these issues.
1:40:23 - I will say that we have a lot of students
1:40:27 that have chronic illnesses.
1:40:28 Their forms are on file.
1:40:29 Their plans are in place.
1:40:31 I’m hoping, I’m hoping that as new students register,
1:40:36 we’re going to only be dealing with new students
1:40:39 and that we don’t have a lot of new
1:40:41 and different chronic health conditions
1:40:44 that have appeared in this time.
1:40:47 But if we do, we’ll deal with them.
1:40:49 - Is that form paper or is that form something
1:40:53 that can be digital to speed up the process?
1:40:56 - I can look at that.
1:40:56 That’s a great suggestion.
1:40:58 It is paper.
1:40:59 We’ll look at it.
1:41:00 It does go back and forth between a physician
1:41:03 and the health department and the schools.
1:41:05 And that’s part of what the holdup is,
1:41:08 is that it goes between three different agencies.
1:41:10 We can look at digitalizing that.
1:41:12 That’s not a problem at all, getting that taken care of.
1:41:17 I just, I’m concerned– - I don’t know that it’s
1:41:19 necessarily gonna, it may speed up the process
1:41:21 and we’ll take a look at it and try it.
1:41:22 - And then– - If I could add,
1:41:24 in my experience, when the parent contacts the principal,
1:41:29 they’ll connect him to the nurse liaison
1:41:31 and the nurse liaison will look into that case,
1:41:34 follow up, identify what’s missing and speak to that parent.
1:41:37 See, I said all those words correctly.
1:41:39 And so there is a layer outside of the school nurse
1:41:44 that reviews and processes and follows up on the doctor’s stuff
1:41:48 and in my experience, the nurse liaisons
1:41:51 have been very, very happy to talk to parents
1:41:53 who are midstream and so like many things,
1:41:56 I would certainly encourage a parent to talk to the principal
1:41:59 who can help connect them with a nurse liaison.
1:42:02 - Okay. - And there’s a difference
1:42:05 between what a chronic illness form does
1:42:07 and what a health plan does I think is important.
1:42:09 A chronic health condition is all about attendance, really.
1:42:13 It’s about I have migraines and so I may not get to a doctor
1:42:19 for every migraine because he knows I have migraines
1:42:21 or she knows I know I have migraines
1:42:23 and I may be absent more than normal because I have migraines.
1:42:28 A health plan is one that I have a condition
1:42:31 that all of us need to be aware of
1:42:33 because we have to mitigate any kind of–
1:42:35 - Seizures. - Yeah, that would be
1:42:37 a great example, like a seizure.
1:42:38 So we all need to be aware of it.
1:42:40 We all need to know how to respond
1:42:42 and take precautions because of it.
1:42:43 So our real focus is on those health plans.
1:42:48 Those chronic condition forms,
1:42:51 it’s really all about attendance
1:42:52 and we’ll be working through them.
1:42:54 - So my concern is we have a more than normal amount
1:42:57 that come in, we have a longer time to identify
1:43:01 and I would show some concern there
1:43:05 to see if we can’t allocate some kind of resources
1:43:08 and I’m speaking as an individual board member
1:43:10 to take care of that piece
1:43:11 so that we don’t have students
1:43:12 that are falling through the cracks
1:43:14 when it comes to the form just taking some time
1:43:17 to get around.
1:43:18 I think doing it online would speed up the process like that.
1:43:21 I think that as long as the individuals
1:43:22 that are in the pipe understand
1:43:24 that when they get those to move them through quicker,
1:43:26 I think that that would be great.
1:43:28 That was just one of my major concerns
1:43:30 was that form coming back in the event
1:43:32 that we have a lot of parents that are concerned
1:43:34 about making sure their kids are taken care of
1:43:35 with their attendance ‘cause that’s a whole nother piece.
1:43:38 - Yeah. - If I could add,
1:43:39 later on, you’ll see that we’re gonna have
1:43:42 extreme generosity regarding attendance
1:43:44 for this school year so that might help alleviate
1:43:46 some of those parents’ concerns.
1:43:49 When a parent makes a determination
1:43:51 that it’s in their child’s best medical interest
1:43:54 to stay home, we will be excusing that absence
1:43:57 and so for this year, I think your families
1:44:01 with those concerns can be comforted
1:44:04 to know that we will have a relatively low threshold
1:44:08 of documentation and that threshold
1:44:10 is parent telling us it’s in their child’s
1:44:12 best medical interest.
1:44:13 And so we have that ability through existing statute,
1:44:19 a DOE rule and yeah, so there’s later information on it
1:44:24 but those parents won’t need that form this year
1:44:28 in regards to attendance so that might help.
1:44:30 - Yep, thank you.
1:44:32 - If I could just jump in on talking
1:44:34 about digitizing all these forms.
1:44:37 You’re talking about digitizing and transmitting
1:44:39 digitally information that could be sensitive for students
1:44:43 so I would make sure that anything that we’re doing
1:44:45 goes through IT to make sure the proper encryptions
1:44:48 are being put in place.
1:44:50 - Yep, maybe the same as if we were putting
1:44:52 a telehealth inside each one of the schools
1:44:54 for the teachers, you have to have a dedicated line
1:44:56 to run it through.
1:44:57 - Right and some people don’t understand
1:45:00 that they gotta do it a certain way
1:45:02 and they’ll just transmit stuff with Social Security
1:45:04 and everything else on it over email
1:45:07 and then it’s not properly encrypted
1:45:09 so we need to make sure IT is there
1:45:11 and we’re getting the proper training
1:45:13 for anybody that’s out there that you can’t just email
1:45:16 these documents.
1:45:17 - I think that training should come in general
1:45:20 because we have multiple besides just this.
1:45:22 Like there’s not just a critical incident form
1:45:25 that needs it, Social Security numbers are on
1:45:26 every one of our forms so that should be a training
1:45:29 that is actually done at the schools already.
1:45:32 I would be remissed if we’re not training our people
1:45:34 to watch what they’re sending over their thing.
1:45:36 So thank you, thank you.
1:45:38 - Ms. Belford, can I jump back in real quick
1:45:39 on a related issue to what Mr. Sisson was talking about?
1:45:43 - Mr. Tiedemann, it looked to me like you were getting
1:45:45 ready to respond, did you wanna address?
1:45:46 - Go ahead.
1:45:47 - I was gonna say we inform our schools
1:45:49 but a lot of those emails come from parents
1:45:51 and it’s very difficult to train a parent
1:45:52 how to encrypt and do some of those things
1:45:54 with emails, they just don’t.
1:45:56 - That liability wouldn’t be on us though
1:45:58 if a parent did it, it would be their liability
1:46:00 for coming into us, right?
1:46:02 - We have no, I’m not worried about the parent.
1:46:04 If the parent chooses to email it to us,
1:46:06 that’s their problem, once we get it,
1:46:07 we gotta make sure we’re properly doing it.
1:46:09 So as long as our people know,
1:46:11 like once we transmit it to DOH,
1:46:14 we don’t really control what DOH does.
1:46:16 I wouldn’t be concerned with them either
1:46:18 but if a physician just emails it to us in the open,
1:46:21 that’s not our problem, we don’t control it
1:46:23 but if we email it to DOH unencrypted,
1:46:26 that would be our problem.
1:46:28 - Yep.
1:46:30 - Ms. Kendall, did you wanna tag on to that?
1:46:32 - The clinic issue, we, this year more than ever before,
1:46:36 it’ll be really important to have our clinics fully staffed
1:46:38 and I know sometimes that’s been a problem.
1:46:40 So is there anything that we’re doing differently this year
1:46:43 just to make sure that every day we have a,
1:46:47 you know, someone to run our clinics
1:46:49 instead of having to sub in sometimes.
1:46:51 And I know it may still happen but sometimes our clerks
1:46:53 and secretaries are having to jump in there.
1:46:54 So what, any changes on that front?
1:46:59 - I, well I can speak to half of it.
1:47:01 You jump in, you jump in.
1:47:03 And I said this to the principals the other day.
1:47:09 So we start schools without teachers in classes
1:47:14 because that is what we have to do
1:47:18 and that is what the current hiring
1:47:21 and employee pool forces upon us, right?
1:47:25 You can’t hire teachers if they’re not out there.
1:47:28 The same is true for nurses.
1:47:29 So the Department of Health has,
1:47:32 just like there’s a teacher shortage,
1:47:33 there’s a nursing shortage.
1:47:36 They hire their nursing staff as quickly as they can
1:47:40 and they hire, they actually have allocations
1:47:43 for nursing subs.
1:47:46 And last year we still had vacancies
1:47:48 and we had vacancies in the nursing sub pool
1:47:50 and they continue to put out and hire.
1:47:52 It is why part of our contract is that two people
1:47:55 from every school has to be trained to man that clinic
1:47:58 if there isn’t a nurse there.
1:48:00 We are unfortunate in that we have a 10 month contract
1:48:03 with our clinics and a lot of our nurses
1:48:05 don’t wanna work 10 months.
1:48:07 They want to, they work for us and then they lose some
1:48:10 because they get other jobs in the summer.
1:48:12 This year that was not the case
1:48:14 because almost every single one of our school nurses
1:48:17 was employed all summer long with the Department of Health
1:48:20 because they worked with COVID.
1:48:22 And so we’re actually coming into this school
1:48:24 and you’re in better shape than we have in the past
1:48:27 because we’ve retained all of those nurses.
1:48:30 I think that’s all I’m going to say but Phil, please add.
1:48:34 - No, I think Chris got it.
1:48:35 Right now I just got a report, I think as of two days ago
1:48:40 we maybe had 16 openings and that’s of course the district.
1:48:45 The benefit that we’ve had like Chris said
1:48:47 is ‘cause most of our staff have worked all summer
1:48:50 so they’ve been paid and they haven’t had the opportunity
1:48:53 or the urge to get out and get another job
1:48:56 ‘cause they’re currently working.
1:48:57 Everyone that we have working loves school health
1:49:01 and wants to come back.
1:49:02 But as Chris alluded to in Blue Skies,
1:49:06 we haven’t been in Blue Skies in a long time.
1:49:08 In Blue Skies they work 10 months
1:49:10 and they only work 29 hours a week.
1:49:12 So it’s been challenging to get the amount of staff
1:49:16 that we need at those restrictions.
1:49:22 We have a constant hiring pool.
1:49:24 We are constantly looking for nurses and health support techs.
1:49:30 It is challenging and it’s challenging every year.
1:49:33 This year, similar to what we’re hearing from everyone,
1:49:36 I haven’t had any resignations so far
1:49:39 and usually by this time we’ve had a lot of resignations.
1:49:42 My concern and I voiced it to everybody
1:49:45 is schools open, how many of our staff
1:49:48 are not going to be comfortable coming back?
1:49:50 I don’t know that as of yet.
1:49:52 But so far they have worked and thankfully
1:49:56 we’ve been very blessed that we’ve had
1:49:58 all of our school health staff.
1:50:00 And right now they have been working
1:50:01 frontline COVID response.
1:50:03 So I don’t anticipate or maybe I’m just being Pollyanna
1:50:08 and hoping that it’s not as much of a concern
1:50:11 as I’ve heard it is at other organizations.
1:50:14 They have been working frontline all summer.
1:50:17 And by frontline I mean they have been doing
1:50:19 the actual swabbing.
1:50:20 They have been doing the screening.
1:50:22 They have been doing the registration
1:50:25 for all of these testings that we’re doing.
1:50:28 So they’ve been pretty much in the thick of it.
1:50:31 So hopefully that won’t impact their decision
1:50:33 to come back in August.
1:50:35 - Thank you.
1:50:37 - Mr. Susan, do you have a question?
1:50:39 - Yeah, are we gonna get into that in depth,
1:50:41 that entire process or should we have that conversation now
1:50:44 about the COVID clinics and the nurses
1:50:46 and who covers and all that stuff?
1:50:47 - Yeah, we’ll be talking about it.
1:50:49 There’s a slide coming up.
1:50:50 - I’ll wait until then.
1:50:52 - So just to clarify, we have still 16 schools
1:50:54 that won’t have nurses, is that?
1:50:56 - No, that’s 16 positions open.
1:50:58 Some schools have got two staff in them.
1:51:01 That includes the float staff.
1:51:03 That includes the liaison for epi.
1:51:07 Right now, all of the supervisor roles are filled.
1:51:10 Right now, if I looked at it closely,
1:51:13 every school has at least one person in it.
1:51:16 There may be a few that I’m not up to speed on
1:51:20 as of today, but for the most part,
1:51:22 I think there’s about 16 vacancies.
1:51:24 - Okay, and if someone’s watching right now
1:51:26 and wants to be a school nurse, do they go on your website?
1:51:29 - They can go on their website or they can call me directly
1:51:32 and we will expedite the process.
1:51:35 - Okay, thank you, ma’am.
1:51:36 - You’re welcome.
1:51:38 - Mr. Susan, do you have additional questions
1:51:40 on slide 11 through 14?
1:51:42 - No, I think there’s a lot of it
1:51:44 that we’re gonna cover in a little bit.
1:51:46 - Ms. Belford, can I just tag onto the nurse question?
1:51:52 I don’t know if they can do this,
1:51:55 but will our nurses be able to test on site
1:51:59 if somebody presents with symptoms?
1:52:04 - No, the logistics of doing that is very challenging.
1:52:10 Anyone who’s doing a COVID test,
1:52:11 first of all, we don’t have the rapid test,
1:52:13 so it would have to be done and sent out
1:52:15 to an outside lab source.
1:52:17 They would have to be in full personal protective equipment,
1:52:20 which means they’d have to be somewhere separate
1:52:22 while they’re doing that.
1:52:23 There would be no one to man and to watch the clinic
1:52:27 while they’re doing that, and to have to get a child.
1:52:31 We have done testing at our health department for children.
1:52:37 We’ve been doing the nasopharyngeal,
1:52:38 which means that it goes up the nostril
1:52:40 into the pharyngeal cavity, and that is very difficult
1:52:44 to do on a child.
1:52:46 They’ve just now changed the guidelines
1:52:47 that we can do nasal swabs for children,
1:52:50 but that’s still a little uncomfortable for children.
1:52:54 So no, the answer is we’re not going to be testing
1:52:58 as of today, now things may change tomorrow,
1:53:01 and that would really be a huge change for us.
1:53:04 But any child can get tested at the health department.
1:53:08 - Great, thank you.
1:53:10 All right, are there any additional questions
1:53:12 on slides 10 through, actually I guess 11 through 14?
1:53:19 All right, at this point I’m gonna ask
1:53:20 that we take a brief break and recharge,
1:53:24 and we’re going to come back and get into really
1:53:26 kind of some of the meat and the details of things
1:53:29 that we have touched on up to this point.
1:53:31 So we will recess for 10 minutes,
1:53:36 and we will come back and resume, I think.
1:53:41 (sighs)
1:53:51 (upbeat music)
2:06:25 - All right, we are back in session
2:06:28 after a brief break and I believe we are picking up
2:06:31 with Ms. Klein.
2:06:35 - Yes, we are.
2:06:37 So as Dr. Sullivan alluded earlier,
2:06:41 we’ve been very involved this week in webinars
2:06:44 with the DOE going over the executive order
2:06:48 and what the assurances will be
2:06:51 to meet the state requirements for the reopening plan.
2:06:55 So as you know, we also have to add to this plan
2:07:00 the instructional continuity plan.
2:07:03 So there are seven assurances.
2:07:05 I’m gonna just go through them quickly with you.
2:07:08 The first one is we are required
2:07:12 to open our brick and mortar schools in August
2:07:17 at least five days a week for any student,
2:07:20 any parent who wants that.
2:07:21 So that is a requirement of the executive order
2:07:25 and that is assurance one that we have to complete
2:07:27 on the document that we have to complete by July 31st.
2:07:34 The district will, assurance two,
2:07:37 the district must provide a full array of services
2:07:42 including in-person instruction,
2:07:45 specialized work for our students with IEPs,
2:07:49 our students in the most vulnerable populations,
2:07:53 homeless, foster care, English language learners.
2:07:58 So we’ll have to address in our plan
2:08:00 all of those assurances.
2:08:03 Assurance three is the district must provide
2:08:06 a robust progress monitoring for all students.
2:08:11 So that means we will do our diagnostic,
2:08:15 both elementary and secondary.
2:08:17 We will look at where the student,
2:08:20 if they have any gaps from the delay in school,
2:08:25 from our summer emergency learning as Dr. Sullivan says.
2:08:31 And then we will have to develop innovative
2:08:35 teaching methods to make certain
2:08:37 we’re meeting all those students’ needs.
2:08:40 So we are planning right now to do our diagnostic.
2:08:44 As soon as we can get the doors open
2:08:47 and students rolled into schedules
2:08:49 and teachers established,
2:08:51 we will do a diagnostic comparing where the student was
2:08:55 when they physically left us in March
2:08:58 to where they are when they come in.
2:09:00 And then we will develop lessons
2:09:04 that will not only pick up where they were,
2:09:09 but keep them on track to where they should be.
2:09:13 Assurance four is the district will work with the IEP
2:09:17 to determine any needed services.
2:09:21 We will also work in assurance five
2:09:24 to work with our ELL communities
2:09:26 to identify English language learners who had regression.
2:09:31 So one of the most important parts of this reopening plan,
2:09:37 the Florida Optimal Innovation Reopening Plan,
2:09:41 as they call it, is that we’re meeting the students’ needs.
2:09:46 We are making certain we know where a student is.
2:09:49 We’re providing them a robust educational program
2:09:55 and so that they’re not falling any further behind.
2:09:57 We’re also going to make certain that our students,
2:10:02 as Chris spoke earlier, are students in transition,
2:10:06 are students in greater financial need.
2:10:12 All of our students, we are not gonna,
2:10:14 as our vision says we serve every child with excellence,
2:10:18 we’re going to assure that our work
2:10:22 is that we’re serving every child.
2:10:24 We’re meeting them where they are
2:10:25 and getting them caught back up to where they need to be.
2:10:29 Assurance seven is that we will regularly progress monitor
2:10:34 and we will send that data to the state.
2:10:38 And then assurance seven is we will be collecting
2:10:43 the reopening plans from our charter schools
2:10:47 and they will be vetted through my office for approval
2:10:52 prior to it being part of our district plan.
2:10:56 So there’s been a conversation with our charters already
2:11:00 stating that we will need their plans
2:11:04 and the directions from the state
2:11:08 have changed throughout this week.
2:11:11 There on Monday, we didn’t believe every person,
2:11:16 every district had to do a plan.
2:11:17 If we were going to just open brick and mortar
2:11:20 and not have different options,
2:11:22 they wouldn’t have to do a plan.
2:11:24 Yesterday it became very detailed
2:11:27 in what the template was going to look like.
2:11:30 The template was supposed to be delivered this morning to us.
2:11:33 I have yet to see it, seen it either.
2:11:37 So the template will be coming from the DOE.
2:11:41 Yesterday’s webinar, they went through every assurance
2:11:45 and what the narrative will have to be
2:11:46 in every component of the template.
2:11:50 So I already have a team.
2:11:54 It’s led by Tara Harris and Sherry Bowman from secondary
2:11:58 and Patricia Fontan from ESC.
2:12:01 And the three of them are already working
2:12:04 on making certain that we’re going to meet
2:12:06 the assurances within this DOE requirement.
2:12:09 Like I said, the plan is due July 31st to this day
2:12:15 to include the charter plans.
2:12:18 The other part is the state informed us yesterday
2:12:24 that they will be sending out a survey for every district
2:12:28 on what is your progress monitoring plans,
2:12:31 when the dates, the method,
2:12:34 and then how are you going to look at the data?
2:12:37 So that is coming and that will be due by July 17th,
2:12:41 but the survey hasn’t been received yet.
2:12:45 So let’s talk about elementary options for the fall of 2020.
2:12:54 Of course, based on the DOE requirements,
2:12:56 we are going to offer a full time in person
2:13:00 at all of our schools.
2:13:03 That will be the same brick and mortar
2:13:06 following our standard focus documents
2:13:09 and our pacing guides
2:13:11 and quality instruction in the classroom.
2:13:15 We also offer full-time Brevard virtual school.
2:13:19 That program has been expanded to meet the needs of families
2:13:23 who want to go with the Brevard virtual full-time.
2:13:29 Of course, by state statute,
2:13:30 we also offer a part-time in-person
2:13:34 and a part-time Brevard virtual program.
2:13:37 Very few parents take this.
2:13:39 - Ms. Klein, could you please pull your mic
2:13:40 a little bit closer?
2:13:41 I’m getting notification, not important.
2:13:43 People can’t hear you.
2:13:44 - Oh, dear.
2:13:47 Our Brevard, we always have the opportunity
2:13:51 for a Brevard part-time and Brevard virtual
2:13:55 for part-time and in-person.
2:13:57 Very few parents take advantage of that
2:14:00 because it’s kind of unique.
2:14:03 So suppose you would want to do the 90 minute reading block
2:14:07 for elementary at home through Brevard virtual
2:14:11 and then come to school for math, science
2:14:14 and social studies and your activities or the reverse.
2:14:18 So that is an opportunity
2:14:20 and has been available for some time.
2:14:23 We are excited to offer a e-learning from school at home
2:14:30 and so that will be pending the DOE’s approval
2:14:34 on our plan that we will submit.
2:14:38 So let me talk to you a little bit more
2:14:40 about this full-time e-learning from school at home.
2:14:45 So the vision of this is we know
2:14:49 that there are parents who are like,
2:14:51 I’m just not ready to send my child back to brick and mortar
2:14:56 but I want to be connected to my school.
2:14:59 I want to be part of Viera Elementary
2:15:04 and I want my child to be connected to that school
2:15:08 but I’m not quite ready.
2:15:11 So what we are proposed
2:15:13 and I have an amazing work group of principals
2:15:17 and directors working on this plan.
2:15:22 The teacher will work from the classroom.
2:15:27 The student will work from home
2:15:30 and so we will provide the same robust instruction
2:15:35 that you would receive in your classroom at your home.
2:15:40 It will not be the same that we offered
2:15:43 when we had emergency distant learning.
2:15:47 So this will remain e-learning from home.
2:15:50 So the title will be Viera Elementary e-learning at home.
2:15:56 So every school will be attached to their name.
2:15:59 The student will be attached to the teacher’s roster.
2:16:02 The student will be attached to the school population
2:16:06 and will be part of the school’s FTE.
2:16:11 So I’ve put in here a couple part of our plan.
2:16:17 This is not a complete list
2:16:19 but this is some of the options that we’re looking at.
2:16:23 The parent would consider it in nine week increments.
2:16:29 However, we’re gonna be flexible
2:16:31 because I might think that I’m ready
2:16:34 to be the mom who’s working from home
2:16:36 and have my child at home working on a digital platform
2:16:42 during the structured school day.
2:16:44 And after about a week, I realized that’s not gonna work.
2:16:48 My child needs to go back to brick and mortar.
2:16:51 So I have that flexibility.
2:16:53 I can work with the school principal
2:16:55 to say this is not working.
2:16:57 Another part of this is after we do the progress monitoring
2:17:01 and as we continue monitoring,
2:17:04 if the data doesn’t show that the child
2:17:06 is excelling with this digital platform,
2:17:11 then we as a school and the school district,
2:17:15 we have to have the conference with the parent
2:17:18 to say your child is not being successful in this program.
2:17:23 We need them to look at a different program.
2:17:26 And so that is one of the components of the assurances
2:17:30 that we have to provide to the state
2:17:32 that we will progress monitor the child
2:17:34 and meet the needs of the child
2:17:37 to provide their quality education,
2:17:39 whether it be in brick and mortar or at the home.
2:17:43 We were asking, we will be asking parents to set up a space,
2:17:47 an actual place in their home for this e-learning.
2:17:54 We will ask the parent to have the supplies
2:17:56 and the materials they’re ready for this child to use.
2:18:02 The schedule, it will not be do the work
2:18:06 when you’re ready to do the work.
2:18:08 The teacher will begin class just as if she’s,
2:18:12 well, she will be in the classroom,
2:18:14 that every student will log on.
2:18:17 We’re looking at teams.
2:18:19 And the reason we like the teams approach
2:18:23 for our live instruction
2:18:25 is that we can put a background behind the child.
2:18:28 So we’re not looking into the privacy
2:18:30 of the child’s home and the environment.
2:18:33 So we will have a background that will go in.
2:18:36 So we’re not invading in anyone’s home privacy.
2:18:43 We will ask our parents to help our children get online
2:18:47 and do the daily attendance and be there to support.
2:18:53 We will ask parents to make sure they have the teams
2:18:57 downloaded on their device.
2:19:00 Our teachers are going to plan with their grade levels.
2:19:04 They’re going to provide standard aligned instruction.
2:19:11 The lesson plans will follow the pacing guides
2:19:14 and the standard focus documents
2:19:16 that we have for elementary.
2:19:19 They will ask the teachers that are chosen
2:19:21 or are volunteer to do this work
2:19:24 to attend some online training on e-learning.
2:19:28 And our friends in ET, our Russell’s team, Dawn Bronstein,
2:19:34 oh my, she is amazing.
2:19:37 And so Dawn Bronstein has been working with Tara Harris
2:19:42 and Patricia Fontan on ways that they can deliver
2:19:47 quality instruction using teams, using the blended platform.
2:19:52 You heard Chris say earlier the importance
2:19:55 of blended learning from day one.
2:19:58 So whether they’re doing the e-learning or in the classroom,
2:20:01 that blended learning has to be a component
2:20:04 of every teacher’s world.
2:20:07 A teacher’s gonna have a very scheduled day.
2:20:11 And so the teacher will say, you know,
2:20:14 taking roll at eight o’clock and we’re going into our ELA,
2:20:19 our 90 minute reading block.
2:20:22 And we’re gonna take our recess at 10 o’clock.
2:20:27 And so the teacher will say to the children,
2:20:30 you have a break, take, you know,
2:20:33 you’re gonna go do 20 minutes of activity,
2:20:36 come back, we’re gonna have a schedule for,
2:20:39 you know, you’ll have your lunch schedule.
2:20:43 We’re working with food service to try to do a pickup meal
2:20:47 for families who need a meal.
2:20:51 But that will be part of the scheduled day.
2:20:55 There’ll be a schedule in there for activity, for recess.
2:21:00 But the family will follow a very scheduled day
2:21:05 as if the children were in a brick and mortar classroom,
2:21:08 that they’re gonna be in their homes.
2:21:11 So the day is going to mirror that of the traditional day.
2:21:18 The student will follow the routines.
2:21:23 They will work without distractions,
2:21:26 which is, you know, going to be unique,
2:21:30 but every family will need to set up that,
2:21:32 that it is an environment where it is conducive
2:21:36 to quality learning.
2:21:39 The parent has made the choice to work,
2:21:42 have their child engage in the education from home,
2:21:47 but they’re going to have to set those parameters
2:21:49 so that it’s not a distraction from the learning environment.
2:21:55 And the student is going to have to let the teacher know,
2:21:59 I need your help, I don’t understand this.
2:22:02 And, you know, just as in the classroom,
2:22:06 when we do small groups,
2:22:08 the child may need to do some independent reading
2:22:12 while the teacher pulls virtually
2:22:14 some students around the small group.
2:22:17 So it’s going to be something different, something new,
2:22:23 but we’re really excited to offer this to our students.
2:22:28 We are expecting the student also,
2:22:32 and the parent, to have the flexibility for the diagnostic
2:22:36 that we would create an environment at the school base,
2:22:40 at the brick and mortar base,
2:22:41 where we might bring three children in to do the diagnostic,
2:22:46 or we would provide a secure location at home
2:22:49 to do the diagnostic,
2:22:51 so that we’re getting valid results
2:22:56 and authentic work from the child.
2:22:59 So these are our working in progress
2:23:03 on the elementary school e-learning.
2:23:07 The first next step is exciting for our parents.
2:23:11 So after this workshop today,
2:23:15 we will be sending out a site-specific,
2:23:20 thanks to, again, Russell’s tech team,
2:23:24 who has worked to make a survey
2:23:27 that is school-specific.
2:23:30 All 57 of our elementary schools
2:23:32 have a site-specific survey.
2:23:36 The surveys will go out.
2:23:38 The parent, the first question is,
2:23:40 what is your name, what’s your student’s name?
2:23:43 Do you want to be part of this?
2:23:45 If you do not, it’s just going to,
2:23:48 once you get down through the questions,
2:23:49 if you want to stop, it will let you stop.
2:23:52 Yeah, this was not for me.
2:23:56 But every parent, and we’re gonna run this for two weeks
2:23:59 to see how many parents are actually excited
2:24:03 about this opportunity and want to take advantage of it.
2:24:06 So we will provide this survey this afternoon.
2:24:12 It will go out site-specific.
2:24:14 The principals will be able to monitor it in real time
2:24:20 every one that’s completed for their school.
2:24:23 So then the principal can determine
2:24:26 how many teachers they’re going to need
2:24:29 for the e-learning and how many teachers
2:24:31 they’re gonna need for brick and mortar.
2:24:34 So it’s going to help us with our staffing plan
2:24:37 for our elementary schools.
2:24:41 I said a lot very quickly.
2:24:48 - All right, so I’m getting a nod from Ms. Campbell
2:24:51 that she has some questions on there, Ms. Campbell.
2:24:54 - I do.
2:24:55 - All right.
2:24:56 - And some of this may be preliminary,
2:24:58 and if it is, you can let me know.
2:25:03 Hang on.
2:25:08 So I’m excited for the technology aspect of it.
2:25:13 Thank you for doing the research.
2:25:14 Microsoft Teams in the background,
2:25:15 ‘cause I know that was a concern a lot of people had.
2:25:17 Why aren’t we doing Zoom?
2:25:18 Why can’t we do Zoom during the distance learning?
2:25:20 But it was all about safety and privacy concerns,
2:25:22 and it’s great that we can have that option.
2:25:24 And it’ll still require, I’m sure, right, Mr. Cheatham,
2:25:28 some signing off.
2:25:29 - Yes, and Zoom’s still being considered.
2:25:31 We’re looking at the options.
2:25:32 Zoom has, they’ve done a lot over the past year.
2:25:35 So it’s still being considered, and we’re still looking at it.
2:25:37 - Okay.
2:25:38 - So all these things could still change, but.
2:25:40 - Good, thank you.
2:25:40 And I know you guys were behind that,
2:25:42 but a lot of people didn’t understand why we couldn’t do it.
2:25:44 And it was really about the safety and privacy of students
2:25:46 and their families and anybody else
2:25:48 who might be running around in their underwear at the house.
2:25:50 So, sorry, had to bring a little levity when I can,
2:25:55 because it’s the truth.
2:25:56 - Yeah, we might have seen that.
2:25:58 - Right.
2:26:00 So is there a certain number of students
2:26:02 that are gonna be required to make this happen
2:26:05 at each grade level?
2:26:07 I mean, are you anticipating like one e-learning teacher
2:26:10 at each grade level, or if, I mean, if there’s not,
2:26:12 what’s the magic number to make it happen?
2:26:14 - So we are following class size, regardless of where.
2:26:21 The students are located.
2:26:24 That is why we need this window
2:26:26 of how many are actually interested.
2:26:29 We’ve heard a lot, you know,
2:26:31 and when we read all the comments,
2:26:35 yeah, I want my child back.
2:26:37 The state says it’s about a 50/50
2:26:40 on their global survey of where parents want to be.
2:26:46 So we really need this survey back to decide.
2:26:51 It might be one school that they’re like,
2:26:54 “No, I wanna be back, I wanna be in my building,
2:26:57 “I want my kids to be there.”
2:27:00 Or it might be 75% at another school.
2:27:07 So we have to get some additional information
2:27:10 before we can make the final decision.
2:27:13 I hesitate to do multi-age,
2:27:17 but just like with class size,
2:27:19 occasionally we have to do that.
2:27:21 If we have, we don’t have the allocation
2:27:24 and we have to make adjustments.
2:27:27 That would, that is not my hope.
2:27:31 I hope that we can do it
2:27:35 through a full classroom.
2:27:39 The other thing that’s swirling in my head,
2:27:42 if you just wanna know where my mind is,
2:27:45 is for example, I may have 10 third graders at Myla
2:27:53 and eight third graders at Tropical.
2:27:56 So I haven’t made a full class,
2:27:59 but I could use the one teacher to do eLearning
2:28:04 and those students could be connected to their school,
2:28:08 but it would be, they would be in one class,
2:28:11 one teacher, but can teaching at or two schools.
2:28:16 - And that’s a lot of logistics
2:28:17 and it’ll mean a lot of extra work for the teams.
2:28:19 I hope everybody in the public realizes
2:28:21 how much extra work all of this is,
2:28:23 but to have that option, I’m just,
2:28:26 I’m glad you’re thinking that you have
2:28:27 that swirling in your head,
2:28:28 ‘cause there are some situations
2:28:29 where we might only have 10 third graders at Myla,
2:28:33 but those 10 parents are like,
2:28:35 “This is it and it has to be it.”
2:28:37 And we need to have that option for them.
2:28:39 - Yeah, so lots of things are swirling in my committee
2:28:44 that they are just nonstop with their minds
2:28:50 of what do we need to do?
2:28:54 - Ms. Campbell, Ms. Klein, just if I can interject,
2:28:58 keep in mind we’re on daily webinars with the DOE,
2:29:01 literally one yesterday until four o’clock
2:29:04 related to the emergency order and the expectations
2:29:09 and the requirements around the assurances.
2:29:12 So to Ms. Klein’s point, we need to collect the data.
2:29:18 We have to submit our plan to the state.
2:29:20 And one of the things that they have consistently
2:29:22 communicated is a robust learning consistent environment
2:29:27 that allows for the transition of continuity
2:29:31 of a student from an e-learning
2:29:33 or what the state is calling an innovative learning option
2:29:37 back into a brick and mortar school.
2:29:39 So there may be limitations based on what is approved
2:29:43 from the state with our plan.
2:29:45 So the ability to assign students across schools
2:29:51 is still in great question.
2:29:53 It appears like that may be prohibited or maybe a limitation.
2:30:00 But again, we’re exploring all of the options
2:30:04 and looking at what that could look like.
2:30:07 - Thank you.
2:30:07 And I understand ‘cause we said flexibility.
2:30:11 You did mention about this scenario
2:30:13 where a parent may start e-learning
2:30:15 and then say, no, this is not for me.
2:30:17 But in the expectations, it looked like you were asking
2:30:21 parents to commit to nine week increments.
2:30:25 So I’m just curious if parents kind of wanna trickle in
2:30:28 as the semester starts, where will we,
2:30:31 will those students join a brick and mortar classroom
2:30:33 or what is that potentially gonna look like?
2:30:35 - So just as Dr. Mullins just said the most important thing
2:30:38 and so the assurances changed yesterday
2:30:43 from the time we had this draft
2:30:46 to giving more flexibility to parents to come in and out.
2:30:52 And that’s why it has to be standard aligned,
2:30:55 robust instruction that is the same
2:31:00 that you’re gonna get in the classroom.
2:31:02 We can’t be using a different platform
2:31:07 for one venue that we’re not using for the other
2:31:10 because every child will have this opportunity
2:31:15 and flexibility.
2:31:17 - So we may have students kind of moving in and out.
2:31:20 And I know we’re gonna get to some of that later
2:31:22 when we talk about cases and things like that.
2:31:24 Thank you.
2:31:26 Oh, one real quick question on the assurances.
2:31:29 Do those charter school plans have to come
2:31:31 to the board for approval or that just goes to your office
2:31:33 and then they’re lumped in with–
2:31:35 - So they are not, they do not have to be board approved
2:31:40 but they have to be district vetted
2:31:43 for that our office will make certain
2:31:48 that the assurances have all been met.
2:31:51 And then the COE will be the liaison
2:31:56 if there are concerns with a charter schools plan.
2:32:01 - Thank you.
2:32:06 - Is that a real comment?
2:32:07 - I’ll wait now.
2:32:12 - Quick questions.
2:32:15 Ms. Campbell touched on this
2:32:16 but just for a little more clarification
2:32:18 and you might say we don’t know yet.
2:32:20 So as a teacher is assigned,
2:32:24 I’m concerned about the teacher in this specific role.
2:32:27 She or he has decided or volunteered
2:32:30 to do these at home full-time e-learning
2:32:34 from school at home and students have started coming back.
2:32:40 The other classes are full.
2:32:41 Is there a possibility we will then have a teacher
2:32:44 that’s expected to have a camera on them e-learning at home
2:32:50 and have live students at the same time?
2:32:54 - I hope not.
2:32:56 To be honest, what I believe will happen
2:32:59 is that if enrollments declines on the e-learning,
2:33:06 then we will transition that teacher back
2:33:09 to a brick and mortar classroom.
2:33:13 Again, the assurances yesterday
2:33:19 were a little bit more flexible.
2:33:22 I find it interesting we haven’t received
2:33:24 that template yet today.
2:33:27 So I know that yesterday on the call
2:33:30 they said they were making adjustments to the plan
2:33:34 based on feedback from districts.
2:33:37 So my hope is that as we plan with teachers,
2:33:46 number one, it’s gonna have to be a teacher
2:33:48 who wants to do this but it’s going to be that conversation
2:33:52 with the school principal.
2:33:55 This is the number of students.
2:33:58 Say I’m the principal of Viera Elementary
2:34:02 and I have four fourth grade classes planned
2:34:06 and now I have two full classrooms
2:34:10 that wanna go e-learning.
2:34:12 So I’m gonna sit down with those four teachers
2:34:14 and say here’s what we have.
2:34:16 Now to understand with the e-learning,
2:34:18 these children may go back and forth.
2:34:21 They may say but we’ve got to maintain class size.
2:34:25 So there’s going to be a lot of planning,
2:34:28 a lot of commitment on everyone’s part
2:34:31 and a lot of flexibility that,
2:34:33 and there’s that word again,
2:34:35 the no flexibility right t-shirt coming up.
2:34:39 We are going to have to be very flexible
2:34:42 as we provide quality instruction
2:34:48 but provide it in a method that makes parents feel safe
2:34:54 and comfortable for their child
2:34:56 and make certain that that student is progressing
2:35:01 at the same rate they would be in the classroom.
2:35:04 That is gonna be key, that progress monitoring
2:35:07 and we as a district, we will be monitoring the students
2:35:11 that are not successful and have to have that conversation
2:35:15 with the parent, this is not, your child is not progressing
2:35:18 at the rate they should in this environment.
2:35:23 - Thank you.
2:35:24 So I get that the state has asked us to be flexible
2:35:26 and I agree that that’s important
2:35:28 but I do like where you stated in the presentation
2:35:31 that we would like parents to commit
2:35:33 to at least nine weeks of, and circumstances change
2:35:37 but I’m hoping it’s still fair for us to ask,
2:35:41 ask that of our parents to commit to that,
2:35:45 assuming something could happen
2:35:47 but I think we’re really gonna need that
2:35:50 to be able to do our best to serve our students.
2:35:54 - I agree and that’s why I put it in there first
2:35:57 is I truly believe that we need to be looking at this
2:36:02 at every nine weeks.
2:36:04 The state is actually looking at it for the first semester.
2:36:08 So I think it’s fair and a good task
2:36:15 but we can’t require them to stay in it.
2:36:18 And it might not work, we don’t want our children
2:36:21 to fall behind if it’s not working
2:36:24 and we don’t want a child that’s sitting in brick and mortar
2:36:28 who’s having anxiety or what is it, the trauma thing,
2:36:35 trauma fatigue, so we may need to make adjustments
2:36:43 just like we do in the beginning of the school year,
2:36:45 every year, we have to make adjustments
2:36:49 based on enrollment, projection, class size
2:36:54 but now you have to make them every week.
2:36:58 Okay, a couple of questions,
2:36:59 is the progress monitoring for elementary school,
2:37:01 is that going to be iReady
2:37:02 or is that a combination of iReady and some other things
2:37:05 and hold on, iReady was gracious last spring
2:37:09 to allow us access, full access for little or no cost
2:37:14 if I recall, do we have that same agreement now
2:37:17 or is that good, they’re good graces, has that ended
2:37:21 and what is this going to cost?
2:37:22 - They’re good graces have ended.
2:37:24 But we are fortunate that through CARES Act,
2:37:29 the hefty purchase agreement is in place
2:37:35 is coming your way very soon,
2:37:37 it’s in my inbox to review today
2:37:40 for the purchase of iReady instructional
2:37:44 and diagnostic through CARES Act
2:37:48 because that progress monitoring is a component
2:37:51 of a requirement in the assurances
2:37:56 so it falls very nicely into the CARES Act
2:38:01 so we are purchasing that and adding
2:38:06 on the instructional piece
2:38:07 and that instructional piece will be key
2:38:11 if we have to go to distant learning
2:38:14 or looking at my good colleagues here,
2:38:20 emergency distant learning,
2:38:21 we would still have the same platform.
2:38:24 - Okay, and then one last question
2:38:26 and I think I know the answer,
2:38:28 if we are going to be using Zoom
2:38:30 or something of that nature,
2:38:33 that’s something else that we don’t currently purchase,
2:38:36 Mr. Cheatham, so is that going to be covered
2:38:38 in the CARES Act if we,
2:38:41 we’re obviously going to have to purchase something,
2:38:43 some new plan?
2:38:48 - Sorry, I feel like I’m in front of it,
2:38:50 I’m not even a teacher but when I’ve subbed, right,
2:38:52 the kid is not paying attention,
2:38:53 you asked them the question.
2:38:54 I didn’t mean to do that to you.
2:38:55 - You have a lot of notes.
2:38:56 - I’m sorry, no, I was just asking about
2:38:59 if we have to purchase Zoom or something,
2:39:01 which we are going to have to purchase,
2:39:02 you guys just said, is that coming out of CARES Act funding
2:39:04 and do we have any idea of the expense,
2:39:07 the magnitude of the expense there?
2:39:09 - Yes, we do and it would come out of CARES funding
2:39:12 if we move forward with it, we’re discussing it now.
2:39:14 It’s about $66,000 or so.
2:39:18 - So is it a per user?
2:39:20 Is it a per user thing? - Correct.
2:39:21 - Okay, great, thank you so much, appreciate it.
2:39:23 - Mr. Deskovich, I do want to add on the eLearning survey.
2:39:27 We asked the question, does your child have a device
2:39:32 or do you have internet at home?
2:39:35 Because we also need to find out how many devices,
2:39:39 because our devices are limited,
2:39:42 how many devices we will need to provide
2:39:45 for families who choose the elementary eLearning option.
2:39:49 - So I guess that brings up another question then,
2:39:51 will we be providing like we did in the spring
2:39:54 to those that want to choose to stay home,
2:39:56 will we be providing hotspots and laptops and such?
2:40:00 - And that’s really what we have to figure out.
2:40:02 So when it comes to devices,
2:40:03 we’re still working on getting devices back.
2:40:05 We still have about 2,600 or so out.
2:40:08 - That have not been returned?
2:40:10 - Correct, that’s upwards to like a $1.3 million out still.
2:40:15 - Say that, I can’t, can you talk?
2:40:16 You gotta put your mouth like practically on the microphone.
2:40:19 What was the dollar value of devices
2:40:21 that have not been returned to our district?
2:40:23 - About $1.3 million worth of devices out
2:40:25 and that’s not including the damaged devices
2:40:28 that we have to make sure,
2:40:29 the ones we can get back into rotation
2:40:30 versus the ones that we can’t.
2:40:33 But we’re still working our way through that.
2:40:34 So it’s very difficult to start,
2:40:38 to do a full assessment in calculating
2:40:39 what we can get back out
2:40:41 when we’re still missing that amount.
2:40:43 And naturally we had some device issues before all this hit.
2:40:47 So there’s a lot of variables in that
2:40:49 as we’re trying to determine what we can do,
2:40:52 turning right back around it and doing it
2:40:54 without having these devices back yet.
2:40:56 - Who’s responsible for,
2:40:58 I’m assuming you’re gonna tell me the principals,
2:41:00 but do we have a device collector out there
2:41:02 knocking on doors?
2:41:03 How are we getting, what’s our plan to get these back?
2:41:05 - Ryan Neil, we work with leading and learning
2:41:08 for our principals to actively put some pressure,
2:41:11 I guess is a good word on our families
2:41:14 to get those devices back so that we can,
2:41:16 there’s a lot of cleanup, there’s a lot of re-imaging,
2:41:19 there’s a lot we have to do to those devices
2:41:20 to have them ready for our schools to be in school.
2:41:24 Nevertheless, to get them back out
2:41:25 for people that might need them that way.
2:41:28 And then there’s gonna come the assessment
2:41:29 of if we’re giving devices out,
2:41:31 what would the students that are in the school
2:41:33 have available to do the diagnostic and things like that
2:41:36 that we’re talking about as well?
2:41:37 It’s gonna be difficult.
2:41:40 - Sorry, one more question.
2:41:41 If we find that devices are gone,
2:41:47 lost, no response, not getting it back,
2:41:50 are we just gonna write that as a loss
2:41:52 or are we doing something legally or?
2:41:55 - Through CARES Act funding, there is some funds
2:41:58 to help us kind of rebuild our inventory.
2:42:03 But working through the actual lost devices
2:42:05 or the devices that aren’t returned,
2:42:08 we do have some funds for damaged devices as well.
2:42:11 But we’re gonna have to work through that process.
2:42:13 We had about a week to get them out.
2:42:16 That didn’t allow us to put great processes in place
2:42:20 on the other end of it.
2:42:21 We just wanted to get them in the hands of our students.
2:42:24 And hotspots is a whole nother topic altogether.
2:42:27 That is a very expensive endeavor,
2:42:30 upwards from 60 to $70,000 a month for the district.
2:42:34 So we’re gonna try to use data that we found out
2:42:36 as we did this the first time
2:42:37 to see what we really need moving forward.
2:42:41 But that’s pretty expensive when you think
2:42:43 of over a long period of time, starting the new year.
2:42:46 - Thank you, sir.
2:42:47 - One of the things that we’re asking families to do
2:42:50 is we learned that we had families who asked for devices
2:42:59 who didn’t necessarily need a device.
2:43:02 They just wanted an additional device at home.
2:43:06 So it’s a really a need of a device,
2:43:10 not just a want for another device.
2:43:15 - I don’t know how we can guess,
2:43:19 but I don’t think we can know that.
2:43:21 - No, but we can request that is this really a need
2:43:25 instead of we had some,
2:43:28 we were very flexible in handing out devices.
2:43:32 - Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve heard
2:43:35 that we still have $1.3 million worth of computers
2:43:37 out there in the community.
2:43:38 It feels a little bit like we just donated $1.3 million
2:43:41 maybe to some families that are now happy
2:43:44 that they have a new computer in their house to use.
2:43:46 - I’m hopeful as we start school,
2:43:48 we’re gonna get a good chunk of those back.
2:43:51 It’s data that I’m accessing.
2:43:53 Some schools may not finish,
2:43:54 they may not be finished putting the data in, hopefully.
2:43:57 I have a lot of hopes and dreams in this area.
2:44:00 - Okay, thank you, sir.
2:44:03 Yes, sir.
2:44:05 - What I wanna add that Mr. Cheatham didn’t allude to
2:44:08 is we did have a thorough process
2:44:12 in identifying the student and families
2:44:15 who were checking the device out.
2:44:16 So it’s not a matter of us not knowing who has them.
2:44:20 We do know that.
2:44:21 It’s just the responsiveness over the summer.
2:44:24 Families are in transition.
2:44:25 It’s a difficult time for everyone.
2:44:27 So the responsiveness is what we’re working through now,
2:44:30 but as students and families return to school,
2:44:33 we know exactly who the students are
2:44:35 who have not yet returned the device.
2:44:37 So we have the ability to continue to work with families
2:44:40 to retrieve them.
2:44:41 It’s just–
2:44:42 - Have you ever tried to get all the field trip notes back?
2:44:45 (laughing)
2:44:45 - And that’s just a piece of paper.
2:44:47 So, I mean, I wish us luck.
2:44:50 - Thank you.
2:44:51 - Ms. McDougall, you’ve been incredibly patient.
2:44:53 You have questions, I believe.
2:44:55 - Yes, I do, thank you.
2:44:57 A couple things.
2:44:59 I wanna talk about, and apply.
2:45:02 First, I really like this.
2:45:03 I’m very excited about this learning.
2:45:06 Let’s say somebody’s in the brick and mortar,
2:45:07 and if I heard you right,
2:45:09 and I just wanna make sure I heard you right,
2:45:10 that they say, “Oh my goodness.”
2:45:12 Let’s say, for whatever reason, let’s hope not,
2:45:14 they got sick, they got the flu.
2:45:16 Let’s say, we’ll talk about the flu.
2:45:19 And they’re at home.
2:45:20 Can they jump in virtually, or in an e-learning?
2:45:24 While they’re, let’s say they’re not totally incapacitated,
2:45:27 but they could still work,
2:45:29 they might have a low grade fever.
2:45:31 I mean, is that something that, were that flexible?
2:45:33 Or no?
2:45:35 - So Ms. McDougall, we’re working out plans
2:45:39 for all the different varieties of learning
2:45:44 that are gonna be available.
2:45:45 Is that the right way to say this more?
2:45:48 So, we’re trying to develop procedures
2:45:53 for each type of situation.
2:45:57 - Okay, and so my next question is,
2:45:59 being one of the newer board members,
2:46:03 and I’m curious, so teachers, who will,
2:46:08 and how will, classroom assignments be situated?
2:46:14 Like, who picks, and would we ever consider
2:46:18 possibly giving maybe our more vulnerable teachers,
2:46:22 some that are older, maybe high risk, priority?
2:46:26 I don’t know how that all works.
2:46:28 - So, it’s a building level principal’s decision
2:46:32 of placement of teachers.
2:46:35 And this will be a very open conversation.
2:46:39 For example, if I have four teachers,
2:46:41 and now only need two for brick and mortar,
2:46:44 and two for e-learning in a grade level,
2:46:48 I would hope that the grade level would sit
2:46:51 with the principal and work that out.
2:46:53 So, it’s not going, it’s not additional allocation
2:46:57 to this school.
2:46:58 It’s going to be worked
2:47:00 within the school’s current allocation.
2:47:05 - So, what I’m hearing is, it’s really gonna be
2:47:07 with the team, if it’s a fourth grade team,
2:47:09 or a third grade team, this is what I need,
2:47:11 and then they would work as a team
2:47:13 to decide with the principal.
2:47:15 You know, I’m 65 years old, let’s say, somebody says,
2:47:18 and we probably do have teachers that are,
2:47:20 that dedicated and older,
2:47:22 and they are in that different risk category.
2:47:25 Do you think they would get priority,
2:47:27 or is that something that’s school by school?
2:47:30 - It’s gonna all depend on the teacher’s desire to teach.
2:47:37 Using a remote learning device,
2:47:42 and the teacher’s flexibility on using these tools
2:47:47 that we use to teach,
2:47:50 because it’s definitely gonna be different
2:47:53 than when you’re pulling a small group.
2:47:57 You may be pulling a small, one small group virtually,
2:48:03 and the rest is doing independent work,
2:48:06 but they’re not gonna be there in your classroom
2:48:09 for you to keep eyes on, and monitor what everyone’s doing.
2:48:13 So, it’s going to take a teacher
2:48:16 who desires teaching virtually,
2:48:20 and the skillset to teach virtually.
2:48:25 - Great, thank you, I appreciate that, thanks.
2:48:28 That’s all I had, Ms. Delford.
2:48:29 - Thank you, Ms. McDougall, Mr. Susan.
2:48:33 - Ms. Klein, I wanna say thank you,
2:48:35 because I think that that piece that we’re all discussing
2:48:37 is the most important part for elementary,
2:48:39 for us to keep our kids inside of our schools.
2:48:42 I also think it’s the most important
2:48:44 to make sure that we don’t have a mass exodus
2:48:46 of teachers from the schools to Brevard Virtual,
2:48:49 and then have to have them come back.
2:48:51 I applaud you in all the efforts.
2:48:52 I know that it’s so difficult to put all of this together.
2:48:56 I know that it’s not perfect right there,
2:48:57 because you’re trying to find, at the last minute,
2:48:59 teachers who can do it online,
2:49:02 teachers who are dynamic,
2:49:03 and sometimes those are the people
2:49:04 that are your best inside the brick and mortar classes
2:49:06 are gonna be your best on the virtual.
2:49:08 So there’s just that dynamic that works in there.
2:49:10 So I applaud your efforts, and I wanna say thank you.
2:49:14 The survey, I almost feel like it should be mandatory,
2:49:17 because I don’t know if, and I know, please,
2:49:20 the thing is, is that if we don’t know,
2:49:23 then we don’t know how many teachers we’re going to need,
2:49:28 which means our par numbers are off, which means everything.
2:49:31 So if we know that you’re going to keep your kid at home,
2:49:34 or we know that you’re going to come back,
2:49:35 then we know that we have those numbers,
2:49:38 because the next step of this
2:49:39 that not many of the parents understand,
2:49:41 that they have to take a responsibility here,
2:49:42 because this is very difficult,
2:49:44 and I know that we’re throwing it at them
2:49:46 at the last minute, and I know everybody’s gonna say
2:49:48 that this is, but this is the most important piece,
2:49:51 because if they let you know what you do,
2:49:52 and you can prepare and plan,
2:49:54 then the fidelity of their education is going to be higher,
2:49:57 and I wanted to applaud you
2:49:58 for everything you’re doing there.
2:50:00 - On the page, I’m sorry, I wrote over the top of it, 16,
2:50:04 it references the department,
2:50:06 and I’m guessing that’s the Department of Education, right?
2:50:11 Assurance number six.
2:50:13 - Yes, that’s the department.
2:50:14 - A lot of what I heard was the department is telling us,
2:50:19 this might not, well, how can we help that?
2:50:21 How can we lobby the Department of Education
2:50:24 for the things that we need?
2:50:26 Because to me, this is the most important piece
2:50:29 that we’re looking at to attract our parents
2:50:32 to create the school within the school,
2:50:35 to create all of the bond of the school,
2:50:37 the same education, the same teachers, the same everything.
2:50:39 My daughter, she’s upset because she doesn’t know
2:50:42 which teacher she’s getting next year.
2:50:43 She’s already got which teacher she likes,
2:50:45 because they all know the teachers.
2:50:46 So when they’re telling them that this may not work
2:50:49 because of this, how do we help you?
2:50:52 Is there a way for us, as elected officials,
2:50:54 to help you through this process?
2:50:56 - At this time, I think that the state is trying
2:51:01 to meet the needs of every district,
2:51:06 and they have not, you know, the timeline?
2:51:11 Sure, July 31st is tomorrow in my book,
2:51:15 but I understand the why of why, you know,
2:51:18 they need these plans approved, and then back to us
2:51:23 to say, yes, you can go with your Brevard eLearning
2:51:27 for elementary.
2:51:28 So it is truly, they are very available
2:51:33 to answer questions and support.
2:51:36 You can email Jacob Oliva, and he might personally
2:51:40 just call you right back up, Dr. Sullivan.
2:51:44 So they are, really have been partners.
2:51:48 I’ve seen a huge change in the relationship
2:51:52 with our Department of Education partners in supporting us.
2:51:57 - He was great when he was speaking.
2:51:59 I think the key to hear is that if this is done
2:52:02 to fidelity and strong, I feel that the students,
2:52:05 if we have to shut down a class, if we have to shut down,
2:52:08 to be able to transition back and forth like that
2:52:10 is the most important, and for them not to give us
2:52:13 the approval would be, I think they’ll be there.
2:52:15 I just wanted to know if there’s anything we need
2:52:17 to be doing to help you and support you in this adventure
2:52:19 in that route, please let me know,
2:52:20 because I would be there for you.
2:52:22 - The next thing is, is the charter schools.
2:52:24 Did you say, I think I heard you say there’s a date
2:52:26 that they have to turn those in, those charter school plans?
2:52:29 - Their plan has to be part of our plan.
2:52:32 So when we submit to the state by July 31st,
2:52:37 so we have asked that their plans to be to us a week prior.
2:52:43 So Ms. Archer is working with the charters.
2:52:50 She was on the call to learn all about the assurances
2:52:53 for charter, and she’s working directly with them
2:52:56 and with me on getting those plans.
2:52:59 - Can you email those to us when you get them?
2:53:02 - If I get them, yeah, that’s fine.
2:53:05 - Thank you.
2:53:07 And then I wanted to kind of tell real quick,
2:53:09 there was some conversations about the students
2:53:13 that haven’t turned them in as far as the computers
2:53:15 and stuff like that.
2:53:17 I want everybody to hesitate for a second
2:53:19 before we start saying that there’s kids
2:53:20 that are trying to take this for their own stuff.
2:53:24 We have a lot of students through my mobile feed sites
2:53:26 that I was feeding down in the Melbourne area
2:53:28 in the Ogallic corridor, where kids were at one feed site,
2:53:32 were at another feed site.
2:53:33 And I would ask them, how’d you get here?
2:53:35 And well, my cousin, my aunt, my whatever had to go to work.
2:53:39 So now I’m living with my, right?
2:53:42 So there’s a lot of us chasing down those devices.
2:53:45 So for the public that’s listening, before we decide
2:53:49 that we’re going to start saying
2:53:50 that kids are taking these things,
2:53:52 there’s a very large population of students
2:53:54 that we are still trying to track down
2:53:56 because during this COVID crisis,
2:53:57 there’s individuals that receive those
2:53:59 that may not be living in the same address.
2:54:01 And that’s a very difficult thing.
2:54:02 And the parents that they’re living with
2:54:03 don’t have the contact information
2:54:05 in order to get those back.
2:54:06 So I wanted to just make that known.
2:54:08 The other thing I would like everybody to understand also
2:54:10 when you’re making your decisions
2:54:11 on who gets multiple laptops or who gets a laptop,
2:54:15 we have some families that have three or four kids.
2:54:18 And the bottom line is, is that they can’t share one computer
2:54:21 because otherwise there’s no way for them all to use it.
2:54:23 So there may be need for students
2:54:26 that are inside multiple student families
2:54:29 to sit down and have multiple computers
2:54:31 just based upon the time-lapse.
2:54:32 We were running into a situation
2:54:34 where some students needed,
2:54:36 some parents needed multiple laptops for their children
2:54:40 that were then consolidating with other parents.
2:54:44 And what had happened was that you had six or seven children
2:54:47 trying to use two or three laptops during a day
2:54:50 on multiple platforms with different areas.
2:54:53 So please understand that in some of those
2:54:55 low socioeconomic areas that we have,
2:54:57 there may be a bigger need than just that for the families.
2:55:00 So thank you for that.
2:55:01 And then I wanted to ask this.
2:55:04 It might be something to think about.
2:55:07 Do we have like a parent guide for parents
2:55:10 for the e-use?
2:55:11 Like I’m a parent, right?
2:55:13 My kid’s gonna get ready to do this.
2:55:14 Do we have a, here’s how this X, Y, and Z?
2:55:17 Do we have that?
2:55:18 - That is part of the work that we’re working on.
2:55:21 I believe you received a one page front and back draft
2:55:26 of what the parent’s responsibilities.
2:55:31 And like I said, the work team is still working on
2:55:38 fleshing out all the components, I kind of asked this team
2:55:43 to come together like, I don’t know, eight days ago,
2:55:46 maybe seven, and said, “Hey, what if, and let’s try.”
2:55:52 And they have been amazing in pulling this together.
2:55:56 One of the things I did want to emphasize about the survey,
2:56:00 we’re asking that that be completed for each child.
2:56:05 So if you have multiple children,
2:56:07 you’ll need to do one of those for each child in your home.
2:56:11 - And needs to be driven home, the fact that we are,
2:56:14 we literally have teachers who are waiting to find out
2:56:18 what their decisions are gonna be
2:56:19 at their school-based location based upon those surveys.
2:56:22 And it behooves those teachers or those parents
2:56:24 to fill those out immediately so that we can start preparing
2:56:27 for their kid’s education.
2:56:28 That is a massive thing.
2:56:29 So anything I can do to help you there.
2:56:31 And so you said that we’ll have some kind of a parent guide
2:56:33 for these parents that may not be the best at their thing.
2:56:37 - Okay.
2:56:37 And I think that I’ll get back into the COVID,
2:56:40 the stuff internally later on.
2:56:42 So I’m good.
2:56:43 - Can I clarify on the-
2:56:44 - Do we have an additional question?
2:56:46 - Can I clarify on the devices?
2:56:47 I didn’t mean that to be negative.
2:56:49 It was just, I just wanted it to be clear.
2:56:50 It’s hard for us to do an assessment
2:56:52 with that many devices still out.
2:56:54 And then not having those devices in school.
2:56:56 Sometimes those devices are used by 10, 15 students
2:56:58 through the course of a day.
2:56:59 So not having it at the school,
2:57:01 it’s gonna affect a lot more students
2:57:03 that are actually in the school.
2:57:04 - And you guys are amazing, Russell,
2:57:06 for all the work that you did during that transition.
2:57:09 Rapidly deploying, what was it, 15,000 devices?
2:57:12 And how many hotspots?
2:57:15 Yeah, in that amount of time, it was amazing.
2:57:18 So thank you.
2:57:20 - Ms. McDougall?
2:57:23 - About the survey.
2:57:23 Ms. Klein, I wanna just kind of mention,
2:57:26 so this survey is gonna be on our webpage,
2:57:30 or is that, how is that gonna be sent out?
2:57:32 ‘Cause I get concerned if it’s all online,
2:57:35 that some of my communities,
2:57:38 some of my parents may not have access.
2:57:40 And I’m assuming it’s going to be also in Spanish.
2:57:45 I just wanna make sure that
2:57:48 some of my meatier communities have access to that,
2:57:54 and they understand that.
2:57:55 I get concerned if it’s just gonna be online.
2:57:59 - So Ms. McDougall, the survey will be sent out
2:58:03 by each school, so it’ll be sent out
2:58:08 ‘cause there’s site-specific surveys.
2:58:11 We can make the survey available paper or pencil
2:58:15 if they wanna make an appointment
2:58:17 to come by the school and pick those up.
2:58:19 But it will go out through all the communication tools
2:58:22 that we currently have for families.
2:58:25 So the Blackboard, through email,
2:58:30 we’re going to do a mass distribution of that
2:58:34 at the conclusion of today.
2:58:36 Also, I’ve talked with Nikki Hensley,
2:58:39 and Nikki’s gonna do a lot of advertisement
2:58:42 about this on Facebook.
2:58:44 But to give us accurate information,
2:58:47 it has to be site-specific.
2:58:50 And that way, the principal knows exactly
2:58:54 who’s filling it out
2:58:55 and how it’s gonna impact their allocations.
2:59:00 - So I mean, I get that it’s site-specific,
2:59:03 and which leads me to some of my sites.
2:59:06 Some of my sites, this may sound odd,
2:59:09 but would we even go to the home
2:59:12 if we don’t hear from them?
2:59:15 I’m just, I know this COVID is,
2:59:17 but if we wear masks and we’re protected,
2:59:20 would we ever do something like that?
2:59:22 - So it will go to cell phones as well.
2:59:26 So anyone with a cell phone can complete this survey
2:59:30 via a cell phone.
2:59:31 And our principals,
2:59:38 - They’re amazing.
2:59:40 - I can’t even think of a word
2:59:42 to describe how amazing our principals are.
2:59:46 They have gone,
2:59:49 they are working like,
2:59:55 makes me emotional.
2:59:58 They’re amazing.
2:59:59 And they’re doing that unbelievable work
3:00:02 to reach every family.
3:00:04 So they are still in all of this,
3:00:11 going out to homes, visiting families,
3:00:15 checking on kids that they’re worried about,
3:00:18 checking on families they just haven’t heard from.
3:00:23 Our principals haven’t taken a break.
3:00:27 And I’m very proud of them.
3:00:32 - As you should be, I think we’re very blessed
3:00:35 to have the principals that we do have.
3:00:37 So thank you, Ms. Klein.
3:00:41 - Mr. Susan.
3:00:43 - That’s all I have.
3:00:44 - Sorry, Ms. McDougall.
3:00:45 So are we doing e-learning for pre-K through sixth,
3:00:51 or is it just going to be K through six?
3:00:53 How’s that working as pre-K?
3:00:54 - I knew you were going to bring up something for pre-K.
3:00:58 So yesterday on the webinar,
3:01:04 there was a question about what about pre-K for e-learning?
3:01:09 And the answer is the Office of Early Learning
3:01:15 will provide us additional information at a later time.
3:01:23 - Do we know what time that later time is?
3:01:25 - No, Mr. Colucci and I have had several conversations
3:01:29 about our VPK and our early head starts
3:01:36 and all those programs.
3:01:37 And so we’re waiting on additional information
3:01:41 from the Office of Early Learning.
3:01:45 - Do you have an address for that place
3:01:46 so I can go visit them?
3:01:48 - Yes, they’re in Tallahassee.
3:01:50 - There’s a local one here too.
3:01:52 - But the local is only a,
3:01:56 that’s our Office of Early Learning
3:01:58 who gets their direction of the Office of Early Learning
3:02:02 out of Tallahassee.
3:02:05 - Okay.
3:02:07 And then sixth grade, is it the same curriculum
3:02:12 in elementary school that’s not being moved up
3:02:14 to middle school because of the way we are,
3:02:17 the district it has still in elementary school, right?
3:02:21 - Our curriculum for sixth grade is…
3:02:24 - Elementary right now.
3:02:26 - But it’s the sixth grade standards.
3:02:28 - Right, I’m just making sure
3:02:30 that there’s nothing gonna happen.
3:02:31 Okay, all right, that’s it, thank you.
3:02:35 - All right.
3:02:39 Ms. Klein, what happens if our charter schools
3:02:41 don’t submit their plans to you?
3:02:47 - That will be a personal phone call first
3:02:49 to say where are your plans?
3:02:54 So I’m working through this charter school processes
3:03:01 and the communication plan with them.
3:03:06 Ms. Archer is working on the communication with them.
3:03:11 If in fact we do not get a plan from them,
3:03:17 that’s when the DOE will get involved as the liaison.
3:03:23 The DOE said yesterday that they don’t want us to be the,
3:03:33 they want us to have conversation
3:03:34 and work with charter schools on their plan,
3:03:36 but if it becomes something
3:03:38 that they’re not turning in things,
3:03:41 they want us to contact the DOE
3:03:43 and let them be the liaison if we can’t move them forward.
3:03:47 - So will we still be able to turn in our plan
3:03:50 if we don’t have all of the charter school plans?
3:03:52 Have they–
3:03:54 - My understanding from yesterday’s call is yes,
3:03:57 we will turn in what we have
3:04:01 before the July 31st deadline.
3:04:04 - Okay, and then I feel like there’s an elephant in the room
3:04:10 that just needs to be addressed,
3:04:12 and that is Assurance 1.
3:04:16 And that is that we will assure
3:04:20 that all brick and mortar schools are open in August,
3:04:21 at least five days per week for all students.
3:04:23 And I know there’s been a lot of media coverage
3:04:27 that some of our friends to the south are,
3:04:31 I think the initial one was Broward came out and said,
3:04:34 “We are not going back to brick and mortar schools,”
3:04:36 but I think he has backtracked a little bit since then.
3:04:40 I think there was a Palm Beach that came out.
3:04:42 And obviously our constituents, or at least my constituents,
3:04:47 I don’t know if everyone’s hearing from everyone,
3:04:48 but there are lots of questions
3:04:50 as to why Broward does not have the option
3:04:53 to not go back to brick and mortar right now
3:04:55 and continue just our online learning.
3:05:01 Certainly from the board member perspective,
3:05:03 I think there are some elements there,
3:05:05 but I didn’t know if anyone wanted to speak to that.
3:05:09 I feel like it’s kind of an answer that we owe our community
3:05:13 so that they can understand why what we’re dealing with
3:05:15 might not be the same as what they’re seeing
3:05:17 in some of those media stories.
3:05:20 - Yeah, so I can address or try to respond to that.
3:05:23 In our conversations with the Department of Education
3:05:26 and their direction, the language,
3:05:29 the expectations have been very clear
3:05:31 for districts moving towards reopening brick and mortar.
3:05:35 I think we have to keep in mind that South Florida
3:05:37 has been in a different place,
3:05:40 in a different circumstance all along.
3:05:43 They were closed before other places were across the state.
3:05:47 They are in a different place and stage
3:05:49 in the governor’s reopening plan.
3:05:52 The DOE has, in all of the conversations
3:05:55 beginning with the session on Monday,
3:05:57 which was the first webinar received,
3:06:00 acknowledged that South Florida districts
3:06:02 were being given different considerations
3:06:06 than other places across the state.
3:06:07 And I would suggest we are one of the other places
3:06:11 across the state in implementing the emergency order
3:06:14 from the Commissioner of Education.
3:06:16 So we have not been given that place
3:06:20 to give other considerations at this time.
3:06:22 And we’ve been literally on webinars every day
3:06:26 since Monday with the DOE going through the expectations
3:06:30 and going through the plan and expectations and so on.
3:06:34 - Thank you, Dr. Mullen.
3:06:39 Ms. Klein, will the full-time e-learning from school at home
3:06:43 also encompass our choice schools?
3:06:46 - Yes.
3:06:47 - So even regardless of what elementary school
3:06:49 they’re going to, that option should be available.
3:06:52 - Ah, 57 elementary schools.
3:06:54 - Thank you.
3:06:56 And with regard to our full-time in-person,
3:07:00 and I’m guessing this will,
3:07:02 I know you said that we have to meet class size amendment.
3:07:05 Will we be decreasing the number of students
3:07:08 that we are putting into a classroom,
3:07:09 or do you feel confident at this point
3:07:13 that we can, within class size amendment,
3:07:16 maintain six-foot social distancing in the classrooms?
3:07:21 Do we need to cap our numbers, I guess,
3:07:23 is the easiest way to ask that.
3:07:25 - So we’re gonna get deeper into the classes,
3:07:29 the layout of the classrooms,
3:07:31 but, and from the American Pediatric Association,
3:07:36 the six-foot is not necessarily the requirement
3:07:40 for in-classroom, it’s more of a three-foot.
3:07:43 So we are working to that to maximize the classroom
3:07:49 as much as we can, but maintaining class size
3:07:53 and maintaining the social distancing
3:07:56 that we can within the classroom.
3:08:00 And that’s the same thing with the bus,
3:08:02 having to do a seat on the bus,
3:08:05 we’re gonna get more into transportation here
3:08:07 in a little bit.
3:08:10 - All right, thank you.
3:08:13 Any other board members have any questions
3:08:15 on this particular section before we move on to our next?
3:08:19 - If I could just clarify, I had forgotten about that.
3:08:22 South Florida, you said was in a different,
3:08:24 I don’t know if they call them stage or phase,
3:08:25 I can’t remember, but are they still in phase one,
3:08:29 and the rest of us are in phase two, right?
3:08:31 Is that the, or stage? - That’s my understanding.
3:08:32 - Okay, that’s it, thanks, Dr. Melitz.
3:08:36 - All right, then I believe we are moving on to Dr. Sullivan.
3:08:41 - Yes, thank you.
3:08:42 I’m happy to talk about our secondary options.
3:08:45 We’re fortunate in Brevard that we already have
3:08:48 a rather robust array of options,
3:08:51 but in all fairness to our parents,
3:08:54 who may be surprised from some of these options,
3:08:56 we haven’t always amplified the use of the flexibility
3:09:01 that we currently have.
3:09:03 And so there are a lot of options for our students
3:09:06 and their parents, and as opposed to in other years
3:09:10 where we might have been really like reserved
3:09:12 and controlling about flexibility,
3:09:15 we’re throwing caution to the wind
3:09:16 and supporting flexibility.
3:09:18 So first, of course, as mentioned,
3:09:20 the DOE required full-time in-person at school.
3:09:24 I do wanna flip back to the assurances rather quickly.
3:09:29 The assurances are necessary before the department
3:09:36 will consider approving an alternate option.
3:09:40 And so they’re literally hierarchical
3:09:44 in that if you don’t do this, we won’t approve that.
3:09:47 And so I just wanted to clarify that.
3:09:50 So your creative, or they’re using the term innovative–
3:09:53 - Innovative. - option won’t be approved
3:09:55 unless you can guarantee all these things.
3:09:57 So just a little point of clarification there.
3:09:59 - Thank you.
3:10:00 - Full-time Brevard virtual school, as we know, is an option.
3:10:05 A couple of questions that continue to come up.
3:10:07 Our virtual school curriculum
3:10:09 is Florida virtual school curriculum
3:10:12 run by Brevard Public Schools teachers
3:10:15 within a Brevard Public School.
3:10:18 And so students who do full-time Brevard virtual school
3:10:22 are full-time students of a school,
3:10:24 an accredited school on a degree-earning pathway.
3:10:28 Something that there’s a lot of questions about
3:10:31 with Brevard virtual school
3:10:32 and some potentially misinformation or misinterpretation
3:10:35 of how the information is presented
3:10:38 is it is a smooth transition
3:10:40 for a Brevard virtual full-time student
3:10:43 back into the regular school.
3:10:46 There’s a little misinformation out there
3:10:48 that it has to be all or nothing at the semester,
3:10:51 and that’s true for part-time, but not full-time.
3:10:55 Full-time Brevard virtual students
3:10:57 do meet instructional minutes.
3:10:59 So if a parent did full-time for a month
3:11:03 and then wanted to return into the school,
3:11:05 they would get transfer grades and returned into the school,
3:11:09 just like a student transitioning
3:11:10 between two of our standard schools.
3:11:13 And there seemed to be a lot of confusion around that,
3:11:15 so I thought I’d emphasize that.
3:11:17 Any parent with any questions
3:11:19 regarding Brevard virtual school
3:11:21 should absolutely call the school.
3:11:23 They are returning every single call.
3:11:25 They are on a couple days delay
3:11:27 because they are experiencing quite a number of interests,
3:11:30 which we’re thrilled about, but they will get back to you.
3:11:33 They have an excellent FAQ on their website as well,
3:11:36 and we certainly encourage parents to take a look at that.
3:11:40 Part-time in-person and part-time Brevard virtual school
3:11:44 is a very, very common occurrence around our district.
3:11:47 It is not uncommon for a student
3:11:49 to take one or two classes at their home school
3:11:52 and then choose the rest of their day to be virtual school.
3:11:55 We work with that all the time.
3:11:57 Again, we may not have encouraged it,
3:12:01 but now, of course, we’re gonna be more encouraging
3:12:04 of that option.
3:12:05 So for example, a student who really struggles in math
3:12:09 that really wants that person
3:12:11 being able to help ask questions,
3:12:14 perhaps their IEP is focusing on some processing deficits
3:12:17 and related to math, they really wanna have
3:12:19 that instructional assistant help them,
3:12:22 they might come into campus, take one math class,
3:12:25 and then do the rest of their virtual school at home
3:12:27 so the parent can choose to minimize their child’s contact
3:12:33 beyond full-time, provided they’re still meeting
3:12:36 a full caseload of classes,
3:12:38 and we’ll talk a little bit more about that as well.
3:12:40 It’s not uncommon for students to do virtual class
3:12:44 and then come in sixth or seventh period
3:12:47 and do a couple of in-person classes.
3:12:50 It’s very common.
3:12:51 It often happens with ROTC or some of those classes
3:12:54 that those parents often wanna engage in.
3:12:57 So right now, without approval from the state,
3:13:00 without waiting on additional information,
3:13:02 our parents can choose that combination that suits them.
3:13:07 If they take at least one class at the home school,
3:13:12 they are still attached to that home school.
3:13:15 And so for example, if a student from Merritt Island
3:13:19 High School is concerned about a lot of access,
3:13:24 they might choose one course on campus
3:13:26 attached to Merritt Island,
3:13:28 and then the other courses virtual.
3:13:31 Conversely, that class on campus,
3:13:34 dual enrollment also counts.
3:13:37 So picture a child who might choose
3:13:40 one dual enrollment class.
3:13:42 These would be students that are eligible from 10th, 11th,
3:13:45 and 12th grade, one dual enrollment class,
3:13:48 and maybe they choose it virtual.
3:13:51 And then they choose the rest of their case also virtual.
3:13:56 They are still attached to Merritt Island High School.
3:13:59 And so there is a lot of flexibility there,
3:14:03 particularly in 10th and 11th and 12th grade
3:14:05 for our students who can also access dual enrollment.
3:14:08 So a student could be off campus all day
3:14:11 from 10th grade on who qualify for dual enrollment
3:14:14 and have an integrated experience
3:14:16 and still be attached to their original school.
3:14:19 And so again, that may not have always been clear
3:14:22 to our families that that has always been available,
3:14:25 but we wanna make certain now especially that they know it.
3:14:29 We’ve spoken to all of our school principals
3:14:31 and assistant principals, and have asked them
3:14:33 to speak with their guidance counselors
3:14:36 and make sure that every family
3:14:38 that wants to discuss their personal situation
3:14:41 is given all the combinations that are eligible to them,
3:14:45 not necessarily just the ones we would advise.
3:14:48 We’re gonna still give our advice,
3:14:50 but we’re gonna of course let them know
3:14:52 everything that’s available to them.
3:14:54 And so that final bullet there of course
3:14:56 mentioned dual enrollment.
3:14:57 So some of our seniors are eligible
3:15:01 to be full-time dual enrollment right now.
3:15:05 They could do an early admissions year
3:15:07 through Eastern Florida, begin their college career
3:15:09 or end their college career depending on how far they are.
3:15:13 We did have an earlier deadline for early admissions,
3:15:17 but through our great partnership with Eastern Florida,
3:15:19 they’ve agreed to continue to accept students
3:15:22 in early admissions who qualify.
3:15:25 So maybe a parent right now originally thought,
3:15:28 no, I still want my child on campus some
3:15:30 even though they qualify for early admissions.
3:15:33 That answer may have changed.
3:15:34 Eastern Florida has been very flexible
3:15:37 and they’re gonna continue to accept those students.
3:15:40 And so that combination of dual enrollment,
3:15:44 the combination of Brevard Virtual School
3:15:48 and in-person class gives our parents a really like,
3:15:53 there’s a math formula I’m sure that tells me
3:15:56 how many iterations there are,
3:15:59 but I know it involves like an exclamation mark,
3:16:01 but that’s all I know.
3:16:02 And so, I’m social science teacher, sorry.
3:16:04 So we wanna encourage that.
3:16:07 We wanna encourage the parent that wants to make it work,
3:16:09 maybe still has work obligations,
3:16:11 but doesn’t want their child there all day.
3:16:14 And so we will make that abundantly clear.
3:16:17 In the last couple of days,
3:16:18 we’ve really amplified our information to our counselors.
3:16:21 We’ve given our school counselors additional summer hours
3:16:24 that was in one of the slides there,
3:16:27 but I don’t think we spoke to it through CARES Act again.
3:16:31 I know how to get blood out of a stone.
3:16:32 So we’ve given our school counselors additional hours
3:16:36 to be accessible for our families.
3:16:38 And in elementary school,
3:16:39 we also added assistant principal hours
3:16:41 because they normally don’t even have assistant principals
3:16:43 in the summer.
3:16:44 So we looked at the programs
3:16:46 where our parents need more access.
3:16:49 So I’m gonna move on to the next page,
3:16:52 which is gonna be new for people to see and think about.
3:16:58 Seven classes a day has weighed very heavily on me.
3:17:02 It is a situation that offers a lot of transition,
3:17:09 a lot of student contact, student to student,
3:17:13 student to teacher, teacher to student,
3:17:15 every combination thereof.
3:17:18 It generally creates a really like exciting, robust,
3:17:22 interesting, interactive day.
3:17:24 But again, in thinking about the safety
3:17:26 of our students first,
3:17:28 I had to put aside some other concerns.
3:17:31 So every situation we face,
3:17:33 I had to weigh what makes more sense
3:17:35 in that given situation.
3:17:37 So at this point, I’ve asked all secondary schools
3:17:40 to examine the feasibility of a block schedule
3:17:44 for the 2020-2021 school year
3:17:47 under our current staffing plan.
3:17:49 And I wanna explain
3:17:50 what that single powerful statement means.
3:17:54 One, right now we’re simply examining the feasibility.
3:17:57 I’m asking the schools to see if they can pull this off
3:18:02 with their current staffing plans.
3:18:05 Every time we talk about less students in a class,
3:18:09 more students in a class,
3:18:10 we’re talking about teachers and every teacher,
3:18:13 we’re talking about a million dollars, right?
3:18:14 So everything comes with a cost.
3:18:17 Block schedule is typically significantly more expensive
3:18:21 than a six out of seven period.
3:18:23 It is less economy of teacher units,
3:18:27 and so therefore it requires more teacher units.
3:18:30 However, with the flexibilities that we have in high school,
3:18:35 we are anticipating a significant portion of students
3:18:40 not requiring all eight blocks on campus.
3:18:44 And so for example,
3:18:45 if a school already has several hundred students
3:18:48 who do dual enrollment,
3:18:50 several hundred students who regularly engage in virtual
3:18:53 school, I’ll give you an example.
3:18:55 Last year, we did well over 5,000
3:19:00 part-time virtual school courses,
3:19:03 and that was pre-pandemic.
3:19:06 And so if a school has students
3:19:08 that are going to still be a part of that school,
3:19:12 but opt out of needing all blocks,
3:19:15 that allows the school some flexibility
3:19:17 in potentially filling all their needs cost neutral.
3:19:22 It’s a big, bold statement that I’m making,
3:19:24 and I can’t make any guarantees at this point.
3:19:31 The value of minimizing the risk to the students,
3:19:35 to me, is worth attempting that.
3:19:37 I want to be clear,
3:19:38 it’s on the backs of our administrators right now.
3:19:40 This was a tough conversation,
3:19:42 asking them to re-look at
3:19:44 what is one of the single biggest jobs they do in the summer.
3:19:49 Like Jane, our principals are unbelievable.
3:19:53 The work they’ve done is indescribable.
3:19:55 Our teachers, our custodians,
3:19:58 every person a part of the school operation
3:20:00 has been impacted and their job has doubled.
3:20:02 I’m just gonna say it, I believe it’s at least doubled.
3:20:05 And this is no small ask,
3:20:11 but I feel strongly about minimizing impact
3:20:15 to the safety of our faculty and our staff.
3:20:19 This is a recommendation only for 2021,
3:20:23 because again, it is typically a very costly recommendation
3:20:26 that would require all kinds of meetings
3:20:29 and budgets and discussion.
3:20:31 And that’s why we want to be clear
3:20:33 that this is a single year recommendation.
3:20:37 The configuration I’m most concerned about is middle school.
3:20:40 Our middle schools will likely not have as many students
3:20:45 taking advantage of the flexibility
3:20:47 that our high schools are traditionally used to.
3:20:49 Although there’s no reason why in a middle school,
3:20:52 a student could take a math block, an English block,
3:20:58 go home for lunch, and then two virtual classes.
3:21:01 We would certainly encourage our middle schools
3:21:04 to start looking at flexibility
3:21:06 that’s already offered more robustly.
3:21:09 And we are gonna, again, be more vocal
3:21:11 about those flexibilities that are out there.
3:21:14 But given we expect less students
3:21:17 to opt out of in-person blocks,
3:21:20 we know there might be a financial impact to middle schools,
3:21:23 which is why we are at this point simply examining it.
3:21:28 If I were a guessing person, and I don’t like to guess,
3:21:32 I would suspect that our traditional 11 middle schools
3:21:37 might need an extra teaching unit in order to make it work.
3:21:44 And so, again, that’s simply a guess at this point.
3:21:46 There’s a lot that goes into it,
3:21:48 and parents choosing alternate options is part of the story.
3:21:51 Before I go on, I realize I left something
3:21:54 out of Eastern Florida.
3:21:57 Eastern Florida has just released their fall schedule,
3:22:00 and their schedule is full of a variety of options
3:22:05 of online, synchronous and asynchronous,
3:22:08 hybrid and in-person.
3:22:10 So normally we would have done some high school scheduling
3:22:13 by now with fall dual enrollment,
3:22:16 but because they too are facing the COVID crisis,
3:22:19 we actually haven’t done that yet.
3:22:21 So we’re right at a sweet spot in time
3:22:23 on making this decision,
3:22:25 because the schedules haven’t been created yet.
3:22:28 There are also more students eligible
3:22:30 for dual enrollment classes
3:22:31 than typically take advantage of it.
3:22:34 We have the 3.0 standard requirement
3:22:36 for our associates of art students,
3:22:39 but there’s additional students
3:22:41 that could take advantage of it with a 2.5,
3:22:43 and even students with a 2.0
3:22:45 that are interested in a vocational certificate.
3:22:48 Although we’ve tried to amplify
3:22:51 the communication around those options,
3:22:52 I find that a lot of families still don’t understand
3:22:55 that even though their student might not meet
3:22:58 what they’ve imagined
3:22:59 as the traditional dual enrollment student,
3:23:02 the dual enrollment student can be any kind of student
3:23:05 interested in the offerings of Eastern Florida,
3:23:07 and we encourage people to ask
3:23:09 if their student can meet those requirements,
3:23:11 and all of that’s outlined on our dual enrollment pages.
3:23:14 So that said, I’d like to everybody take a look
3:23:17 at the information that has swayed me
3:23:21 to push our already overworked administrators
3:23:24 to take the time out to look at this.
3:23:26 Our students would enroll
3:23:27 in four 90-minute classes per semester.
3:23:31 And so they would be taking a year-long course
3:23:34 within a semester.
3:23:37 What that means is at the end of the school year,
3:23:39 they will have had actually eight opportunities
3:23:42 for a course versus seven.
3:23:44 And given the challenges that many of our students faced
3:23:48 or the desires that students have to accelerate,
3:23:51 an eighth block gives them that opportunity.
3:23:54 And so perhaps they need to retake a course
3:23:57 that they were not successful in.
3:23:59 It gives them that flexibility.
3:24:01 Perhaps they wanna add a learning strategies course
3:24:03 that they couldn’t put in their schedule before.
3:24:06 It gives them that flexibility.
3:24:08 Or a student that might want to accelerate
3:24:11 to graduate early also has that flexibility
3:24:14 with an additional block.
3:24:17 They’d have decreased exposure.
3:24:18 We’re cutting their exposure in half.
3:24:20 We’re cutting class change in half.
3:24:22 That’s a big number for me
3:24:24 in how we’re decreasing contact.
3:24:28 Smoother transition when distance learning
3:24:30 becomes necessary.
3:24:31 And I didn’t say if, I said when.
3:24:35 For common language, we are choosing distance learning
3:24:40 to represent learning when students
3:24:43 who have opted for a traditional experience
3:24:46 have an interruption in that
3:24:48 because of COVID-related circumstance.
3:24:51 Could be they themselves test positive or fragile,
3:24:56 somebody in their class.
3:24:57 We may need, the school may need to close for three days,
3:25:00 two weeks, all those iterations that we expect to be coming,
3:25:04 we expect to sometimes be short
3:25:06 or longer term interruptions.
3:25:08 All those students of course will be served
3:25:10 through distance learning with their regular teacher
3:25:12 like they’ve done.
3:25:14 But now we have so many more skills at our disposal.
3:25:17 So a student, one of the complaints we heard of course
3:25:20 is seven classes, that’s a lot.
3:25:22 And so four teachers, four classes,
3:25:25 a much smoother transition in and out in that circumstance.
3:25:30 It also allows for extended class time
3:25:32 for those that require more protocols
3:25:34 such as CTE, music, science lab and other hands-on classes.
3:25:41 I know our Career and Tech Education Department
3:25:43 when they heard we were looking at this,
3:25:45 they were incredibly excited.
3:25:47 That is a dream schedule for a Career and Tech Ed program.
3:25:50 Block scheduling is not uncommon at all
3:25:53 in Career and Tech Ed because of the time.
3:25:55 But beyond having their kids
3:25:57 for that extended period of time,
3:25:59 it allows for more cleaning protocols.
3:26:01 It also allows for credentials and courses
3:26:05 to be completed in a semester
3:26:07 and potentially allowing more students
3:26:10 to do pre-apprenticeships or internships in the spring
3:26:14 and allows us some flexibility there.
3:26:16 As we look at our teachers,
3:26:22 my heart is heavy for how our teachers
3:26:25 are going to be expected to be magicians.
3:26:29 And they are in all reality,
3:26:35 they are going to have their class loads of students.
3:26:38 Within that class loads,
3:26:40 they’re gonna have little Tina
3:26:41 that was on quarantine yesterday,
3:26:44 Sally whose grandmother is now sick
3:26:46 and now is this level of quarantine.
3:26:48 And since those are standard students in their class,
3:26:51 they’re gonna have to continue to support them
3:26:54 and juggle a little with distance learning.
3:26:56 Sometimes for some students,
3:26:58 sometimes for their whole class,
3:26:59 they themselves may get ill.
3:27:01 And to cut them from six sections of 25 students
3:27:08 for that juggling act to three blocks of intense support
3:27:14 for half the number of students,
3:27:17 I think is really important.
3:27:19 More likely for a teacher to be able to manage that
3:27:22 within that 90 minute block.
3:27:24 But more importantly,
3:27:25 it gives those teachers a 90 minute planning period.
3:27:29 And 90 minute planning period is still not enough
3:27:32 for what our teachers do,
3:27:34 but it allows more time for that juggling
3:27:36 of those students who are ill,
3:27:38 them continuing to fine tune their skills
3:27:41 in blended learning and instruction.
3:27:44 And so it gives them half those total number of students
3:27:48 and an increased amount of time for planning,
3:27:51 which again is still a fraction of the time
3:27:53 that our teachers spend on trying to meet the needs
3:27:56 of all their students.
3:27:58 It cuts the teacher’s exposure in half.
3:28:01 That’s a big number.
3:28:02 Again, this is a big lift, a big ask
3:28:04 to try to pull this off cost neutral in our schools.
3:28:07 But cutting their exposure in half
3:28:10 is something that I can’t ignore.
3:28:13 Changes average total number of students
3:28:15 a teacher’s managing.
3:28:16 And why is this important?
3:28:19 I’m just using average numbers.
3:28:22 Most teachers have about 150 total students.
3:28:25 That means a lot of teachers have large numbers
3:28:28 of students with IEPs,
3:28:30 large numbers of students with health plans,
3:28:31 large numbers of students with 504s,
3:28:34 and all of the undocumented, unwritten plans,
3:28:37 special unique needs of their kids.
3:28:39 And they have quick, rapid fire chances
3:28:42 to impact them in class and then move on to the next.
3:28:45 In a block scheduling,
3:28:46 their total would be about 75 students,
3:28:49 meaning, again, minimizing all those percentages.
3:28:53 And given all the other juggles
3:28:54 we’re asking of the teachers, we think it’s important.
3:28:57 And for our ESC support facilitators,
3:29:00 instructional assistants, again,
3:29:02 rotation fewer in between classes.
3:29:05 If you look at the next page,
3:29:06 I just identified a few other opportunities and challenges.
3:29:10 Again, fewer class transitions,
3:29:13 less students in a space throughout the day,
3:29:16 thus, less shared materials.
3:29:18 And of course, more opportunities to accelerate,
3:29:22 allowing for more mid-year graduates.
3:29:25 Lot of reasons are students who accelerate
3:29:27 are in school for the entire full senior year
3:29:30 is English 4, and this would allow a student
3:29:33 to complete it first semester if they chose,
3:29:35 and to work towards it,
3:29:37 maybe go early admission second semester,
3:29:40 or maybe take that diploma and begin their careers
3:29:43 in productivity in our community.
3:29:47 There are some challenges.
3:29:49 Hurricanes, we haven’t even mentioned the H word.
3:29:54 We haven’t mentioned the fact that every so often
3:29:59 we’re closing schools for the H word,
3:30:01 and that’s a double in instructional minutes
3:30:04 when we have to track instructional minutes.
3:30:08 Obviously, professional development is an issue.
3:30:12 I certainly, I’m gonna say this,
3:30:16 I hope it sounds the way I mean to say it.
3:30:18 I’m gonna say it as a compliment to our teachers.
3:30:21 It’s honestly less of my concern than other things.
3:30:25 Our teachers didn’t get certified to become teachers
3:30:28 because they thought 47 minutes.
3:30:30 They came certified to become teachers to be teachers,
3:30:33 and I know most of them would cherish
3:30:35 the extra instructional minutes.
3:30:37 We will absolutely share best practices and strategies
3:30:40 on how to double up content in that time period,
3:30:43 and I believe our teachers will be
3:30:44 really receptive to all of that.
3:30:46 Testing offers some unique challenges,
3:30:48 so I do want to talk about that a little bit.
3:30:52 In our secondary schools, we test a variety of assessments.
3:30:57 In state level testing, we have traditional FSA assessments,
3:31:01 and that would be in ELA,
3:31:04 and then also in seventh or eighth grade math
3:31:09 for students who are not taking high school courses.
3:31:13 Those assessments would be continued
3:31:15 to only be administered in the spring,
3:31:18 and so for some of our schools,
3:31:21 they’re just a little concerned about the disconnect
3:31:23 for students who may take a course in first semester
3:31:25 versus testing in assessment in second semester.
3:31:28 Unfortunately, we’ve had several schools
3:31:30 in Ferrari Public Schools use block over the years,
3:31:33 and they have done some great strategies.
3:31:35 For example, a student who’s a struggling reader,
3:31:39 they would do a block one semester in ILA,
3:31:42 our intensive language arts class,
3:31:43 and they would have their ELA in a second block
3:31:46 during second semester.
3:31:48 That way, the student is in a really
3:31:51 text-rich environment all year long,
3:31:53 so they have some strategies to combat that.
3:31:56 For our AP courses,
3:31:58 the administration is only second semester,
3:32:02 so again, there’s some unique challenges in there.
3:32:05 Some of our schools have talked about
3:32:07 the amplified resources by College Board.
3:32:09 They’ve done a tremendous job
3:32:11 of putting practice resources online,
3:32:14 maybe using eighth block second semester
3:32:18 for students to be able to engage in some practice content
3:32:21 for courses they took first semester.
3:32:24 IB and ACE operate differently.
3:32:27 They do offer a semester assessment
3:32:30 for students in a block schedule.
3:32:32 It’s a little earlier.
3:32:33 The classes would have a little less content,
3:32:35 but those students could test it mid-year
3:32:39 as well as in the spring,
3:32:40 so there’s a little bit more flexibility with IB and ACE.
3:32:45 I think I covered all those iterations,
3:32:47 and so we really thought about all the different courses.
3:32:50 Industry certifications could be administered all year long,
3:32:53 enrolled in earlier.
3:32:55 I’ve got a great middle school principal that’s like,
3:32:58 I could have a student do pre-algebra and algebra
3:32:59 in the same year, who is really motivated,
3:33:02 and so our principals are really looking
3:33:04 at those flexibilities.
3:33:06 So for right now, our schools are living in two lands.
3:33:09 They’re living with their traditional work
3:33:11 that they’ve done towards their seven-period schedule,
3:33:14 and they’re working in the land that they’ve known about
3:33:17 for about three days
3:33:21 of me encouraging them to look at
3:33:25 if we can make block schedule work.
3:33:29 There are risks and benefits to every situation,
3:33:32 but when I think about flexibility,
3:33:35 the word that we keep living on,
3:33:40 and I think about minimizing risk to our teachers,
3:33:44 lessening the number of students they have,
3:33:46 increasing their planning time,
3:33:49 it’s an option that I just can’t ignore.
3:33:51 And so we’re working hard on the feasibility of it.
3:33:55 Once I have a better handle on how many of our schools
3:33:59 can pull it off and what additional support they may need,
3:34:04 I’ll be sharing that with Dr. Mullins,
3:34:06 because again, support means money.
3:34:08 We always have to be direct about that,
3:34:10 and we will go from there.
3:34:13 Normally, it would be super easy for me
3:34:15 to give you a cost estimate.
3:34:17 It’s simple math, I could do it.
3:34:19 However, I think we can cut that cost
3:34:22 because of the flexibility in high school.
3:34:24 And so these are the models that we’re looking at.
3:34:28 I know that there’s not a definitive answer
3:34:31 for you there yet, but our principals,
3:34:34 our school administrators, our counselors, our clerks,
3:34:36 everybody that you can imagine is working hard.
3:34:39 The schools will be looking to identify from their students,
3:34:44 and I’m saying the word identify
3:34:47 because it’s different at each school,
3:34:49 how many students intend to take advantage
3:34:51 of virtual or dual enrollment options
3:34:55 while still being attached to their school.
3:34:57 So we can determine how many blocks that frees up,
3:35:01 and a block is a section
3:35:02 that needs a teacher attached to it.
3:35:04 And I ask them to not communicate that ‘til after today,
3:35:09 because of course, moving forward on that,
3:35:11 I would only want to task our administrators
3:35:14 to continue that exploration
3:35:16 if it met the interest of the board, of course,
3:35:20 and so I ask them to wait in soliciting feedback
3:35:22 from their school communities.
3:35:24 None of these plans that I described
3:35:27 will require DOE permission,
3:35:31 and because they are all using
3:35:33 previously employed approved strategies,
3:35:38 so I don’t have that pending board approval notation.
3:35:42 These are all accepted,
3:35:44 already previously vetted strategies
3:35:48 that the Department of Education supports.
3:35:52 And I’m ready for questions.
3:35:56 - Good questions.
3:35:57 All right, board members,
3:35:58 questions on the secondary options?
3:36:01 - I’m ready. - 22 through 24.
3:36:04 - She saw me lean forward, she knew I was coming.
3:36:07 - And I’m leaning back.
3:36:08 (all laughing)
3:36:10 - So I taught in a block schedule school for two years,
3:36:14 and it was an A/B block, which is very different
3:36:16 because you still have six to seven classes
3:36:19 that you’re responsible for,
3:36:19 and I think some people are, oh, why can’t we do that?
3:36:23 Because then we can kind of stay the same,
3:36:25 ‘cause it reduces how many students
3:36:27 you’re exposed to each day,
3:36:29 but you still have the repetition, so.
3:36:31 - Yeah, we were trying to picture,
3:36:35 did that student start the sniffles on Monday or Tuesday?
3:36:37 - Right, right, when they were in my class
3:36:39 or on the other class?
3:36:40 - And it doesn’t minimize the risk for our teachers.
3:36:42 - And it doesn’t do the other important thing,
3:36:44 which is to minimize the load for the students
3:36:47 and the teachers when it comes to the amount of work.
3:36:51 And I know having two secondary students myself,
3:36:54 you know, even in distance learning,
3:36:55 it was a lot to juggle,
3:36:57 did I get through all seven courses of my work?
3:37:01 And sometimes they were more successful.
3:37:02 - You mean your students’ work, right?
3:37:04 - My children, my children, right.
3:37:06 Sometimes they were, yeah, oh yeah, right.
3:37:09 I’m speaking of their, yeah.
3:37:10 There was no mom helping with anything for my two girls.
3:37:15 So I really appreciate the benefits
3:37:20 of the block schedule option,
3:37:23 but my music teacher heart just hurts thinking of this.
3:37:29 And I’m just, I’m gonna be Pollyanna too,
3:37:31 like a couple of us have been,
3:37:32 and this is just for this year,
3:37:33 and then we’re all gonna be past it.
3:37:34 But it really, because this is the kind,
3:37:37 we just need to be aware.
3:37:38 This is what’s gonna happen for our choirs
3:37:40 and orchestras and bands.
3:37:40 And I’m sorry if I’m leaving out other subjects
3:37:42 that are similar, but my mind thinks towards Music First,
3:37:46 that, you know, if you’re in beginning band,
3:37:48 you’re only gonna be in beginning band for one semester.
3:37:51 If you’re the advanced orchestra,
3:37:53 you’re only gonna be in one semester,
3:37:55 and we’ve gotta juggle.
3:37:56 Are you gonna go first semester, last semester?
3:37:57 And I know some of the things have changed this year.
3:37:59 I know we just got the announcement yesterday
3:38:01 that there will be marching band MPAs this year,
3:38:06 and so some of the competitions will be different,
3:38:08 and they’re all gonna be flexible.
3:38:09 We’re all gonna be flexible all year long.
3:38:10 - If I could speak to that, Ms. Campbell.
3:38:12 Fortunately, we have a phenomenal example
3:38:15 in Brevard Public Schools at Titusville High School.
3:38:17 Titusville High School is currently
3:38:19 on this block structure, and Titusville High School,
3:38:23 without question, has one of the district’s
3:38:26 most exemplary music programs.
3:38:28 - They absolutely do, I agree.
3:38:29 - Their band program is phenomenal,
3:38:32 and it belies the concerns that people have
3:38:37 with music programs, and of course,
3:38:40 I share that with my band mom, too.
3:38:42 However, Titusville, we have an exemplar in our own county,
3:38:49 several students double up, and so that happens now,
3:38:53 the students who wanna take jazz, and beginning,
3:38:56 and regular, I would imagine Mr. Schwinn,
3:39:01 who is already one of the prime mentor educators
3:39:06 in our district on music, could teach a master class
3:39:09 on block and music, and so I feel really confident
3:39:13 that if, again, the board pushes this direction,
3:39:18 that when it comes to those programs that concern people,
3:39:21 Titusville belies the logic.
3:39:25 ROTC, some of those other programs that get people nervous,
3:39:29 we have our own in-district exemplary program.
3:39:33 - Well, and I would, thank you for reminding me of that,
3:39:35 ‘cause I would say, I don’t know about
3:39:36 all the music programs, but I would say the same thing
3:39:38 about their choirs, I know they have been fantastic–
3:39:40 - They’re phenomenal.
3:39:41 - Through the years, and I was actually not aware
3:39:44 that that’s the kind of block schedule that Titusville
3:39:46 belongs to, that’s, I’m in the south end, you know,
3:39:48 we stick down to the south, but I wasn’t aware
3:39:50 that that’s the kind of block, so thank you.
3:39:54 But there’s gonna be some big changes and adjustments,
3:39:57 and again, everybody, if that’s what schools choose,
3:40:00 gonna have to just hold on for this year,
3:40:02 and we can all make it through.
3:40:05 Just the other thing that I would ask, oh,
3:40:09 one quick question, I think this is pretty easy,
3:40:10 but what about one semester classes,
3:40:12 would that be like careers, would that be a one, nine,
3:40:15 first nine weeks, second nine weeks, anything?
3:40:16 - Yes, ‘cause semester classes are completed in nine weeks,
3:40:20 and that’s a huge advantage, again, we have Titusville High
3:40:23 as our example, and what we have found amazing
3:40:28 for those programs is students have time to redo
3:40:30 where they weren’t successful, and they could easily
3:40:35 redo another semester if necessary, so yes,
3:40:38 semester courses are nine-week courses
3:40:41 and backed up against them.
3:40:42 - Okay, just going back to the first page of the secondary,
3:40:48 because I don’t think this is somewhere else
3:40:50 in the presentation, just for the conversation
3:40:55 that you and I had a little while ago
3:40:56 about the choice schools, so if we have a family,
3:40:59 in elementary, it’s a little bit simpler,
3:41:01 because the e-learning option, if you’re at one
3:41:03 of our choice schools, or you’re at ELO,
3:41:07 you’re going out of area, your school,
3:41:09 if your e-learning is attached to the school
3:41:11 that you’re registered for right now,
3:41:14 but with our choice schools and our choice programs,
3:41:18 whether it be West Shore, Edgewood,
3:41:19 or the Cambridge program at the Cambridge schools,
3:41:22 or IB, whatever, if a parent is concerned
3:41:26 they want to stay enrolled in that choice school
3:41:29 or choice program within a school,
3:41:32 but they’re not comfortable, full brick and mortar,
3:41:35 what is their option to hold their spot?
3:41:39 ‘Cause I’ve heard from a lot of parents
3:41:40 who are concerned about losing their spot.
3:41:42 - Sure, I’m gonna give a couple answers,
3:41:45 because every scenario is different,
3:41:48 and I don’t want anybody to presume
3:41:50 that my response right now is exhaustive,
3:41:52 because just when I think it was,
3:41:54 the next story is entirely different than the first story.
3:41:56 So first and foremost are students
3:41:58 with documented medical concerns.
3:42:01 Those are the students that obviously we would prioritize,
3:42:05 and we would ask all those parents
3:42:07 to please contact their school principal
3:42:09 if they have documented medical concerns
3:42:12 and want to discuss are there alternative options.
3:42:16 There are many of our families, of course,
3:42:18 with concerns that don’t necessarily meet that criteria,
3:42:22 but their concerns are equally valid,
3:42:23 kind of like I mentioned in the beginning,
3:42:25 everybody’s opinion’s a right opinion.
3:42:27 Again, we would encourage them to talk to their school.
3:42:30 It would simply need one class at your school
3:42:33 would count as still being attached to that school,
3:42:37 and that class could be a virtual dual enrollment course,
3:42:40 for example, and so we would encourage parents
3:42:45 to contact their schools.
3:42:48 We can’t make a blanket statement
3:42:50 and say seats would be available,
3:42:52 because if 50 students chose virtual school
3:42:58 or home school or non-one,
3:43:00 we can’t leave teachers there staffed
3:43:03 and waiting with no students to staff that school,
3:43:06 ‘cause again, that’s costs, right?
3:43:09 And so there’s not an easy blanket answer,
3:43:14 but we want to make something work,
3:43:16 and we want to make something work
3:43:18 for our families in those circumstances.
3:43:21 Again, that’s why I wanted to emphasize
3:43:26 maybe not with the West Shore Edgewood situation,
3:43:28 but in other spots, the Brevard Virtual School
3:43:31 is a seamless transition back into your school,
3:43:35 but call the principal,
3:43:36 and they will talk through the creative options.
3:43:39 Have you thought about this?
3:43:40 We could attach this to that course.
3:43:43 The student would have to have
3:43:44 some technical attachment to the course,
3:43:47 and one course will do it.
3:43:49 Again, that’s always been true.
3:43:51 We haven’t sang it from the rooftops before,
3:43:54 but we’re singing loudly now that that is a flexible option,
3:43:58 and so if a student is eligible for dual enrollment,
3:44:02 I would suggest do one dual enrollment virtual class,
3:44:07 and you’ve secured your attachment to that school.
3:44:10 So we are going to be as flexible as we can
3:44:15 within the guidelines that we have.
3:44:17 Secondary’s obviously a little different than elementary
3:44:19 in that we run about 500 courses,
3:44:22 each requiring unique certifications
3:44:25 and combinations and numbers
3:44:27 to warrant that teacher attachment to the section.
3:44:31 So there’s a lot of complexities
3:44:33 in really being able to guarantee
3:44:34 a viable high-quality curriculum
3:44:37 without adding another spinning plate
3:44:41 to the teachers that already have
3:44:43 a bunch of those spinning plates.
3:44:45 And so we want them to take advantage
3:44:48 of all those legal options and help us work with them
3:44:51 on what works for their family.
3:44:52 - Right, and let me just take what you just said
3:44:55 and re-explain it in layman’s terms,
3:44:56 ‘cause a lot of people who are watching–
3:44:58 - Sorry. - Who have said,
3:44:59 no, no, no, you said it clearly,
3:45:00 but I just, the teacher in me wants to not dumb it down,
3:45:04 but just to amplify it just a little bit,
3:45:06 because there’s a lot of people who have said
3:45:08 why they want an e-learning option
3:45:10 like we’re doing for elementary,
3:45:11 they want it for everybody,
3:45:13 and I just want to just clarify
3:45:14 why we can’t necessarily, I can’t,
3:45:17 it’s what a challenge it would be
3:45:19 to do something similar for our secondary,
3:45:21 because unlike elementary where there are
3:45:23 every elementary school’s offering the same courses,
3:45:25 when we get to our secondary classes,
3:45:27 there’s not an unlimited,
3:45:29 but there is such a huge variety
3:45:31 at every single school of courses offered,
3:45:33 it would be next to impossible
3:45:35 to offer an e-learning option from the school
3:45:40 and the brick and mortar at the same time
3:45:43 with separate teachers or, you know,
3:45:45 unless short of putting the camera on the teacher
3:45:46 and that’s just not gonna work
3:45:48 and it’s too much to ask for our teachers,
3:45:49 so there’s such a variety we might have at one school,
3:45:52 one section or two sections of a class,
3:45:54 let’s say European history at Heritage High School,
3:45:56 they usually offer two sections,
3:45:58 and, you know, to have those in the school building
3:46:04 and also, you know, it’s just too much
3:46:06 because of the variety, so we can’t do at the secondary
3:46:08 the same as we can do at the elementary
3:46:10 because of the complexity of the courses offered,
3:46:12 which is a wonderful thing to offer our students so many.
3:46:16 - And I would say that what we know about children
3:46:20 also is different, and the needs of an elementary school
3:46:23 parent and family and what we look for
3:46:27 in terms of resiliency and grit in our secondary students
3:46:30 is also a little different, too.
3:46:32 - Right, thank you.
3:46:33 That’s all I’ve got.
3:46:38 - You mentioned early graduation,
3:46:40 so any plans to encourage, I’m guessing,
3:46:45 a bunch of our soon-to-be seniors–
3:46:47 - Very aggressively. (laughs)
3:46:49 - Like, oh, look, you have enough credits,
3:46:51 here’s your diploma, are we gonna be trying
3:46:54 to facilitate that? - Absolutely.
3:46:57 Basically, we want to make the information clear,
3:47:03 so I don’t wanna encourage a student not to be in school,
3:47:06 I don’t wanna encourage a student to stay longer
3:47:08 than they have to, I want them to know
3:47:11 that they can do this if that’s what works
3:47:13 for them and their family, and again,
3:47:16 it de-densifies our schools, and so we may not
3:47:19 have sang it loud from the rooftops before,
3:47:22 but before, we didn’t have a primary objective
3:47:25 of de-densifying our classrooms.
3:47:27 So yeah, we will make certain every eligible person
3:47:32 knows that it’s a good option, it’s a viable option.
3:47:34 I wanna add some questions that I know people
3:47:37 are probably posting somewhere if they’re listening to this,
3:47:40 but honestly, I hope they’re not listening four hours later.
3:47:44 By law, by district policy, early graduates
3:47:49 are entitled to all the benefits of a senior.
3:47:52 So for example, we could have a senior,
3:47:55 because of maybe needing a semester course
3:47:58 done in October or done in January,
3:48:01 that senior is entitled to grad bash, prom,
3:48:06 graduation, all of those extracurricular benefits
3:48:11 that come to our seniors.
3:48:13 It’s a question that comes up all the time,
3:48:15 so I was assuming some of these fingers
3:48:17 were typing that question somewhere.
3:48:20 That is, without question, the right of a student,
3:48:24 and so we definitely don’t want our students
3:48:27 to not exercise that option.
3:48:30 For some of our students, though, early graduation’s
3:48:33 not the best fit, full-time dual enrollment is,
3:48:37 because if they’re interested in Eastern Florida
3:48:39 and interested in going in there,
3:48:41 we would encourage them to stay on with us
3:48:43 but do it full-time dual enrollment.
3:48:45 So each situation is a little different
3:48:48 depending on their goals.
3:48:49 Some students are ready, their family’s moving,
3:48:52 they wanna get graduation done,
3:48:55 or just minimize the risk for the students.
3:48:57 Some are joining the military earlier.
3:49:00 We can support those goals.
3:49:02 We always have been able to support those goals,
3:49:04 we just don’t think we have done the very best job
3:49:08 of amplifying all those rights that students have.
3:49:12 Students have the ability, you’ll see in another slide,
3:49:15 to test out of courses that isn’t necessarily amplified
3:49:18 from the rooftops, we can all remember CLEP, right?
3:49:22 You probably thought CLEP went away, CLEP didn’t go away.
3:49:25 Students could CLEP out of courses.
3:49:27 Students could take an accelerated 18-credit option
3:49:31 to graduate early.
3:49:33 We always give a handout that ends up
3:49:35 probably in a backpack, and they’re on our website.
3:49:40 All these things have always been true,
3:49:43 but they haven’t been at the forefront of,
3:49:46 that weird option I remember hearing at some point in time,
3:49:48 we should probably take that.
3:49:50 So we’re gonna make all that flexibility incredibly clear.
3:49:53 - Will it go on our COVID website under FAQs or something,
3:49:56 where people can just– - It concerns that,
3:49:58 I’m gonna write that down right now.
3:49:59 - I think that’s a good idea. - And in fact,
3:50:01 I might, for the sake of clarity,
3:50:04 add a slide to that for this document, like an appendix,
3:50:09 and then that way, if people are just looking at this,
3:50:10 they can reference it as well.
3:50:12 - Perfect, thank you.
3:50:13 So back to the, or we’re still on it,
3:50:15 but the early graduation, what’s the credit number
3:50:18 where we’re gonna be strongly encouraging,
3:50:21 questioning, supporting that?
3:50:23 Because we have our credit number,
3:50:25 and then there’s the state, which is less,
3:50:26 and then from my own experience,
3:50:28 I know that there’s an even lower number
3:50:30 that potentially can be used.
3:50:31 So are we gonna– - Yes.
3:50:34 - Be flexible, more flexible than ever,
3:50:36 and be like, oh, you have this, you could by state,
3:50:38 even though we’d encourage you, X, Y, Z.
3:50:41 - Yes, we graduate a significant number of students
3:50:45 every year under all different grad plans.
3:50:47 We probably have about 15 different grad plans,
3:50:50 and that’s probably not doing it justice.
3:50:52 And so, yes, we do that now.
3:50:55 We graduate a lot of students at 24 credits.
3:50:57 We graduate several students at 18 credits,
3:51:00 several students at 26 credits,
3:51:01 several students at 30 credits,
3:51:03 and students at 28 credits in our choice schools.
3:51:06 Again, I think the mystery is we have not been screaming it
3:51:13 from the rooftops, and given the current situation we’re in
3:51:16 and the power of de-densifying campuses
3:51:19 and minimizing students’ contact,
3:51:20 we’ll be singing it more from the rooftops
3:51:23 of all of those possible configurations,
3:51:25 and the block amplifies those possible configurations
3:51:28 ‘cause courses can be done in a compressed period of time.
3:51:31 - Perfect, hopefully the graduation number two
3:51:35 will also be put on the FAQ page.
3:51:38 You mentioned possibly 11 extra teachers for middle school,
3:51:41 once you’re potentially, I know the CARES funds
3:51:46 are not this unlimited pie in the sky
3:51:47 that we could just keep charging things to,
3:51:49 but could that potentially cover the cost
3:51:51 of those 11 teachers?
3:51:52 - It could potentially cover the cost of one more, some,
3:51:57 many, it really depends.
3:51:59 - So we haven’t depleted the CARES,
3:52:01 and we just keep saying, oh, that CARES is gonna pay
3:52:03 for that, and at some point it’s gonna be empty.
3:52:05 Have we depleted it?
3:52:06 - From my grant experience, kind of let you know
3:52:10 where I believe there’s an opportunity
3:52:12 to capture some of those expenses.
3:52:14 When we budget, we have to budget for maximum costs.
3:52:17 We have to assume big numbers.
3:52:20 And in fact, we had to make up some numbers
3:52:22 ‘cause we didn’t know how much stuff was gonna cost.
3:52:25 And so we always know that there’s going to be
3:52:29 a bucket of flexibility at some point in time
3:52:31 that’s unencumbered.
3:52:33 And in that case, we submit an amendment to our grant.
3:52:37 And so it’s not written in our current iteration
3:52:40 because, again, it’s not an identified cost or expense.
3:52:44 We know some places in our grant that are not likely
3:52:48 to max where we have them at right now.
3:52:51 And so I would suggest that there is a decent possibility
3:52:55 to capture a chunk of that, any necessary costs
3:52:58 with the CARES Act, it would absolutely qualify
3:53:02 on the scopes of work that are in the grant.
3:53:06 We are living, breathing, and dying those scopes of work,
3:53:08 so I feel really confident it’s a qualifying expense.
3:53:11 And I feel really confident that there will be
3:53:13 some offsetting that will be available
3:53:16 because we knew we budgeted high in some cases.
3:53:20 Because you have to.
3:53:21 So you have to budget maximum, but you also know
3:53:24 that not all those things cost at maximum expenses.
3:53:30 We, at the time, we had no idea
3:53:31 how much a plexiglass thing would cost.
3:53:34 We didn’t even have a ballpark.
3:53:36 So we had a really high number there
3:53:38 that we know is a little high.
3:53:40 And so, yes-ish.
3:53:45 - Okay, and this gets in the weeds a little.
3:53:47 Tell me if we’ll get to this later.
3:53:48 And I know we’re gonna talk about transportation later,
3:53:50 but I’m super curious about middle school,
3:53:53 probably because I have an incoming middle schooler.
3:53:56 If he chooses to do half day, half day,
3:54:00 first of all, I think that’s gonna give him options
3:54:02 for more foreign languages, potentially,
3:54:04 that the school may not offer.
3:54:06 So I’m very interested in that.
3:54:09 Is transportation still available?
3:54:11 Obviously not in the middle of the day,
3:54:13 but say he’s done, say he doesn’t do the morning
3:54:19 and I have to take him at noon or whatever,
3:54:22 transportation is still available home, yes?
3:54:24 As long as we’re like– - Absolutely.
3:54:25 And thank you for asking that.
3:54:27 I wanna be clear, absolutely.
3:54:29 - But there’s also, to be clear to the public,
3:54:31 transportation in the middle of the day
3:54:33 because you choose one or the other class
3:54:35 or an hour in between, we can’t, as a district,
3:54:38 provide random transportation.
3:54:40 It’s still gonna run at the same time
3:54:42 and preferably if you were gonna do half day,
3:54:44 half day, you would, so that–
3:54:46 - Right, block schedule makes that nifty too.
3:54:49 Two blocks in the morning, two blocks in the afternoon.
3:54:52 So that makes it really easy, I think,
3:54:54 for a parent to choose a flexible option.
3:54:57 - Okay, I think that’s my questions for now.
3:54:59 Thanks so much.
3:55:01 Oh, one more thing, just, thank you.
3:55:03 To you and Ms. Klein, not to leave you out, Ms. Moore,
3:55:07 but just with these two, you know,
3:55:10 we’ve looked at the thousands of comments
3:55:12 and we’re watching the debate go on
3:55:14 and I think the options that we’re giving our community
3:55:19 and within the parameters, I am extremely grateful
3:55:25 that we’re allowing parents and families and students
3:55:31 to choose where they feel safe,
3:55:34 where they’re still gonna get a quality education.
3:55:36 You know, all the things I’ve learned
3:55:38 this past few years on the board
3:55:40 kind of are coming together here
3:55:43 where you can get distracted over here
3:55:45 and distracted over there
3:55:46 and a pandemic is certainly distracting,
3:55:48 but you all seem to be laser focused on,
3:55:52 especially the students that maybe don’t have
3:55:55 an English speaking parent at home
3:55:56 and they haven’t heard a word of English since April
3:55:58 or they haven’t seen a book since April,
3:56:02 I think this gives them opportunities
3:56:04 to get the quality education that they deserve,
3:56:06 so thank you.
3:56:10 - Ms. McDougal.
3:56:13 - Sullivan, I have a quick question here.
3:56:15 It’s related to the ID program.
3:56:19 I think I have some parents that are concerned,
3:56:22 how will that look, a black schedule, the ID world,
3:56:27 especially if they’re a senior at this point?
3:56:30 - Yeah, what I can tell you
3:56:34 is that I don’t believe it won’t work.
3:56:37 And as an IB mom just had an IB senior,
3:56:40 I know exactly what an IB senior schedule looks like.
3:56:44 The students are taking six mandatory sections
3:56:51 and the IB framework allows for semester by semester block.
3:56:58 I should amplify to the board
3:57:00 that they are on a rather tight deadline
3:57:02 for us to make a decision
3:57:04 because they have to be able to commit
3:57:06 to first semester testing.
3:57:08 So a student in block would still have those six courses
3:57:12 with the IB program.
3:57:14 They’d actually have two additional courses
3:57:16 and I’m gonna speak to you as a mom.
3:57:18 I had an IB child myself who her senior year
3:57:21 had to drop band because she was choosing
3:57:24 between band and science research.
3:57:27 And our IB students don’t have a ton of flexibility
3:57:31 in their schedule and this actually gives them
3:57:34 another course and I have been part of the program
3:57:38 for the last four years
3:57:39 and around all the students in the program,
3:57:42 I believe the students will really appreciate
3:57:44 having a flexible course for their passions.
3:57:47 And so testing will be a little unusual.
3:57:51 I’ve already reached out to at least one IB coordinator
3:57:55 and there are lots of schools throughout the country
3:57:59 that are currently on block
3:58:01 and we would hope to connect our school leaders
3:58:04 and same with Cambridge.
3:58:06 We’re gonna set up some focus teams
3:58:08 between the Cambridge and IB personnel.
3:58:11 Our coordinators, Molly Vega is the director
3:58:13 that’s over all those accelerated programs
3:58:16 and connect with high performing schools
3:58:18 that are on block throughout the country.
3:58:21 - Right, I really appreciate that.
3:58:23 Thank you very much for answering that.
3:58:24 - Of course.
3:58:27 - Is that it, Ms. McDougald?
3:58:30 - Yeah, let me just throw this out
3:58:34 and I don’t know if this is a true thing,
3:58:36 but for band, Ms. Campbell brought up the band
3:58:42 with block scheduling.
3:58:43 So somebody brought up the example
3:58:47 that teachers working an unpaid block schedule
3:58:52 but would that be a true statement?
3:58:54 Would that ever happen?
3:58:57 Does that make sense?
3:58:59 - If you said the words unpaid, I would say no.
3:59:04 - Okay.
3:59:05 - I would certainly encourage a person with that concern
3:59:08 to contact my office.
3:59:11 - Okay, good.
3:59:12 - Yeah, there are teachers where we have a win-win
3:59:17 on decreasing costs through extended day.
3:59:21 And so there are teachers who would want
3:59:24 to teach a fourth block
3:59:25 and they would receive the extended day supplement
3:59:29 and teachers wanting extended day
3:59:32 and it being a synergy to what the school requires,
3:59:37 it’s a much lower expense for the district.
3:59:40 It is a fraction of the cost of another teacher
3:59:44 for those same three blocks.
3:59:46 Again, we have Titusville as an exemplar.
3:59:49 Astronaut was also recently on a block.
3:59:51 Sometimes a teacher might do an extra block
3:59:54 just one semester, sometimes both semesters
3:59:57 and that helps with the schedule as well.
4:00:00 And teachers of certain courses want that option
4:00:04 and we try to find a win-win where they want it
4:00:07 and the school requires it.
4:00:11 - Okay, thank you very much.
4:00:13 I appreciate it.
4:00:15 That’s all my questions.
4:00:17 - Thank you, Ms. McDougall.
4:00:18 First thing is, is it, it’s 1245.
4:00:22 I didn’t know if we kinda wanted to put together
4:00:24 a plan for lunch, being the fact that we’re only
4:00:26 on slide number 22 and we have 45 to go.
4:00:30 Does anybody else have the feeling?
4:00:32 I’m eating power bars over here like crazy
4:00:34 and I don’t think that’s gonna last me a couple more hours.
4:00:36 - I’m always hungry, so whenever you ask that question,
4:00:39 assume there’s a yes from Sullivan.
4:00:42 - Would there be a direction of the board
4:00:44 that possibly after this set of questioning,
4:00:46 we could do something or would we like to order food
4:00:49 and deliver it?
4:00:49 What do you guys think?
4:00:51 Would you like to just keep pounding and do that
4:00:52 or you wanna take a break and come back?
4:00:54 How do you guys wanna do that?
4:00:55 ‘Cause we gotta eat.
4:00:58 - Ms. Campbell, what’s your preference?
4:00:59 - I’m also usually hungry, so I’d go for a 30-minute break
4:01:04 for everybody to run and still ask if we have to do whatever.
4:01:08 - I, whatever, I mean, I’ve been, you know.
4:01:11 - I’m full of chocolate as usual.
4:01:15 - ‘Cause that’s all I eat is chocolate, chocolate.
4:01:18 It seems like maybe we should order and then it’ll be here
4:01:23 and we can eat on a 30-minute break
4:01:25 ‘cause I don’t know that we can all get out and back.
4:01:27 - Yeah, the meat of this is–
4:01:27 - ‘Cause cafeteria’s not open, correct, food services?
4:01:31 - It is open. - It is open.
4:01:32 - The cafeteria’s open, Mr. Novelli’s gonna make a run
4:01:35 and see if they can make some accommodations quickly.
4:01:37 - ‘Cause they close now, right?
4:01:39 - The meat of this is–
4:01:40 - That would be ideal.
4:01:41 I mean, I don’t, if we all have to leave,
4:01:43 it’s just gonna take forever, but yeah.
4:01:46 - That’s my two cents, cafeteria food.
4:01:49 Our delicious food services team food.
4:01:54 - All right, Mr. Susan, if you wanna go on
4:01:55 with your questions while Mr. Novelli
4:01:57 is checking in for our options.
4:01:58 - Sure, so the first one is, okay,
4:02:00 full-time Brevard virtual school sports activities.
4:02:05 - Yep.
4:02:06 - Homeschool, kinda like the homeschool option
4:02:08 where where you sit is where you go?
4:02:10 Is that how it works?
4:02:12 - Ish. (laughs)
4:02:13 - Okay.
4:02:14 - I like the Ish t-shirt, yes.
4:02:16 So for students who are full-time Brevard virtual school,
4:02:20 they are eligible for athletics,
4:02:23 just like any other non-traditional student.
4:02:26 So they would still go through
4:02:29 all those qualifying procedures, there’s no limitations.
4:02:32 I’m saying Ish because of activities.
4:02:36 They wouldn’t be able to take a class,
4:02:38 and some activities are attached to class.
4:02:41 So activities, I’d rather those be one-on-one questions,
4:02:44 and so I’m just pausing on activity.
4:02:47 But athletics, yes, that’s already a practice.
4:02:51 It’s already, it wouldn’t be something new
4:02:54 for us to figure out.
4:02:55 - Right, it just kinda follows the same–
4:02:57 - There’s a non-traditional student set of guidelines,
4:03:00 so they can still be attached to athletics
4:03:03 at their homeschool, no problem.
4:03:05 - And then how does the part-time,
4:03:11 half-and-half work with attendance for sports?
4:03:14 How are we checking on a Friday
4:03:16 to make sure that they’ve attended their class?
4:03:18 - That’s a great question, and we do that all the time now
4:03:21 with our dual enrollees and our virtual.
4:03:24 We, obviously, a lot of those courses
4:03:26 don’t have an attendance requirement.
4:03:28 So if a student is, let’s say, three periods on campus
4:03:32 and four periods off campus,
4:03:35 the off-campus courses, if they’re virtual school,
4:03:38 they don’t have an attendance requirement,
4:03:39 so they don’t count, and we would count the ones
4:03:42 where they’re on with attendance with us.
4:03:45 I say that with a slight clause,
4:03:48 because there are some cases with dual enrollment match
4:03:51 where that might be a factor,
4:03:53 but we don’t manage the attendance at dual enrollment.
4:03:56 So we are accountable for the attendance with us.
4:04:00 - And I taught block schedule also at Space Coast,
4:04:03 and I actually roamed one of the years in between,
4:04:05 so I’m familiar with it.
4:04:07 How does it work with dual enrollment?
4:04:09 How does it piece up?
4:04:10 How does that line up?
4:04:11 - Yeah, that’s actually a really good question.
4:04:13 I’m glad you brought it up.
4:04:14 Right now, again, we have Titusville as our exemplar,
4:04:17 thank goodness.
4:04:18 Our students take two dual enrollment classes per open block,
4:04:23 and so a student might have three classes at the school,
4:04:29 two dual enrollment classes.
4:04:31 One of the things that we are investigating
4:04:34 is do we do that out of practice,
4:04:37 or is that a required part of the minutes?
4:04:39 And that we’re not sure.
4:04:40 We do it in practice that way at Titusville High,
4:04:44 and what we’re trying to break down,
4:04:47 is that practice or is that required?
4:04:49 And so our team is looking at that.
4:04:52 So again, luckily we have a model for that,
4:04:56 and it’s right now two dual enrollments per open block.
4:05:00 - Got it, okay.
4:05:02 So I started looking, because we got this,
4:05:05 and I started last night putting my head around
4:05:07 trying to figure out, okay, I’m a teacher.
4:05:10 And there was a couple of angles that I was moving here.
4:05:12 How did this work?
4:05:14 And I remember my classroom when I was a teacher
4:05:18 teaching American history for the block schedule.
4:05:21 And the reason that I asked earlier
4:05:22 about the Socratic circles and all of the other pieces
4:05:25 is because the only way I could keep the fidelity
4:05:27 of my classroom in a 90 minute block
4:05:29 for social studies class was to move those kids around.
4:05:32 I couldn’t lecture to them.
4:05:34 I couldn’t have them sit in seats.
4:05:35 I couldn’t do that.
4:05:36 It was almost impossible for me to do that.
4:05:40 I mean, I would lecture for seven minutes,
4:05:41 then I had an activity, then I moved into,
4:05:43 I mean, it was just constant movement, right?
4:05:46 With the COVID plan, I have extreme concerns
4:05:49 over that going to block with the fact
4:05:51 that you have those kids who have the highest number,
4:05:54 so you have students who don’t do well
4:05:57 in a classroom studying to begin with
4:05:59 that need to be moving around,
4:06:00 that are now gonna be locked into sitting in the seats,
4:06:03 and they’re not gonna be able to be doing the group work
4:06:06 and everything else as far as the Socratic circles
4:06:08 and the different pieces.
4:06:12 What is the piece, like, was there any concern
4:06:15 about the students that have difficulty
4:06:18 getting through a 90 minute period
4:06:19 and having them basically sitting still like that?
4:06:23 Does that make sense to you?
4:06:23 - Yeah, of course, that’s a super valid concern,
4:06:26 and that is the difference in what we are having
4:06:29 to deal with right now in this current situation.
4:06:31 I think I mentioned earlier what we know is really great
4:06:35 and vibrant for an exciting learning environment
4:06:38 is contrary to what we have to prioritize
4:06:41 in terms of student safety right now,
4:06:43 and there’s not a magical solution to it.
4:06:46 I will suggest that the perception sometimes
4:06:51 is that a struggling learner would be more difficult
4:06:54 in that situation, and I would suggest
4:06:57 that that is not necessarily true.
4:06:59 I think some kids, the constancy of the change
4:07:04 and the rapidity of it isn’t necessarily better for them,
4:07:08 and some students need to decompress for a minute
4:07:11 and then potentially engage.
4:07:13 So I would absolutely agree that for some learners,
4:07:17 it’s not gonna be ideal.
4:07:20 For some learners, they’ll love less transitions,
4:07:23 and I am banking on our teachers,
4:07:28 and I don’t, it’s not an easy answer.
4:07:34 It’s what we’re dealing with trying to educate students
4:07:38 in a school in the midst of a global pandemic,
4:07:40 and sure, I would much rather those teachers
4:07:42 in a block do everything that you just said,
4:07:46 but we want to keep people and our teachers safe too.
4:07:50 So yeah, is this gonna be difficult for some of our kids?
4:07:54 No question.
4:07:59 But this is a hand we’re dealt,
4:08:03 and I believe our teachers are gonna utilize
4:08:05 their maximum toolkits and their strategies
4:08:08 to really savor those minutes.
4:08:12 I think there’s students who don’t wanna leave that class
4:08:17 as much as the students who do wanna leave that class,
4:08:20 and hopefully with the skillset that we have,
4:08:24 we can try to do the best we can,
4:08:26 but your concern is dead on, yeah,
4:08:28 every one of those concerns, of course,
4:08:30 is run through our head.
4:08:32 I just, I know my, I know a lot of the kids
4:08:34 that are in some of the areas that we have,
4:08:37 where we have our discipline problems,
4:08:40 and one of the specific common threads,
4:08:42 whether it’s diagnosed or not, whether it’s ADHD
4:08:46 or any of the other issues, becomes very prevalent
4:08:48 when you start putting them into a block schedule,
4:08:51 and when we were talking about dealing
4:08:53 with our discipline policy, this becomes a piece,
4:08:57 and to be true, I mean, I taught two years,
4:09:00 and I only wrote, I think, three referrals
4:09:02 during the two-year period, so it’s manageable.
4:09:05 I’m not saying it’s not.
4:09:06 I’m just saying it’s part of your factors,
4:09:08 if you would put it in.
4:09:09 - 100%, and I think we will be pleasantly surprised
4:09:15 at the students that actually respond
4:09:17 to the longer block of time, too.
4:09:19 We have several courses right now in our schools
4:09:21 that operate on a double block,
4:09:23 primarily in career and tech ed.
4:09:25 The students double up and are doing 90-minute blocks
4:09:28 right now, and those are often those same students,
4:09:31 and we can’t drag them out of there.
4:09:33 We have a lot of students double-blocked in ROTC,
4:09:36 and we can’t drag them out of there,
4:09:38 and so in some cases– - And I love that.
4:09:42 - It’ll give students more of the environment
4:09:44 that they thrive in, and then maybe the environment
4:09:48 they less thrive in, a little bit more palatable.
4:09:51 - And you gave specific examples of what I would love
4:09:55 to see more kids be a part of if we were in block schedule,
4:09:58 which is the ROTC, career and technical,
4:10:01 because the problem is is that those kids
4:10:03 that don’t wanna sit in that classroom would thrive
4:10:05 in the ones you just said because of exactly
4:10:07 what you said, they’re hands-on.
4:10:09 And when we take away that hands-on option
4:10:11 inside of a block schedule is where I started
4:10:13 getting concerned.
4:10:14 The other concern I was gonna ask you
4:10:16 if you had looked into– - So, Susan,
4:10:17 can I stop you for one second?
4:10:18 I just wanna check and see if we need to take action
4:10:21 on getting to the cafeterias, our food services team.
4:10:29 - They’re available, they have food for you right now.
4:10:35 - Based on that, Mr. Susan, do you mind
4:10:36 if I interrupt your questioning?
4:10:38 I just don’t wanna keep the food services staff
4:10:40 later than necessary to accommodate us.
4:10:42 - Do we have options, or?
4:10:44 - I don’t know, we’ll find out when we get there.
4:10:45 So we are going to go ahead and recess
4:10:48 for approximately 30 minutes so we can get some sustenance
4:10:51 and we will plan on resuming approximately 1.25.
4:10:57 Is that right?
4:10:59 Great.
4:11:14 (upbeat music)
4:41:38 (muffled speaking)
4:41:46 - Yup.
4:41:49 (muffled speaking)
4:41:52 Can you hear me?
4:41:53 Am I on?
4:41:54 We good?
4:41:55 Okay.
4:41:56 And Ms. Belford, that was not an interruption in any way.
4:41:59 Anytime you offer food at any time that I’m speaking
4:42:03 or in doing anything,
4:42:04 that is definitely a well-received interruption.
4:42:06 So I just wanted to say thank you.
4:42:08 Okay, getting back to the block.
4:42:11 So the next thing that I was gonna ask you about is,
4:42:15 when we, Dr. Sullivan,
4:42:17 when we,
4:42:19 one of the issues that I had was pacing as a teacher.
4:42:22 So in social studies, we had,
4:42:24 I was an American history teacher
4:42:26 and we always found ourselves stuck somewhere
4:42:30 between World War II and the Vietnam War on a block schedule
4:42:34 because the pacing was difficult.
4:42:36 There’s only so much that you can actually put
4:42:38 into a classroom with content
4:42:41 where they’re gonna absorb it, right?
4:42:42 So you find that balance.
4:42:45 But I did notice that there were a lot of teachers
4:42:49 that transferred in from other schools
4:42:50 that were not on block
4:42:52 that were not used to that actual pacing, right?
4:42:56 So when we talk about moving
4:42:59 from a seven period day to a block period day,
4:43:03 I felt like there needed to be,
4:43:05 have you guys put together like how that pacing guide works,
4:43:08 how we transition teachers to it?
4:43:10 Because I think I had some concern in that area.
4:43:14 That’s all.
4:43:15 - Yeah, those are really good concerns.
4:43:17 Again, we’ve been working on it for about three days.
4:43:20 So right now our principals
4:43:24 are examining the feasibility of it.
4:43:26 And so I’ve asked them to turn their schedules upside down.
4:43:30 And I imagine those challenges will be true.
4:43:35 You know, again, I wanna restate,
4:43:36 this is a one year recommendation given the current climate.
4:43:41 And so just like you said, Mr. Susan,
4:43:44 I’m my own worst angel devil,
4:43:46 like what’s better, what’s worse.
4:43:48 And then whatever the argument was on this hand
4:43:52 was always beat by half the contact, half, half, half,
4:43:57 minimizing the safety.
4:43:59 So those are definitely hurdles that we will work through.
4:44:02 I might feel really good about our team of content experts
4:44:05 and resource teachers who are hearing it
4:44:08 for their first time only if they’re listening
4:44:10 and they don’t even know yet.
4:44:12 Because again, we started doing
4:44:14 some just behind the scenes feasibility.
4:44:17 We didn’t wanna do anything more aggressive
4:44:19 until we presented this suggestion to the board.
4:44:22 And so all I’ve done is asked principals
4:44:25 to start looking at their course requests and their blocks,
4:44:28 try to potentially tomorrow get a handle
4:44:31 on parents opting for other options.
4:44:34 So no, depending of course on the board’s informal,
4:44:38 keep going or whoa, slow down Sullivan
4:44:41 is where we will go next.
4:44:44 I think you know the vast majority
4:44:45 of our secondary resource team,
4:44:47 I believe they can make the best out of anything.
4:44:52 Are we still gonna have some of those problems?
4:44:54 There’s not a doubt in my mind that we will,
4:44:57 but I think they will really adjust resources
4:45:00 to try to minimize some of those problems.
4:45:04 Yeah, we were weighing that.
4:45:05 Like there’s, when it comes to academics,
4:45:07 you guys know that’s my big hat.
4:45:11 And I had to turn my hat a little
4:45:13 just to really support safety.
4:45:16 And so I believe in the team.
4:45:18 They don’t know this yet that we’re even considering it
4:45:22 ‘cause we felt like the board should be
4:45:24 the first formal discussion of it.
4:45:28 And minus three days ago asking the principals.
4:45:32 - Gotcha.
4:45:33 And then that was the other piece was is that I remember,
4:45:37 this was years ago, putting together a schedule
4:45:41 is really, really difficult.
4:45:43 And I at the time was married to somebody
4:45:45 who was in charge of putting that schedule together.
4:45:48 Building it out for that seven period day
4:45:50 was really, really difficult.
4:45:52 And when I heard this in the time period,
4:45:54 it was do we have those individuals?
4:45:57 I mean, I remember her putting that together
4:46:00 and just being, it was a lot of work, right?
4:46:02 There was a lot of PT from the help from the district
4:46:06 and everything like that.
4:46:07 But is there, how would we build out a schedule like that,
4:46:12 a master schedule on a block schedule
4:46:14 when they had never done that before
4:46:16 in the time that we have, is that a concern?
4:46:18 - That is a huge concern.
4:46:21 And I wanna thank Chris.
4:46:24 He said something the other day as we were
4:46:26 as a cabinet grappling with do we bring this forward?
4:46:29 And she was quoting a principal
4:46:31 who had just gotten off the phone with me
4:46:33 and hearing this, oh, by the way,
4:46:35 I know you’re planning your third version of graduation.
4:46:38 I know you’re planning this.
4:46:39 I know you’re planning that.
4:46:42 And where we landed is hard,
4:46:49 is not something we want to get in our way
4:46:51 of something that we really think
4:46:52 is important for student safety.
4:46:54 And it took a lot for me to say it to the principals.
4:46:57 I know how hard they’re working.
4:46:58 I’ve built those schedules.
4:46:59 I know exactly what you’re talking about, Mr. Susan.
4:47:04 It took a lot for me to come to terms with
4:47:08 and asking our principals to pivot
4:47:10 in the middle of everything we’ve asked of them
4:47:13 and to maybe just talk to their assistant principal
4:47:16 and don’t even tell anybody yet,
4:47:17 but turn upside down thousands of course requests.
4:47:21 Russell Cheatham’s team is a critical part
4:47:24 of master scheduling.
4:47:26 It’s gonna be taxing on them.
4:47:29 All of it will be taxing.
4:47:30 I’m not gonna minimize that.
4:47:32 This is gonna be a heavy lift.
4:47:35 And it took a lot for me to ask that of our leaders
4:47:39 in the midst of everything they’ve done.
4:47:43 But in the end, when I thought about
4:47:46 our organizational values,
4:47:48 when I thought about our strategic initiatives,
4:47:50 when I thought about everything that we stand for,
4:47:54 I had to not use hard as a reason not to.
4:47:58 It’s gonna be all hands on deck.
4:48:00 We’re gonna be relying on our friends at Titusville
4:48:02 a lot.
4:48:03 Our friends at both Madison and Astronaut
4:48:09 were recently on block.
4:48:11 So we have some skills there.
4:48:14 We’ve only got one new curriculum assistant principal.
4:48:18 So we’re gonna rely on the fact that
4:48:20 even though block is a pivot,
4:48:22 there’s already some skillset built there in scheduling.
4:48:24 We’re gonna rely on the directors in the division.
4:48:29 Again, right now we’ve just asked them feasibility.
4:48:31 I didn’t even wanna tell them to go too far.
4:48:34 Obviously the board’s perspective was critically important
4:48:37 to how aggressively we followed this path.
4:48:40 So it is going to be a big lift.
4:48:43 And they will have to work extra hard
4:48:49 to put up a schedule before the start of school.
4:48:51 And I absolutely believe in them.
4:48:55 I’m confident that they will succeed.
4:48:58 But I’m also confident that it’s a big ask.
4:49:01 - And I appreciate you thinking outside the box,
4:49:03 and I really do.
4:49:05 I’m not, please don’t find this in any way.
4:49:08 I enjoy being innovative.
4:49:10 So thank you for that.
4:49:12 - Your questions are my questions.
4:49:14 - Yeah, and I was just, I’m trying to work through it.
4:49:17 The other thing is is that I was,
4:49:18 I mean in the short amount of time,
4:49:20 and I’m sorry, I mean I got scratched all over here
4:49:22 trying to figure it out.
4:49:23 But I was gonna ask,
4:49:25 I was trying to do the numbers in my head
4:49:27 and it just didn’t add up with how many classes
4:49:30 and everything else.
4:49:30 - Sarah, is there, I know that when I was on block,
4:49:35 I taught four out of four.
4:49:36 And I think that you had mentioned earlier
4:49:38 that there was gonna be a request.
4:49:41 The teachers that are standing out there right now
4:49:43 are saying, wow, that’s a great 90 minutes.
4:49:45 But how many of them,
4:49:47 how many teachers would you have to hire
4:49:49 if you didn’t actually go on block on average,
4:49:52 say for every thousand kids?
4:49:53 Or how many teachers are gonna be asked
4:49:55 to teach that extra class?
4:49:57 That was all.
4:49:58 - Yeah, and we don’t know.
4:50:00 Normal, in a normal year, I could give you those numbers.
4:50:02 Simple math.
4:50:03 It would normally take,
4:50:06 we use two additional units at Titusville.
4:50:09 And so we’ve got, again, we have a model.
4:50:13 So on average, that’s a good framework for you.
4:50:17 What’s different is the number of students
4:50:20 that won’t require all eight blocks
4:50:22 because of the flexibility with virtual school,
4:50:24 dual enrollment, early graduation.
4:50:27 And so that’s why the first thing the principals
4:50:30 are going to do is inquire from their families,
4:50:34 these were your original course requests.
4:50:37 As we’re building out the schedule,
4:50:39 what do you plan to do in terms of virtual
4:50:42 and dual enrollment?
4:50:43 Because then those are two sections
4:50:45 that they don’t require for every 25 kids who do it.
4:50:49 So it is a guessing game right now
4:50:53 because of the fact of COVID
4:50:55 and people increasing their use of the flexible options
4:51:00 provided for them.
4:51:01 And in part because of COVID
4:51:03 and in part because we’re gonna be more transparent
4:51:06 and vocal about all the flexible options.
4:51:09 So that was a long answer to say.
4:51:11 - No, no, no, but you had,
4:51:13 I don’t know what the population of Titusville school is,
4:51:16 but the– - About 1,500.
4:51:18 - Okay, so you’ve got two extra teaching units,
4:51:20 but I think the key is how many of those teachers
4:51:24 are actually teaching four of four,
4:51:26 because that’s the key.
4:51:26 - Yeah, I don’t have that number off the top of my head,
4:51:29 but it’s a really manageable number.
4:51:32 It’s, I wanna say for sure low single digits.
4:51:38 And I don’t have that in front of me
4:51:40 and I apologize– - No, and I wouldn’t
4:51:41 expect you to. - But it’s manageable
4:51:43 and again, it’s where when we do extended day,
4:51:47 whether it’s seven out of seven or four out of four,
4:51:51 I go back to the principals, is this what this teacher
4:51:55 wants to do? - Right.
4:51:57 - And the answer has always been yes.
4:52:01 And as opposed to is the teacher willing to do you a solid?
4:52:04 Like we want that yes, this is what the teacher wants to do.
4:52:08 - And I signed up for it every time too.
4:52:10 I just don’t know the availability of what it would be
4:52:13 in the middle of the COVID tornado
4:52:15 that teachers would be signing up for the actual period.
4:52:17 - We have no idea.
4:52:20 - And then, so I’m still trying to wrap my head
4:52:22 around the numbers because every time I do it,
4:52:24 does this mean that there will be larger numbers
4:52:28 in like activity classes?
4:52:30 I mean, is that, I’m trying to do it
4:52:32 and I can’t figure it out.
4:52:34 - And we’re all feeling the same way right now.
4:52:38 So what the schools will do is for the students
4:52:41 who do eight blocks, right now they’re looking
4:52:44 at seven course requests.
4:52:45 They’re gonna go to the students eighth course request
4:52:48 ‘cause we do rank alternatives and use that kind of
4:52:51 as a base to try to build out a schedule.
4:52:53 In a normal world, that would mean more sections
4:52:56 for the school, ergo more teachers.
4:52:59 Again, in a non-normal world, it’s gonna rely
4:53:03 really heavily on the choice options for the students.
4:53:07 We’re doing some double checking on that dual enrollment
4:53:09 like I mentioned in terms of what’s required
4:53:12 versus what our practice is in instructional minutes
4:53:16 and review that.
4:53:18 So super easy for me to tell you what it would cost you
4:53:23 and what it would take in non-COVID.
4:53:25 Not easy now, I think we have a really strong possibility
4:53:29 in our high schools of at least half the students
4:53:32 not doing a full day at the school.
4:53:34 I think that is a very reasonable guess.
4:53:41 - Okay. - But it’s only a guess,
4:53:43 Mr. Susan. - No, I understand.
4:53:44 I don’t wanna convey confidence in the numbers.
4:53:48 I’m happy to convey confidence in the concept
4:53:51 but I don’t have confidence in the numbers right now.
4:53:53 - Absolutely, no, and I appreciate that.
4:53:56 If the CDC changes its guidelines next week,
4:53:58 would that change the impact
4:53:59 of moving to a block schedule or not?
4:54:02 Does that weigh into anything
4:54:03 that you’re making a decision on?
4:54:06 - Well, I guess it depends on which way
4:54:07 they change their guidelines.
4:54:10 I haven’t seen anything.
4:54:14 That would suggest that cutting the teacher’s exposure
4:54:18 in half and the student’s transitions in half
4:54:20 would be a bad idea in this emergency.
4:54:24 But it only works, again, on the presumption,
4:54:27 it only works financially on the presumption
4:54:29 that students will take advantage of those opportunities
4:54:31 to minimize their contact.
4:54:33 So could changes change that?
4:54:38 For sure. (laughs)
4:54:40 I don’t know how many people are changing.
4:54:43 From what I read in those 11,000 comments,
4:54:46 I don’t know that teachers’ emotional appearance,
4:54:49 perspectives would change as readily
4:54:52 as CDC recommendations might change.
4:54:54 - I just, I didn’t know if,
4:54:59 because I know that we’re trying to throw a dart
4:55:00 in the middle of the dark and hit a target,
4:55:03 but if we decided to move to a block schedule
4:55:06 and then all of a sudden,
4:55:07 all of the kids decided to come back in a secondary,
4:55:11 then that becomes a situation of–
4:55:12 - 100%. - Problem, okay.
4:55:15 And then,
4:55:18 the other thing is is that are we going to offer zero blocks
4:55:22 in because that was part of,
4:55:24 and I know that Titusville’s banned,
4:55:26 one of the reasons they’re successful
4:55:27 is they have a zero block, right?
4:55:30 What is the thoughts on that?
4:55:32 - Yeah, the Titusville makes it work
4:55:34 within their schedule.
4:55:35 Schools do zero blocks now within their schedule.
4:55:38 Sometimes a teacher might, out of their standard six,
4:55:43 a zero block might be one of their standard six,
4:55:45 or a zero block might be an extended day.
4:55:48 And so those decisions are absolutely,
4:55:51 continue to be up to the discretion of the principal.
4:55:55 It’s usually gonna come down
4:55:57 to availability of section and seats,
4:55:59 and can I give up you not teaching that block
4:56:02 in the regular school day?
4:56:04 And are there enough students that maximize it?
4:56:07 So principals would continue to have discretion with it
4:56:11 like they do now.
4:56:12 We have zero block, zero period in several classes.
4:56:16 The difference with zero block
4:56:18 is there’s not enough minutes for it to actually count
4:56:20 as a whole semester, but there are solutions to that.
4:56:24 - And then is there less course offerings
4:56:27 because of the block schedule?
4:56:28 - No, more.
4:56:29 In fact, our middle schools are working with us right now
4:56:34 on how to increase ‘cause students take an eighth period.
4:56:37 And so there’s actually more course offerings.
4:56:40 - Okay.
4:56:42 I think that that’s, that portion of it,
4:56:44 I’m pretty good on.
4:56:46 The other question I had that I wrote down here
4:56:48 was Brevard Virtual.
4:56:51 So the question is, is that if we have all of our schools,
4:56:54 our high schools and middle schools on block,
4:56:57 is Brevard Virtual on block?
4:56:59 - Yeah, Heather Price and Brevard Virtual
4:57:01 is part of our team, so she’s in the same loop
4:57:03 of potentially pivoting to block as well.
4:57:06 - Oh, so they have a possibility
4:57:08 of taking the virtual schools
4:57:09 and turning them to block schedule.
4:57:11 - Yep.
4:57:12 The virtual school courses are actually already built out
4:57:15 for the student to select a 36 week pace or an 18 week pace.
4:57:22 And so a student could select the 18 week pace
4:57:25 and the modules are paced out for the student
4:57:27 to complete it more aggressively.
4:57:30 That’s actually the easiest pivot of all is that site.
4:57:34 - Okay. - Yeah.
4:57:35 - And just to bounce off of that one really quickly,
4:57:36 it almost seems like if we’re gonna do this,
4:57:38 it has to be all or nothing.
4:57:40 You know, so if we have students transferring
4:57:42 from one school to another.
4:57:44 - Yeah.
4:57:44 - We can’t, you know what I mean?
4:57:46 I mean, it’s gonna happen
4:57:47 if they’re coming in and out of county.
4:57:48 - That’s a decision point for the board, for Dr. Mullins.
4:57:52 - Every school has to do it.
4:57:53 - That’s one of the decision points.
4:57:56 You know, at this point, like I said,
4:57:58 I’ve directed schools to explore it.
4:58:01 I believe that it should be district-wide
4:58:04 or I could be convinced not.
4:58:07 Again, we’re,
4:58:11 I believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages
4:58:15 in this year, in this circumstance right now
4:58:17 based on what we know today.
4:58:21 So our recommendation right now
4:58:23 is the exploration district-wide.
4:58:26 But it’s not unreasonable to suggest not.
4:58:30 Right now, we have students transferring
4:58:31 between these schools all the time
4:58:33 where some students are on Block Not.
4:58:35 It’s messy, it’s icky, we deal with it now.
4:58:38 Astronaut Titusville swaps students with great regularity.
4:58:42 Space Coast, even when I was at Cocoa High,
4:58:44 we’d get students from Titusville and Astronaut on Block.
4:58:46 So counselors, schools are accustomed to that.
4:58:51 I’m not gonna say they love that,
4:58:54 but they are accustomed to that challenge.
4:58:58 - And then the testing schedule you had gone through.
4:59:02 - Yep.
4:59:02 - If a student takes an AP course
4:59:04 or anything in the first semester,
4:59:05 they still have to test first-aid standards
4:59:07 in the second half.
4:59:08 - Yes, sir.
4:59:09 - So what we used to do is just double those up
4:59:11 and put a semi-clout, you just ran them through
4:59:13 from one to the next.
4:59:14 So like in some blocks, they would have
4:59:16 like an American government and then the AP government
4:59:18 or something like that.
4:59:19 Is that kind of what your thought process is there?
4:59:21 - Ish, you get another ish answer.
4:59:24 In some schools, yes.
4:59:26 In other schools, it’s not possible
4:59:28 because the volume of AP courses students take.
4:59:31 We have schools with 27, 28 AP course offerings
4:59:35 and students take a really heavy load.
4:59:37 So government’s a great example to do that
4:59:40 ‘cause it’s really only a semester course.
4:59:42 It’s an actual AP semester course.
4:59:44 So when schools do that, they’re providing students
4:59:47 additional content and that’s a really common model.
4:59:50 Other students might have a full array of AP courses
4:59:54 students at.
4:59:55 Our big AP schools, of course, West Shore, Edgewood,
4:59:58 Satellite, Viera, Merritt Island,
4:59:59 they have huge AP enrollments.
5:00:02 That’s not necessarily gonna be possible in that framework
5:00:06 and that’s where I mentioned we’d be looking at
5:00:08 that potential eighth block, second semester
5:00:11 to provide students an opportunity to engage
5:00:13 with practice materials in preparation of the exam.
5:00:16 - Okay, thank you.
5:00:17 And then I had just one more.
5:00:19 Did we look at, and I’m sorry if I get slayed on this one.
5:00:25 When I was teaching, I started the teaching academy
5:00:28 at Space Coast.
5:00:29 That was our, we wrote the curriculum.
5:00:31 We were part of the adoption process to the DOE
5:00:33 and then I taught it and in that class,
5:00:36 we had the students stay inside of a wheel
5:00:39 so that we all taught the same kids.
5:00:41 So meaning that the same kids that were inside my classroom,
5:00:45 those 25, 30 kids went to, they were a cohort
5:00:48 that moved through.
5:00:49 Did we look at, and I know this is kind of
5:00:52 outside the box thinking, but have we looked at
5:00:55 setting up tracks, classes of academies,
5:00:59 meaning that if you’re a teacher, if you’re a student,
5:01:01 these are the classes that you can take
5:01:03 and then you’re on that together.
5:01:04 Did we look at possibly putting as many of those kids
5:01:07 in cohorts together like that?
5:01:08 That scheduling to me on a seven day
5:01:11 seemed a lot more than the transition here.
5:01:14 Did we look at that?
5:01:15 - So we do some cohort pathways right now
5:01:18 and those are typically four classes a year
5:01:21 and all of our academies by design have cohort pathways.
5:01:27 However, with a cohort pathway comes a limitation
5:01:30 of options and choice and in just my interpretation
5:01:37 of what this board and district has stood for,
5:01:40 choice and flexibility has always been high on the list
5:01:43 and so our students that choose the academies
5:01:47 opt into that cohort plan and it’s a really great fit.
5:01:50 It creates a common culture but a lot of students
5:01:53 and families really want to have the flexibility
5:01:55 and choose the courses that they want to choose
5:01:57 and they also have math is always a unique situation.
5:02:01 We want to make sure courses are leveled for students.
5:02:04 We don’t want to, some students are really strong
5:02:07 in the language arts.
5:02:09 They might want advanced placement there
5:02:10 but they might really struggle in mathematics
5:02:12 or the sciences and so a cohort pathway
5:02:16 assumes commonality in choices and commonality in levels
5:02:21 and so yeah, we absolutely thought about those things.
5:02:25 However, I’m always weighing things.
5:02:28 I weighed with what I’ve seen as this board
5:02:31 always really championing choice and options.
5:02:35 So again, in a COVID crisis we’re,
5:02:40 and I’m happy to pivot in my recommendations as well
5:02:45 and so in preparation for today,
5:02:47 I just keep in mind what I’ve seen and heard from the board
5:02:51 and tried to honor what I’ve seen
5:02:52 as the value of our district.
5:02:54 But again, nothing’s off the table.
5:02:58 - Right, no and I agree with you.
5:03:00 So you’re looking today for a recommendation from us
5:03:03 of whether we want to move forward with exploring this option
5:03:06 and would you like that at the end?
5:03:08 What are you asking from us today over this?
5:03:14 - I will not pretend to understand like protocol
5:03:19 but I believe Dr. Mullins and I in general, the team,
5:03:22 the entire group on different points
5:03:24 just keep working the direction.
5:03:26 We want you to pivot on that direction.
5:03:28 I think there’s a process the way you guys consensus
5:03:31 what you tell him to do.
5:03:34 I’m gonna assume you’re gonna tell me as a group,
5:03:36 if you don’t want me to proceed down that option
5:03:39 or whatever, I’ve got my pen in hand, I’m ready to go
5:03:43 but I’m gonna defer to the boss, Mr. Gibbs and you all
5:03:47 on what that looks like.
5:03:49 - Dr. Mullins.
5:03:51 - So yes, by the end of our conversation,
5:03:54 by the end of the workshop today,
5:03:56 we do need clear direction from the board
5:03:59 that we proceed down the path that we presented
5:04:02 or we put something on pause and look at another direction
5:04:09 or the board makes an explicit decision
5:04:12 that we want this wording or this expectation
5:04:16 or this requirement to change so that we can do the work
5:04:20 that needs to be done in preparation for Tuesday
5:04:24 at the board meeting when we present the final
5:04:26 ‘cause everything you are receiving today
5:04:28 and the public is hearing is in draft.
5:04:32 - So I’m sorry I’m taking a lot of time on this.
5:04:35 This is just my area that I lived, right?
5:04:39 We’re supposed to tell you kind of what you would like us
5:04:43 to move forward or not.
5:04:44 You’re gonna go back to your principles and say,
5:04:46 “Guys, you’ve thought about this, give me the feedback.”
5:04:50 And then some of the questions that we have
5:04:53 will get answered between now and then
5:04:55 and then we come back on Tuesday for a technical vote.
5:04:59 But if over the weekend, two or three of us
5:05:02 change our minds and we come to that meeting,
5:05:04 at that meeting would be the discussion point
5:05:06 of whether we would be able to pivot at the meeting
5:05:09 from one to the other or you looking at once we do this,
5:05:13 that recommendation’s coming and you’ve put so much into it
5:05:15 that we gotta make that decision there.
5:05:17 - Well, I would suggest that every day
5:05:21 we’re prepared to pivot.
5:05:22 I mean, ‘cause that’s what we’ve been living
5:05:24 for three months.
5:05:25 So we would ask for the best direction the board can give us
5:05:28 at this time in preparation for Tuesday.
5:05:31 We would bring forward what that represents
5:05:34 and if for some reason there is new direction
5:05:37 or there is different direction
5:05:39 from other external circumstances or sources,
5:05:43 we would have to do that anyway.
5:05:46 Dr. Sullivan with her administrative team
5:05:48 is continuing to explore and examine
5:05:52 the feasibility of the block recommendation.
5:05:56 I can’t tell you today that that is even gonna make it
5:05:59 to Tuesday, but that’s what we’re working toward.
5:06:03 If that is something the board is not supportive of
5:06:06 at this moment, we’d appreciate feedback from the board
5:06:10 today so we can just put that aside and not move forward.
5:06:15 I would at the same time ask the board to be cognizant
5:06:19 of how many additional directions we’re requested to take
5:06:25 because the capacity of our team is really taxed
5:06:32 at this time and time is of the essence.
5:06:34 We’re down to approximately three and a half weeks
5:06:37 before teacher’s report and three and a half weeks
5:06:42 and two days when typically we start providing schedules
5:06:47 to students for first round when they return,
5:06:49 particularly to secondary schools.
5:06:51 So at the same time, we were just presented
5:06:55 from the Department of Education confirmation of funding
5:07:00 for innovative learning options that our elementary team
5:07:05 is putting together and so on.
5:07:06 So at the same time, we are a very malleable organization
5:07:13 at this time, but we’re running out of time to become,
5:07:17 continue to be super flexible just because logistically
5:07:21 meeting the demands of all of the details
5:07:25 of what we need to do is running short.
5:07:27 So is that what you’re looking for, Mr. Seuss?
5:07:31 - Yeah, so the plan is due on the 31st to the state.
5:07:36 The 14th is our board meeting next week.
5:07:38 I just didn’t, I mean, this is a plan
5:07:40 that we just proposed today.
5:07:42 That’s asking the district principals and everybody else
5:07:44 to make a decision in five days to switch.
5:07:47 - Mr. Susan, let me clarify what’s due the 31st.
5:07:52 Our plan is inclusive of a number of things
5:07:55 that has nothing to do with the state requirement.
5:07:58 The state requirement is really targeted
5:08:02 at instructional models differ than what is normal.
5:08:06 So in this case, it’s primarily
5:08:08 the elementary e-learning model.
5:08:11 That is what needs to be to the state for approval.
5:08:15 And so all of our documentation on it
5:08:17 will be how that meets those assurances
5:08:20 of a high quality education.
5:08:23 All of these other things are local decisions.
5:08:26 - No, and I appreciate that.
5:08:28 Dr. Mullins, one of the greatest things about you and I
5:08:30 is we’re kind of a yin and yang on the things
5:08:32 about making decisions fast and then thinking about them
5:08:34 and going through the process, right?
5:08:36 It scares me to think that in five days
5:08:38 we would flip the entire district to a block
5:08:41 and make that decision without really thinking it through.
5:08:44 Like I just, while we were sitting here,
5:08:46 now I’m gonna ask is what about ESC push-in
5:08:49 and all that stuff at the schools?
5:08:50 We have some of the higher ESC population schools.
5:08:54 How does that work?
5:08:55 How do they work on block?
5:08:56 How does that? - Yeah, good question.
5:08:57 So all of those services, of course,
5:09:00 will continue to be provided for students.
5:09:02 There is one risk to a data indicator,
5:09:06 so I wanna be clear about that.
5:09:08 One of the measures that we look at to make sure students
5:09:11 are being served in the least restrictive environment
5:09:14 is their number of minutes with non-disabled peers.
5:09:18 And it is calculated based on the percentage of their day
5:09:22 in with non-disabled peers.
5:09:24 And so typically in most of our high schools,
5:09:28 we would want our students in the vast majority
5:09:31 of their schedule with non-disabled peers,
5:09:33 typically six out of their seven classes.
5:09:35 Maybe they have one class that’s learning strategies.
5:09:38 That’s all students with disabilities.
5:09:41 That percentage in a six out of seven
5:09:43 is still a really high percentage.
5:09:45 So a huge percentage of their day
5:09:46 is still with non-disabled peers.
5:09:49 In a block schedule, if they have a period
5:09:52 of learning strategies or social-emotional learning
5:09:56 or a class that’s really designed to provide
5:09:58 targeted support for students with disabilities,
5:10:01 it is inherently a greater percentage of their day.
5:10:04 And so in a case I gave,
5:10:09 where LRE is the number we use,
5:10:12 least restrictive environment,
5:10:14 in a six out of seven with that one class,
5:10:17 that’s a high percentage.
5:10:19 In a block schedule,
5:10:20 that’s automatically gonna be down to 75%.
5:10:23 So again, this being a one-year recommendation
5:10:28 for the district, it would be something
5:10:30 we’d probably have to explain and justify.
5:10:33 But there is an explanation.
5:10:36 We didn’t start putting kids in more restrictive classes.
5:10:40 The framework of the district changed.
5:10:42 And there would have to be
5:10:44 some creative professional development,
5:10:45 along with Chris’s team.
5:10:47 Again, learning from our friends at Titusville
5:10:49 and astronaut on some best practices.
5:10:53 But there would be no elimination of services.
5:10:55 We would just have to turn our heads a little bit.
5:10:58 And Chris, anything you wanted to add to that?
5:11:00 - No, I mean, the IEP teams are gonna need to meet.
5:11:04 We discussed this at length.
5:11:06 It’s hard.
5:11:08 The pivot’s gonna be hard.
5:11:09 And the fact of the matter is,
5:11:15 when first this came to me,
5:11:17 I was going through my head of all the reasons
5:11:20 why we couldn’t do it.
5:11:22 But after dealing with COVID cases
5:11:25 for the past two or three months
5:11:28 and ever-increasing stories of it,
5:11:32 here or near here or in our schools or near our schools,
5:11:36 and thinking about what that’s gonna be like
5:11:38 when we have 2,200 kids that show up at a school
5:11:42 and we have to start talking about excluding kids
5:11:45 from school and kids that they came into contact with,
5:11:51 I have to weigh safety over hard.
5:11:53 And so it’s going to be a challenge
5:11:57 if that’s the direction that we go.
5:11:58 And it is gonna have an impact on the work
5:12:00 of the people who work with students with disabilities.
5:12:03 But as far as the services to them,
5:12:07 you should not see a change in that.
5:12:09 You should see that students are still being supported.
5:12:12 IAs are still gonna push in.
5:12:13 Support facilitation is still gonna happen.
5:12:16 Classes are still gonna meet.
5:12:18 It’s gonna be a matter of IEP teams meeting,
5:12:21 LRE being an issue,
5:12:23 working with the state to make sure they understand that
5:12:25 and don’t penalize us.
5:12:26 But I think you summed it up well.
5:12:31 - Thank you.
5:12:32 I think Ms. Belfort said that we’re gonna,
5:12:34 I guess we’ll give you that direction
5:12:35 at the end of the meeting.
5:12:36 Sorry to go with the, it’s just this is my thing.
5:12:39 - Please don’t.
5:12:40 My response is the same to all the comments.
5:12:43 Like this is what we’re here for.
5:12:44 And I’m so thankful of the board’s time.
5:12:46 This is not something, this is hard.
5:12:50 This is not something that we’re gonna sit and say,
5:12:51 we should do this, it’s the right answer.
5:12:54 It is let’s keep massaging these answers
5:12:56 to try to do the best we can in the situation we’re in.
5:12:59 - And then I just had one last one was on page or slide 25.
5:13:04 Schools will identify students not equally supported
5:13:07 in self-assessment at home and develop a plan.
5:13:10 - We haven’t gotten to that one yet.
5:13:12 I’m turning that one over to Chris Moore.
5:13:13 Hang with me.
5:13:15 - We’re ahead of the game, Mr. Sussan.
5:13:18 - Ms. Daskovich.
5:13:22 - The more we’re talking about this,
5:13:23 I’m concerned about, was it AP classes you said
5:13:27 that you can only test at the end of the year, right?
5:13:29 It was an IB year.
5:13:31 So I just keep thinking about West Shore and Edgewood
5:13:34 and I’m wondering if block scheduling is gonna be,
5:13:38 what is the percentage of,
5:13:39 I think all their students take AP classes
5:13:41 and some of them, if I recall,
5:13:42 have pretty much all AP classes at some point.
5:13:45 So is this gonna be a harder fit for them is question one.
5:13:50 And two, Ms. Campbell said that it’s kind of
5:13:53 an all or nothing thing.
5:13:54 Is that, or she thought maybe it would be
5:13:56 an all or nothing thing.
5:13:57 Is that true or could there be an exception
5:13:59 for West Shore and Edgewood?
5:14:00 Or would that look inequitable?
5:14:03 How could that play out?
5:14:04 Could we single out two schools?
5:14:05 Because they’re smaller schools, too.
5:14:07 They’re not facilitating 2,500 kids.
5:14:10 - Yes, yes, yes and yes.
5:14:12 I mean, that’s obviously a direction
5:14:13 that we would look at at the direction of the board.
5:14:17 No question.
5:14:19 So yeah, it presents unique challenges in those two schools.
5:14:25 So the question is, what’s the bigger risk?
5:14:29 So again, I wrote down something Ms. Campbell said earlier
5:14:34 that grieving the loss, right?
5:14:35 So that it’s in my mind.
5:14:39 We keep doing this dance of,
5:14:42 I still wanna do this, but we have to do this.
5:14:43 I still wanna do this, I have to do this, right?
5:14:46 And it’s normal.
5:14:47 It’s normal that you guys are going back and forth.
5:14:49 We have been living this dream, our principals have.
5:14:52 And so at some point we have to say,
5:14:55 if we’re trying to suggest West Shore and Edgewood
5:14:57 could look exactly the same,
5:14:59 it would imply that they’re insulated
5:15:02 from all of these other issues
5:15:03 that are causing us to make these recommendations.
5:15:06 And so if we were not in a global pandemic,
5:15:11 I wouldn’t be making this recommendation.
5:15:13 And so the question is,
5:15:14 what is more important in those students and those families?
5:15:19 Less contact, less transition, less class change,
5:15:22 less touch or preserving what they’ve always done.
5:15:28 I will leave the five elected officials
5:15:32 along with my boss to try.
5:15:34 We’ve weighed out our recommendation,
5:15:39 painting over exactly what you’re saying.
5:15:41 So will it look and feel differently?
5:15:43 Yes.
5:15:44 Will it be exactly what they’re used to?
5:15:47 No.
5:15:48 Will there be some things that are better for some students?
5:15:51 Yes.
5:15:52 As parent whose children have been through these programs,
5:15:57 there’s also a lot to be said
5:15:58 when you have seven of them at the same time, right?
5:16:01 So having four of them at the same time
5:16:04 with the load that they have,
5:16:05 there’s also a positive to that too.
5:16:08 And I would imagine in our West Shore
5:16:09 and our Edgewood communities,
5:16:11 much like the community feedback we’ve gotten,
5:16:14 there’s gonna be very different opinions and perspectives
5:16:17 within the teaching population.
5:16:19 One teacher may want to be unwavering
5:16:22 on the way we’ve done it.
5:16:24 It’s really worked well for them.
5:16:25 It’s effective.
5:16:26 Another one, the concerns about contact
5:16:27 may outweigh their desire to keep it the same.
5:16:31 And that’s the challenge that we’re in
5:16:33 as public educators right now,
5:16:35 that every human being experiencing this pandemic
5:16:40 has a very different feeling on the right fit for them.
5:16:44 So it’s your recommendation
5:16:46 that this is all secondary schools go to block scheduling?
5:16:49 It’s my recommendation that if we can make the schedules work
5:16:54 that all do because of the protection of less context,
5:16:58 less class exchange, less class change,
5:17:00 and the safety to our students and staff
5:17:05 given the calls I know that Chris Moore gets,
5:17:10 given the fact that that AP teacher
5:17:13 that wants those seven classes and those kids may get ill,
5:17:18 given that it’s not all things equal,
5:17:23 given all those unknowns,
5:17:24 this school year is going to turn us all upside down.
5:17:28 And as much as we think we can anticipate what it brings us,
5:17:32 and you would think the three of us more than anybody
5:17:34 would be able to feel it ‘cause we live every comment,
5:17:38 we’re just beginning the unknowns.
5:17:43 So will it make some people unhappy?
5:17:46 Of course.
5:17:48 But again, I pick safe.
5:17:50 - Okay, just one more question.
5:17:51 And this actually goes back to Ms. Cline.
5:17:52 We can go back 15 pages or whatever.
5:17:56 - Only four. - I think it was like three.
5:17:58 - It feels like 15 pages.
5:18:00 I was thinking about in our elementary schools
5:18:02 how some and not all switch classes by sixth grade.
5:18:06 They rotate around.
5:18:08 That didn’t seem to be addressed in here.
5:18:09 Maybe are we doing something in that area?
5:18:12 Liminating to just two switches
5:18:14 or are we still letting them switch for all classes
5:18:16 or how’s that gonna work?
5:18:17 - So we wanna minimize the risk for our teachers as well.
5:18:22 And so we are in discussion whether we allow teachers
5:18:30 to departmentalize because that’s putting a teacher
5:18:34 with four different groups of students.
5:18:37 So that’s adding more exposure to our elementary teachers.
5:18:42 Everything we’re trying to do is minimize the risk
5:18:46 to not only our students but the adults.
5:18:50 Every adult in our building.
5:18:53 So when you think of things that keep us up at night,
5:18:56 it’s that safety of everyone.
5:18:59 It’s the safety of everyone in this room
5:19:02 because we laugh and joke, the three of us,
5:19:05 that if one’s going, we’re all going
5:19:08 because we’ve been together way too much lately.
5:19:11 But we have to think every person we’re in contact with
5:19:16 and we’re not totally socially distancing
5:19:19 or we’re not wearing our mask, we’re at minimum.
5:19:25 So when you’re in contact with me, I’ve been in, my husband.
5:19:29 So there’s me, my husband and now Stephanie and Chris.
5:19:35 So now I’ve exposed my home to them through what’s on,
5:19:40 so I don’t want exposure, I wanna minimize the exposure
5:19:44 to all of our teachers.
5:19:46 So we’re debating and really debating
5:19:49 and the team that’s working on that on this e-learning,
5:19:56 it’s been in great conversation with them
5:19:58 because we don’t want anyone to become ill.
5:20:04 We don’t want a child exposed, I don’t want a teacher,
5:20:07 I don’t want a cafeteria worker, our custodians.
5:20:10 All these people, Brevard Public Schools is one, we’re one.
5:20:19 And it doesn’t matter how long we are
5:20:21 and how narrow we are, we’re one voice, we’re one community
5:20:25 and we support each other.
5:20:29 We don’t all agree and we’re not always going to agree
5:20:33 on most things, but we do agree for one thing
5:20:38 and that’s we take care of each other.
5:20:40 So if nothing else, we have to take care of,
5:20:44 I have to have the responsibility of taking care
5:20:47 of the 57 elementary schools and the contact
5:20:53 that we’re having with others.
5:20:54 So long drawn out answer is we are taking departmentalizing
5:21:02 under consideration, we’re also taking under consideration.
5:21:08 Some of the activity classes and where do we have
5:21:11 the teacher move or the students move?
5:21:14 Do we have kids moving down the hall
5:21:16 when it’s not necessary?
5:21:17 All of those things are swirling in our heads.
5:21:21 - So I just wanna add some context and some numbers to that
5:21:25 so that you have this in the back of your head
5:21:27 as you weigh out these decisions.
5:21:32 If there is a student who is COVID positive, we may,
5:21:35 and I use the word may because there’s a lot of factors
5:21:39 that weigh into it, have to close a building down
5:21:41 for three days, 24 to 48 hours so that the rooms are safe
5:21:46 to go into before cleaning and then a day for cleaning.
5:21:50 All of the contacts to that case would then be excluded
5:21:54 from school for 14 days.
5:21:57 So when you look at students transitioning
5:21:59 through four fifth grade teachers,
5:22:04 that means every fifth grade teacher would be excluded
5:22:06 from school for 14 days.
5:22:08 That means all of those students would be excluded
5:22:12 from school for 14 days.
5:22:15 And that’s why the minimizing contacts is so important
5:22:18 because it’s the difference between possibly shutting down
5:22:20 a school for three days for cleaning and excluding
5:22:24 a small group of students from school for 14 days
5:22:27 and giving them services through our continuity
5:22:30 of instruction plan or having a large group
5:22:35 of people have to be excluded from school for 14 days
5:22:38 and then having to shut the building down
5:22:40 because we don’t have enough people to safely operate it.
5:22:43 And I’ll be talking more about that when we get
5:22:45 to my, the COVID section, but it does weigh
5:22:49 into this decision making as we talk
5:22:51 about why minimizing contacts are so important.
5:22:55 - Thank you both.
5:22:59 Anyone else have questions to revisit?
5:23:08 Dr. Sullivan, one of the things that,
5:23:11 and first let me say, I appreciate immensely
5:23:15 the work that you have done with your team
5:23:17 and the tough decisions that you’re making, all of you.
5:23:23 What is our, how does Brevard Virtual
5:23:28 versus in-person, in-building versus dual enrollment
5:23:33 impact our funding per student?
5:23:37 - So we earn FTE on all those enrollments.
5:23:42 And so where we don’t earn FTE is on Florida Virtual School.
5:23:47 Florida Virtual School is very hard on our budget.
5:23:51 And so we certainly want any students who,
5:23:54 and parents who are exploring a virtual option
5:23:57 to consider Brevard Virtual School.
5:23:59 And it’s our teachers, there’s a principal to reach,
5:24:03 all those things that are really powerful in a school.
5:24:06 So homeschool and Florida Virtual School
5:24:10 are the two greatest hits to our funding.
5:24:13 There are some minor tweaks in all of the rest of it.
5:24:17 So I can’t give you a perfect breakdown,
5:24:20 but the way dual enrollment works is we earn the FTE
5:24:23 for the student in that dual enrollment class.
5:24:26 And then we pay Eastern Florida for that class.
5:24:30 And so we earn it and then we pay.
5:24:33 And it’s not a perfect dollar equal.
5:24:36 And there’s some discrepancy in that.
5:24:39 So yeah, increasing flexibility has a potential
5:24:42 for some impacts to our budget.
5:24:46 I don’t believe dramatically, but we’ve,
5:24:49 this is new territory of sort of exploding flexible options.
5:24:54 And I can promise you that weighs very heavily
5:24:57 on Dr. Mullins.
5:25:00 He has paced down to my office more times than I can count
5:25:05 on those very same questions.
5:25:07 And so we’ll be doing a little bit more exploring
5:25:09 with our FTE team here and the DOE.
5:25:12 And sometimes the public communication
5:25:18 on how that’s funded is fuzzy.
5:25:20 So we are pulling it apart to make it unfuzzy
5:25:25 on how the state communicates it.
5:25:28 That being said, this year will be the first year
5:25:32 there’ll be bonus funding for dual enrollment.
5:25:35 So that’s a positive as well.
5:25:37 We do receive bonus FTE in certain circumstances
5:25:42 and bonus FTE for dual enrollment is something
5:25:45 we anticipate this year that we have not had in the past.
5:25:49 And they’ve also added bonus FTE for capstone.
5:25:53 And that increases the student’s potential
5:25:57 with another block and block scheduling.
5:25:59 So there are some things that might be a stressor
5:26:02 on the budget.
5:26:03 There’s other things that might actually assist the budget
5:26:05 because of student’s ability to take more accelerated
5:26:07 courses, student’s abilities to pass
5:26:09 more industry certifications.
5:26:11 So that’s why it’s a, some of the things that cost us
5:26:14 also help us.
5:26:15 And so that’s why the math is a little difficult to assess
5:26:20 in that circumstance.
5:26:22 - Thank you for that explanation.
5:26:25 One of the things that just in trying to think
5:26:29 outside the box,
5:26:34 and you probably have looked at this and probably can tell
5:26:36 me why I’m ludicrous to think that that would be feasible.
5:26:42 Looking at our classroom situation and just trying
5:26:45 to make all of these pieces fit while addressing
5:26:50 the contact issue, right?
5:26:53 Minimizing contact, minimizing exposure.
5:26:58 If we have a classroom, say,
5:27:02 I’ll say a middle school algebra class, right?
5:27:05 And typically that middle school algebra class
5:27:07 would have 28 kids in it.
5:27:10 Would that, 28, 30, something like that, maybe?
5:27:12 - I’d like to say 25, but it’ll be a–
5:27:15 - 25? - A whole bunch of teachers
5:27:16 telling me otherwise.
5:27:18 - Okay. - On average, 25.
5:27:21 - Okay.
5:27:24 So just from, just a numbers crunching game, right?
5:27:30 It would seem to me like if we could get
5:27:35 13 of those students to want to stay home,
5:27:40 but participate in the live classroom
5:27:43 with the other 13 students that are in the class
5:27:47 and that teacher, it would seem to me like
5:27:50 that would decrease our contact,
5:27:54 the number of interactions that we have,
5:27:55 the number of people that we have,
5:27:57 the number of bodies in the class,
5:28:00 but would still maintain that student’s ability
5:28:03 to be a part of that class to,
5:28:06 we would still be well within class size
5:28:09 and it wouldn’t shift so much funding
5:28:12 and was there any consideration given to that
5:28:15 when you were looking at our options?
5:28:17 - Oh, for sure.
5:28:18 So a situation like that in a secondary setting
5:28:22 would only work if every teacher in that child’s schedule
5:28:29 is serving all those purposes.
5:28:33 And I can assure you, Dr. Mullen,
5:28:36 I have talked about that scenario at great length.
5:28:39 So for example, that math teacher
5:28:42 would be servicing the kids in front of them.
5:28:46 We absolutely need them to serve the kids in front of them
5:28:49 who are in a weird state of distance learning
5:28:53 and provide an equally assurance-driven, robust experience
5:28:58 for those kids in their classroom at the same time.
5:29:03 And so picture the math quiz, the math test,
5:29:05 picture some of those things that we know
5:29:09 in terms of integrity around authentic student work
5:29:12 went a little by the wayside
5:29:15 in our emergency at-home learning
5:29:17 and that’s a really big lift of the teacher.
5:29:22 And so given all the other adjustments,
5:29:29 the fact that that teacher might be out themselves
5:29:32 for 14 days and then I have a sub, if I can get one,
5:29:40 doing that live and synchronous and this child’s story
5:29:46 and I just landed at reasonableness
5:29:50 is the only way that works in a secondary
5:29:52 is if every teacher in that student state does it
5:29:54 because of all the different courses,
5:29:56 unlike our elementary friends have come up
5:29:58 with a great solution that makes sense
5:30:00 with a K-6 certification.
5:30:03 And so again, we’ve talked about it a lot
5:30:08 and I can certainly take whatever feedback
5:30:14 the board provides.
5:30:16 I don’t know that we have the capacity
5:30:18 to stand up another option but I was uncomfortable
5:30:24 with what that would require of our teachers
5:30:27 and we would have to ensure that child at home,
5:30:32 part of those insurances are they’re getting
5:30:34 their therapies, they’re getting their supports,
5:30:36 like the DOE will only support it if all of those aspects
5:30:42 are guaranteed for those students.
5:30:49 - The other two considerations on that
5:30:51 were if we’re doing a live class and streaming,
5:30:54 there’s an equipment concern that also has an expense
5:30:58 attached to it and there’s also a FERPA concern.
5:31:01 The teacher would not be able to address kids by name,
5:31:03 the camera could only be on them.
5:31:08 There were a couple of other layers of concerns
5:31:10 added to that as well, just to keep in mind.
5:31:12 - It would be the capacity of our teachers,
5:31:15 the asks of them when they too are concerned
5:31:19 about their own medical fragility
5:31:21 and just all of that combined, I think was the challenge
5:31:26 where we landed at that not being our key recommendation.
5:31:30 - Okay and then follow up to that and similar,
5:31:33 you had mentioned, so what if the teacher is out?
5:31:37 If we have a teacher who has to go out,
5:31:39 is there an opportunity for that teacher
5:31:41 to continue to teach from home with another
5:31:43 responsible adult in the classroom rather than,
5:31:46 like I, trust me when I say I know it’s not ideal, right,
5:31:49 but if we have the opportunity to have a skilled teacher
5:31:53 who is willing and able to teach their content from home,
5:31:57 I would think that that would be a better solution
5:31:59 than to have a substitute who’s unfamiliar with the content
5:32:02 or have you–
5:32:05 - So I’m gonna say when a teacher goes out.
5:32:08 - Yeah and I really think it goes to Beth Betty
5:32:10 because yeah, where I was gonna say is
5:32:13 those are all kinds of terms that I,
5:32:17 I don’t know how, what is appropriate when a person is home
5:32:21 on leave and all those kinds of things, there’s,
5:32:24 so I’m gonna defer to Dr. Thady on that question
5:32:29 and I would imagine it’s a question in progress.
5:32:33 - Thank you, Dr. Sullivan.
5:32:34 It is a question in progress and I,
5:32:35 if COVID has taught us anything,
5:32:37 it’s taught us that there are things we can do
5:32:39 that we haven’t considered in the past.
5:32:42 It’s a good question.
5:32:43 It’s something that we have thought about.
5:32:45 Some of it has bargaining implications
5:32:47 that we would have to work through.
5:32:50 But it depends, we want our teachers
5:32:52 to be safe and healthy also and if somebody’s ill,
5:32:55 having them teach at home is probably not the best idea.
5:32:59 But we’ll have scenarios where somebody’s quarantined
5:33:02 but they’re asymptomatic and they never become symptomatic
5:33:05 and I believe that’s what you’re talking about.
5:33:07 I think those are all things under consideration.
5:33:10 - Okay, thank you.
5:33:16 - I think that that was all of the questions
5:33:18 that I had for you, Dr. Sullivan.
5:33:19 Does any board member need to circle back
5:33:21 with Dr. Sullivan on any issues of the secondary plan?
5:33:23 - Thank you.
5:33:24 Thank you so much. - Of course.
5:33:25 - Thank you.
5:33:26 - Of course.
5:33:27 - We appreciate you and your team
5:33:28 and all that you’re doing.
5:33:29 - And thank you for changing your schedule
5:33:31 all day long for this.
5:33:32 - She’s amazing.
5:33:33 - Yeah.
5:33:34 - I already texted her and said I’m really sorry.
5:33:36 (laughing)
5:33:41 - I think we need to ask you some questions.
5:33:42 - I do.
5:33:43 Yeah, we are getting, I have lots of questions for Patty.
5:33:46 (laughing)
5:33:48 - Should we start thinking about dinner, Dr. Mullen?
5:33:50 - No, Mr. Susan, we should not.
5:33:52 - We’re only halfway.
5:33:56 - All right, I think Ms. Moore, we are coming back to you.
5:34:00 - All right, this next section, it has a lot of things
5:34:04 that we grappled with in a lot of different areas.
5:34:07 And so, just so that you know,
5:34:09 we looked at several different factors.
5:34:13 One was the community input, of course.
5:34:15 The second was the feedback from medical professionals.
5:34:19 But two of the other factors that we had to consider
5:34:21 was our ability to implement and our ability to manage.
5:34:27 And so, when we start talking about things
5:34:30 like health screenings and face masks and transportation,
5:34:37 oftentimes, our conversation rolled around
5:34:42 to our ability to implement and our ability to manage.
5:34:46 And then, the final factor is, of course,
5:34:48 school board input.
5:34:49 So, it won’t surprise you to hear me say
5:34:51 that there are several things in this section
5:34:53 that you guys are gonna grapple with
5:34:56 and hopefully come back to us
5:34:58 with a strong direction on which way to go.
5:35:04 So, the first area is health screenings.
5:35:07 And one of the things that we know is that we are dependent.
5:35:10 We are absolutely 100% dependent
5:35:14 on our community and our families.
5:35:18 All of this starts in the home,
5:35:20 parents taking precautions with their kids,
5:35:23 parents or guardians ensuring that if their child
5:35:27 is in contact with somebody who is case positive,
5:35:30 that they know what to do and know how to inform us.
5:35:35 And for health screenings is the fact
5:35:37 that parents will start their day with a health screening.
5:35:40 Now, yesterday at four o’clock,
5:35:42 the CDC sent out new guidelines for health screening.
5:35:45 So, that’s not included in this.
5:35:47 I’ve already forwarded it to Mike Alba
5:35:49 because he’s developed the,
5:35:50 him and his team developed the screenings for employees.
5:35:54 And we wanna stay consistent and use the same screening.
5:35:58 So, we’ll be already modifying this
5:36:02 based on the CDC guidelines that we got last night.
5:36:05 But one of the things that I think everybody
5:36:06 needs to be aware of and jump in here
5:36:09 and correct me if I’m wrong,
5:36:11 but the last number I heard was 50%
5:36:13 of our COVID positive cases, they don’t run temperatures.
5:36:19 Thank you.
5:36:20 So, that temperature check that everybody,
5:36:24 that I’m reading about and that everybody’s asking for
5:36:27 is not necessarily gonna be the thing
5:36:29 that’s the indicator that a child is sick.
5:36:32 And so, one of the things that we ask is,
5:36:35 parents, you guys know your kids best.
5:36:38 You know when they’re just not feeling well.
5:36:40 Maybe they’re a little bit paler.
5:36:42 Maybe they’re a little bit listless.
5:36:44 But if they’re not feeling well, keep them at home.
5:36:48 We also know that they’re going to be students
5:36:50 with different levels of support at their family.
5:36:54 Their parent might work a late shift and be sleeping.
5:36:58 There might not be the necessary supplies at home
5:37:00 to take a temperature.
5:37:02 So, one of the things that we said is,
5:37:04 all right, we’re gonna depend on parents
5:37:08 to do the first level of health check
5:37:10 and we’re gonna give them the questions to ask
5:37:12 and the steps to take.
5:37:14 But we know that there are gonna be students
5:37:16 coming to school every day
5:37:17 that aren’t necessarily asked those questions.
5:37:20 And so, those are the group of students
5:37:21 that we’re gonna identify
5:37:22 and each school is going to set in place
5:37:26 a process for making sure those students get screened.
5:37:31 We are dependent on the nurturing of our schools
5:37:38 and the understanding
5:37:40 that this is a very private health screen.
5:37:44 So, we are going to manage that at the front of the house
5:37:48 and not at the back of the house at the classroom level.
5:37:50 So, that’s step numbers one and two.
5:37:54 The second thing is we wanted to make sure
5:37:56 that parents knew if your child is sick
5:37:58 and you keep them home, that’s an excused absence.
5:38:01 We are not giving any awards for perfect attendance.
5:38:06 I apologize to those parents
5:38:08 who are looking at a long stretch
5:38:12 of a perfect attendance award
5:38:14 that is not happening next year.
5:38:19 There’s not a school in the district
5:38:20 that’s gonna do it.
5:38:23 And so, back to your point about the chronic illness form,
5:38:26 we need to make sure we’re getting the message out
5:38:28 long and clear, loud and clear.
5:38:31 Parents, you are going to be the determinant factor
5:38:36 of whether your child is excused or not
5:38:38 from attendance that day.
5:38:45 For those students who are asymptomatic,
5:38:49 they either are sent home because they’re ill
5:38:52 and are awaiting testing or have been tested
5:38:54 and are asymptomatic, we’re gonna make sure
5:38:56 that we have a continuity of instruction plan for them.
5:39:00 We’re gonna have so many different scenarios.
5:39:02 To Stephanie’s point when she talks about
5:39:08 all of the ways in which we already serve students,
5:39:10 we’re gonna have students that are out
5:39:12 because routine normal illness.
5:39:14 We’re gonna have students that are out
5:39:16 and they’re too ill to work.
5:39:18 We’re gonna have students that are out
5:39:19 for three days, for 14 days.
5:39:21 We may have a school shut down
5:39:23 and we need to be responsive to all of that.
5:39:26 And so, one of the things that we have said repeatedly
5:39:29 is as soon as we get this plan done,
5:39:31 then we have to look at all of those scenarios
5:39:34 and how we are gonna work with those students.
5:39:38 And finally, on this page is just that
5:39:41 we wanna prioritize health.
5:39:43 We wanna prioritize health over anything else.
5:39:46 We’re gonna work in the background
5:39:47 to make sure that instruction happens
5:39:49 and we’re gonna be doing monitoring.
5:39:51 We’re gonna do our best to meet all of the services
5:39:53 that students are required to get.
5:40:01 And through all of that, the context has to be
5:40:04 we’re protecting the health of that student,
5:40:06 we’re protecting the health of our employees,
5:40:08 and we’re protecting the health
5:40:09 of the rest of the students in the school.
5:40:13 But all of that kind of depends, not kind of,
5:40:15 it does depend on our parents
5:40:18 and our parents being responsive.
5:40:20 And so, we wanted to make sure to list out
5:40:23 some of the things that we just have to have.
5:40:25 The first thing we have to have
5:40:27 is absolutely accurate information on parents’ contact lists.
5:40:31 You know, some of those lists are,
5:40:34 you could call six phone numbers and none of them work.
5:40:40 And so, one of the big asks is
5:40:42 make sure our contact list is accurate.
5:40:44 The second thing, and probably the thing
5:40:47 I’ve been questioned about the most, quite frankly,
5:40:50 besides my COVID questions, has been,
5:40:53 well, what do we do if a kid is sick
5:40:57 and the parent just doesn’t come and get them?
5:41:00 And so, that is another area in which we have got
5:41:03 to have parents responsive to the schools
5:41:06 and cooperate with the schools.
5:41:08 If we call you and your child is ill,
5:41:11 we need you to come and pick that child up
5:41:13 as soon as you can or to make arrangements
5:41:15 for your child to come and pick up as soon as you can.
5:41:19 In the meantime, the schools are gonna be working
5:41:21 on a management plan for that.
5:41:23 But, you know, one student is manageable.
5:41:27 Two students, we’ve now crossed a bridge
5:41:30 where we can no longer have a functioning clinic
5:41:36 and manage two ill children and keep them separate
5:41:39 because we have now just exhausted the three people
5:41:41 that we have that are trained to do anything for the clinic.
5:41:46 We need to make sure that our parents are completing
5:41:48 accurate medical information for our schools.
5:41:51 Every year, they complete a medical card.
5:41:54 And as you guys know, sometimes as we go
5:41:57 through elementary school, things are really specific
5:41:59 and detailed, and then as we get up through middle school,
5:42:02 less so, and by high school, some of our information
5:42:04 is not at all as complete as it needs to be.
5:42:07 We wanna encourage parents to really take the time
5:42:09 to make sure that medical information is filled out
5:42:12 absolutely correct.
5:42:14 We wanna ensure that if parents are leaving town,
5:42:17 that they complete it in the local parentis form,
5:42:20 and we know who’s responsible for that student.
5:42:23 There are any numbers of occasions when students are sick
5:42:26 and we try to call and reach a parent,
5:42:28 and we find out that mom or dad or the guardian
5:42:31 is out of town for, you know, for work or for whatever,
5:42:36 and that they’re staying with somebody else.
5:42:38 And that somebody else, we don’t have authority
5:42:41 to just hand a sick child off to.
5:42:43 So we’re going to make sure we push out to parents.
5:42:46 If you have to leave town and you leave your child
5:42:49 in somebody else’s care, we absolutely have to have
5:42:51 in a local parentis form done.
5:42:54 And finally, it goes without saying,
5:42:56 all medications do need to be brought in directly
5:42:58 to the clinic by the parent as needed.
5:43:01 That’s always been our policy.
5:43:02 It’s just a helpful reminder to everybody.
5:43:08 As we began looking over face coverings
5:43:11 and reading the feedback from parents,
5:43:16 we were pretty much straddling the line between 50/50.
5:43:22 You should know that when the first,
5:43:24 and I don’t know that Dr. Sullivan said this,
5:43:26 but she said it in every meeting I’ve been at,
5:43:29 so she probably did.
5:43:30 As we began to ask for information,
5:43:36 we were running pretty much 50/50 on any issue.
5:43:38 50/50 on face masks, 50/50 on temperature checks,
5:43:41 50/50 on school starting.
5:43:43 As we’ve gotten deeper into the crisis in Brevard County,
5:43:46 there has been a shift in some of that feedback.
5:43:48 And I imagine you guys have felt it
5:43:50 and heard it in your offices.
5:43:53 We included the American Academy of Pediatrics
5:43:56 information on face masks.
5:43:57 I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read it yet,
5:44:00 but we included it in there so that you can have it.
5:44:06 And I’ll be quiet for just a minute
5:44:08 to give you a chance to at least skim it.
5:44:36 (silence)
5:44:51 And so this is one of those areas that we need,
5:44:55 we really need to hear the will of the board.
5:44:57 We really need to hear what your input and feedback is.
5:45:01 Currently, our recommendation is that we strongly recommend
5:45:05 our employees and our students to wear face masks
5:45:08 and that there are going to be certain circumstances
5:45:10 in which it is required.
5:45:12 Face masks will be required in certain CTE labs,
5:45:15 certain instructional settings.
5:45:18 Face masks are expected on the bus.
5:45:21 Face masks are required if somebody,
5:45:25 for example, as critical infrastructure workers,
5:45:30 if a teacher is a contact to a case,
5:45:33 it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going
5:45:35 to be quarantined at home for 14 days,
5:45:37 because as critical infrastructure workers,
5:45:39 they are allowed to come back and teach
5:45:42 as long as they take a health screening
5:45:44 in the morning at the school and wear a face mask.
5:45:47 In those cases, it will be required.
5:45:52 Any student who was sent to the clinic
5:45:53 and is exhibiting symptoms will be required.
5:45:56 required to wear a face mask, and we will have those face masks
5:45:59 available both for children
5:46:01 and adults at school, the disposable ones, if students come in
5:46:06 and want to wear a face
5:46:07 mask and one isn’t available to them from home. There is also
5:46:13 going to be face shields
5:46:14 available to all faculty members, as Stephanie said earlier. Did
5:46:17 I miss anything on face
5:46:18 masks? We’re not implying that all classes all the time. We’re
5:46:33 suggesting that a teacher
5:46:35 could have a lesson where it puts the kids in a vulnerable
5:46:38 situation. We’re picturing
5:46:40 a culinary lab, and so we’re picturing they might center around
5:46:44 a work block, I’ll be
5:46:46 working on food product. In that case, we would anticipate the
5:46:49 teacher for that lesson
5:46:51 having the students put on a face covering. We do that in a lot
5:46:54 of our CTE labs now, some
5:46:55 safety precautions. I’m picturing the group of kids under the
5:47:00 car in auto body, and so
5:47:02 our teachers will have discretion if a lesson is better served
5:47:08 in that. And to some of Mr.
5:47:10 Susan’s points earlier on some of those activities that are
5:47:13 better than spread out, that might
5:47:14 be a situation where a teacher says to the principal, hey, I
5:47:17 want to do this activity
5:47:18 if they wear face masks. So we could see a non-required
5:47:24 situation in general, but a teacher
5:47:28 being able to make a decision to be able to conduct an activity,
5:47:33 especially in some of
5:47:34 our career prep courses that require certain things have to be
5:47:38 done in order for the students
5:47:39 to earn those credentials. Sorry, Ms. Moore. » No, no, no, I
5:47:43 appreciate it. And I think
5:47:45 it’s really important to talk about the word strongly, strongly
5:47:48 encouraged, because it
5:47:49 means different things to different people. The number one thing
5:47:53 that we know is going
5:47:54 to make a difference is if it’s modeled. When you walk around ESF,
5:47:58 I know for people who
5:47:59 may be watching the live streaming, they’re looking at all of us
5:48:01 saying you’re not wearing
5:48:02 your masks. When we walk around ESF, the building here, we all
5:48:08 wear masks unless we’re in a
5:48:11 situation like this where we’re talking, presenting. So we know
5:48:16 that number one, we’re going to
5:48:18 ask that our leadership model that. Number two, we’re going to
5:48:22 make sure that we put
5:48:23 out lots of information about how face masks do mitigate the
5:48:30 illness. We have the information
5:48:32 from the CDC and the Department of Health that shows that me
5:48:35 wearing a face mask protects
5:48:36 you, you wearing a face mask protects me, and the two of us
5:48:39 wearing a face mask when
5:48:40 we’re with each other protects everyone. So we’re going to make
5:48:43 sure to put that message
5:48:44 out very strongly to our community and our kids. But like I said,
5:48:49 this is one of those
5:48:50 areas that we knew we needed to kind of hear the will of the
5:48:52 board to know what direction
5:48:53 you wanted us to head in for this. The next year –
5:49:10 » Ms. McDougall, we have our next question and answer session
5:49:15 coming up after slide 33.
5:49:18 So we have Ms. Moore from 25 to 32, and then we have Ms. Han at
5:49:24 33, and then a Q&A session.
5:49:27 » Okay. Yes. So it’s not going to surprise you to see hand
5:49:32 washing on here and that it
5:49:34 is one of the best ways to protect ourselves and our families
5:49:37 from getting sick. We’re
5:49:39 going to make sure that we spend some time teaching our
5:49:41 elementary students the proper
5:49:42 way to hand wash. And believe it or not, we’re going to take
5:49:46 some time to present to our
5:49:47 secondary kids the proper way to hand wash. We’re going to build
5:49:50 in time in the day to
5:49:51 make sure that they are – have the ability to hand wash, and we’re
5:49:55 going to make sure
5:49:56 that every school – every classroom has sanitizer. It’s going
5:49:59 to be a concerted effort that as
5:50:01 kids enter and leave a room, they hand sanitize. So you can
5:50:04 expect, you know, when we always
5:50:06 say to the teachers, we want you at the doorway greeting kids,
5:50:09 it’s going to be a greeting
5:50:11 and pump a hand sanitizer, and then they’re going to see the
5:50:15 same as they leave. We’re
5:50:17 going to make sure that hand sanitizer is available in all the
5:50:19 common areas, in the
5:50:20 gym, the courtyards, in the cafeteria. We’re going to make sure
5:50:23 the bathrooms are fully
5:50:24 stocked with soap and the supplies needed to wash their hands,
5:50:28 and we’re going to make
5:50:29 sure that the outside areas have different stations for hand sanitizer.
5:50:36 Transportation.
5:50:39 It absolutely provides some unique challenges for social distancing,
5:50:44 and everybody is going
5:50:45 to need to work together to make sure that this is a safe
5:50:49 environment. So we really want
5:50:51 parents to enforce with their students what appropriate social
5:50:55 distancing would be at
5:50:57 bus stops. That’s an area that we don’t – we don’t really
5:51:01 manage, and so we really need
5:51:03 to make sure that parents are working with their students on
5:51:06 that. Students are expected
5:51:07 to wear masks on bus. The only exception to that would be
5:51:11 students that already have a
5:51:12 documented medical condition that requires them not to, or
5:51:16 students that have a sensory
5:51:18 issue that is already documented as well. Again, we’re going to
5:51:24 have hand sanitizers
5:51:26 on the bus, and I talked to Dr. Miller, and I’m like, “I saw a
5:51:29 YouTube video where one
5:51:30 caught on fire,” and he’s like, “Yeah, we’re not using that one.
5:51:33 We’re using the right
5:51:34 one.” I’m like, “Okay.” So they will have hand sanitizer as they
5:51:38 get in and off the
5:51:39 bus. Students will be assigned a seat, and they will be expected
5:51:44 to sit in that assigned
5:51:46 seat, even more importantly. We were – we’re going to work with
5:51:50 our bus drivers and our
5:51:52 students to ensure they know what proper distancing is, entering
5:51:55 onto a bus, and more importantly,
5:51:58 exiting off of a bus. The seats will be wiped down in between –
5:52:02 in between the routes,
5:52:04 and when weather permits, we’re going to ask that the buses
5:52:08 operate with open windows.
5:52:11 As always, as always, any misconduct on a bus will be brought to
5:52:16 the school and could
5:52:17 include a suspension from the bus. Food and nutrition services.
5:52:25 I think that you guys
5:52:26 have all seen that probably one of the most vital – I may say
5:52:31 the most vital program
5:52:33 that we have in our schools is our food and nutrition services.
5:52:37 You know, you go back
5:52:38 to what Dr. Sullivan said about Maslow hierarchy of need. They
5:52:41 can’t learn – need. They cannot
5:52:43 learn if they are hungry. And Kevin Thornton – and I don’t know
5:52:47 if you guys have heard
5:52:47 this number – him and his team stood up 2.2 million lunches. 2.2
5:52:53 million during this time.
5:52:55 And so we want to make sure that they were an integral part of
5:53:00 this plan, and so he has
5:53:02 met with us on a couple of occasions, and this is their plan.
5:53:07 They will wear masks and
5:53:08 gloves during all preparation. There will be hand sanitizer, as
5:53:13 I said there. They really
5:53:14 would like to minimize the exchange of cash money, that passing
5:53:19 of dollar bills, and so
5:53:21 they really want for parents to utilize the Meal Play Plus
5:53:26 program so that it can be – you
5:53:28 know, that there is no – that touch interaction isn’t happening.
5:53:34 They have moved or are trying
5:53:35 to move to all prepackaged items so that there, again, isn’t a
5:53:40 whole lot of touch moving back
5:53:42 and forth. And the lines, much like the line you see in our own
5:53:45 ESF cafeteria, have been
5:53:47 rearranged to minimize contact as well. I already talked about
5:53:54 the grab-and-go meals,
5:53:58 and do – oh, and in between each of the lunches, those areas
5:54:01 will be cleaned. All those high-touch
5:54:04 surfaces will be clean. And then, of course, there will be a
5:54:09 deep clean every day on that
5:54:10 area. We are planning to do a mobile lunch. At least he’s
5:54:15 looking toward that for our
5:54:17 e-learning and distance learning, our e-learning option out of
5:54:21 elementary, and if we have to
5:54:22 go to distance learning because of school closures. Needless to
5:54:30 say, school nurses are
5:54:31 a pivotal role in bridging that healthcare education gap. We
5:54:37 reiterated here, parents
5:54:38 are that first level of health checks, and we’re going to keep
5:54:41 saying that. Clinics are
5:54:42 going to be cleaned throughout the day and at the end of the day.
5:54:47 Actually, the way it
5:54:47 was described to us is different areas have been designated with
5:54:51 priority levels, and
5:54:53 the clinic is the – in the highest priority level. We, again,
5:54:57 want our students and staff
5:54:59 who are sick to stay home, and we want our parents to understand
5:55:03 that any student that
5:55:05 presents with symptoms of COVID will be sent to the clinic, and
5:55:08 they will have a mask put
5:55:09 on them, and they will be screened by the clinic, and if there
5:55:13 is a temperature over
5:55:15 100, they will be sent home. We all have to keep in mind – I
5:55:21 don’t know how many of you
5:55:22 guys have woken up and you went, “Oh, my throat is scratchy.
5:55:27 What does that mean?” I can just
5:55:29 tell you that I’ve had any number of conversations with the
5:55:32 people around this table where we
5:55:34 went, “Oh, I had a cough. What does that mean?” We all have to
5:55:38 remember, all of us, our parents,
5:55:40 our teachers, our community, that kids get sick, and it doesn’t
5:55:46 mean they have COVID.
5:55:48 We get sick. It doesn’t mean we have COVID. So we cannot react
5:55:53 in the extreme every time
5:55:55 we think – we think something might be COVID, if a kid coughs
5:56:00 or if somebody comes in and
5:56:02 says, “My nose is dripping.” It is part of why we rely on our
5:56:07 healthcare professionals.
5:56:09 They have a saying called the worried well. The worried well.
5:56:16 And I think we’re all reaching
5:56:17 that point. So it’s really – I’m grateful every day that we
5:56:21 have actual healthcare professionals
5:56:23 in our clinics that are going to help us kind of discern who is
5:56:27 the worried well from who
5:56:29 are the truly ill. Again, we expect – we just have to rely on
5:56:35 our parents to pick up
5:56:36 students when they are ill. And that child will be, while we are
5:56:41 waiting for that pickup,
5:56:42 isolated in a separate area, monitored, not alone. But we cannot
5:56:48 have a child that may
5:56:50 be COVID positive to be in a room where other kids are coming to
5:56:53 pick up medicine and they
5:56:54 may be medically fragile. And then once the child leaves that
5:56:59 ill area, custodian will
5:57:01 come in right after that and deep clean that area. Speaking of
5:57:07 deep cleaning, I’m going
5:57:07 to pass it over to Sue. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon,
5:57:14 everyone. I guess from the
5:57:16 custodial perspective, a couple things I wanted to just
5:57:19 highlight for everyone is that keeping
5:57:21 our schools clean has always been important. And really the ways
5:57:27 in which we are keeping
5:57:29 our schools clean have already been in place. We have products
5:57:32 that have been validated
5:57:34 for keeping our schools clean. So from the custodial perspective,
5:57:37 the things that really
5:57:38 are changing are more along the lines of the frequency of
5:57:42 cleaning, some of the tools that
5:57:44 we’re using for cleaning, and some of the ways that we
5:57:48 prioritize what’s being cleaned.
5:57:51 Where dusting my desk might have been a priority last year at
5:57:55 this time, it’s definitely not
5:57:57 a priority this year at this time. So with limited resources, we’re
5:58:01 having to look at
5:58:02 how we are prioritizing our efforts in keeping our schools
5:58:06 healthy and safe for our students
5:58:09 and our staff. So in that respect, there aren’t a lot of changes
5:58:15 in the custodial practices
5:58:17 other than the ones that I mentioned. What we’re doing from a
5:58:20 district-wide perspective
5:58:22 is our environmental health and safety team, Jim Powers, Pietro
5:58:25 Nivka, and Jeb Bynum, and
5:58:27 the guys in the HNS have really done a good job trying to
5:58:32 communicate protocols. They’ve
5:58:35 written things down that our schools can use, our head custodians
5:58:39 can use, our technology
5:58:41 folks can use. How do you clean computers? How do you clean
5:58:44 business machines? Things
5:58:45 like that so that there are reference materials available for
5:58:49 folks to use when they’re doing
5:58:51 really what is standard cleaning protocols. We have more
5:58:58 materials. We have more hand
5:59:02 sanitizers, hand sanitizer stations. We’ve experimented
5:59:07 successfully with, it’s a small
5:59:10 machine that looks like about a half-size R2D2 machine that has
5:59:14 a wand so that you can
5:59:16 get under spaces like, after I leave this area, you can use the
5:59:20 wand to wipe underneath
5:59:21 the ledge. And it is a way to quickly deep clean a surface. When
5:59:27 we have a positive case,
5:59:29 we have some protocols that we can use to do some deep cleaning.
5:59:35 And each school will
5:59:36 be getting one of these small machines to help them do more
5:59:40 intensive cleaning when
5:59:42 that situation is warranted. But really as Chris and Dr.
5:59:46 Sullivan and Ms. Klein have
5:59:47 been saying, the responsibility for health and safety is really
5:59:51 shared among the custodial
5:59:53 staff, the school administration, students, teachers, everybody
5:59:56 is going to have to be
5:59:57 diligent and it’s going to have to be thinking a little bit
6:00:00 differently and behaving differently
6:00:01 than they have in the past for all of us to be successful
6:00:04 together. But our team, our
6:00:06 EH&S team as well as the rest of the facilities team, we have
6:00:10 been and will continue to be
6:00:11 a support team for the leading and learning side of the house
6:00:15 and for student services
6:00:17 and just to make sure that we are there to support them in
6:00:21 whatever ways they need in
6:00:22 order to deliver education to our kids and our community. So,
6:00:27 thanks.
6:00:29 » I think just for – oh, I’m sorry. I think just for our
6:00:32 community’s sake, when we have
6:00:35 a case or a contact to a case, and I’ve said this before, but I
6:00:38 think it’s important to
6:00:40 reiterate, we know what the action plan looks like. The area in
6:00:47 which that person was and
6:00:49 we do a contact tracing ourselves, where were you, who were you
6:00:54 in contact with, all of
6:00:56 those questions, that gets shut down for 24 to 48 hours. Jim
6:01:01 Powers, Pete Trinca and his
6:01:02 team contact the head custodian and the principal, make
6:01:05 arrangements to go out to that area,
6:01:08 deep clean that area. I don’t think you talked about the mister.
6:01:10 » I did.
6:01:11 » Do you want to – you did? Oh, I blanked out on you for a
6:01:15 minute, Sue. They can – in
6:01:18 larger areas, they can bring those pieces in. We have a plan and
6:01:24 a process in place
6:01:25 and we have actually already been implementing it. So, I am
6:01:30 interested when we get the strike
6:01:33 team up and running, as soon as we get those five people hired,
6:01:36 I know it’s going to be
6:01:37 a huge help to our schools.
6:01:41 » Thank you, Ms. Moore and thank you, Ms. Han. I must say that
6:01:45 I think that we probably
6:01:48 have the best, most mission committed facilities team that I
6:01:53 think exists throughout definitely
6:01:56 the state, if not the nation. We are so very appreciative of
6:02:00 your – your entire team just
6:02:03 has really wrapped their head and their hearts around the
6:02:05 mission of the district. So, thank
6:02:06 you for all that you do all the time as well. Ms. McDougall, I
6:02:10 believe that you had indicated
6:02:12 that you had some questions based on the section of slides. Do
6:02:15 you want to go ahead and go?
6:02:16 » I do. Thank you. First, let’s go back to page – excuse me,
6:02:21 26, which is the responsibilities
6:02:24 of parents and legal guardians. And I think we all know that –
6:02:32 I won’t say oftentimes.
6:02:35 There are some parents who feel for whatever their circumstances
6:02:40 are that they have to
6:02:42 bring their child to school. And they will do whatever they can
6:02:46 to make sure that child
6:02:47 goes to school. So, let’s say the student comes back and has a
6:02:51 few symptoms. And of
6:02:52 course, you know, it may not even be COVID. It could be
6:02:57 something else. We don’t have
6:03:00 any consequences when they don’t pick up their kids. And it’s
6:03:03 still, you know, 3.30, 4 o’clock
6:03:05 and the poor student is still sitting in the clinic. Or not in
6:03:10 the clinic, in the room
6:03:11 that’s separate from the clinic. So, do we have any consequences?
6:03:17 Is there anything that
6:03:20 we can do? Or is that just like we’re going to trust them to do
6:03:23 what’s right? And I want
6:03:25 to – most of our parents do do what is right. But I am
6:03:30 concerned of what about the parents
6:03:33 that left the students there all day. » Yeah, we –
6:03:37 consequences, I don’t – yeah,
6:03:39 we don’t have the ability to have consequences. But we do have
6:03:44 tools. And so, you know, we
6:03:47 have social workers who help us in areas where, you know, some
6:03:51 of the reason why parents maybe
6:03:53 are unable to come and get their student is because they don’t
6:03:56 have transportation or
6:03:58 because they’re not even – I mean, we have some parents that
6:04:00 work in jobs where they’re
6:04:01 not even allowed to take a phone call, literally are not allowed
6:04:04 to take a phone call. And
6:04:06 so, working with our social workers to figure out what the impediment
6:04:09 is for them picking
6:04:10 up their child, it goes a long way to building relationships.
6:04:14 But we – but you are correct.
6:04:16 We also have some parents that – that that’s not the case. We
6:04:23 do work closely and collaboratively
6:04:25 with our partners at Children and Families if children are in
6:04:28 our schools and are at
6:04:29 risk and aren’t being taken care of. We have good relationships
6:04:33 with our school resource
6:04:35 officers as needed. If students – for some students who are
6:04:39 left after hours for a lengthy
6:04:40 period of time, they help us get those students home into a
6:04:44 responsible family member. So
6:04:46 we have tools, but I would not say we have consequences.
6:04:50 » Okay. Kind of along the lines – let’s say we do have a
6:04:55 student that shows symptoms
6:04:58 of COVID. And they’re symptomatic, they can’t smell, they might
6:05:02 be running a fever, they
6:05:04 may not be running a fever. What’s the – how do we know that
6:05:10 either they got tested or
6:05:12 that they’re symptom free? How do we – how do we deal with that?
6:05:18 How are we going to
6:05:19 handle that situation before returning back to school?
6:05:26 » So again, that is one of our biggest challenges. It’s a great
6:05:30 question and it’s our biggest
6:05:32 challenge because, again, kids get sick. And so we can’t
6:05:37 necessarily assume every child
6:05:39 that’s sick has COVID. And to be frank, I’ve had a lot of
6:05:43 conversations with our partners
6:05:45 in the Department of Health. They cannot force anybody to be
6:05:50 tested. We cannot force anybody
6:05:52 to be tested. What we can say is we can determine if there is a
6:05:57 presumptive case, and we’ll
6:05:58 talk about this in a little bit. But a presumptive case is you
6:06:02 have had contact with somebody
6:06:04 who is COVID positive and you have some symptoms. We do not have
6:06:10 to wait on a test to tell us
6:06:12 that you should be quarantined at home for 14 days if you have a
6:06:17 presumptive case. So
6:06:18 we can make some decisions based on symptoms. But we – it is
6:06:22 one of our biggest challenges
6:06:24 that there are going to be factors that are protected by HIPAA
6:06:29 and that we have no control
6:06:31 over. And so we’ll work with our Department of Health partners
6:06:34 and we’ll work with our
6:06:35 clinics and we’ll work with our families and we will still have
6:06:40 cases that we have to deal
6:06:42 with later.
6:06:43 » Okay.
6:06:44 » That’s a horrible answer, Ms. McDougall. I’m sorry.
6:06:47 » No, no, no. It is what it is. And I just think people need to
6:06:52 know some of the things
6:06:54 that we struggle with. So here’s one that I know that will be
6:07:00 very divisive for many
6:07:02 people, but I feel I need to bring it up. And, you know, we are
6:07:08 an organization that
6:07:11 bases things on data. We’re data-driven in so many ways. And so
6:07:17 now with the data showing
6:07:20 that if people wear face masks that it mitigates the disease, I
6:07:27 don’t understand why we are
6:07:30 strongly recommending. And I know I will upset so many people.
6:07:35 But on the other hand, I know
6:07:36 other people won’t be upset. So if students in Great Britain, if
6:07:42 students in Japan, if
6:07:44 students in other – in Korea can seem to wear face masks and
6:07:50 their teachers can, are
6:07:52 our kids less capable? I really don’t understand how we – how
6:07:58 some people feel that our kids
6:07:59 are less than able to learn like everyone else. I have been –
6:08:06 when I go out I simply
6:08:07 wear a face mask and I salute the admin that people will start
6:08:12 wearing face masks. Because
6:08:14 I think it’s important. We’re protecting each other. And safety
6:08:18 is our primary concern along
6:08:20 with educating our children. And we can’t educate them if they
6:08:24 are sick. So I am really
6:08:25 concerned that we’re just strongly recommending. So that’s my
6:08:31 soapbox for face masks. But I
6:08:33 feel that I needed to bring it up and needed to talk about that.
6:08:38 My last issue is the cafeteria. I can’t imagine how that’s going
6:08:44 to look. I’ve been in the
6:08:46 cafeteria and kids are sitting side by side. They’re talking.
6:08:49 They’re having fun. This
6:08:51 is one time where they get to interact with each other. I don’t
6:08:57 envy our principals in
6:08:59 trying to solve this. But there’s a question. Are we going to
6:09:03 have – I heard, I think,
6:09:05 bagred lunches. Some schools might have picnic tables. But even
6:09:10 picnic tables, you get two
6:09:11 to a table. You can’t really get six. You don’t want six anyhow.
6:09:14 Because again, you’re
6:09:15 not the minimum three to six feet apart. But anyhow, I just
6:09:20 wonder how that’s going to
6:09:22 look. So those are my concerns and my questions at this point.
6:09:27 » Ms. McDougall, this is Jane. I can answer what we have done
6:09:32 with elementary cafeterias.
6:09:34 Mr. Thornton and his team and I went out to Creole Elementary
6:09:40 and used that as a sample
6:09:43 school where we set up that cafeteria to minimize students
6:09:49 sitting next to each other. And so
6:09:53 because of the elementary cafeteria tables or the bench type
6:09:59 seats, we can separate those.
6:10:02 You can get three to a side. No student is facing face to face.
6:10:07 We’ve flipped them around
6:10:10 so they’re basically in rows just like in classrooms. And then a
6:10:16 four feet space between
6:10:18 the rows. Also in the cafeteria line, there are some items that
6:10:24 will be prepackaged and
6:10:26 some items that will be served. Everything will have a covering.
6:10:33 I was extremely impressed.
6:10:37 I thought we were going to just discuss how they were going to
6:10:41 lay out things. And they
6:10:43 had a full plan with how cookies are going to be packaged, how
6:10:51 everything down to the
6:10:53 way students gather items on the line. And on the cafeteria line,
6:11:01 there are actual kind
6:11:04 of not stickers, but spots along the line where a kid needs to
6:11:10 stand so that they’re
6:11:12 minimizing distance within the cafeteria line. There’s a hand
6:11:19 sanitizer system right before
6:11:22 you walk into the line, students go in. Typically where milk has
6:11:27 always been first in the line,
6:11:29 it’s last in the line. So the order in which the food service
6:11:35 team has put things together,
6:11:39 I know that Mr. Thornton and his team are actually working now
6:11:44 to get some mock plans
6:11:46 up for our secondary schools for some alternate locations. We
6:11:51 also have the opportunity, he
6:11:54 was able to purchase, they’re not carts, but they’re more like
6:12:01 probably six foot by three
6:12:04 foot mobile devices for grab and go meal options and grab and go
6:12:11 breakfast so that students
6:12:14 don’t always have to come into the cafeteria to get their
6:12:17 breakfast. We can put different
6:12:19 distribution spots out. So the plan for the cafeteria is a lot
6:12:27 further down the planning
6:12:30 than I had anticipated and it is well thought out. And the food
6:12:36 service team here at the
6:12:38 district is working with all the cafeteria managers to make
6:12:42 certain that everyone understands
6:12:44 the process. Of course, we’re going to have to do some teaching,
6:12:48 but that’s what we do.
6:12:50 We’re going to teach our students the processes of going through
6:12:53 the cafeteria line. We’ll
6:12:54 have one entrance into the cafeteria, one entrance out of the
6:12:59 cafeteria. So the cafeteria
6:13:01 processes are well thought out. » Excellent. Thank you. Thank
6:13:06 you, Ms.
6:13:07 Klein. » Other board members have questions, comments
6:13:10 for this particular section? Ms. Campbell? » I’m going to go
6:13:13 backwards just because
6:13:15 I think that’ll be easier. If I can start with Ms. Hand. We have
6:13:19 some staff and probably
6:13:20 students as well who can be sensitive to cleaners. So I think I
6:13:25 heard you say this, but are we
6:13:27 basically going to be using the same type of – same products
6:13:29 that we’ve been using
6:13:30 all along just more frequently? » Yes, ma’am.
6:13:31 » Okay. Thank you. That helps with that. Thank you, guys, for
6:13:36 talking about the worried
6:13:38 well because one of my concerns in all of this, and I’ll touch
6:13:42 on it again when I will
6:13:44 give my thoughts on the mask issue, is that we’re going to have,
6:13:47 you know, mental health
6:13:49 – the importance of mental health and what we’ve been talking
6:13:52 about over the last several
6:13:53 years nationwide, globally, I guess, really, of our students.
6:13:58 That doesn’t go away. And
6:13:59 if anything, it’s ramped up. And I have a specific concern that
6:14:03 we all have been living
6:14:04 this for the last three or four months, that we’re so warped
6:14:08 that it becomes a, oh, my
6:14:10 gosh, she’s not doing it. Oh, she’s using – and we’re all going
6:14:13 to get ourselves so
6:14:14 warped on our students. And I – you know, I have a particular
6:14:18 child who he is absolutely
6:14:20 a reflection of the emotions of the people around him. And if
6:14:24 everybody is getting all
6:14:25 up all the time, it’s going to just be disaster for many of our
6:14:28 students. And so I just appreciate
6:14:30 you making that comment. I think we’re going to have to
6:14:32 continually train our brain and
6:14:34 encourage one another and remind one another to just breathe and
6:14:39 not count coughs. You
6:14:41 know, I mean, we need to be responsible, but we just – we just
6:14:46 need to just realize that
6:14:49 there is – there is – we live in Florida. Nine months out of
6:14:51 the year are allergy season
6:14:52 for my family. You know, I worry about that sometimes with
6:14:56 people thinking, oh, my gosh,
6:14:58 your kid’s got a runny nose. Well, sorry, it’s the same runny
6:15:00 nose every day. It’s allergies.
6:15:01 But we just – that’s just something that we’ll have to
6:15:04 continually preach as well along
6:15:06 with all this other stuff that every kid who coughs, every kid
6:15:09 who sneezes is not someone
6:15:10 you need to send to the clinic. On the bus, transportation. We
6:15:24 – no, I think I’m – yeah.
6:15:27 So that for masks first. It says for the safety of everyone on
6:15:30 the bus, it is expected that
6:15:32 all bus riders wear a face covering while on the bus. So that
6:15:35 sounds like more of the
6:15:37 mandate there than in other situations. Are we providing those
6:15:41 if the students don’t already
6:15:43 have them, if we’re going to mandate on the bus? Anything we
6:15:46 mandate will – and again,
6:15:47 we didn’t use the word mandate, but yes, anything we expect we’ll
6:15:50 make sure to provide the supplies
6:15:52 for. Okay. Okay. So now I’m just going to end with my thoughts
6:15:59 on the mask. I – we
6:16:02 – this has been the thing that we’ve probably gotten more
6:16:04 emails out this week than anything
6:16:06 else is masks along with, you know, alternative virtual programs
6:16:11 and things like that. You
6:16:13 know, I haven’t been in too many situations in the last few
6:16:16 months where I’ve had to wear
6:16:17 a mask all day long. I know many employees around the county are,
6:16:20 especially if you’re
6:16:21 in food service or health or whatever, and so I know it can be
6:16:24 done. It’s – but I have
6:16:25 had recently an opportunity for my children to have to wear a
6:16:30 mask for an extended period
6:16:32 of time, and it’s hard. It’s very difficult. And there are times
6:16:37 when I have looked at
6:16:38 my child and said, “Hey, just pull it off for just a second so
6:16:40 you can breathe,” because
6:16:41 I could just see that buildup of tension, and actually, honestly,
6:16:44 he was getting a little
6:16:45 pale. And so I know – I hear Ms. McDougall, I hear you about
6:16:50 people in other countries
6:16:53 and all that, but I just – can I just – you know, a lot of
6:16:59 times, people are saying it’s
6:17:03 political. It is not political, okay? My opinion of mine is my
6:17:06 opinion, and it’s not based
6:17:07 on what anybody told me, because nobody from any political party
6:17:10 sent me an email or text
6:17:11 or phone call and said, “Hey, by the way, you need to say this
6:17:13 about masks.” This is
6:17:14 my thoughts and my input and the research that I’ve done, and
6:17:17 some of it’s just personal.
6:17:19 I just – when we start to say, “You must,” then we’re not – we’re
6:17:25 going to be in those
6:17:27 places where if a kid just needs to breathe for a minute, unfiltered,
6:17:32 just breathe and
6:17:33 have that space, that’s going to be a no-no. Can’t do that. We’re
6:17:38 going to have students
6:17:39 looking at other students who have these medical reasons why
6:17:43 they can be excused from wearing
6:17:45 masks and say, “Why don’t they have to wear a mask?” And we can’t
6:17:47 really tell that kid
6:17:48 why not, because we can’t reveal medical personal information. I
6:17:52 think we’re going to have a
6:17:53 lot of students who do, and I honestly was pleasantly surprised
6:17:56 at how my children have
6:17:57 dealt with it when they’ve had to wear it for a long time. They
6:18:00 dealt with it. But it’s
6:18:01 just – there’s so much – and as much as we have had people be
6:18:05 very vocal in our county
6:18:07 about wanting mandated masks, I have also heard from parents who
6:18:10 have said, “If that
6:18:12 is required, I’m going to find another option, because I’m not
6:18:14 sending my kid to school if
6:18:15 we have to wear a mask all day.” Now, nobody thinks that anybody
6:18:19 else thinks differently
6:18:20 from them, but that is the case. So I just – I feel like this
6:18:27 is good as far as strongly
6:18:29 recommending. I don’t like the idea of mandating for all the
6:18:32 reasons that I just stated. My
6:18:34 only question to – as far as masks go is, are we going to limit
6:18:39 in our recommendation
6:18:41 what kids are allowed to wear? Are we going to limit the types
6:18:44 and kinds of masks?
6:18:45 » Yeah. You’re – we’re putting it in the student code of
6:18:48 conduct, and you’re going
6:18:49 to be getting a policy change from me about face masks. It was
6:18:52 never an issue before.
6:18:54 So we ask that it can only cover half of the face. The student
6:18:58 has to be identifiable.
6:18:59 We ask that it complies to the other – the other requests of
6:19:02 the student code of conduct.
6:19:04 It can’t have an inappropriate image or saying just like we
6:19:08 wouldn’t allow any other – a
6:19:10 T-shirt or a hat to have on it.
6:19:12 » Well, I thought it was because, you know, you go out and you
6:19:14 see people with the medical
6:19:16 looking ones, you see people with ones they sewed at home, go
6:19:18 behind the ears, whatever,
6:19:20 or then there’s the really cool ones that are – you can wear
6:19:21 around your neck all the
6:19:22 time, you scarf. It still only covers half your face and
6:19:25 actually goes down pretty good.
6:19:27 So you know, are we – if we’re going to make it flexible so
6:19:30 that, you know, a bandana,
6:19:32 whatever it may be –
6:19:33 » Well, a bandana would be against dress code. But our friend
6:19:36 Brian Neal was the one
6:19:37 that came over and said it’s a safety issue. We need to be able
6:19:40 to identify students. So
6:19:42 we do have – we have the language in our code of student
6:19:45 conduct, but we have to get
6:19:46 the policy in front of you as well.
6:19:48 » Okay. Good. All right. Well, I think – sure.
6:19:53 » I just want to add a little to transportation because it’s
6:19:57 been a really robust discussion
6:19:59 point amongst all of us, and we chose the word expected with a
6:20:07 lot of deliberation because
6:20:11 this is a unique situation where the driver’s primary objective
6:20:16 is eyes on the road, not
6:20:18 if Katie in row 18 took her mask off. And so in terms of like
6:20:23 department and safety
6:20:24 and people and the fact that a bus is a uniquely extra
6:20:28 vulnerable situation, it is expected.
6:20:32 However, it’s also expected that our bus driver’s primary
6:20:35 responsibility is eyes on the road
6:20:37 and safety of children. And so we’re not going to ask our bus
6:20:42 drivers to deter from that
6:20:44 either. And so it’s a really delicate balance. We definitely
6:20:48 think a bus is one of those
6:20:50 special circumstances where we should say even if you’re not
6:20:53 taking the strongly recommended
6:20:55 for the rest of the day, we really expect you to do it in this
6:20:58 environment, but we’re
6:20:59 not going to have a bus driver not allow a five-year-old on the
6:21:02 bus because they don’t
6:21:04 have a mask. And so we were very deliberate in the choice of
6:21:10 expected because we think
6:21:12 even all of the varying opinions that are true and valid and
6:21:17 meaningful to families,
6:21:20 I think everybody recognizes the additional vulnerability on a
6:21:24 bus. And so we do not want
6:21:28 to give the impression that a bus driver would be deterring from
6:21:32 their primary objective
6:21:33 of eyes on the road. Just like all of us as parents know the
6:21:37 annoyance of our children
6:21:39 behind us, imagine your children behind you for 18 rows. And so
6:21:46 at no point is that more
6:21:51 important even though we expect it and believe that even in
6:21:57 other environments we think most
6:22:00 people would agree that’s a pretty extra vulnerable situation.
6:22:04 » Thank you. » Correct, ma’am. But we will also provide
6:22:09 masks for students as they board on our buses in the event that
6:22:12 they don’t have one to meet
6:22:14 that expectation. » Any additional comments or questions, Ms.
6:22:22 Campbell? » No, I’m done. Thank you.
6:22:24 » Ms. Duskovich, do you want to go next? » I don’t have any
6:22:29 questions. But I’m thinking
6:22:31 I guess I have to weigh in on my opinion on this whole segment,
6:22:34 including the masks. And
6:22:36 I know it’s a controversial topic. I am amazed at what a great
6:22:43 job you all did. I think it
6:22:46 strikes the right balance of expectations. I think our community,
6:22:50 parents and students
6:22:51 are going to have to step up and have some serious personal
6:22:54 responsibility here in doing
6:22:56 what’s right at the right times. We’re going to have to have a
6:23:00 lot of common sense, which
6:23:01 isn’t necessarily always very common in the world. But we’re
6:23:05 going to have to have it
6:23:06 in each of our classrooms by all of our leaders, by all of our
6:23:11 teachers and by our parents.
6:23:14 I do hope that we’re going to provide masks, especially in the
6:23:17 classes where Dr. Sullivan,
6:23:18 I think you mentioned that there might be activities where you
6:23:21 have to get closer together.
6:23:23 I hope that we have masks available for those situations. But I
6:23:27 don’t have a ton of comments.
6:23:31 I like the balance. I like that in the buses where we’re closer,
6:23:36 you have higher expectations.
6:23:38 The truth is you all have offered a whole smorgasbord of options
6:23:42 for families and parents.
6:23:44 More than honestly I thought we were going to be able to come up
6:23:48 with. There is a place
6:23:50 for families that are still really worried, and rightfully so,
6:23:53 worried with the status.
6:23:55 There’s multiple places for them. They can, within our system,
6:24:00 they can virtual school,
6:24:02 they can e-learning at home, there’s so many places for those
6:24:06 that are still really concerned.
6:24:09 And the only option for people that are a little less concerned
6:24:12 and ready to get their
6:24:13 kids back to some normalcy, and kids that are maybe struggling
6:24:16 with isolationism right
6:24:18 now and maybe a little bit of anxiety just from being alone, and
6:24:22 the only option for
6:24:23 them to get back in is to go to a brick and mortar school. And
6:24:26 if you’re going to mandatory,
6:24:28 mask them mandatory, make it already more uncomfortable, it’s
6:24:32 already going to feel
6:24:33 weird. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff in here with only walking
6:24:37 one way in a hallway. It
6:24:38 may not sound like a big deal, but for kids that have been in
6:24:41 the school since kindergarten,
6:24:42 it’s now third and fourth grade, and they’ve been out of school
6:24:45 for months, so now you
6:24:46 can’t go that way, you have to walk this way. No, you can’t turn
6:24:49 your desks around, you
6:24:50 can only face this way. These are all things that are already
6:24:53 going to feel stressful and
6:24:54 uncomfortable to them, and so a mandatory mask on them I think
6:24:59 is, I just don’t think
6:25:01 that’s fair. I think parents that want to send their kids back
6:25:05 want a more normal environment
6:25:07 as much as we can, still keeping them safe. And I think you guys
6:25:10 have provided this, and
6:25:11 so I am thankful for all the work. I can’t imagine the hours of
6:25:15 debate and discussion
6:25:16 and what ifs, but the decisions have to be made, and this is the
6:25:20 option for those that
6:25:21 are ready to move to this. Those that aren’t ready, there’s
6:25:25 still two, three other options
6:25:26 for them. So thank you.
6:25:28 » Ms. McDougall, you indicated you had an additional question.
6:25:34 » I did. I just want to put out there, I know that Hillsboro is
6:25:38 mandating masking their
6:25:39 schools, but I also know that Cocoa Beach has mandated in their
6:25:46 city that if you’re
6:25:48 in businesses or out and about, you must have a mask. So will
6:25:54 that impact our school at
6:25:55 Cocoa Beach? Or Roosevelt? » Yeah, so we actually, as we have
6:26:03 received
6:26:04 those orders, we have sent them to your wonderful legal
6:26:09 department, and so I know that Mr. Gibbs
6:26:13 is ready to speak to that. » Yes, Jen. As far as cities and
6:26:26 other entities
6:26:27 regulating us, we are our own entity, and I do not believe that
6:26:32 they can mandate us
6:26:33 to require masks while in our schools. We are not a public
6:26:39 business. You know, Joe Smith
6:26:42 walking down the street can’t say, hey, I want to go into that
6:26:45 elementary school and
6:26:46 check out their kindergarten classroom. They aren’t allowed. So
6:26:49 we are not open for business
6:26:51 like Publix or your gas station on the corner, so they don’t get
6:26:56 to say your school has to
6:26:58 have masks on or your students while they’re in your school.
6:27:03 This body determines what
6:27:06 its students are going to have to do while they’re in their
6:27:09 schools. So that’s my opinion
6:27:12 based on the statutes and the interpretations there. We are our
6:27:16 own governing entity. They
6:27:17 don’t get to do that. I know Leon County had issued a directive
6:27:21 that even included schools
6:27:23 directly, and their attorney called them up and said, hey, we’re
6:27:27 our own legal entity.
6:27:29 You don’t get to regulate us, and they are amending their
6:27:33 ordinance now to exclude schools
6:27:35 for that very reason. So I think that that conversation is
6:27:38 taking place, and the entities
6:27:41 are working it out amongst themselves. So I don’t anticipate
6:27:44 anything. I know one of
6:27:45 the other cities has a mandate just for public – it’s like
6:27:49 specifically for public places,
6:27:51 like stores, and I think they said they had like six in their
6:27:54 entire city. So it’s like
6:27:56 we are not a public location as that’s defined normally. So I’m
6:27:59 not concerned with any of
6:28:01 those ordinances coming out. Now, if they’re out walking down
6:28:06 the street, once they’re
6:28:07 off our campus, they might get hit by the cop when they’re
6:28:10 driving down the street if
6:28:12 they’re not wearing a mask. We can’t control that.
6:28:15 » Absolutely. Thanks, Mr. Gibbs. And I guess, you know, my
6:28:21 thought about masks is there
6:28:24 will be time – if our students are truly social distanced in
6:28:29 the classroom, I don’t
6:28:32 foresee them always wearing the mask if they’re sitting there
6:28:35 quietly doing their work. I
6:28:36 just don’t see that. That wasn’t what I envisioned. But I do
6:28:40 feel that when there’s conversation
6:28:43 and there’s interaction that this is for the safety. This is for
6:28:48 the safety of the people
6:28:49 and themselves. So I struggle with people thinking that it is
6:28:55 unreasonable. Like I said,
6:28:56 it seems like other countries can do it. I don’t know what’s
6:29:00 wrong with – I know there’s
6:29:01 nothing wrong with our students. I know they’re very teachable
6:29:03 and I know they’re learnable.
6:29:04 And you’re absolutely right, Ms. Zeskiewicz, things are going to
6:29:07 be different. And I’m
6:29:08 sure that things right now for students at home are different
6:29:12 also. And I’m assuming
6:29:13 that parents are talking to their children about some of the
6:29:17 changes that are going on.
6:29:18 If you’ve been out to the supermarket and you’re wearing your
6:29:21 mask, you look around
6:29:22 and you’ll see kids in masks. It’s not a new thing for some of
6:29:26 our kids. So I just – as
6:29:29 you can see, I’m very passionate about this. But anyhow, because
6:29:33 I care about the safety
6:29:34 of our teachers and of our students at this point. So I will
6:29:40 stop. And that’s all I have
6:29:42 to say on this issue.
6:29:43 » Thanks, Ms. McDougall. Mr. Susan, I think you’re up.
6:29:47 » Thank you. I just wanted to run through – I’m more of a
6:29:51 visual type follow through.
6:29:53 So I think I’m going to wait for the whole COVID shutting down
6:29:56 schools and all that stuff
6:29:57 to kind of run from beginning to end through that. What I would
6:30:00 like to ask is we deployed
6:30:02 a series of these touchless thermometers that are going to be at
6:30:05 the school. The process
6:30:06 of those kids coming off the bus and doing all that stuff, would
6:30:09 that be appropriate
6:30:10 to ask now or talk about that later on? I saw the other slides.
6:30:13 When do you think that
6:30:14 would be to ask that question? How that process is going to work?
6:30:17 » Yeah, that process is going to be different at every school.
6:30:19 The schools are coming up
6:30:20 with their own plan. What we knew – and when I talked about our
6:30:23 ability to implement and
6:30:24 our ability to manage, what we knew is in a school of 2,000 kids
6:30:28 or even in a school
6:30:29 of 800 kids, we don’t have the personnel to screen every student
6:30:34 every day. And in fact,
6:30:36 even if we put all of our people out there to screen students
6:30:39 every student every day,
6:30:41 then what isn’t being done? Because those people are going to be
6:30:44 pulled out of monitoring
6:30:50 the kids in the hallways, in the cafeteria, doing cafeteria
6:30:53 services, you know, all of
6:30:55 those pieces. So what we depend on is each school developing
6:30:59 their plan. How are kids getting off of buses? How are we
6:31:03 figuring out which of these students
6:31:06 need additional screening? How are we doing it in a respectful
6:31:10 and private way? How are
6:31:12 we managing if a student is sick and getting them to the clinic?
6:31:17 I mean, all of those pieces,
6:31:18 that student walk from the minute they get on the bus to the
6:31:22 minute they get back on
6:31:23 the bus and go home, we’re trying to walk through in our head.
6:31:28 And one of the projects
6:31:28 that we didn’t talk about today was out of government and
6:31:32 community relations. They were
6:31:33 waiting for this plan, and then they’re creating a video. And
6:31:37 the video starts with the student
6:31:39 at the bus stop. And the expectations there, what the bus looks
6:31:43 like, what getting off
6:31:44 the bus looks like, what it might look like if you get screened
6:31:47 at the school, and then
6:31:49 it takes you kind of through that student’s day so that
6:31:52 everybody, exactly what you said,
6:31:53 has a visual, a picture in their head of what looks different
6:31:56 now.
6:31:57 » No, I appreciate, that was actually one of my follow, my
6:32:01 final requests was to do
6:32:02 a video from soup to nuts from beginning to end of the day to
6:32:06 show them what this looks
6:32:07 like and everything else. That’s great that they’re doing that.
6:32:10 The team’s great. How
6:32:12 many – Ms. Han, I apologize. How many of those guns did we
6:32:18 deploy and by what number
6:32:20 did we determine each school gets? Was there a factor of formula,
6:32:25 something like that?
6:32:27 » If you heard some of our formulas, you would die.
6:32:31 » This formula is – oops, I’m sorry. This formula is easy.
6:32:37 Every school is getting one.
6:32:39 The high schools are getting a bigger capacity tank, so they
6:32:43 have a little bit more capacity
6:32:45 of material and we’ll see how often we use them and should we
6:32:48 need more, we’ll certainly
6:32:50 order more.
6:32:52 » Are you talking about thermometers?
6:32:55 » That’s not a hand question.
6:32:58 » Oh, sorry, sorry.
6:33:00 » We thought you were talking about the misting machine?
6:33:02 » Oh, no, I don’t want to talk about that. I want to know how
6:33:04 many thermometers we gave
6:33:05 to each school and what the reason was behind the theory or the
6:33:08 equation.
6:33:09 » So we made it up. So we have ordered – we have dispatched
6:33:17 about 700 already and have
6:33:21 a couple hundred more on hand to work through departments. I
6:33:27 think our minimal is five and
6:33:29 that would be at our smallest elementary schools up to just shy
6:33:34 of 20 at Viera High or Mell
6:33:36 High. Our high schools were given considerably more so that in
6:33:43 extracurriculars, the sports
6:33:46 or the band teacher or whatever could have some additional
6:33:50 resources available after.
6:33:52 The elementary received enough for their aftercare programs. We’re
6:33:58 certainly prepared to order
6:34:00 more. We’ve got a good contract in place for those. So we made
6:34:07 it up.
6:34:09 » No, it sounds like –
6:34:10 » Less for small, more for big.
6:34:12 » No, no, no, it sounds – if I did the numbers, 20 at Viera,
6:34:15 that’s 2,000 students there.
6:34:17 Five at the elementary schools, it’s looking like it’s about one
6:34:19 per hundred or something
6:34:20 like that.
6:34:21 » That’s exactly what we did. That was the formula.
6:34:23 » We did. Our formula is three academics in a room was we
6:34:28 started with a minimum of
6:34:30 two at 300 students plus additional for extra aftercare. For any
6:34:37 one above 300, that was
6:34:41 another one in those increments and then a bunch more.
6:34:48 » It’s just for me one of the number one ways to identify that
6:34:53 we’ve seen across the
6:34:55 country is to use the thermometer check. Individuals are coming
6:34:59 in and it would seem to me that
6:35:01 if there was a way to deploy more to do more tests to block the
6:35:04 actual spread to do that,
6:35:06 it would be advantageous. How much are these things a piece?
6:35:09 » They’re about $60 each. We’re actually down to –
6:35:13 » What?
6:35:14 » Yes, because Don Richer in procurement is amazing. We’re down
6:35:19 to about $46 a thermometer.
6:35:22 » But just remember from earlier, about 50% of the positive COVID
6:35:28 cases do not have a
6:35:29 temperature. So if we’re reliant on that – and that’s my
6:35:33 biggest concern is that we get reliant
6:35:35 on one thing. If the kid doesn’t have a temperature, then they’re
6:35:39 well. Yeah, you have to monitor
6:35:42 across a lot of the symptoms. So, you know, nobody here thought
6:35:47 that we were done ordering.
6:35:48 Not a single one of us. We figured as soon as we stand up school,
6:35:50 we’re going to be like
6:35:51 none of us thought of that. But there have been many of us that
6:35:56 have woken up at 2 in
6:35:57 the morning and come in the next day and said we forgot to talk
6:35:59 about this. And I will tell
6:36:00 you that almost every time one of us had already thought about
6:36:04 it and put in the order and
6:36:06 taken care of it. So, yeah, to your point, if we need to order
6:36:10 more thermometers, we’ll
6:36:11 order more. I just want to be cautious that that’s not the –
6:36:15 that’s not – that’s not
6:36:17 the most reliable factor. It’s about – it’s a case in about 50%
6:36:21 of the positive cases.
6:36:23 » Are we requiring right now in every activity that happens for
6:36:26 our coaches to give a test
6:36:28 thermometer test?
6:36:29 » That is correct. Yeah.
6:36:30 » Okay.
6:36:31 » If I could – but it’s not just a test. They have to – they
6:36:34 have several questions
6:36:36 that they go through with each student. So it is the temperature
6:36:40 plus I think it’s five
6:36:41 or six other questions that students get screened on daily if
6:36:44 they’re in the return to activity
6:36:46 plan. And it had – I’m sorry.
6:36:53 » We felt that when something is optional and extra, that we
6:36:59 could really look at that
6:37:01 circumstance and situation and have some restrictions around its
6:37:05 option. But compulsory education
6:37:07 as our requirement to provide for all students a free and
6:37:11 appropriate public education, so
6:37:14 we waffled in that land, right? Like what makes sense for
6:37:17 somebody who wants to put
6:37:18 themselves in this additional risky situation with a coach
6:37:22 versus our obligation to educate
6:37:24 all students? I don’t know if that makes sense because we had
6:37:30 these discussions at
6:37:31 strange hours. But, you know, we wanted to make sure every
6:37:34 student could be adequately
6:37:36 educated. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s what we’re
6:37:43 thinking about.
6:37:44 » I just – we have the thermometers. We’re using them. It
6:37:48 comes down to some person saying
6:37:50 I think that person might have a temperature. I’m going to run
6:37:53 up and check them. I don’t
6:37:54 understand the process there. Like what – why do I have a thermometer
6:37:57 if we’re not checking
6:37:58 the kids when they’re coming in? What is that process? Like what
6:38:01 are – how are we identifying
6:38:02 those children coming in to check their thermometer, to check
6:38:05 them? Like what is that? Like what
6:38:06 do we have them for if we’re not checking every kid as they come
6:38:10 in?
6:38:11 » So it’s not just the tool. It’s the personnel. That’s the
6:38:16 first thing. The second thing is
6:38:18 that what you asked is how are we identifying the students? So
6:38:25 every single school has a
6:38:27 child study team. And every single child study team has students
6:38:31 that they know are more
6:38:32 vulnerable than others, that they know may not have the
6:38:36 foundation or the support of
6:38:38 others. And that would be the first place we turn to to say can
6:38:42 you identify the students
6:38:43 that you know may need an extra screening or may need any
6:38:47 screening because they might
6:38:48 not be being screened at home. That might be in some schools two
6:38:53 kids. That might be
6:38:55 in some schools 200 kids. And then they have to determine how we’re
6:39:00 going to do it, where
6:39:02 we’re going to do it that protects their privacy and is done in
6:39:07 a respectful way. And then
6:39:08 they have to decide who’s going to do it. So in the case of let’s
6:39:13 just say 200 kids,
6:39:15 if we’re at a large high school and we have to screen 200 kids,
6:39:19 who are our available
6:39:20 people, well, our teachers all have a very solid contract that
6:39:23 says what their work hours
6:39:25 are. But they also shouldn’t have to perform a medical screening
6:39:31 on a student before hours.
6:39:33 We do have clinics. We do have a support team. We do have
6:39:38 administrators. But all of those
6:39:41 people have jobs before and after school. So we can manage 200.
6:39:47 We can manage probably
6:39:49 more than that. We can’t manage screening 2200 kids. And so when
6:39:55 we look at what we’re
6:39:56 able to implement and then what we’re able to manage, screening
6:40:01 2200 kids daily is outside
6:40:04 the scope of what we can physically do. If that is the wish of
6:40:09 the board, we’ll figure
6:40:11 it out. But then something else goes because something else goes.
6:40:21 And I guess we’ll have
6:40:23 to figure out what that thing is as well. We felt confident that
6:40:27 our child study teams
6:40:29 in each school could identify our vulnerable students. And we
6:40:32 felt confident that our principals
6:40:34 would develop a process that was fair and respectful and private.
6:40:38 And so that’s why
6:40:39 we wrote it up the way we did. » Is anybody – maybe the DOH
6:40:45 can answer this.
6:40:47 Are you finding that more children that are in areas that have
6:40:50 maybe not the parental
6:40:51 support or having higher COVID rates than kids that are in high
6:40:55 socioeconomic areas,
6:40:56 is there anything there? » I don’t think that one is turned on.
6:41:18 Thank
6:41:18 you, Russell. What we’re finding is most children that are
6:41:26 testing positive, and we are getting
6:41:28 more and more children that are testing positive, most of them
6:41:30 are because it’s a familial group.
6:41:33 Someone in the family, for whatever reason, they’re exposed at
6:41:35 work, they’re exposed at
6:41:36 home, whatever, they come in and they bring it home and we’re
6:41:40 finding a lot of positives
6:41:41 in family clusters. The thing with temperatures, you know,
6:41:47 temperature is, as Chris was saying,
6:41:50 is not an indicative symptom right now. Yes, it is definitely in
6:41:56 the older population,
6:41:58 but in the younger population, temperature is only within about
6:42:02 50% of children. And
6:42:04 with a child, you run into a couple of things. If a child or
6:42:09 even a teenager gets Tylenol
6:42:11 at home or gets some kind of fever-reducing, then temperature is
6:42:15 pretty much, taking temperature
6:42:17 is useless. » We’ve all done that. We’ve sent our kid
6:42:19 to daycare by packing them full of ibuprofen and hoping they can
6:42:22 make it through the end
6:42:23 of the day. » Then that’s exactly, and we see that in
6:42:25 the clinic all the time. So the temperature is really not the
6:42:30 guiding force of what we
6:42:31 decide the kid has to be sent to the clinic or should be sent to
6:42:35 the clinic. You know,
6:42:37 in my years of nursing, when a kid is sick, a kid is sick, for
6:42:41 the most part. You do get
6:42:43 some that, you know, that try to, for a better word, scam. But
6:42:50 when a child is sick, a child
6:42:52 is sick, and they usually don’t play games. And you can tell by
6:42:56 looking at a child, you
6:42:58 know, I’ve had kids that have had 104 temp, haven’t been as sick
6:43:02 as a child that has 100
6:43:04 degree temperature. So a lot of it is an assessment, a visual
6:43:07 assessment. Does that kind of answer
6:43:11 the question? » Yeah, no, no, no. That’s a great question.
6:43:13 Can somebody tell me what that visual assessment looks like? I’m
6:43:16 a teacher right now. I’m getting
6:43:17 ready to start the class day. What am I looking for in my visual
6:43:22 assessment?
6:43:23 » If a child is sick, sometimes they’ll be listless. Sometimes
6:43:26 they’ll be, they can be
6:43:27 pale, they can be sweating, and a kid who’s running around is
6:43:31 going to be sweating. So
6:43:32 you have to, you know, their eyes get kind of glassy, just like
6:43:35 most of us see with our
6:43:36 own children when they’re sick. What I always tell everybody and
6:43:39 what I tell the clinic
6:43:40 nurses, you know, look at your child. If the child is acting
6:43:45 sick, if the child is listless,
6:43:47 if the child is just sitting there, or if the child is just not
6:43:50 themselves and our clinic
6:43:52 nurses get to know their children in the school, as do the
6:43:56 teachers, that’s where I would say,
6:43:59 you know, look at the child. If the child looks sick, call the
6:44:03 parent. Heir on the side
6:44:04 of always putting the child’s health first. So it’s kind of, you
6:44:10 know, when every child
6:44:11 is different, every child presents differently. Obviously, if a
6:44:15 child has a fever, then that’s
6:44:16 entirely –
6:44:17 » My son, my daughters, they will literally hit 103 fever, and
6:44:21 you can’t even tell.
6:44:22 » Correct.
6:44:23 » They’re running around the house, their fevers are up. But
6:44:26 unless I check them, they
6:44:27 won’t know. And so I need to have – Ms. Moore, I need to have
6:44:31 Moore here. Like, I need to
6:44:33 know – I need to know that there’s – because identification is
6:44:37 the key, right, to before
6:44:39 and everything else. And if we’re only truly trying to check the
6:44:43 kids that we leave it
6:44:44 up to the teachers and people to identify, and maybe some of the
6:44:48 kids that we think are
6:44:50 in areas that we don’t have are, you know, these students that
6:44:55 we’ve identified, I think
6:44:58 I feel – and I’m only a board member – that there needs to be
6:45:00 a stronger plan there. I
6:45:02 don’t know, do you guys want to – care to weigh in on that?
6:45:05 That, to me, like, would
6:45:07 you allow a school, if they wanted to screen every kid that came
6:45:10 in for temperatures, would
6:45:12 you give them more of these thermometers?
6:45:13 » Well, can I just – I mean, I just want to offer some
6:45:16 perspectives. You know, we talked
6:45:18 about security, we talked about metal detectors. And the reason
6:45:22 why our sheriff in particular
6:45:24 and many other sheriffs don’t recommend metal detectors is
6:45:27 because you create that – what’s
6:45:29 the word I’m looking for? When you’re all – yeah, you got a
6:45:32 bottleneck and we’re getting
6:45:34 people through. I think we create the same situation here, which
6:45:37 not only is a security
6:45:39 issue because you’ve got 800 kids standing out line, then you
6:45:42 also have 800 kids standing
6:45:44 very close together while you wait to – and those things are
6:45:48 pretty fast, but still you’ve
6:45:50 got 800 kids. So even if you had the personnel and even if we
6:45:53 did it, you know, we’re creating
6:45:56 problems that actually are working against the problem we’re
6:46:00 trying to avoid. So if you
6:46:03 have a kid who’s positive and has a fever standing in the midst
6:46:05 of 50 other kids because
6:46:06 how are you going to – six feet apart, 800 kids waiting to get
6:46:10 into the building? It’s
6:46:11 just not feasible.
6:46:12 » So I would argue that if you had a thermometer for every
6:46:15 teacher before the student came
6:46:17 into the class, they could temperature check every one of their
6:46:20 kids. I do them. I bought
6:46:21 one of these thermometers. I checked it. It’s the second and a
6:46:23 half that it takes. It would
6:46:25 take less than five minutes. You could socially distance the
6:46:28 kids. I just think that when
6:46:29 we turn around and say that, well, we’re going to have 800 kids
6:46:32 standing in one location,
6:46:34 we know that’s not going to happen and we know we can – I feel
6:46:36 we can do better there.
6:46:37 I think that there needs to be a stronger answer to that barrier
6:46:41 to that. I don’t think
6:46:43 – and I’ve been in schools. I mean, I’ve been in schools with 2,000
6:46:45 kids. I taught
6:46:46 at the era. There’s multiple exits. There’s multiple points.
6:46:49 There’s never a point where
6:46:50 when the kids are coming in that you’re going to back up 600
6:46:53 kids, especially if you have
6:46:54 multiple areas. I just – I truly believe that we can’t wave the
6:46:58 white flag here. I
6:47:00 think that this is an area that needs to be stronger. I think we
6:47:03 need to identify these
6:47:04 kids before they come in. I think they need to be sent over to
6:47:08 the area to be quarantined
6:47:09 if there’s an issue and then go. And I think that also that we
6:47:12 need to have a stronger
6:47:15 what that looks like for our teachers right now that are coming
6:47:17 in. If the teachers are
6:47:18 going to be sitting there and we give them the thing that, hey,
6:47:21 if they look sick, send
6:47:22 them down, man, that’s got to be stronger. We’ve got to be
6:47:24 better there. So that’s – I’m
6:47:26 just – some red flags are coming up right now on this thing. So
6:47:29 what is – are the board
6:47:32 members okay? I mean, you want to talk about it, Ms. Deskovich?
6:47:37 Ms. Moore said something about we can’t require teachers to do
6:47:40 checks. Is that in contract?
6:47:42 What can you – I think that’s what you said. Can you expand on
6:47:45 what you said?
6:47:46 » We typically have not been able to require teachers to do any
6:47:50 medical procedures unless
6:47:52 it was in the health plan.
6:47:54 » So I – Mr. Susan, I’m not saying that’s a horrible idea, but
6:47:59 I don’t know how that’s
6:48:01 going to go play out with BFT. Maybe it’s an optional thing.
6:48:05 Like would you be comfortable
6:48:06 with we would provide a thermometer to any teacher that wants to
6:48:10 check their students
6:48:11 every morning on the way in? Like I think that’s a fair thing,
6:48:13 especially if the teacher
6:48:14 wants to protect themselves. We as an organization can provide
6:48:17 that for some screening. But I
6:48:19 don’t know how we make that mandatory without approval from BFT.
6:48:24 And I don’t – you know,
6:48:25 that’s a whole other problem.
6:48:26 » I just think it – and you’re right. To mandate certain
6:48:30 things is very difficult in
6:48:32 the multiple areas that we have, different school settings,
6:48:36 different class segments.
6:48:38 But I truly believe that if there is a group of individuals or
6:48:40 schools that would like
6:48:42 to create that, I would like to give them that option. And as
6:48:44 far as making BFT do something
6:48:46 or not, I think that if I’m a teacher and I wanted to make sure
6:48:49 that the students that
6:48:50 were inside my class, if I could use a thermometer check as they
6:48:53 walk in and it was legal, I
6:48:55 wouldn’t have a problem with that. But it’s just an option. I
6:48:57 can’t speak to BFT. I just
6:48:58 – I’m literally looking at this right now, but it’s a huge
6:49:01 concern that if we have an
6:49:03 individual come into the school and we’re talking about
6:49:05 classrooms being shut down and
6:49:07 schools being shut down, that we need to do everything we can at
6:49:10 the perimeter of that
6:49:11 school to make sure that those students aren’t coming into that
6:49:13 school. Because once they’re
6:49:14 in, then all of a sudden it’s like the popcorn effect where one
6:49:17 school does the cafeteria,
6:49:19 everything else starts to happen. So if we’re so concerned about
6:49:21 turning an entire secondary
6:49:22 program into block scheduling, then I think that one of the
6:49:25 other things that we can try
6:49:26 to do is a stronger perimeter defense as far as identifying kids
6:49:30 inside the thermometer
6:49:31 checks. That’s all. So –
6:49:34 » Does anyone – maybe Mr. Gibbs or I don’t know, maybe – I
6:49:38 know your name, Dr. Thady.
6:49:40 It’s going to be a lot of hours. Is there any concerns with if
6:49:46 this was random, like
6:49:47 class A, B, and C gets screened every morning because those
6:49:51 teachers choose, but class D,
6:49:52 E, and F doesn’t get screened because those teachers choose not
6:49:56 to? Is there any kind
6:49:57 of – is there any legal problem there? Or does it look like we’re
6:50:01 calling out certain
6:50:03 kids and only screening them? Or, you know, is there any issues
6:50:06 that you see with that
6:50:07 legally?
6:50:08 » And add on that extra screening that we’re talking about.
6:50:11 » To what end? Are we sending them home? Every kid that comes
6:50:15 in that’s got a 99 or
6:50:16 100, we’re sending them home? I mean, I could see this turning
6:50:20 into I want to screen kids
6:50:21 so I don’t have 20 kids in my class every day.
6:50:24 » There’s not a single teacher, Mr. Gibbs, in this school
6:50:26 district that would temperature
6:50:27 check kids to try to get them not to come into their classroom.
6:50:30 » I think that that standard maybe come from that.
6:50:33 » Right on.
6:50:34 » Ms. Patty over there, right? You would – what’s the standard
6:50:36 temperature that you
6:50:36 say is sick? I mean, I’ve read, you know, we –
6:50:40 » DOH says 100.4. The school district’s gone to 100 just to
6:50:44 make it a little bit more
6:50:46 clarified for the schools.
6:50:49 » Well, the other thing is that those pointless thermometers
6:50:53 are almost a degree less than
6:50:56 the underarm and undertongue thermometers.
6:50:58 » So I have – I’m just going to lay out concerns. And I know
6:51:02 that we’re getting feedback.
6:51:06 Two big concerns are we take – for our screenings that we do
6:51:10 now, our vision screening, our
6:51:12 hearing screening, we go to great lengths to protect students’
6:51:18 medical privacy. And
6:51:20 I don’t know, given the scenario that you gave, that I could say
6:51:24 that same thing. The
6:51:25 other piece of it is that once those temperatures are checked,
6:51:30 then those students have to go
6:51:33 somewhere. And in elementary school, we don’t send kids alone
6:51:37 anywhere. And so if a teacher
6:51:39 has one student, they’re sending that one student and a second
6:51:44 down to the clinic. And
6:51:45 if we have 10 kids that on that any given day have a temperature,
6:51:50 it doesn’t mean they
6:51:52 have COVID. It means they have a temperature. And now our clinic
6:51:56 staff has 10 kids down
6:51:57 there. So there’s some logistics there in terms of what is
6:52:03 happening there. My biggest
6:52:05 concern remains to be the availability of staff to do that while
6:52:12 they have other tasks
6:52:14 that are supposed to be done in the morning. And my bigger
6:52:18 concern is the private, respectful
6:52:20 screening of children.
6:52:23 » If a student is identified as sweating and sick and
6:52:26 everything else, what’s the process
6:52:28 when they walk into the classroom?
6:52:31 » Well, there’s more to the student is, you know, if a student
6:52:35 comes into my classroom
6:52:37 sweaty, I have to look over and say, well, he’s sweaty because
6:52:39 he was just running, or
6:52:40 he’s sweaty because he looks sick. And then typically, I mean, I
6:52:43 could just tell you typically
6:52:44 a teacher will say, are you okay? And if the kid says I’m
6:52:47 feeling sick, him and a partner
6:52:49 in elementary school walk down to the clinic together. That is a
6:52:52 safety measure. In this
6:52:54 case, it’s not really what we want, is it? But that is what we
6:52:57 do. That’s – yeah, go
6:52:58 ahead.
6:52:59 » And that, you know, I don’t mean to minimize the assessment
6:53:05 of a student, but I guess what
6:53:07 everyone has to – you know, what do you do on a normal day when
6:53:11 a child is sick in the
6:53:13 school? The teachers decide when to send them down. Is that – I’ve
6:53:19 never been a teacher
6:53:20 in a school. So it’s the teacher in the classroom who decides
6:53:24 without taking a temperature based
6:53:27 on what child needs to be sent down to the clinic. I envision
6:53:32 the same level of assessment
6:53:34 from a teacher, not that they have to decide is this a COVID
6:53:39 positive or is this a varicella
6:53:41 or is this something else. It’s just if the teacher knows in
6:53:46 previous COVID that this
6:53:48 child is sick, I don’t think that should change or even suspects
6:53:53 that this child is sick.
6:53:54 I don’t think that should change what they do now that we’re in
6:53:58 a COVID situation. They’re
6:53:59 not – it’s not the teacher’s job to decide who is truly sick
6:54:04 and who is not. That’s the
6:54:05 clinic’s job.
6:54:06 » We just went through a process where we said that the teacher
6:54:09 would be able to identify
6:54:10 via training if there’s a student that exhibits certain symptoms
6:54:14 to get – to be sent down.
6:54:16 » Exactly like they do now.
6:54:17 » Exactly. And at that point, they just say are you not feeling
6:54:19 good and you should go
6:54:20 down, right?
6:54:21 » Correct.
6:54:22 » And what that says is that if I have a thermometer check and
6:54:24 I’m checking those students,
6:54:25 what’s the difference between saying that you don’t look good
6:54:27 and hey, you do have a
6:54:28 temperature, go down. The entire process that you just walked
6:54:31 through where you said I’m
6:54:32 not sure if we really want to walk them down, you’re saying that
6:54:35 that’s what’s going to
6:54:36 happen anyway if the COVID test is positive through that
6:54:39 evaluation. What’s the difference
6:54:41 between the thermometer doing the same?
6:54:46 » We – our recommendation was on the aggregate of information
6:54:53 on what we heard from our health
6:54:57 department, what we know of routine clinic operations, the
6:55:01 feedback we’ve gotten, the
6:55:04 research we’ve done. But we with absolute certainty, the three
6:55:11 of us as leading the
6:55:13 task force are presenting you our recommendation based on that
6:55:18 information. We believe that
6:55:20 every aspect of these preventatives, there’s, again, all sides
6:55:24 to it. And we will absolutely
6:55:26 respect the direction of the board. And we wanted to provide
6:55:31 where we landed after many
6:55:33 – we talked about teachers. We talked about all of those things.
6:55:37 We were actually a little
6:55:39 uncomfortable requiring it of our teachers. But we absolutely
6:55:45 respect the board’s direction
6:55:46 on this topic. This isn’t a topic that we’re drawing a line in
6:55:51 the sand because the information
6:55:54 every day is different, right? Kind of like with masks. And so
6:55:58 we are here to support
6:56:00 what the board directs Dr. Mullins on this topic. And I feel
6:56:06 like we discussed this in
6:56:09 advance because we knew, right? We knew this is a tough one to
6:56:14 decide how and where we
6:56:16 draw the line on our level of screening in the schools. And we
6:56:20 are not surmising for
6:56:23 a second that we have the right answer because we don’t know
6:56:26 that there is a right answer.
6:56:28 It was our recommendation just based on the aggregate of
6:56:30 information. But we totally recognize
6:56:34 some of the questions you’re asking are valid and reasonable and
6:56:38 not illogical. And so –
6:56:40 » I just – did we – when we required the coaches to do a test
6:56:45 and do a checklist, did
6:56:47 we check in with BFT to make sure that that was okay? Because
6:56:50 that’s what –
6:56:50 » These were extra events. These are – this is not part of –
6:56:54 remember the summer workout
6:56:56 is voluntary conditioning. » Okay. But what I’m saying is that
6:56:59 I am asking
6:57:00 to be able to do something that is already in place in policy
6:57:04 and being required of athletic
6:57:06 coaches at a number that is higher than the actual numbers of a
6:57:09 classroom. And you’re
6:57:11 coming back to me and saying that the – that it’s – that we
6:57:13 would have difficulty with
6:57:15 BFT, that we wouldn’t be able to do it because of time
6:57:17 constraints, that we would have people
6:57:19 that are backed up because of – I’m trying – what I’m trying
6:57:23 to do is find out if there’s
6:57:24 one – if we’re allowing it or enforcing it to be done on one
6:57:27 end, why is it that we’re
6:57:29 not on another end? » Mr. Susan, may I answer – add to that?
6:57:35 We have summer school going on live and right now 13 of our
6:57:40 elementary schools and we are
6:57:42 not doing temperature checks. » Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.
6:57:45 » No. But I just wanted to let you know that the athletics is
6:57:49 different to the instruction
6:57:51 that’s occurring right now. We are transporting students and we
6:57:58 are not doing temperature
6:58:00 checks. The thermometers are available in the school right now
6:58:04 at all these sites as
6:58:05 well as hand sanitizer. And we’re seeing if any of – any of
6:58:12 these processes that we’ve
6:58:14 developed are actually working in real time. So I just wanted
6:58:18 you to be aware we are not
6:58:20 doing them right now. » Also, Mr. Susan, may I – we are
6:58:25 meeting
6:58:26 with BFT and we’re meeting with them I believe a week from today.
6:58:29 And I know this will be
6:58:30 a topic of discussion and, you know, so I don’t want it to be
6:58:33 surmised that we’re going
6:58:35 to have trouble with that because I don’t believe that to be the
6:58:37 case. I think it’s
6:58:39 ultimately the guidance that we get from the CDC and the DOH and
6:58:42 guidance from the board
6:58:44 and direction from the board on what you want us to do. But BFT
6:58:47 is part of the conversation
6:58:48 and we are absolutely meeting with them next week to work
6:58:52 through an MOA. So I just wanted
6:58:53 you to be aware of that. » Is there any way to meet with them
6:58:55 prior
6:58:55 to us actually implementing the plan and asking them if they’re
6:58:58 going to have any pushback
6:58:59 on us actually allowing our teachers to temperature check at the
6:59:03 doors? Here’s – and I’m sorry
6:59:04 to keep beating a dead horse, but if we know that 50% of the
6:59:07 cases that are coming into
6:59:09 our schools are going to have a temperature, right, and we’re
6:59:13 not identifying a solid plan
6:59:14 to identify those with either thermometers or whatever it is,
6:59:18 then I think we need to
6:59:20 do a better job there. And if we’re already requiring our
6:59:23 coaches to go through a format
6:59:25 list of all this other stuff with teams that are actually larger
6:59:29 size than the classrooms,
6:59:31 I would argue that we are not in an area that that is an issue
6:59:36 to require it.
6:59:37 » If I may, I just keep thinking back to two years ago when I
6:59:41 was having a fit about
6:59:42 our lice policy, and – you remember this, Ms. Cline?
6:59:46 » I do, and I had already had – we’ve had that conversation.
6:59:49 » The same discussion. Like, the school was not allowed to tell
6:59:52 us even which classroom
6:59:53 the student was identified in that had lice so that the other
6:59:57 students could be aware.
7:00:00 It’s still a ridiculous policy to me. But the reasoning you all
7:00:03 told me, you said it
7:00:04 came from the Department of Health, I think. » No, that policy
7:00:07 didn’t come from DOH. That
7:00:09 came from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC’s
7:00:12 recommendation.
7:00:13 » Some of the reasoning was the student’s privacy and I guess,
7:00:16 you know, historically
7:00:18 other students now pick on that student because they – and we
7:00:20 couldn’t pull the student out
7:00:22 right then. I mean, it’s a huge deal for lice. And I know these
7:00:27 are very different circumstances,
7:00:28 but if we have a line of students at the door and we pull Joey
7:00:33 and Susie, you hear it right
7:00:36 now, right? Ooh, they got the Rona. You could hear the kids.
7:00:39 Kids are kids. And so now they’ve
7:00:41 been identified. Then they don’t come back for 14 days. I’m not
7:00:45 saying we don’t do it
7:00:46 because of that, Mr. Susan. I’m just saying is this now a
7:00:50 concern? Because you guys – I
7:00:51 think you all told me the lice thing was violating their privacy
7:00:55 rights. Does this violate their
7:00:57 privacy rights? Or if we’re going to allow teachers – I don’t
7:01:02 think – I’m not comfortable
7:01:04 with the mandating. If BFT wants to come forward and put in
7:01:07 their contract the teachers they
7:01:09 want us to require, then I’m okay with that. But I like the idea
7:01:13 of maybe us providing
7:01:15 if a teacher wants one for their classroom, but not if it’s
7:01:18 going to violate the privacy
7:01:19 rights of the student. There’s my –
7:01:21 » I think there’s that balance there with privacy rights of
7:01:23 students because, you know,
7:01:24 I do recall the argument over head lice and I know exactly where
7:01:28 the policy came from
7:01:29 and it is CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics. And, you know,
7:01:33 I think there’s further discussion
7:01:35 that needs to happen. I think we’ve got – we are on – we’re on
7:01:39 the two sides of the fence
7:01:41 on that on safety and health of everybody around and maintaining
7:01:45 privacy of teachers
7:01:46 and students and staff members. And I think it’s a delicate
7:01:49 balance. And we just have
7:01:50 to work through all those balances to make it work in our
7:01:53 schools.
7:01:54 » And I couldn’t agree with you more because I know that that’s
7:01:55 what’s going to happen
7:01:56 if an individual is identified. But I feel that we have to be
7:01:59 stronger here in this part
7:02:01 of the thing. I think that there needs to be some way of
7:02:03 identifying these kids. Because
7:02:05 if you’re saying that we’re not – if you’re saying that we’re
7:02:08 not identifying kids as
7:02:09 they’re coming in, you’re saying that we can’t pull them out, we
7:02:12 can’t send them down, we
7:02:13 can’t – I mean, then all of a sudden everything we’re trying to
7:02:15 do to protect the kids from
7:02:17 COVID becomes, you know, not as valid as what we could be. So
7:02:21 all I’m asking is, is that
7:02:23 if you guys can find a way to – and maybe I’m speaking as an
7:02:27 individual, not for the
7:02:29 board, but just to find a way to set up a stronger perimeter to
7:02:32 try to stop any of this
7:02:33 – a way to catch the kids before they’re coming on. I don’t
7:02:38 know. I mean, I don’t know,
7:02:41 buses?
7:02:42 » If I can just summarize where we’re at, just, you know, so we
7:02:45 know the direction of
7:02:46 the board and moving forward. I don’t believe we have a
7:02:51 reference card or a reference sheet
7:02:54 of typical symptoms or signs to be aware of and look for for
7:02:59 illness. Perhaps we could
7:03:02 work with the health department to put that together to make
7:03:04 that resource available to
7:03:05 our teachers, you know, that Patty referenced to some things as
7:03:10 well. The committee met
7:03:12 obviously worked through a lot of the same struggles and
7:03:15 challenges that have been presented.
7:03:17 We’re presenting the recommendation based on all of that
7:03:20 consideration. But clearly
7:03:24 this is why we’re here for the discussion, is to receive the
7:03:27 direction of the board if
7:03:28 we – if it is the wishes of the board to move in either a
7:03:32 different direction, a modified
7:03:35 direction or so on. I would – I’ll perhaps dangerously speak on
7:03:40 behalf of the team. I
7:03:42 believe it is feasibly very challenging to daily screen every
7:03:49 student as they walk into
7:03:52 the school just by sheer numbers, whether it’s a small school
7:03:55 and the availability of
7:03:56 staff or a large school and the availability of staff. Is it
7:04:01 manageable once they reach
7:04:03 their classroom? That seems like it could be more feasible than
7:04:10 otherwise. It would
7:04:12 require discussion with BFT agreement from them. I think that
7:04:18 conversation – I don’t
7:04:19 see any reason why we can’t at least have a conversation with
7:04:22 union leadership prior
7:04:23 to Tuesday. I don’t have a problem with that. And we could
7:04:27 certainly pursue that. The only
7:04:29 other element that I want to make the board aware of for the
7:04:33 discussion and then ultimately
7:04:35 direction, if we move in the direction of additional thermometers
7:04:40 for staff, rough estimate
7:04:42 at $46, $45 to $50 apiece for the additional teachers who would
7:04:46 require them outside the
7:04:48 ones we already have, it’s probably a hundred – just under a $200,000
7:04:52 investment. Could
7:04:53 it be paid for out of CARES Act? I fully suspect it could. Quick
7:04:58 question, would it qualify
7:04:59 as a FEMA reimbursement? Yes. I feel very strongly that it would
7:05:06 be one of those items
7:05:07 that we could do a CARES Act FEMA split on. And so two issues,
7:05:14 and Ms. Lazinski is trying
7:05:17 to keep from having a heart attack over there. We were front-loading
7:05:22 expenses. So none of
7:05:23 these funds are magically here. So all of these items we talked
7:05:27 about, prioritizing
7:05:29 to be in people’s hands. We have funded through district funds
7:05:33 and then anticipate as soon
7:05:35 as CARES Act arrives to be able to do expenditure transfers on
7:05:38 the expenses that can be covered
7:05:40 with CARES Act and then submit all the reimbursements for FEMA.
7:05:45 And we feel really confident that
7:05:46 the thermometer would be a qualifying expense. And I don’t
7:05:51 foresee any reason, and I’ve read
7:05:54 it all. So I feel really comfortable about that. And again, you
7:05:58 know, we await your guidance
7:05:59 from the direction of the board. And we would need – Mr. Gibbs,
7:06:04 we would need to know that
7:06:06 line that Dr. Thede was talking about. It is one thing to send a
7:06:12 kid with symptoms to
7:06:14 the clinic because you have evidence that the child may be ill.
7:06:20 It is another to screen
7:06:23 every child and have it not be a private screening where you don’t
7:06:30 have a presumption that you
7:06:32 are protecting the common good. So if you could do a little
7:06:36 research there, I think
7:06:38 that’s my biggest missing piece here. » And if I could just say,
7:06:45 if the confidence
7:06:47 of the public doesn’t – isn’t there and they don’t send their
7:06:49 kids to our schools for every
7:06:50 hundred kids is $800,000. So when I say that this perimeter and
7:06:54 everything else, it’s part
7:06:56 of me as a father for my daughter but also other parents that
7:06:59 are out there trying to
7:07:00 say they want to know that our schools are the safest they can
7:07:03 be. And this is a big
7:07:05 deal for me as a board member, I feel. And I may be wrong. We
7:07:08 may come out of this meeting
7:07:09 and everybody might say no, we’re fine. That doesn’t matter. But
7:07:13 just from the gut right
7:07:14 now, this was a scary part. All right. » I’m happy to look at
7:07:19 that. My question
7:07:20 still is to what end? Do they go home for that day? Or are we
7:07:25 saying you’re out for
7:07:26 two weeks? Or until you bring us a negative test? We can’t make
7:07:30 them take a test. We can’t
7:07:32 send them to DOH and say you have to be tested. They’re not
7:07:35 going to force them to be tested.
7:07:37 So my question is to what end? Because there’s also going to be
7:07:40 due process. Because if you’re
7:07:42 kicking them out of school for two weeks, you’re denying them
7:07:46 education.
7:07:47 » Can somebody tell me at what point we are going to tell kids
7:07:51 to stay out for two weeks?
7:07:52 Since it’s pointed – it’s brought up? » Yeah, sure. A couple
7:07:55 of – well, when we
7:07:56 get to COVID, I’ll tell you, but I’ll say it now. A student is
7:07:59 going to be out for two
7:08:01 weeks if they are a contact to a familial case. So if a family
7:08:06 member is positive for
7:08:07 COVID, they would be – and they would be – I need to wait
7:08:12 until we get to the COVID
7:08:15 section. Do you know how many times that Patty Seibert and I get
7:08:17 on the phone and say I know
7:08:18 I know this? And then we walk through it again. So they would be
7:08:22 out for two weeks. If they’re
7:08:23 a presumptive case, they would be out for two weeks.
7:08:26 » How would a presumptive case? » A presumptive case is they
7:08:28 have a family
7:08:29 member who has COVID and they’re showing symptoms.
7:08:32 » So a student shows up at our school and has symptoms, and we
7:08:35 are capable and able
7:08:36 to send them home for 14 days? » If they have a family member
7:08:39 that has a
7:08:40 positive case that they live with. » Which has to be self-reported.
7:08:44 » When I started that whole section, it was based on the
7:08:47 premise that our strongest ally
7:08:48 is our families. If families do the temperature check and do the
7:08:53 health screening, if they
7:08:54 don’t send their students to school sick, if they tell us when
7:08:58 they have a family member
7:08:59 that tests positive, if we don’t have them as an ally, that
7:09:03 perimeter – there’s no way
7:09:06 we’re going to be able to do like you said and have a strong
7:09:08 perimeter because we’re
7:09:10 going to have a whole lot of asymptomatic kids coming to school
7:09:12 that may be shedding
7:09:13 the virus because they have sick family members. Or they took a
7:09:16 Tylenol before they got on
7:09:18 the bus. So those are some of the reasons why students might be
7:09:22 sent home for two weeks.
7:09:24 » And I’m trying to get this straight. There’s a student that
7:09:28 is in a class of a teacher,
7:09:29 they identify them as having the symptoms. They send them down
7:09:33 to the front office, and
7:09:35 they can’t be – they can’t stay there, they can’t be sent home,
7:09:38 they can’t be anything?
7:09:41 » They can be sent home, but not for – the question was for
7:09:45 two weeks. Based on what?
7:09:47 We can’t force them to take a test. The family can say to us –
7:09:50 » Okay. But that process is something that we can identify and
7:09:54 send the same process
7:09:55 through if they’re identified with a thermometer, if they’re
7:09:58 identified by asymptomatic or identified
7:10:00 as anything. And he’s asking at what point do we start – well,
7:10:02 we’ll get into those
7:10:03 in the next couple of slides, I guess. But the identification
7:10:07 process is that we can
7:10:08 identify a kid that has symptoms and put them inside of the
7:10:12 health and call their parents.
7:10:14 That is part of the legal process. Okay.
7:10:16 » But we’ve always been able to – yes.
7:10:18 » No doubt. That’s why I was questionable about it. Okay. How
7:10:23 are we going to verify
7:10:24 to fidelity the contact information for each one of the legal
7:10:27 guardians? So I’m trying
7:10:29 to call, you know, and I don’t get this because that’s a key,
7:10:32 right? In many of the areas
7:10:34 where we have students that may not have guardians that come
7:10:37 pick them up, this is the hardest
7:10:39 area. So what is the plan there to make sure that the fidelity
7:10:41 of all those are taken care
7:10:42 of?
7:10:43 » Well, it starts at registration. So we’ve continually added
7:10:47 word verbiage to our registration
7:10:50 paperwork about what an emergency contact is, who they are, and
7:10:53 how they get inputted.
7:10:55 We ask that that registration paperwork be done every single
7:10:58 year. We input it every
7:10:59 single year. Once parents have notified us that that’s an
7:11:04 emergency contact, that doesn’t
7:11:05 mean that person has carte blanche to show up and pick up a
7:11:09 student. If somebody comes
7:11:10 in to pick up a student and they’re on the emergency list, we
7:11:14 still have an obligation
7:11:15 to call the parent and say, “Do you know this person is here to
7:11:19 pick up your child?” And
7:11:20 in a case of an emergency pickup, we would make the assumption
7:11:22 that we’ve spoken to the
7:11:24 parent, they have informed us who the emergency pickup is, and
7:11:27 we ask for ID.
7:11:28 » So I – and I get that. I was just saying we – the first
7:11:32 bullet says all parent – we
7:11:34 shouldn’t verify that they have accurate information. So are we
7:11:37 going to take all of the registration
7:11:39 and then somebody is calling each one of those numbers and emailing
7:11:43 for verification? So
7:11:45 meaning that how do we know that the numbers that we have inside
7:11:48 the system are valid?
7:11:50 Who is verifying that? What is the verification process of that?
7:11:53 » With all due respect, Mr. Susan, even if we verified it on
7:11:56 the day of registration,
7:11:57 we have so much mobility in our community and people who have
7:12:00 changed phone numbers
7:12:02 and change – like we could verify it today and tomorrow it’s
7:12:05 going to be wrong.
7:12:06 » For the – for a portion. So I – it just said when the
7:12:10 speech came – when the piece
7:12:11 came out, it said that one of the most important things is
7:12:14 having verified contact information
7:12:16 of our people. And that’s what I was asking.
7:12:18 » Sure.
7:12:19 » So are we not – we’re not verifying, we’re not following up,
7:12:21 we’re not doing any of that
7:12:22 stuff. We’re just taking it in at registration and we’re good or
7:12:25 –
7:12:25 » It may be poor – a poor word to put there, but the way that
7:12:30 we view the verification
7:12:33 is that every year we ask parents to update their information
7:12:37 and every year a clerk gets
7:12:39 that updated information, brings it up on AS400, fixes what
7:12:44 needs to be fixed. And then
7:12:46 that is what we are considering our verification. It might be
7:12:50 better if we had used the word
7:12:51 updated as opposed to verified.
7:12:53 » And then we wouldn’t know until the time of – that we have
7:12:57 an – something happens
7:12:58 whether that’s, you know, discipline or whatever that we contact
7:13:01 the parent if that’s a valid
7:13:02 one. And you’re right, Steve, because there’s a lot of the kids
7:13:06 move around. If we have
7:13:07 a student that’s inside of – that’s showing symptoms that’s
7:13:10 inside of the clinic and their
7:13:12 parents don’t come up and get them, what’s the plan there? Or is
7:13:14 that later on in the
7:13:15 list?
7:13:16 » No, no, no. That’s in this section. They would be in a –
7:13:20 they would be put in a separate
7:13:21 space. Each school was asked to identify a separate space. That
7:13:25 is one of those cases
7:13:26 where the student would have to wear a face mask and we would
7:13:28 continue to make efforts
7:13:29 to call the parents. At some point we would, you know, we would
7:13:35 – what? We would – yeah.
7:13:37 At some point we would have to get an outside agency involved if
7:13:40 we couldn’t eventually
7:13:41 reach a parent.
7:13:42 » That’s at like the end of the day, teachers are going home,
7:13:45 that kind of stuff.
7:13:46 » Yeah. It – we are aware there are certain areas in our
7:13:49 district that certain employers
7:13:51 that do not allow parents to get phone calls, you know, period
7:13:55 the end. But we’re also aware
7:13:57 that there are – and that there are some limitations to
7:14:01 communication. But at some
7:14:03 point we need to get outside agencies involved if we can’t get a
7:14:06 sick child.
7:14:06 » Absolutely. And then if there’s a – I know that if a student
7:14:09 breaks an arm or does
7:14:09 something like that, we transport them, right? Is there a level
7:14:12 or a threshold at which the
7:14:14 student is exhibiting signs of a high fever, the parents aren’t
7:14:17 going, that we transport
7:14:18 them to the hospital? Is that true too?
7:14:20 » That is absolutely true. Our nurses make that decision for us.
7:14:23 Well, in combination
7:14:24 with the school administrator, any time there’s a question if a
7:14:28 child’s health is in danger
7:14:29 or life is in danger, we call an ambulance. And then we become
7:14:33 – to be frank, we become
7:14:34 in local parentis up until the point that we can pass off to a
7:14:37 parent.
7:14:38 » So here’s the next question. The extra room that you’re
7:14:41 talking about that’s set
7:14:42 aside for the students to come into, that nurse then has to go
7:14:46 sit with the students
7:14:48 inside that classroom or that area? And if so, who is covering
7:14:52 the front medications
7:14:54 and all of that stuff?
7:14:55 » That area has to have line of sight supervision. It doesn’t
7:14:58 necessarily mean the nurse is going
7:14:59 to leave the clinic because you’re absolutely 100% right. That’s
7:15:03 a – that point we went
7:15:04 over and over is that that nurse has another job and that nurse
7:15:07 needs to be available for
7:15:08 that other job.
7:15:10 » So that student just has to be in an area where there’s a
7:15:13 line of sight and be quarantined
7:15:14 in an area that is not with anybody else?
7:15:17 » Yeah.
7:15:18 » And all of those rooms that you’re talking about at each one
7:15:21 of the schools is going
7:15:22 to be within line of sight of the nurse?
7:15:25 » I can’t answer that. It’s going to be different in different
7:15:29 schools. It might be a clerk
7:15:30 that’s in there. We might have to put an IA in there. It might
7:15:35 be an open door from the
7:15:37 secretary’s office to the hallway, you know. There’s all
7:15:40 different variations of that.
7:15:42 » And if you have two kids?
7:15:44 » We’re getting rough. It’s getting tough.
7:15:46 » No, but I mean can you put two kids in the same room?
7:15:49 » Shouldn’t.
7:15:50 » So now we have to have multiple areas.
7:15:52 » Shouldn’t happen.
7:15:54 » Our principals know to set off a couple of extra areas, right?
7:15:58 » We’ve – they are all working on their plans.
7:16:01 » Okay.
7:16:02 » It is – all of these conversations, every last one of them
7:16:06 have been kind of ending
7:16:07 with this is a no-win scenario. We can’t solve all of these
7:16:12 issues and we can’t address all
7:16:15 of these concerns. What’s the best that we can do? And so as it
7:16:20 relates to the clinic,
7:16:21 we know we need to isolate kids who might possibly have COVID.
7:16:25 We know we need to depend
7:16:27 on our families to answer our call. And if we don’t have that
7:16:33 answer, we’re going to
7:16:34 be in a rough spot.
7:16:35 » Let me ask you this. We have 16 locations that we have
7:16:38 vacancies for our school nurses
7:16:40 or our – so we will have a nurse at every location?
7:16:44 » I can’t say we’re going to have a nurse at every location,
7:16:47 but we don’t have 16 locations
7:16:48 without a nurse.
7:16:49 » We have –
7:16:50 » I was talking about vacancies. A lot of those are the floaters.
7:16:55 So I think when we
7:16:56 left last year, I think we had less than four vacancies. And so
7:17:01 we’ll be training the staff
7:17:04 and they’ll be hiring, but, you know, I know this is a horrible
7:17:08 answer. The health department
7:17:10 is in the same position as Brevard Public Schools. Sometimes
7:17:14 vacancies go unfilled and
7:17:15 we do the best we can.
7:17:17 » And if there’s a vacancy at the school, the responsibility of
7:17:21 the transition from
7:17:22 students and dispensing medication falls upon the secretary that’s
7:17:26 there that takes training?
7:17:28 Can you explain that to me?
7:17:29 » Sure. There’s actually – the part of the contract is that
7:17:33 two school board employees
7:17:34 have to be trained at every site. It’s not necessarily the
7:17:38 secretary. It can be any two
7:17:40 employees that are designated by the principal. Typically it is
7:17:45 a clerk or a bookkeeper or
7:17:46 the secretary. And they go through training with the Department
7:17:50 of Health and then they
7:17:51 get an individual training at the school to go over, you know,
7:17:55 specific medications and
7:17:57 health plans of students. And when the nurse is out, if we can
7:18:03 – if there’s a floater
7:18:05 available, they’ll put a floater in there for the day. If a floater
7:18:08 isn’t available,
7:18:09 we depend on the school-based personnel.
7:18:12 » Okay. Thank you. Hang on just a second. Let me just make sure
7:18:19 I don’t have anyone
7:18:21 else.
7:18:22 » Did I miss anything with that, Patty?
7:18:23 » No, you didn’t.
7:18:24 » Okay.
7:18:25 » Oh, real quick question. In elementary schools, on slide
7:18:27 number 29, it says all bathrooms
7:18:29 will be cleaned and stockpiled multiple times throughout the day.
7:18:33 Students go to the restroom
7:18:35 consistently throughout the day inside of our elementary schools.
7:18:38 Is it going to be
7:18:39 the guidance that they’re to clean the restroom every time after
7:18:42 a student uses that? Or are
7:18:43 they looking at allowing time periods to use – to clean that
7:18:47 restroom? Does that make
7:18:50 sense?
7:18:51 » Sue, can you –
7:18:52 » Does that make sense?
7:18:53 » – better able to answer that question?
7:18:54 » That’s a very good question. We’re going to have to think
7:18:58 about that.
7:18:59 » Just because of a teacher, there was a – there was some data
7:19:03 that showed that after
7:19:05 the launch, there was some stuff that went through our sewers
7:19:07 and that there might be
7:19:08 something there. So if there’s an opportunity there to have to
7:19:10 clean, we just need to let
7:19:12 our staff know ahead of time that that’s something that they
7:19:15 need to do.
7:19:16 » Thanks for bringing that up.
7:19:19 » And then I read down here on page 30 at the bottom, the last
7:19:23 bullet says misconduct
7:19:24 on the bus will result in disciplinary action that may include
7:19:28 suspension from the bus.
7:19:29 Are we redoing our entire disciplinary policy that this is a
7:19:33 number 10 when you are – you
7:19:36 know, we see the behavior of individuals that is not conducive
7:19:39 to the health of our – healthy
7:19:41 environment of our students, the behavior of individuals that
7:19:45 may think that it’s funny
7:19:46 to run around and act a certain way that puts kids at risk. Are
7:19:50 we putting that at a level
7:19:51 10 when it comes to disciplinary policy or are we just going to
7:19:56 kind of continue down
7:19:57 the – you see what I mean?
7:19:58 » Yeah, I understand.
7:19:59 » Are you bringing a change there for us?
7:20:02 » We had not gone that far. A lot of times when we looked at
7:20:06 the infractions that could
7:20:08 cause, you know, for example, spitting, biting, misconduct, I’m
7:20:17 trying to think of all the
7:20:21 other ones I could touch on, they were already there. But I
7:20:24 think that we do need to take
7:20:25 a second look at that, which we haven’t done. So I can bring
7:20:29 that to the discipline committee
7:20:30 and they can take a look at behaviors that students might engage
7:20:32 in willfully. Willful
7:20:34 disobedience, that’s the other one I was trying to think of
7:20:36 besides misconduct. A lot of times
7:20:38 it falls – a lot of their actions fall under willful
7:20:41 disobedience. And so we can use the
7:20:43 range of corrective actions under willful disobedience to handle
7:20:47 that.
7:20:48 » I just – I know kids are going to fight. I know they’re
7:20:50 going to do stuff. We know
7:20:51 it’s all – it’s kids’ nature, right? But it’s those individuals
7:20:54 that are using this
7:20:55 as a game or something like that to play. We’ve seen it in the
7:20:57 society where people
7:20:59 are doing it. I, as a board member, would like to see a stronger
7:21:03 disciplinary policy
7:21:04 on students that think that this is something that should be
7:21:06 played around. So if they’re
7:21:08 on the bus and they start trying to goof off and stuff like that,
7:21:11 we need to stop that
7:21:12 before it starts. That’s all. And I don’t know how to do that.
7:21:15 That’s your guys’ job,
7:21:16 but I just –
7:21:17 » Yeah, I think what we could do is get our discipline
7:21:19 committee together just to look
7:21:21 to see where within the scope of our plan as it is those things
7:21:25 fall and if that needs
7:21:27 to be addressed. So we’ll look at that for you.
7:21:30 » And then just a curiosity, because this is my kids’ – mobile
7:21:35 feeding will operate
7:21:36 for e-learning and distance learning, right? Is that going to be
7:21:41 mobile to me means my
7:21:43 O’Gally corridor kids that are getting fed inside those – you
7:21:45 know, the meadows and
7:21:46 all my low end – my housing developments. Is that what that is?
7:21:52 Or are we talking that
7:21:53 they’re able to come get, like you said, a meal at the school?
7:21:56 What are we looking at
7:21:57 there?
7:21:58 » Yeah, I believe, and I would have to –
7:21:59 » It is the same plan that we used this summer. We’ll have
7:22:04 sites. Some – if we go to distance
7:22:08 learning, it’ll be site based. If we’re at e-learning, we can –
7:22:13 Mr. Thornton’s working
7:22:15 on his team on is it a school by school elementary school. So
7:22:20 depending if we’re at distance
7:22:23 learning because we’re closed, or we’re e-learning because a
7:22:28 parent shows.
7:22:30 » One more clarification, if a single school is closed for
7:22:36 distance learning, that school
7:22:39 would be the site. It wouldn’t be a central site. And so central
7:22:43 sites would be if the
7:22:45 whole district closes. Mr. Thornton would ensure that all
7:22:50 students have meal options
7:22:51 if we as an organization close the school.
7:22:57 » So operations sits on the response team. And I think it’s
7:23:00 really important for everybody
7:23:02 to understand that the response team is going to be responding
7:23:06 to different situations across
7:23:08 the district. And we can’t begin to understand how often or how
7:23:14 different that they’re going
7:23:16 to be. So I know that everybody’s tired of the word flexibility,
7:23:21 but in some of the answers
7:23:24 to the questions, our answer really is we don’t know because we
7:23:27 don’t know what that
7:23:28 situation is going to be, that specific situation. But our goal
7:23:32 is to meet the needs of kids.
7:23:34 And I think Kevin Thornton has demonstrated that and will
7:23:38 continue to do so.
7:23:39 » He’s been phenomenal. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And then on page 32,
7:23:45 it says clinic areas
7:23:46 will be cleaned throughout the day. There’s a lot of – I guess
7:23:50 what I’m asking is that
7:23:52 there’s – what I’m getting at with a couple of these is there
7:23:56 seems to be this massive
7:23:58 amount of cleaning that needs to be done. And I think it – when
7:24:03 I look at it, it says
7:24:04 custodians. It says areas. It says custodians. Are we looking at
7:24:09 a combined effort site by
7:24:11 site so you’re leaving it up to the principal to come up with
7:24:14 this is you tell us how you’re
7:24:15 going to do it because that’s the appropriate? Or are we going
7:24:22 to – are we going to try
7:24:24 to make the custodians be the cleaning force behind it? Does
7:24:28 that make sense to you?
7:24:29 » Yeah. I can say I know Jim has worked with the head custodians
7:24:35 to develop a plan for
7:24:38 how often and where. And part of what we have talked about is
7:24:42 what happens in between. Like
7:24:44 it will be very challenging for the way we staff custodians
7:24:48 right now to be able to push
7:24:49 into every class in between classes and clean. So something has
7:24:53 to happen there. And whether
7:24:55 – how we’re going to help in those areas. I doubt I framed that
7:25:01 very well. But I know
7:25:03 that Jim Powers has been working on it. » Yeah. I don’t really
7:25:07 have much to add.
7:25:08 But I think it’s sort of a combined logistical challenge. The
7:25:11 schools have to be part of
7:25:13 it. We at the district have to provide some guidance. And it’s
7:25:16 just a matter of these
7:25:18 are the boots we have on the ground. And we have to work within
7:25:21 those resources.
7:25:22 » In my envisioned mind, it’s a combination of the teachers
7:25:25 taking care of their classroom,
7:25:27 the custodians taking care of those other areas. Is that what
7:25:29 you’re saying? It’s kind
7:25:30 of a combined effort that’s locally based at the school in order
7:25:33 for them to do that.
7:25:34 And that comes up with the principal working with their staff on
7:25:37 identifying those things?
7:25:38 » I would say that’s accurate. » Okay. Okay. And if somebody
7:25:46 – and this
7:25:46 may be inappropriate now. It might be better for the end. I’m
7:25:50 looking at today being the
7:25:52 ninth and the students coming back in early August. Do you guys
7:25:56 have a timeline of we
7:25:58 will have all of our trainings prepared and ready here? Custodians
7:26:03 will start to receive
7:26:05 training here. Students will come back here. You know what I
7:26:09 mean? Like a timeline of this
7:26:11 is what we – do we have that somewhere for the staff to see?
7:26:16 » We do not. » Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s see. One more.
7:26:24 Okay. That was the training time. Okay. Thank you.
7:26:37 » Ms. McDougall, did you have any additional questions you
7:26:41 wanted to circle back to?
7:26:43 » No. I think I’m good. » Okay. So I have – Patty, if you
7:26:52 would indulge
7:26:54 me with some maybe not exactly on point questions but I think
7:26:58 they’re important for our community
7:27:00 and for us to understand kind of going forward. Looking at
7:27:04 recommendations and we’ve got within
7:27:07 this we’ve got the recommendations from the AAP and the CDC and
7:27:10 you all obviously have
7:27:11 been working closely with our team as well on recommendations of
7:27:15 various aspects. And
7:27:16 one of the things that I found in going through a lot of those
7:27:21 and looking specifically at
7:27:24 the intensity of mitigation strategies I guess is probably the
7:27:29 best way to put it. There
7:27:31 was lots of reference in all of these plans really that talked
7:27:36 about level of transmission
7:27:39 in the community. And even the executive orders indicated that
7:27:42 we should work with our local
7:27:43 health officials to identify the level of transmission in our
7:27:48 community. And what I’m
7:27:50 struggling with as far as communicating with folks in our
7:27:53 community around the issues is
7:27:55 that there seem to be lots of data points around our community’s
7:28:00 condition with regard
7:28:01 to COVID. But there don’t seem to be a lot of functional metrics.
7:28:07 So for example, we
7:28:09 can identify how many people have been infected since the start
7:28:12 of it. We can identify hospital
7:28:13 beds. We can identify death rates. We can identify percent of
7:28:19 positives, right? But
7:28:21 we don’t really have any way to measure what that means. So if
7:28:23 my child comes home with
7:28:25 a 50, I’m going to assume that’s an F because we have a grading
7:28:31 scale of so many numbers.
7:28:33 But maybe in someone else’s grading scale an F, a 50 is an A. So
7:28:38 how are we measuring
7:28:39 our community’s health with regard to COVID and what functional
7:28:44 metrics should we be looking
7:28:46 at as leadership in the organization to determine we’re going in
7:28:49 a good direction, we’re going
7:28:51 in a bad direction, what we’re doing is working, what we’re
7:28:55 doing isn’t working?
7:28:56 » What I can tell you in the past month, our positivity rate
7:29:01 has increased significantly.
7:29:03 And that’s what we look at. What is the amount – what are the
7:29:06 amounts of people that are
7:29:08 being tested that are actually showing positive? We don’t look
7:29:11 at whether they’re asymptomatic
7:29:13 or symptomatic when you’re just looking at the overall. I can
7:29:17 tell you as of this morning
7:29:18 our positivity rate is 11.5%. And that means of all the tests
7:29:23 that we did, and I don’t
7:29:24 have the exact number off the top of my head, but I can tell you
7:29:28 Eastern Florida State is
7:29:29 doing 1,000 a day. We’re doing 150 a day across the street. And
7:29:34 then you’ve got different
7:29:35 agencies and organizations that are also testing. Right now our
7:29:39 positivity rate is 11.5. Last
7:29:42 month we were down to around four. So we have had a significant
7:29:48 change in the past month.
7:29:52 Will that mean that we will continue on this path? I sure hope
7:29:55 not. I hope our mitigation
7:29:56 and our education is out there and is – I mean everywhere you
7:30:00 go, especially the DOH,
7:30:01 you hear us saying face masks, social distancing, hygiene
7:30:06 techniques. So hopefully that will
7:30:08 do a turnaround. The other thing we look at are the hospital
7:30:13 rates. How many people that
7:30:15 are now getting infected and are sick enough to be in the
7:30:19 hospital. That has been increasing
7:30:21 significantly. We are not at a critical point in Brevard County.
7:30:25 I know if you listen to
7:30:26 the news, there are other counties and other parts of the state
7:30:29 that may be, but Brevard
7:30:30 County, right now we’re okay with our hospital rate. I mean our
7:30:37 death rate, today they reported
7:30:40 six additional deaths in Brevard County. So you know, we are in
7:30:45 the wrong direction right
7:30:47 now. Hopefully we can stop that and mitigate it. But as of now,
7:30:51 we’ve changed significantly
7:30:53 in the last month. So if I’m putting you on the spot and you do
7:31:00 not have the authority
7:31:00 to answer this question, please feel free to say so. But I feel
7:31:04 like I owe it to our
7:31:05 community to ask the question because when the executive order
7:31:08 came out, the statement
7:31:09 was made that all schools would go back to brick and mortar open
7:31:14 in August unless our
7:31:16 local health officials deemed it unsafe for us to do so. Is
7:31:21 there within these metrics
7:31:22 that you identified, have you all internally identified, if we
7:31:28 have a 30% positivity rate,
7:31:32 that would be too dangerous to go back to school, or?
7:31:35 » Locally, we cannot make that decision. We are an integrated
7:31:39 health department with
7:31:40 the state. We don’t have freestanding county health departments
7:31:43 like some other states
7:31:45 do. In the state of Florida, we are all operating under the
7:31:48 state Florida Department of Health.
7:31:51 If there was something in our community going on that was
7:31:54 significant based on when schools
7:31:56 are going to open, that would be a consultation with Dr. Rifkis,
7:32:00 the Surgeon General. And
7:32:01 he would make the decision based on what’s going on in each
7:32:05 individual county, similar
7:32:07 to what you see when we were talking about South Florida, where
7:32:11 they said they’re not
7:32:12 opening based on their current statistics and their community
7:32:16 spread. So that’s something
7:32:18 that I can’t tell you, nor is it my decision, or is even a local
7:32:22 decision, that would be
7:32:24 made in consultation with Tallahassee.
7:32:26 » So when the executive order says local health experts, they’re
7:32:29 really referring to
7:32:30 the Surgeon General?
7:32:32 » Correct.
7:32:32 » Okay.
7:32:33 » What we would do is because local health, we would go to the
7:32:36 Surgeon General and we
7:32:37 would consult with him, giving him what our community activity
7:32:40 is and what our community
7:32:41 statistics are at this point, and then meet with him and discuss
7:32:45 it with him.
7:32:46 » Okay. So when you say that at the health department, you all
7:32:49 are talking, you know,
7:32:51 you’re constantly talking about social distancing, wearing masks,
7:32:55 and what was the other one?
7:32:56 » Hygiene.
7:32:57 » Hygiene, yes, thank you. Do you qualify social distancing and
7:33:04 wearing masks? So do
7:33:05 you suggest that masks are appropriate in this situation but not
7:33:09 this situation, or
7:33:10 you just say these are all important aspects to stopping the
7:33:12 spread?
7:33:13 » Our recommendation is masks at all times and six feet social
7:33:17 distancing. Masks especially
7:33:19 when you cannot maintain that six feet social distancing. We
7:33:23 also hand hygiene, wash hands,
7:33:26 use the hand sanitizers whenever you can. We don’t mandate
7:33:31 anything. We recommend. And
7:33:33 that’s our recommendation.
7:33:36 » Thank you. And I’m sorry if I – I didn’t mean to put you on
7:33:38 the spot on that, but there’s
7:33:40 – it’s just been very ambiguous in trying to have those
7:33:42 conversations with our community
7:33:44 and help them to understand.
7:33:46 » They are difficult. I’ve had the same conversations with our
7:33:48 clients at our clinics and staff.
7:33:50 It is a difficult, which is why we just recommend this and go by
7:33:55 the best data that we can.
7:33:57 » Excellent. Thank you so much. With regard to this specific
7:34:02 section, and I apologize
7:34:04 to all of you for getting off on a little bit of a tangent there,
7:34:08 I think there are
7:34:09 a couple of key things that came up in here. And one is the face
7:34:13 coverings. And I think
7:34:15 that – I think that’s a sticking point for me at this point.
7:34:25 But I don’t – I think there’s
7:34:27 a way that we can make it work. So if we look at the language
7:34:30 that’s in here, I personally
7:34:33 feel like it’s perfectly appropriate for us to expect that
7:34:39 everyone wear face coverings.
7:34:42 And with common sense in place, right? So we know – we know our
7:34:46 kids in our schools.
7:34:48 We know the kids that truly probably can’t successfully wear a
7:34:57 face mask. But I think
7:34:59 for us to say, well, we would hope that our leaders – we’re
7:35:02 going to ask our leadership
7:35:04 to model. We will require it in some instances and we will
7:35:10 expect it on buses. But then we
7:35:11 have kind of this whole other gap where we say, yeah, we
7:35:15 recommend that it happen. I
7:35:18 just – I feel like expecting it establishes that expectation.
7:35:23 And then we’re not saying
7:35:24 we’re going to throw you in jail to find you $500 if you’re a
7:35:27 five-year-old who can’t wear
7:35:29 a mask in your classroom. I think we have to have some common
7:35:32 sense there. But I think
7:35:34 our general expectation, based on everything that I’ve seen and
7:35:38 the fact that we can’t
7:35:40 do six feet, you know, we have a lot of limitations, we’re
7:35:43 indoors, all of these things, I just
7:35:46 think that we need to at least come out with an expectation that
7:35:50 that be the norm. And
7:35:51 understand that there may have to be some exceptions that will
7:35:54 be handled individually.
7:35:56 But I don’t think it’s too much to expect that we will follow
7:36:00 these recommendations
7:36:02 for the safety of all involved. And I’ll tell you, I am
7:36:07 incredibly concerned about our children
7:36:11 because I think that we have some misperceptions about the
7:36:16 severity of COVID in kids. The secondary
7:36:20 inflammatory response that we’re seeing in kids is especially
7:36:26 troubling to me. And I
7:36:28 think that unfortunately, you know, a year from now, two years
7:36:30 from now, we’re going
7:36:31 to look back and we’re going to see that our kids were much more
7:36:33 affected from COVID than
7:36:35 we anticipated. But on top of that, I am feeling enormous,
7:36:42 enormous stress around the health
7:36:43 and safety of our faculty and staff. And this plan, I think
7:36:48 there have been some recommendations
7:36:51 brought forward that are geared toward doing our best to protect
7:36:55 our faculty and staff
7:36:57 by all means. But our faculty and staff don’t have anywhere near
7:37:01 the same options that our
7:37:03 students have to accommodate their individual needs at this
7:37:07 point. And we know from looking
7:37:09 at our health insurance data that we have a lot of people that
7:37:12 are on our team that
7:37:14 are in those really high risk areas because of pre-existing
7:37:17 conditions. And so to me,
7:37:19 the least that we can do for our team who has worked so hard to
7:37:23 make sure that we’re
7:37:24 providing the right services to our students and helping them to
7:37:28 be successful is to expect
7:37:29 that people will wear masks to keep them safe. And know that it’s
7:37:33 not going to be perfect
7:37:34 in every situation, but I just feel really, really strongly that
7:37:38 that expectation needs
7:37:39 to be there. We simply can’t, we can’t run a school without
7:37:44 teachers and staff. And part
7:37:47 of that is keeping them as safe as possible. And I think the
7:37:50 higher we can increase the
7:37:52 number of people who are wearing masks in the schools and in the
7:37:55 classrooms, the better
7:37:56 off that our team will be, which is also critically important to
7:38:00 keeping schools open going forward.
7:38:02 So that’s my – I’ll get off my soapbox on that one.
7:38:10 I don’t think I had any additional specifics on these areas
7:38:18 other than I think we need
7:38:21 to circle back for discussion from – with Mr. Susan on thermometers
7:38:27 at some point. But
7:38:29 I’m wondering, looking at where we are and what we’ve gone
7:38:33 through at this point, do
7:38:35 we want to revisit our elementary plan and our secondary plan
7:38:39 before we get too far away
7:38:41 from that and provide some feedback to the team on that, some
7:38:46 consensus from the board?
7:38:48 I think it’s, you know, we give it a thumbs up to move forward
7:38:51 as far as the recommendation
7:38:53 stands or do we need to have additional discussion around that?
7:38:58 Would the board members be okay
7:39:00 with me facilitating that discussion so we can –
7:39:02 Are you saying stop moving forward with the rest of the
7:39:07 presentation and go back to the
7:39:10 beginning?
7:39:11 Temporarily.
7:39:12 My feeling is that there’s a lot in here that pertains to the
7:39:18 front half. And I would like
7:39:20 to plow through and then go back. But that doesn’t mean that the
7:39:23 rest of the board doesn’t
7:39:25 – and the reason for that is because I think that when we talk
7:39:30 about moving to block or
7:39:32 a lot of the other decisions, I was really, really waiting to
7:39:35 get down to the medically
7:39:36 vulnerable students, the process of how these COVID tests, all
7:39:40 this other stuff that’s in
7:39:41 the back. To me it’s six or one half dozen. That would be nice.
7:39:45 But if you’ve got an angle
7:39:47 that makes sense for them, I’m okay with it, whatever you want
7:39:50 to do.
7:39:51 Just trying to make sure we don’t get too far away from the
7:39:53 issue before we provide
7:39:54 the direction that the team needs. All right. Then –
7:40:02 I don’t feel like I have a clear understanding for the face
7:40:05 masks before we move on from
7:40:07 that. I know that Ms. McDougall feels strongly and I know you
7:40:11 would like to expect and I
7:40:13 get some place in the middle, so I was trying to – if we have
7:40:16 consensus over expect or
7:40:18 if we have consensus – I don’t know if this is the point to get
7:40:21 that or if we come back
7:40:22 to it.
7:40:23 Yeah, I was going to ask the same. Would the board like to come
7:40:26 back because I think there’s
7:40:27 still unanswered direction on thermometers and face masks. And
7:40:31 then of course the academic
7:40:33 plans. I’m keeping a list. You want me to just keep the list and
7:40:37 we come back and work
7:40:38 through them at the end or would the board prefer to work
7:40:48 through that direction now?
7:40:54 So Mr. Susan is requesting that if you would not mind Dr. Mullins
7:40:58 to continue your list
7:40:59 of those things that we need to circle back on and let’s see if
7:41:02 we can work through the
7:41:02 remainder of the packet because he believes that there may be
7:41:06 some impact in some of the
7:41:07 things we discuss here to the prior issues.
7:41:10 Sure.
7:41:11 All right, then Dr. Sullivan, I think we are with you for 34
7:41:18 through 36.
7:41:21 Yes, thank you. To get us back on track with sequencing, as we
7:41:26 went through the plans we
7:41:29 then focused on some in-school guidelines regarding some
7:41:32 operational, medical, health
7:41:34 and safety. But of course academic and social-emotional learning
7:41:38 is at the cornerstone of our core
7:41:40 mission. And so we wanted to be really explicit about some of
7:41:45 the things that are an emphasis
7:41:48 on current practice and some of the things that are slightly
7:41:53 more expectations in part
7:41:56 because of our concerns for our students who haven’t been in our
7:41:58 building since March and
7:42:00 part with state regulations. And so we’re living in both those
7:42:05 lands. Ms. Klein mentioned
7:42:07 it and I believe Ms. Moore too. I’m not even sure anymore. But
7:42:13 in accordance with the state
7:42:15 expectations, in accordance with our concerns for our students
7:42:18 with disabilities and their
7:42:19 progress towards their goals, and of course our teachers’
7:42:22 ability to make sure they make
7:42:24 really good lesson plan and instructional decisions, all
7:42:27 students will be assessed within
7:42:29 the first month of school to identify strengths and weaknesses
7:42:33 in content areas, skill attainment,
7:42:36 behavioral expectations, and readiness in the event distance
7:42:39 learning is necessary.
7:42:41 And some of that will be through formal structures like our
7:42:45 required progress monitoring that
7:42:47 will be responsive to the state. And some of it will be with
7:42:51 some informal structures.
7:42:53 Teachers are always doing pretests and assessments and
7:42:56 information. Some of it will be guided
7:42:58 by individual education plans and a review on students’ progress
7:43:03 towards their goals
7:43:05 and other informal and formal structures combined. One of the
7:43:10 things that’s really a strong push
7:43:14 for us and I’m pleased that in our informal conversations with
7:43:18 our union leaders, you
7:43:19 know, they share the understanding of the importance of
7:43:23 maximizing digital tools. Each
7:43:25 teacher will integrate resources into their courses and ensure
7:43:28 that students are regularly
7:43:30 accessing it. What we’d like to see is when a student is
7:43:35 potentially home, either for
7:43:37 a personal medical reason, exposure to something, or the class
7:43:41 has to be shut down, they’re
7:43:43 continuing to utilize resources that they’re familiar with. They’ve
7:43:47 used the digital book
7:43:48 in class with great regularity. They know exactly how to go to
7:43:51 their teacher’s Google
7:43:52 classroom and that it’s a super easy pivot. And I believe our
7:43:58 teachers are ready for that.
7:43:59 I know every teacher that I’ve spoken to is really excited about
7:44:03 some of the new strength
7:44:04 that they feel confident in and the tools that they use during
7:44:08 the shutdown and realize
7:44:10 the benefits of integrating. So we want to be really explicit.
7:44:13 We don’t want a child
7:44:15 who’s home to be suddenly, oh, create a logon for this or that.
7:44:19 We want it to be a natural
7:44:21 part of their coursework. And to further that statement, the
7:44:24 teachers will work in a blended
7:44:25 format to minimize those challenges when individual students,
7:44:29 whole classes, or the entire school
7:44:31 must pivot for those short or extended periods of time. And
7:44:35 Russell, who just had to step
7:44:37 out, his team’s been doing a phenomenal job of creating
7:44:40 additional training resources
7:44:42 for our teachers and our teachers themselves. They’ve been
7:44:45 collaborating informally from
7:44:47 the beginning and sharing the use of those tools. And for some
7:44:51 of our teachers it was
7:44:52 a refresh on those, the fact that many of our resources we
7:44:55 already had digital access
7:44:57 to. It just wasn’t as high a priority in the past. Teachers and
7:45:03 staff who provide services
7:45:04 to our students with disabilities, they will work with those
7:45:07 students, their families,
7:45:09 district support teams, and administration to meet IEP goals and
7:45:13 related services to
7:45:14 the greatest extent possible in the event of distance learning
7:45:18 is necessary. We learned
7:45:19 a lot in this shutdown. We learned a lot about things that went
7:45:22 well and things that didn’t
7:45:24 go so well. And Chris’s team has done an incredible job of
7:45:28 actually leading the way in providing
7:45:32 services. So we feel really confident in their ability to
7:45:35 continue that work. And of course,
7:45:37 as always, if we have distance learning needs and devices are
7:45:41 essential for education, we
7:45:43 would never prevent a student from having access to the digital
7:45:47 tools that they need
7:45:48 to succeed in the classroom. We’ve talked a lot about stress and
7:45:53 trauma, anxiety. I
7:45:57 might go home and read the required mental health curriculum
7:46:01 myself tonight. But as you
7:46:04 know, the state had previously already prioritized their
7:46:08 commitment to all students receiving
7:46:10 mental health instruction. And that will continue. That will
7:46:15 continue in whatever format is available
7:46:18 to us. I think we’ve all heard the inner room or with Zoom,
7:46:22 those things will continue as
7:46:24 well. And of course, the additional social-emotional frameworks
7:46:28 that Ms. Moore and her team outlined
7:46:30 not too long ago. And we may have thought those curricular
7:46:35 programs for social-emotional
7:46:37 were critical for one reason a year ago. They’re critical for
7:46:41 another reason now. And those
7:46:43 things haven’t changed. Each school will implement an academic
7:46:48 support plan to provide additional
7:46:50 instruction. And I want to speak to that a little bit. We will
7:46:54 be providing schools additional
7:46:56 financial resources to enhance academics. So we’ve made a lot of
7:47:00 references to CARES
7:47:01 Act going to things like thermometers and hand sanitizer and all
7:47:05 those things. We’re
7:47:06 also expending a significant amount of CARES Act to be able to
7:47:09 allow schools to provide
7:47:10 additional services. So for example, if a teacher wanted to
7:47:13 provide tutoring before
7:47:15 school, the school would have the funds to pay that teacher
7:47:18 before school, after school,
7:47:20 and other innovative methods. Some of those will be attached to
7:47:24 services. That would be
7:47:25 an extension of what students need to have an IP. Some of those
7:47:28 will be for students
7:47:29 who are struggling. And some of those are just students who
7:47:32 would like extra help because
7:47:33 math is hard. And so the schools will have additional resources
7:47:37 in addition to what we
7:47:39 already allocate for them to create academic support plans. And
7:47:44 some of those could be
7:47:45 digital. Some of those could be on site. But they have the
7:47:48 resources to support their teachers
7:47:49 in providing those services. Each teacher will utilize focus.
7:47:54 And I think a lot of our
7:47:55 teachers realize an additional power to some of those tools to
7:47:59 regularly update parents
7:48:01 and students on academic performance. And we mentioned this
7:48:05 earlier. Secondary students
7:48:07 will continue to have access to programs that accelerate
7:48:10 learning, albeit career and technical
7:48:13 education, industry certification, credits through our college
7:48:18 credit programs, credit
7:48:19 acceleration program, CAP. That actually represents those tests
7:48:24 we spoke about, like a CLEP test
7:48:26 or something like that that could accelerate a student’s
7:48:29 performance. And Excel diploma
7:48:31 options are the diploma options that are designed to have
7:48:35 students graduate with 18 credits.
7:48:37 Equally rigorous diplomas, but recognizing that some students
7:48:41 may choose not to engage
7:48:43 with the full compendium of electives. So we mentioned it
7:48:47 briefly, but our 18 credit
7:48:49 option is the same core diploma. It just takes away electives
7:48:54 primarily, you know, with some
7:48:57 exception and recognizes that some of those students’ choices in
7:49:01 other areas are more
7:49:02 valuable to them. Oh, I have another one. So because of course
7:49:12 of – this is a tough
7:49:13 one. We love a lot of the things that increase a child’s
7:49:18 experience with our schools, their
7:49:20 connectivity to the schools, parent connectivity to the schools,
7:49:26 all these things that make
7:49:28 school awesome. I’m going to flip back to my notes again for my
7:49:31 Miss Campbell quote
7:49:33 on grieving the loss. And the fact of the matter is all the
7:49:36 reasons you guys just talked
7:49:39 about, all of our concerns for the health and safety, all the
7:49:42 things Mr. Susan has mentioned
7:49:43 about strong parameters, minimizing, limiting, all those things
7:49:47 you all talked about. These
7:49:49 are some things that we’re going to have to prohibit for right
7:49:53 now. But we want it to
7:49:54 be really clear that these things will be reconsidered
7:49:57 throughout the year as hopefully
7:49:59 conditions change, immunizations are developed, whatever the
7:50:03 circumstances are. But in support
7:50:05 of the things that each and every one of us have felt about our
7:50:08 concern for our students
7:50:09 and our staff. We will not be authorizing field trips. And this
7:50:15 was true prior to our
7:50:17 shutdown on March 12th when we had a teeny tiny bit of cases.
7:50:20 When we were following
7:50:21 that single digit rise, we had already prohibited field trips
7:50:25 because of – I mean I don’t have
7:50:26 to think – I have to tell you why. That prohibition will
7:50:30 continue until further notice. Playground
7:50:32 equipment use is prohibited. I want to emphasize, and Ms. Klein
7:50:37 is going to give me steely eyes
7:50:38 if I don’t, play is encouraged, playground equipment is not. And
7:50:43 again, we have confidence
7:50:45 in our teachers’ abilities to work through that. I’m sorry, Ms.
7:50:49 Campbell, but chorus
7:50:52 singing is – all roads lead to an incredibly risky activity.
7:50:57 Even with our disagreements
7:51:00 and different passionate perspectives, I think all perspectives
7:51:03 understand the risk that
7:51:05 comes with singing. And of course, our national organization has
7:51:09 provided guidelines as well.
7:51:11 And we’re going to encourage singing outdoors. And encourage our
7:51:15 chorus teachers to use the
7:51:17 gift of space that we have outdoors in many of our schools. And
7:51:20 then utilize some other
7:51:22 strategies indoor in teaching music, musicality, and all those
7:51:26 things that I hope make me sound
7:51:27 like I know what I’m talking about with chorus. And I said other
7:51:31 choruses because we have
7:51:32 Spanish classes that sing. We have chanting that happens. And we’re
7:51:39 going to ask them
7:51:40 to save those fun activities for outdoors. I mentioned briefly
7:51:44 earlier we are not going
7:51:45 to do dressing out, sweaty, spitty, wiping. Right? I think I can
7:51:51 go without saying. And
7:51:53 as we know, we have several locker rooms without AC and the
7:51:57 addition of that. We’re going
7:51:58 to ask kids to bring their sneakers and get some fresh air
7:52:04 outside when they can. Labs
7:52:06 and shared hands-on materials. We mentioned that earlier. There
7:52:10 will be supplies to maintain
7:52:12 cleanliness in between use. I can’t give an example of how that
7:52:16 will look in every
7:52:17 scenario because there are so many scenarios. But I want
7:52:20 teachers to feel confident, to
7:52:21 talk to their principals, and for their class, their course,
7:52:25 their stuff, work together and
7:52:26 figure out a plan. And we’ll certainly make sure they’re
7:52:29 supplied to the best of our
7:52:30 abilities because we still can’t get our hands on enough wipes.
7:52:33 But we do have plenty
7:52:35 of other materials. Students will be encouraged to bring their
7:52:39 own water bottles. Again, the
7:52:41 spitting over the water fountain thingy. Kind of icky. And we’ll
7:52:45 be prohibited from sharing
7:52:47 them for obvious reasons. Schools should not convene assemblies.
7:52:51 Again, some of this is
7:52:53 common knowledge but we think we need to be really explicit
7:52:56 about it. There’s this, again,
7:52:58 if we can eliminate a risk, we want to eliminate a risk.
7:53:03 Athletic and extracurriculars will
7:53:04 continue to follow the return to activity guidelines. And I
7:53:07 realize I forgot to link
7:53:08 it but in the presentation we present to the public, we will
7:53:12 make sure that’s linked and
7:53:14 that parents can quickly see those return to activities. And we
7:53:18 want to continue all
7:53:19 those wonderful parent nights. We’re just going to continue them
7:53:22 virtually and our schools
7:53:24 have really done remarkable jobs of finding unique ways. They’re
7:53:27 already talking about
7:53:28 video in classrooms so that people can feel a part of it but we
7:53:31 are not imposing on a
7:53:32 teacher’s space and a teacher’s classroom and adding any
7:53:36 unnecessary germs to a situation.
7:53:41 And so those were just some things that we felt were noting. It
7:53:44 is by no means exhaustive
7:53:46 but those are some of those comments, again, reading the
7:53:49 comments that were coming up,
7:53:50 we thought it was worthy of outlining. And again, for those that
7:53:54 maybe haven’t been with
7:53:55 us since 9 a.m., we will still have our resource teachers
7:53:59 working with national resources and
7:54:02 working with all the teachers in those specialty environments
7:54:07 like art or media centers and
7:54:09 things like that. I’m going to turn the podium over to Ms. Klein
7:54:15 who’s going to talk about
7:54:16 additional ways we’re going to protect our students and staff.
7:54:20 So visitors to campus, this was extremely, well, one of the many
7:54:25 difficult conversations
7:54:28 we’ve had because we value our volunteers, we value our visitors,
7:54:35 we value our parents
7:54:38 who bring their children to school. But we have to minimize the
7:54:43 risk of others coming
7:54:45 on campus. And just as Mr. Susan likes to bring his daughter to
7:54:51 school, he can drop
7:54:53 her off. But the visiting of campus, we’re going to have to
7:55:00 limit that. We’re going to
7:55:02 have to totally prohibit the use of volunteers, visitors. So how
7:55:06 are we going to do that with
7:55:08 kindergarten? Okay. So that’s like, oh, my goodness, first day
7:55:12 of school. That is such
7:55:14 an important part in a family’s life. So I’m going to be asking
7:55:19 all of my principals to
7:55:21 create a video of what a kindergarten classroom, probably a
7:55:27 Facebook Live because that’s a
7:55:29 platform they love to use, or maybe YouTube video of what it
7:55:35 looks like in their school,
7:55:37 what a cafeteria looks like, what the classroom looks like. We’re
7:55:42 also going to ask our teachers
7:55:43 to do some virtual messages for their students because we know
7:55:49 this is extremely difficult.
7:55:51 Have principals who are trying to think outside the box of what
7:55:55 they can do prior to school
7:55:57 opening to let that happen. We have to also put the cleaning
7:56:01 protocols in place after
7:56:03 that because remember, every footprint into a building could
7:56:11 impact negatively the first
7:56:14 day of school. So we’re really, while we believe this is a
7:56:20 requirement that we have to uphold,
7:56:26 it’s a very tough one. But I believe we can make people feel
7:56:32 comfortable about their school
7:56:35 setting by providing some very virtual meetings, virtual visits
7:56:45 into the school. And perhaps
7:56:49 having those conversations with teachers to do the virtual
7:56:54 classroom visits with the parents.
7:56:57 The other thing that we’re going to have to prohibit is that non-essential
7:57:02 visits, you
7:57:03 know, the cupcakes, the popsicles, we have seen an increase in
7:57:14 restaurants being closed
7:57:19 and food being, you know, exposure. So we need to limit that, we
7:57:26 need to prohibit that
7:57:27 classroom. Cupcake celebrations and all the things that we as
7:57:38 moms loved and dads, we’re
7:57:43 going to, our world is different and we’re going to have to
7:57:45 approach it differently.
7:57:47 So all those, although these are very, very difficult situations,
7:57:52 we have to protect our
7:57:54 teachers, we have to protect our custodians and the students
7:57:58 within the building. So we
7:58:00 are going to limit visitors to emergency situations, enrollment
7:58:06 processes, or any required meetings.
7:58:10 But Chris’s team has been amazing at becoming the role models,
7:58:17 the examples of virtual IEP
7:58:20 meetings, virtual parent meetings, so we’re going to learn from
7:58:25 their successes and put
7:58:27 more of those in place. So these are tough, but we believe it’s
7:58:34 the right recommendation.
7:58:36 Thank you, Ms. Klein. Anyone have any questions for Ms. Klein? I’m
7:58:46 not particular. Ms. McDougall,
7:58:46 any questions for Ms. Klein? Just a quick comment. I don’t have
7:58:54 to like that we can
7:58:55 only sing outdoors, but I saw that coming. So I, it’s a year. I’m
7:59:04 praying it’s only a
7:59:07 year. We can stick it out. I mean, it really stinks, but I will
7:59:11 say just to set up a couple
7:59:13 of examples, I know Meadow Lane, because none of our schools do
7:59:16 their kindergarten roundups,
7:59:18 they did a virtual kindergarten roundup, took a tour, showed all
7:59:21 the kindergarten teachers,
7:59:22 showed Ms. Campbell there, Ms. Campbell from the media center,
7:59:26 and did all that. Excellent.
7:59:28 Love that. So the community could see what was going on. Junior
7:59:31 Achievement, who is one
7:59:32 of our groups of volunteers that comes into our schools, they’ve
7:59:35 already developed a full
7:59:36 spectrum of virtual speeches and interactions with professionals.
7:59:42 So we’re just going to
7:59:44 have to get more creative in the way that we do this, just like
7:59:46 we’re getting more creative
7:59:47 in everything else that we’re doing. And I will say my child’s
7:59:50 choir teacher said at
7:59:52 the end of the year, she was already picking out her spot on
7:59:54 campus where she was going
7:59:55 to have rehearsals outdoors. So if there’s any silver lining,
8:00:00 the DOE is looking at it
8:00:02 only at the first semester. So maybe we reevaluate. So I have
8:00:08 two concerns. One, the playground
8:00:14 equipment. It’s open now in all of our community parks. And we
8:00:19 have this handy dandy machine
8:00:21 that I’ve seen sprays down and sanitizes. So we know that it’s
8:00:26 outdoor, it’s open air,
8:00:29 students will be playing. Why is the playground equipment banned?
8:00:36 You want to? I’ll talk on
8:00:46 it and then Sue can back me up. The reason was if we could clean
8:00:55 it after every class,
8:00:57 that could be a possibility. But again, the risk of, you know,
8:01:06 kids get pretty gross on
8:01:09 the playground and on the equipment. And there’s bodily fluids
8:01:16 that so unless I could not say
8:01:23 absolutely go forth and play everybody all day long unless we
8:01:28 could clean after each
8:01:31 class. And perhaps, Sue, there’s an answer there. I think a
8:01:37 couple things. Cleaning after
8:01:39 each child, each class, the ability to social distance while
8:01:43 using the playground equipment.
8:01:45 It’s designed for interaction in many cases. So we’re concerned
8:01:50 about it. And then just
8:01:52 the ability of our custodial staff to really keep up with
8:01:55 cleaning. I’m sure you’ve noticed
8:01:56 through 37 or 8 slides that there’s a lot of and we’re going to
8:02:00 do some cleaning. And
8:02:01 so this is something that, you know, has got to take a second
8:02:05 seat to making sure our classrooms
8:02:08 are clean and our restrooms are clean and our offices are clean.
8:02:12 So I think the idea
8:02:13 of opening playgrounds is one that we’d like to pursue when we
8:02:17 can but really want to make
8:02:18 sure that we can support the educational mission and the
8:02:21 classroom cleaning and the restroom
8:02:24 cleaning as a priority with the staff that we have. And then see
8:02:27 how the science sort
8:02:29 of evolves around the playgrounds and what we can do to keep
8:02:31 them clean and safe for
8:02:32 our students. And we know we want our children to be outside. We
8:02:38 want them to be playing
8:02:40 because play is developmentally needed in every child from birth.
8:02:46 You know, we know
8:02:47 parallel play, we know the importance of play. So we want play.
8:02:54 But it’s that equipment,
8:02:57 the social distancing, that movement on the actual, you know, an
8:03:02 actual playground, elementary
8:03:05 is about the middle, probably from Miss Campbell to Dr. Sullivan,
8:03:10 this middle section. That’s
8:03:13 not a lot of space for 18, 15, 14 children. But we will
8:03:22 definitely try to work that out.
8:03:25 So like swings, there’s no one’s near each other on a swing. So
8:03:29 we’re going to rope off
8:03:30 a swing set because of touching? Is that because a child has
8:03:34 touched it before? We’re going
8:03:36 to say no swinging. I mean, I can almost be convinced of the
8:03:41 little play thing that all
8:03:43 kids are mounded on each other. But even with that thing shut
8:03:47 down, we’re talking say about
8:03:49 a class of kindergartners out there, five years old, how are you
8:03:52 going to keep them
8:03:53 social distancing at recess even without that structure? It’s
8:03:57 going to be a huge challenge.
8:03:59 We can’t. I mean, really, is that what we’re going to ask our
8:04:02 teachers to do? You can’t
8:04:03 play near him. Like, I just think at some point, we have to be a
8:04:07 little realistic. How
8:04:08 is this going to really look? And are we okay with it? And why
8:04:12 are we okay with it? Not
8:04:13 over here, but not on this equipment. I just want to make sure
8:04:17 we’re being consistent and
8:04:19 realistic on our expectations. On paper, we can say something.
8:04:24 But in so many of our schools
8:04:25 don’t have swing sets, to be honest with you. In that, you know,
8:04:29 we know that that movement
8:04:31 back and forth is another developmental step that we need to
8:04:35 have for children, but not
8:04:37 all schools have swings. Swings to me would be a little bit
8:04:41 different because it’s one
8:04:43 child at a time and they are separate. But the actual playground
8:04:47 equipment that most
8:04:49 of our schools have gone with don’t have the swings are an added
8:04:56 part of the playground.
8:04:59 It is, like I said, it is something we will continue to look at.
8:05:06 But we heard it in the
8:05:08 survey that, you know, playgrounds were a concern. And to be
8:05:14 honest, I’m very concerned
8:05:17 of the bodily fluids on those plastic playground equipment. And
8:05:22 that’s just my opinion. Okay.
8:05:27 And then my second concern is volunteers. I understand wanting
8:05:33 to this one hits me.
8:05:35 I understand general volunteers. We’re usually reaching begging
8:05:39 for more volunteers for all
8:05:40 kinds of things to keep our parents and community engaged in our
8:05:44 school. But I feel like there’s
8:05:46 this category of essential volunteers that are almost like
8:05:49 employees in some of our schools.
8:05:52 We depend on them sometimes five days a week. They are the extra
8:05:55 hands in the front office
8:05:56 or they’re really another adult on campus who has become part of
8:06:00 the school. I don’t
8:06:01 know if anyone else is interested in – I don’t know if it’s
8:06:04 just a bomb waiting to
8:06:06 go off calling certain – everyone is going to think they’re an
8:06:09 essential volunteer. But
8:06:11 I hate to see those – it seems like we need more hands on deck
8:06:15 right now helping with
8:06:17 all these things instead of cutting hands off the deck. But I
8:06:21 think there’s a difference
8:06:22 between someone we’re trying desperately to get involved and
8:06:25 someone that’s an essential
8:06:27 volunteer in our school right now helping man the media center,
8:06:32 for example, while the
8:06:34 media – not the assistant, the actual media specialist is with
8:06:39 a class, right? We have
8:06:41 – I know at Hoover there’s volunteers that work. I work Monday,
8:06:45 Wednesday – not me,
8:06:46 but someone works Monday, Wednesday, Friday checking out. And so
8:06:50 I think that’s a level
8:06:50 of volunteer that maybe needs a little bit more consideration.
8:06:53 Thank you.
8:06:55 » Anyone else have comments or questions for 34 through 37? Ms.
8:07:02 McDougall, did you
8:07:04 have questions or comments for Dr. Sullivan or Ms. Klein?
8:07:08 » No, I was just – you know, Ms. Klein really started off
8:07:11 right away with the kindergarten,
8:07:13 the first day of kindergarten. So I’m glad you addressed that
8:07:16 because that is a rite
8:07:17 of passage for many parents. So I like that. And I do think that
8:07:21 – okay, so we’re not
8:07:22 going to have in-person assemblies. But I’m sure there’s ways to
8:07:27 do things via Facebook
8:07:29 or video that individuals could do things. So I think some
8:07:33 things will happen. I do support
8:07:36 – you know, we’re trying to be safe in our school. We’re trying
8:07:41 to make it as safe as
8:07:42 possible for our employees and for our students. And I don’t –
8:07:49 I understand when this stuff
8:07:50 is just coming with volunteers, and yes, they are very important.
8:07:53 But at the same time,
8:07:54 right now, my concern is for our staff that are working there
8:07:58 and for our students that
8:08:00 go there every day. So anyhow, that’s just my two cents on that.
8:08:06 » Thank you, Ms. McDougall. Mr. Susan, did you have anything
8:08:09 for those few?
8:08:10 » Yep, these couple – so the first bullet on page 34, all
8:08:14 students will be assessed
8:08:15 within the first month of school to determine strengths and
8:08:18 weaknesses. Is that K through
8:08:19 12, or is that just kindergarten? What is that right there?
8:08:23 » Yeah, thank you. Yes. From an ELA standpoint, it is all
8:08:29 students. For math, it is through
8:08:34 geometry and then those informal structures that our teachers
8:08:39 typically utilize at the
8:08:41 beginning of the year for all else. It is our belief that the
8:08:45 DOE is expecting ELA and
8:08:48 math. And so the good news is we have tools for both of those.
8:08:52 We’ve been utilizing ELA
8:08:54 and math progress monitoring tools. It’s not a departure. And
8:08:58 then the others will be informal
8:08:59 structures.
8:09:00 » I think it’s great because it’s going to be much needed after
8:09:02 what we went through.
8:09:03 » I said informal, but again, some of them will be directly
8:09:06 tied into monitoring their
8:09:07 attainment of their IEP goals.
8:09:10 » Sure. And then the next one is it says each teacher will
8:09:12 integrate digital tools
8:09:13 into their courses to ensure that all students are regularly
8:09:16 assessing and utilizing high
8:09:17 digital materials. Do we have those digital tools for them? What
8:09:22 is that?
8:09:22 » Yeah, we do.
8:09:23 » Okay.
8:09:24 » We did a lot of work on that on this emergency at home
8:09:28 learning situation where we identify
8:09:31 digital tools for all 450 plus secondary courses. And we
8:09:35 provided those links and resources.
8:09:38 Of course, some of them were being reviewed at yeah, not that
8:09:42 this. But yes, we are ensuring
8:09:45 that there are quality digital tools for every single subject.
8:09:50 Some of them are direct digital
8:09:53 versions of their textbooks. If you recall, it’s been about, oh,
8:09:58 six years now where we
8:10:00 have been required to spend a certain percentage of our budget
8:10:03 on digital textbook materials
8:10:05 and then also our ancillary resources as well.
8:10:09 » In elementary, not all of our material is digital, but we’re
8:10:14 getting there. And with
8:10:15 our CARES Act, with the instructional components already, we
8:10:20 will add that component.
8:10:22 » That’s awesome. I knew an online digital program that we – I
8:10:27 really liked that we
8:10:28 cut last month. So that would have been great. All right. The
8:10:33 schools figure out – there’s
8:10:35 a lot – there seems to be a lot of push onto the principals
8:10:39 because of site base being
8:10:42 so different, 72 miles long and everything else. I did just want
8:10:47 to say a big shout out
8:10:48 to the people who are on this call that are thinking about this.
8:10:51 A lot of what we’re doing
8:10:53 today not only hinges on the safety of our students, but each
8:10:56 one of those principals.
8:10:57 And I think that, like, literally when I’m looking at this every
8:11:00 step that we come into,
8:11:02 it’s basically school-based decisions, this is what you’re
8:11:04 coming up with, the time frame
8:11:05 that they have and the small limited time to get this done. I
8:11:09 think that every single
8:11:10 – I’ll just say it, every one of my parents that usually calls
8:11:14 up with these little issues,
8:11:16 I think that I’m going to request them to not call the principal
8:11:18 and bother them so
8:11:19 much because of the amount of stuff that we have. We need to
8:11:23 send a message that these
8:11:23 principals are on the front lines, the tip of the spear, and
8:11:27 that they’re about to do
8:11:28 something that they’ve never been requested to do before. And I
8:11:31 think that our community
8:11:32 needs to understand. I think that, in a way, a lot of our
8:11:34 principals are going to be heroes
8:11:36 in this situation for the situations that transpire at our
8:11:40 schools. So I think that
8:11:41 part of our communication, if there’s any way to – because we
8:11:44 always do talk about
8:11:45 our kids, we always talk about school board members, but very
8:11:48 rarely do we put our principals
8:11:49 out in front of the spotlight and say, “You guys are amazing.”
8:11:53 So if we can somehow find
8:11:54 a way to do that through this process, that’d be great. All
8:11:58 right.
8:12:00 Mr. Susan, I just want to thank you for saying that, but also
8:12:05 add it’s our assistant principals
8:12:08 and our deans that are going to be – I mean, it is going to
8:12:12 take the entire school community
8:12:15 working extremely hard to get – to accomplish this for all of
8:12:19 our children.
8:12:20 You realize you just put me in the doghouse, right?
8:12:24 We appreciate you saying that.
8:12:27 Perhaps.
8:12:28 Fourth bullet on page 35, it talks about each teacher will
8:12:32 utilize focus. That’s going to
8:12:34 be the one point that our parents go to for all of their
8:12:37 academic needs as far as this
8:12:39 goes. Is that –
8:12:41 George. So, yes, Dr. Bronstein, we’ve mentioned her a few times
8:12:48 with Russell’s team, his other
8:12:50 side of the house, Randy George, and the tech folks. They’ve
8:12:54 been working through some modifications
8:12:55 with focus that will directly connect things to Google Classrooms.
8:13:01 So a lot of our teachers
8:13:03 utilize Google Classrooms. One of the changes we’re expecting to
8:13:07 see – I don’t want to
8:13:08 put pressure on day one, but shortly thereafter – Dr. Bronstein
8:13:12 said they’ve already worked
8:13:13 with focus on – add focus, it will link directly to the Google
8:13:17 Classroom, because that’s where
8:13:20 a lot of our teachers and parents were frustrated because
8:13:22 teachers are doing really great things
8:13:24 with Google Classroom. It will now link in it.
8:13:26 Perfect.
8:13:27 And they’re working on – with some other vendors on potentially
8:13:31 adding that link. So
8:13:33 I know that they’ve secured the linkage to Google Classroom, and
8:13:36 I know that she’s looking
8:13:37 at other linkages as well.
8:13:39 Perfect. That’s the one thing that I think we could clean up,
8:13:42 and, Mr. Cheatham, everything
8:13:44 that you’ve been doing is absolutely amazing to make that happen.
8:13:47 I think that having the
8:13:48 parents have less points really helps in the whole delivery
8:13:53 process.
8:13:54 And they’re all pros now, so we’re not worried about our parents.
8:13:56 I don’t know. I was with one yesterday for a while. He’s going
8:14:00 to take a while. Next
8:14:01 thing is, is that on page 36, we were talking about a lot of the
8:14:05 playgrounds not being able
8:14:07 to be used. We were talking about not dressing kids out. Have we
8:14:12 given the PE teachers some
8:14:15 kind of adaptive activity stipend to help develop some kind of
8:14:19 other activities? Because
8:14:21 we know if some of those kids don’t get their energy out, that
8:14:24 they’re literally going to
8:14:26 drive us crazy, right? Like, my son’s included in that. I may be,
8:14:30 too. But if you have activity,
8:14:33 is there – like, have we worked with them on that?
8:14:35 We met Rachel Winston, and so you know she’s living, breathing,
8:14:39 and dying this. And we’ve
8:14:41 had several emails. She is putting together resources in the
8:14:45 confines. I just had an email
8:14:46 from her last week. She’s like, “All right, we’ve got a new plan
8:14:50 rolling.” So, yes, she’ll
8:14:52 be working with some of her leadership team and teachers to be
8:14:56 identifying some of those
8:14:58 best practices.
8:15:00 This summer’s been a gift, and a struggle in that our resource
8:15:05 teachers, our content
8:15:08 specialists are 10-month teachers, but a gift in that several of
8:15:11 our national organizations
8:15:13 have put together some really great resources. And so I think
8:15:17 every single national organization
8:15:19 has done content-specific guidelines. And so, yes, they will be
8:15:23 getting additional resources
8:15:25 and strategies.
8:15:26 Perfect. And then, on page 37, the volunteer piece. Love the
8:15:32 virtual IEP meetings. I couldn’t
8:15:35 tell you – I remember going to those as a teacher, having that
8:15:39 as an opportunity to
8:15:40 be inside your classroom, possibly in the future. I love that.
8:15:43 Thank you for doing that.
8:15:44 That’s amazing. But I did – and then I had one question down
8:15:48 here, contracted service
8:15:49 providers. Self-screener prior – can you just tell me what a
8:15:53 self-screener is for our
8:15:54 contractors?
8:15:55 Yeah, sure. It’s the same one we’re asking employees to do. But,
8:15:59 again, we’ve just gotten
8:16:00 new guidelines for the CDC. So we’re looking at those people
8:16:06 like our behavior techs that
8:16:08 may be coming from a private agency to come in and work in our
8:16:11 schools, having them complete
8:16:12 a self-screener before they come in. And it includes now a
8:16:16 couple of questions. So that’s
8:16:19 going to be adjusted, and it may end up being a couple of
8:16:21 questions that they’re asked upon
8:16:23 entering the building. I just haven’t had a chance to really
8:16:27 look at what we developed
8:16:28 versus what the CDC put out late yesterday afternoon.
8:16:31 Yeah. And I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with that
8:16:35 consistently over and over again.
8:16:38 So there is – so I’m hearing you say it’s a couple of questions,
8:16:41 maybe, or is it a temperature
8:16:43 check we’re doing? What are we doing here? Sorry to bring up
8:16:45 temperature checks.
8:16:45 Yeah, because you have it sitting right in front of you.
8:16:48 Actually, this is what we do for people entering our clinic. We
8:16:51 ask them, have you been in
8:16:52 contact, close contact with anybody with COVID? Have you been
8:16:57 diagnosed with COVID because
8:16:59 people still come in even though they know they’re positive?
8:17:04 Have you been tested and
8:17:05 are pending results? And the biggest one, do you have any
8:17:08 symptoms? And we go through
8:17:09 a list of symptom screenings for them. So those are the four or
8:17:13 five questions that
8:17:14 we ask everyone that’s coming in our building. And that’s what
8:17:17 the guidance is to ask anyone
8:17:18 coming into any of the schools as well.
8:17:20 Perfect. Okay. And then my last question is, is we had some
8:17:24 volunteers that came on campus
8:17:26 last year specific, and I was wondering if we’re allowed to use
8:17:29 those, and that is goats.
8:17:31 Are we allowing our goats to come on campus? What is the
8:17:34 classification for the goats as
8:17:36 far as volunteer status and working status?
8:17:38 I don’t think they were volunteers. They were contracted service.
8:17:42 So they screened.
8:17:44 So I’m hearing you say that they fall under contracted services
8:17:47 and they will be screened
8:17:48 prior to coming on our campus every time? Is that true?
8:17:51 I will personally meet each of them because I need a goat break.
8:17:57 That’s all my questions, Ms. Belford. Thank you.
8:18:00 Thank you, Mr. Susan. All right. Everybody good to roll into Ms.
8:18:05 Moore with 38342? Anyone
8:18:08 need a break? I know we’ve kind of been taking, by all means,
8:18:12 yes. Take it as you need it.
8:18:13 No worries. I did the same. All right. Ms. Moore, do you need a
8:18:17 break before we go into
8:18:18 your section?
8:18:19 No. Actually, I just took a break, and I was hoping you would
8:18:21 cover all these slides while
8:18:22 I was out. But that didn’t happen.
8:18:26 Maybe I need to go in a break.
8:18:29 Yeah. First, I feel like I need to thank Dr. Mullins and the
8:18:33 board because since having
8:18:34 this job, I became an expert on threat assessment and had to
8:18:38 attend trainings with Secret Service
8:18:41 and the FBI, and I became an expert on EKG and ECGs. And I will
8:18:50 tell you, I keep pumping
8:18:50 Patty saying, “I have 31 years in, Patty. Will I be hired at the
8:18:53 health department?”
8:18:54 You got a job.
8:18:56 There you go.
8:18:58 That’s dependent on a reference.
8:18:59 No, that’s true. That’s true. And I can’t do that myself, so.
8:19:04 So this next section is all about the actual illness itself, COVID.
8:19:09 And I think it should
8:19:11 start with kind of understanding what happens once somebody is
8:19:15 tested. So when somebody
8:19:17 gets tested at the health department or at another agency, the
8:19:20 results go to the health
8:19:21 department. And they do kind of close contact tracing. So who is
8:19:27 your immediate family?
8:19:29 Who have you been around a lot? That kind of very, very close
8:19:32 contact tracing. And then
8:19:34 they say to the individual who has tested positive now, “You
8:19:37 tell everybody else. You
8:19:39 make sure that you make contact with the other people that might
8:19:42 be rippled out from there.”
8:19:44 That pretty accurate?
8:19:46 That’s very accurate. In the beginning of COVID, we would do
8:19:50 extended contacts. Now
8:19:52 with over 2,800 cases, trying to get everybody what grocery
8:19:56 store have you been to, where
8:19:58 have you been socially, we can’t do that. So we focus on the
8:20:02 immediate household and
8:20:03 the close contacts and then leave it up to the client or the
8:20:07 patient to tell their extended
8:20:09 contacts.
8:20:11 So in this first category of students or staff exposed, it
8:20:16 relies on that very first piece
8:20:18 that we get informed of it. So I think it’s good to understand
8:20:23 right there there’s a human
8:20:26 piece. So taken from that understanding, I’ll kind of go through
8:20:30 the rest. So if a student
8:20:32 or staff is exposed to contact, so the first group of people I
8:20:39 want to talk about is somebody
8:20:42 who is a contact with somebody who is diagnosed or has a
8:20:47 presumed case. And I talked about
8:20:49 a presumed case earlier. All a presumed case is is I know
8:20:53 somebody who has been diagnosed.
8:20:56 I’m close to somebody who is diagnosed with COVID and I too have
8:20:59 symptoms. We are going
8:21:00 to presume that you have that there’s a presumption that you
8:21:04 have COVID. So for a student or staff
8:21:07 that lives with somebody like that, they are quarantined for 14
8:21:11 days. The critical infrastructure
8:21:12 piece gets set aside. If you live if your husband, if your
8:21:16 daughter has COVID, you are
8:21:18 quarantined with them for 14 days. The little asterisk on the
8:21:22 end of that is that if you
8:21:24 start developing symptoms, you are now a presumptive case. So
8:21:29 you’re in a different category. So
8:21:32 a student whose mom has COVID and we’re made aware they’re
8:21:38 excluded from school for 14
8:21:41 days and are put on an instructional plan. A teacher whose
8:21:45 husband or wife or child has
8:21:47 COVID, they are excluded from school for 14 days. The questions
8:21:53 that relate to that like
8:21:55 leave and can they work, those are all HR questions and they’re
8:22:00 working through them
8:22:01 because right now we’re under a memo that expires on July 31st
8:22:05 that says if you can
8:22:07 work from home, if the essential functions of your job can be
8:22:09 done at home, you’re going
8:22:10 to do them. But now we’re entering into a bargaining process. So
8:22:14 I think there’s a lot
8:22:15 of discussion to be had. So I don’t know if you want to talk to
8:22:18 that at the end, Beth,
8:22:20 at all. Okay. For a student or staff who traveled out of state
8:22:26 in which the CDC guidelines still
8:22:29 list it as a state that you should quarantine for 14 days, we’re
8:22:32 upholding those CDC guidelines.
8:22:34 I’ll tell you we get, those are basically phone calls that we
8:22:37 get. We’ve labeled them,
8:22:39 we’ve labeled us the tattletale police because we get a lot of
8:22:43 phone calls. You know, my
8:22:45 neighbor son’s brother went to North Carolina and now they’re in
8:22:50 school. And we track down
8:22:52 every single one of them. We get sent pictures and we get, and
8:22:56 we track down every single
8:22:58 one of them. So the other half of that is then we get on the CDC
8:23:02 website and see what
8:23:04 areas of the country are still under an order. And quite frankly,
8:23:08 Arizona, Texas and Florida
8:23:10 right now are I think the highest growing areas if I’m correct.
8:23:17 If a student’s absence
8:23:18 is directed to by a doctor or by us to be quarantined, we’re
8:23:22 considering that a doctor’s
8:23:23 note just so that you have that in your heads for all of these
8:23:28 absences. And we are telling
8:23:30 employees right now that if they have already, if they have the
8:23:35 option of applying for COVID
8:23:37 leave, if they’ve already used their COVID leave, they do have
8:23:42 other leave to apply for.
8:23:43 And so that’s kind of where we’re at with that one.
8:23:54 I think it’s, before I go on to the next slide, I think it’s
8:23:58 important to understand what
8:24:00 a contact to a contact is and a contact to a case because it’s
8:24:07 not on these slides but
8:24:09 I think it’s important in some of the questions that might be
8:24:13 going through your heads. So
8:24:15 I imagine every single person in this room is a contact to a
8:24:19 contact. It means that I
8:24:21 know somebody who knows somebody that tested positive. And in
8:24:27 terms of what we do with
8:24:30 that, not much. If we’re a contact to a contact, we get on with
8:24:35 our lives. There should be
8:24:36 no presumption that we’ve caught COVID. There’s no additional
8:24:41 precautions that we need to
8:24:43 take. If we become a contact to a case, not somebody we live
8:24:50 with, if we become as adults
8:24:53 in this area contact to a case, the government has already
8:24:56 identified us as critical infrastructure
8:24:59 workers, which means that we now have to, have to, required to
8:25:05 wear masks and we are
8:25:07 required to have a screening done at the school each day, which
8:25:11 would include a temperature
8:25:13 check and a series of questions. What I was talking about
8:25:20 earlier is if we were contact
8:25:22 to a case and that case is in our own home. If that case is in
8:25:28 our own home, we are quarantined
8:25:31 for 14 days with them. So, those are the instances of exposure
8:25:41 that we have dealt with so far.
8:25:45 At one point somebody said, “Chris, you just need to write out a
8:25:49 checklist and say here’s
8:25:50 what you do in this case. I will tell you, I’ve probably handled,
8:25:56 I can’t tell you the
8:25:58 number of cases I’ve handled,” and no one has been exactly the
8:26:02 same because the series
8:26:03 of questions that I have to ask to be able to get to what really
8:26:07 is happening in the
8:26:09 building, it is not just contact tracing but place tracing and
8:26:14 just going through to figure
8:26:16 out what parts of the building do we have to shut down, who do
8:26:19 we have to bring in to
8:26:20 clean it, who needs to be, who do we need to exclude from school
8:26:24 or from work, and in
8:26:26 each case I call Patty and I’ll tell you sometimes Patty and I
8:26:29 answer the same question the same
8:26:31 way 10 times and on the 11th time both she and I go, “Wait a
8:26:35 second. Wait a second. We
8:26:36 know the answer to this.” So, it is important to know that and
8:26:40 for the community to know
8:26:42 we talk to the Department of Health on every single instance,
8:26:48 much to their dismay sometimes.
8:26:51 So going on to the next slide, now it’s when a student or a
8:26:55 staff is diagnosed and again
8:26:58 it is dependent on them notifying us. Now, the Department of
8:27:03 Health, when they are able,
8:27:06 they will notify us when a student is ill with an infectious
8:27:11 disease but right now what
8:27:13 has happened is there are so many testing sites that actually
8:27:16 you get your information
8:27:18 about whether you tested positive or negative before it actually
8:27:21 gets sent to the Department
8:27:22 of Health. A lot of our families are choosing to go to Orlando
8:27:25 because they have the rapid
8:27:26 test over in Orlando. That takes a while to get to our
8:27:30 Department of Health. So, in order
8:27:33 for us to really get the information quickly, we’re dependent on
8:27:36 people to tell us that
8:27:38 I have tested positive. So, when we have a positive response in
8:27:44 coordination with Department
8:27:45 of Health, we will determine how much and for how long some part
8:27:50 or whole of a building
8:27:52 needs to be shut down. So, in the case of other infectious
8:27:57 diseases, so I’ll give you
8:27:58 the case of chickenpox, when the Department of Health notifies
8:28:02 us that a student has chickenpox,
8:28:06 our first step is to pull the immunization records and anybody
8:28:09 who is not immunized for
8:28:10 chickenpox is excluded from school. In this case, there is no
8:28:14 immunization, so there’s
8:28:16 no immunization record, so anybody is equally as likely in that
8:28:20 school to have had contact
8:28:21 with that student and we don’t presume to know all of the places
8:28:25 that a child goes in
8:28:27 a building or the siblings that they may have. So, we quickly
8:28:32 started down the path of if
8:28:34 we have a case, we know we’re going to shut down buildings and
8:28:38 then we quickly started
8:28:39 listing all of the exceptions to that. An example would be a
8:28:43 student who is transported
8:28:45 on a bus, who only attends one classroom, has no interaction
8:28:49 with any other student
8:28:50 there because they’re in a special needs program. That would not
8:28:54 be a case where we would look
8:28:55 at shutting down a whole building because they would have had
8:28:58 very, very limited exposure
8:28:59 to the rest of the campus. On the other hand, you might have a
8:29:03 student who has three siblings
8:29:05 and that student tested positive and the other students are
8:29:09 awaiting and we know we need
8:29:10 to shut that campus down for three days and we shut the campus
8:29:13 down for three days because
8:29:15 those rooms or areas of the campus that were used need to be
8:29:18 vacant for 24 to 48 hours
8:29:20 and then need a deep cleaning before we can allow students in.
8:29:24 So, when we talk about
8:29:25 right there, the BPS response team in coordination with the
8:29:28 Department of Health, the Department
8:29:30 of Health actually is a member of that response team in terms of
8:29:34 that coordination and we
8:29:36 will make a recommendation to the superintendent of how much of
8:29:40 a building or if an entire
8:29:41 building needs to be shut down for three days. In addition to
8:29:44 that, that student that tested
8:29:46 positive and everybody who lives with that student would be
8:29:50 excluded for school for 14
8:29:52 days. So, the next big question I get asked a lot at is
8:30:02 communication and how much we
8:30:04 can or can’t communicate. So, the Department of Health in Tallahassee
8:30:10 has generated a letter
8:30:12 that we have been using in the return to activity plan and I
8:30:17 sent you guys a copy of that. I
8:30:20 think I sent you guys a copy of that letter so that you could
8:30:23 see it. If not, I’ll be
8:30:24 happy to, but it basically says a child at school X, your child
8:30:29 may have come into contact
8:30:31 with a child at school X who has tested positive. It’s very
8:30:35 general. It is specifically worded.
8:30:38 The only language that’s changed on there at all is changed by
8:30:41 our Department of Health
8:30:42 and they add the school name in there and it is provided to the
8:30:46 students who are direct
8:30:48 contacts to the student that was positively impacted, who is
8:30:53 positively identified. In
8:30:56 the case of a whole school having to be shut down, that
8:30:59 communication is going to come
8:31:00 from us. It’s going to come through district communications and
8:31:04 our biggest concern right
8:31:05 now is if we get a test positive case that we find out about on
8:31:09 a Monday evening, how
8:31:10 do we let parents know we’re having to shut down a school on
8:31:14 Tuesday morning? So, we’re
8:31:16 working through that process and we’re working through the
8:31:18 response team process and that’s
8:31:20 going to be basically our main focus for the – my main focus
8:31:23 with that team for the next
8:31:25 two weeks because we need to be on solid ground for what that
8:31:30 looks like. When a building
8:31:32 is shut down, the custodial strike team will be implemented.
8:31:38 Right now, that strike team
8:31:41 consists of Petronica and Jim Powers. Jim Powers has been my
8:31:44 main contact through all
8:31:46 of this and has been outstanding. He coordinates with the school
8:31:50 where they need to go, all
8:31:52 of the areas in the building that have been impacted that they
8:31:55 were shut down, that they
8:31:56 have the appropriate supplies and asks if they need support from
8:31:59 the district in terms
8:32:00 of manpower. He then follows up with us here at the district as
8:32:05 well as the principal.
8:32:07 Here’s everything that we have done. Here’s everything that we
8:32:09 have implemented. Do you
8:32:10 need additional support? The return to school I’m going to talk
8:32:17 about a little bit later
8:32:19 what it’s going to take for the students infected with COVID to
8:32:24 return to school or who are
8:32:26 under that quarantine order because a family member is infected.
8:32:31 But the return to school
8:32:32 for the rest of the campuses is going to be decided by the
8:32:36 response team and the Department
8:32:38 of Health. Again, our goal is that we want to keep kids in
8:32:44 school, but we want to keep
8:32:47 kids in school safely. And we have to follow past precedents and
8:32:52 we also have to follow
8:32:54 the guidelines that we know and keep kids safe. I will tell you
8:33:01 the number one question
8:33:03 I get now is somebody calling up to find out if there’s a case
8:33:09 someplace. Parents want
8:33:12 to know, parents are scared, and they want to know what we’re
8:33:16 doing about it. And so
8:33:17 I think it’s important for parents to kind of know that process
8:33:20 and what we’re doing
8:33:21 about it. It’s going to impact our whole community when we have
8:33:26 to shut down a building for three
8:33:28 days. And much like Dr. Sullivan, I’m using the term when. In
8:33:37 the case when we do have
8:33:38 to do that, we are going to implement our instructional of, our
8:33:41 continuity of instruction
8:33:43 plan and our continuity of food services plan. So we already
8:33:48 have that being developed, that
8:33:51 have already been developed that we’re going to implement. I’ll
8:33:53 tell you one of the tasks
8:33:55 that I know leading and learning and their teams are looking at
8:33:58 is what happens on a
8:34:00 three-day closure. You know, if you have to implement a
8:34:03 continuity of instruction plan
8:34:05 and you have to get out technology, you know, three days isn’t
8:34:10 even enough time to get out
8:34:12 technology, much less get it in. So what would a three-day
8:34:16 instructional continuity plan
8:34:18 look like? And then there’s going to be cases where we may have
8:34:22 to shut down for longer
8:34:23 periods of time. And what does that continuity of instruction
8:34:27 plan look like? So they’re
8:34:30 going to be looking at phased out and phased in continuity of
8:34:37 instruction plans. So when
8:34:40 can people return to the building? So an employee or a student
8:34:46 who has an asymptomatic case
8:34:48 of COVID-19 may return after 14 days, meaning we can’t tell when
8:34:54 the symptoms started or
8:34:56 stopped because they never had any. So from the point of the
8:35:00 test, they can come back
8:35:01 within 14 days. We are looking at the legalities of whether we
8:35:06 can require a negative test
8:35:08 result prior to them returning. We don’t have that answer yet.
8:35:13 An employee or a student
8:35:14 who has a confirmed or a presumed case can return 10 days after
8:35:19 the last symptom has
8:35:21 passed without medication. So if you remember, I said somebody
8:35:25 who is quarantining with a
8:35:27 family member and they’re not a presumed case, they’re just quarantining
8:35:33 with a family member,
8:35:34 I said they have to stay home for 14 days unless they become
8:35:38 symptomatic. Once they
8:35:39 become symptomatic, they are now a presumed case, and so they
8:35:43 have to stay home for 10
8:35:45 days beyond their last symptom. And again, we’re looking at the
8:35:51 legalities of whether
8:35:52 we can require a negative test prior to anybody returning. And I
8:35:58 think I already covered this.
8:35:59 I’m pretty sure I already covered this. I did. Employees or
8:36:02 students who live with someone
8:36:04 with a confirmed case, they are not allowed to return to school
8:36:07 or work for 14 days unless
8:36:08 they become symptomatic, in which case they have to stay 10 days
8:36:13 out past their last symptom
8:36:15 without medication. So our medically vulnerable students, we
8:36:24 talked a little bit about that
8:36:26 individual health plan. We’re spending much more time on
8:36:31 emphasizing teachers’ responsibilities
8:36:35 or understanding what that health plan is and how it needs to be
8:36:39 implemented. We expect
8:36:40 those plans to be fully implemented for each of our medically
8:36:45 fragile students. We also
8:36:47 want to make sure that we’re looking if those students actually
8:36:51 have a 504 plan in place
8:36:54 or a chronic health condition or if need be, if it’s appropriate,
8:36:59 an IEP. So we sometimes
8:37:01 will get a student that has a chronic health condition and five
8:37:06 years later we’re looking
8:37:08 at a loss of academic achievement and we realize that that
8:37:13 student should have had a 504 plan.
8:37:16 And so we really want to take a look at all of our medically
8:37:18 fragile students and make
8:37:20 sure all of the appropriate legal paperwork is in place to
8:37:24 protect them, their medical
8:37:26 needs and their educational needs. Another big ask of our
8:37:31 parents is to work very closely
8:37:33 with our school clinics as they go through this process. I’ll
8:37:37 tell you one of the things
8:37:38 that has been, I’ll be frank, very frustrating to me is my
8:37:42 negotiators. When I say you have
8:37:44 to stay home for 14 days and people start negotiating with me,
8:37:48 but what if I get a negative
8:37:50 test result? Well you can get a negative test result if you’re
8:37:54 in an incubation period.
8:37:56 Well what if my spouse gets better and gets a negative test
8:38:00 result beyond the 14 days?
8:38:03 Well now you could be in the incubation period. I will tell you
8:38:08 that I started asking all
8:38:10 of the negotiation questions to the Department of Health. I
8:38:13 would say but what about this?
8:38:14 But what about that? Because I really, really wanted to support
8:38:17 our people that want to
8:38:17 be in the building. And after they answered each one with a
8:38:22 medically logical sound answer,
8:38:25 I realized there’s a reason why 14 days was put in place and 10
8:38:30 days beyond the last symptom.
8:38:33 And so I’ll tell you now I just answer the negotiators with this
8:38:39 is what we’re doing.
8:38:42 You know if I get something different or new, I’ll be happy to
8:38:44 share it with Patty. But
8:38:46 right now we’re kind of getting the same questions. So when we
8:38:53 talk about school closure, it can
8:38:55 be closed for two different reasons. And I think it’s important
8:38:59 for our public to understand
8:39:01 that we have to be responsive for both. The first reason is for
8:39:05 health. If we have a case
8:39:07 positive that we know impacted a large section of the school and
8:39:11 we know we’re going to have
8:39:12 to close it down for cleaning, that’s a health concern. But our
8:39:18 other concern is when operationally
8:39:20 we can’t function. We asked some of the principals and the
8:39:23 secondary principals because I haven’t
8:39:25 been on with the elementary principals yet to send me their
8:39:28 estimate of when they can
8:39:30 no longer safely operate the school. How many people have to be
8:39:34 out sick before you are
8:39:35 unable to run classes? Because if we don’t have teachers and we
8:39:41 can’t get subs, and we
8:39:43 begin to use all of our auxiliary personnel to be in those
8:39:46 classrooms, at some point we’re
8:39:49 combining classes or putting kids into close quarters that are
8:39:52 dangerous. And so we know
8:39:54 operationally that there is going to become a tipping point
8:39:57 where we can no longer operate
8:39:59 schools with a lack of personnel there. I’ll tell you the
8:40:04 percentages have surprisingly
8:40:07 all come in from the principals at around the same percentage.
8:40:11 So I’ll be sharing that
8:40:13 with Cabinet on Monday and we’ll be kind of looking through the
8:40:17 mathematics of that to
8:40:19 see what that means for us. But we will have kind of a standard
8:40:23 when we reach this point,
8:40:25 the response team will review the case and bring it to the
8:40:28 superintendent for a recommendation.
8:40:30 It is important to know that the Cabinet does not close
8:40:34 buildings, the Department of Health
8:40:37 doesn’t close buildings, the superintendent has to make that
8:40:39 recommendation. So we’ll
8:40:41 be making the recommendation to him based on the conversations
8:40:44 that we have as a response
8:40:45 team. The other thing that we’ve talked about in an effort to
8:40:52 keep buildings open and running
8:40:56 is there may be, and I don’t even presume to guess where we may
8:41:01 end up in this, a situation
8:41:03 in which two buildings might be at 50% capacity and the loss of
8:41:09 personnel is causing an inability
8:41:13 to run that building. There may be an opportunity for those
8:41:16 buildings to be combined to keep
8:41:19 running with the personnel there. I don’t know what that looks
8:41:22 like, but I don’t want
8:41:23 to not have it here and surprise you with it later. I don’t view
8:41:27 this as a first, a
8:41:28 second or even a fifth resort, but I do see this as an
8:41:32 opportunity to keep a building
8:41:34 functioning if we’ve fallen below critical mass with us being
8:41:43 able to run it safely.
8:41:46 Ryan you’ve waited all day. You’re up. Yay, Brian. Okay, none of
8:42:05 us got a yay. None of
8:42:05 us. None of us. You didn’t wait all day, though. They’re waiting
8:42:06 for me to say something so
8:42:06 different, so anyway. You’re just trying to wake them up. Yes. I’ve
8:42:07 stayed awake. Well,
8:42:07 I looked over at them and I thought I needed to ease them into
8:42:08 where we were. My battery
8:42:08 went dead three hours ago. And I didn’t wait enough to get a
8:42:09 packet, so I apologize. So
8:42:09 hey, first of all, I want to thank the board and obviously thank
8:42:15 Dr. Mullins and all the
8:42:18 leadership team for bringing it on to the task force early on.
8:42:22 So we’re part of the
8:42:23 big picture and see what’s occurring. Currently, you know how
8:42:28 the sheriff feels and all of
8:42:30 you feel. Thank you, Dr. Mullins. With security obviously being
8:42:35 a priority for all of us.
8:42:37 With that being said, I was tasked with some questions about our
8:42:43 drills. We’re obviously
8:42:44 fluid and flexible, just like the whole conversation has been
8:42:47 today, but within the confines of
8:42:49 what the statutory requirements are. So there’s some news media
8:42:54 outlets reporting that there
8:42:56 may be a reduction in drills for this upcoming school year. We
8:42:59 have gotten no guidance on
8:43:01 that whatsoever from the Office of Safe Schools. So there is a
8:43:04 class, a conference at the end
8:43:06 of the month that Mr. Novelli is attending. There could be some
8:43:09 additional guidance come
8:43:10 out of that, but for right now, we can’t wait. We want to be
8:43:13 transparent with our community,
8:43:14 with our parents to say, hey, here’s what we’re trying to do
8:43:18 with our drills. So again,
8:43:20 all drills must be completed for Florida State statute. It’s not
8:43:24 an option for this district.
8:43:25 We must do it, and we should do it. So we do lockdown drills,
8:43:31 not getting into the weeds
8:43:32 of our security procedures. Our lockdown drills, everyone knows,
8:43:37 involves lights going out,
8:43:39 and our children, our students going to a safe place. We have to
8:43:43 think globally here
8:43:44 during this pandemic. If we can avoid putting all of those kids,
8:43:49 our students, into a confined
8:43:51 area, we should. And what we should be doing is talking about
8:43:55 the procedure from A to Z
8:43:57 with them. We don’t suspend the drills, but there’s things we
8:44:01 can do to mitigate the drills,
8:44:03 mitigate that particular, you know, put them in that particular
8:44:07 situation and spreading
8:44:08 any type of virus. So that’s what we’re going to do unless we
8:44:13 receive guidance a week before
8:44:15 school’s starting from the Office of Safe Schools or someone
8:44:18 else that tells us otherwise.
8:44:20 So that’s what we’re planning for now. Evacuation drills, you’ll
8:44:24 see the bullet point here will
8:44:26 be inducted with consideration of social distancing guidelines.
8:44:29 But again, we’ve got to remember
8:44:30 where that’s practical. Our students will evacuate in a orderly
8:44:35 fashion during the drills,
8:44:37 try and maintain that social distancing to the best of our
8:44:39 extent, and still go through
8:44:41 the motions. It’s so important that our students know what to do
8:44:43 during an emergency, and we
8:44:45 can’t ever lose sight of that. Now, on the other side of that,
8:44:48 if there’s a true emergency,
8:44:49 we all know. If we order a lockdown, we expect our students to
8:44:53 go into their safe place.
8:44:54 If it’s a true emergency, there’s no other way around that. And
8:44:58 I think that would be
8:45:00 the expectation of everybody here and our parents. When it comes
8:45:06 down to our SROs and
8:45:07 our safety specialists, their roles haven’t changed. Obviously,
8:45:11 you know, some of the
8:45:12 procedures they do, they’ll have to social distance as well
8:45:16 throughout the day. But their
8:45:18 roles haven’t changed. They’ll be there doing the same thing.
8:45:21 They’ll be there assisting
8:45:23 with our staffs at the schools. They have a daunting task with
8:45:26 all of this. So we’re
8:45:27 just there to help out in any way we can.
8:45:33 » Thank you.
8:45:40 » So that takes us to Brevard After School, I think, Jane.
8:45:45 » Yes, it does. So they’re –
8:45:46 » I’m supposed to take – I was apparently supposed to take
8:45:48 questions after 42.
8:45:50 » It’s your – it’s your decision. We can go through these two?
8:45:54 » Are you guys good if we –
8:45:55 » Yeah.
8:45:56 » Good. We’ve got two more with Jane, and then we can go back
8:45:59 and take questions from
8:46:00 42 on through. Is that good for all? Ms. McDougall, are you good
8:46:05 with that?
8:46:05 » I’m good with that.
8:46:06 » All right, Ms. Cline.
8:46:07 » So new to my world, Brevard After Care, we are working on
8:46:16 protocols to have a program
8:46:20 because it has been requested. It is part of so many routines,
8:46:24 but we have to put the
8:46:26 social distancing and other procedures in place. So we are
8:46:31 currently working on a plan
8:46:35 to have both before and after school in all of our 57 elementary
8:46:40 schools. We’ll follow
8:46:41 the same guidelines to include the hand washing and the cleaning
8:46:46 protocols. We’re working
8:46:48 on developing a staggered entry plan of the parents dropping off,
8:46:53 where the drop-off will
8:46:55 be, the sign-in/sign-out form, and doing that electronically, as
8:47:03 well as the pick-up procedures.
8:47:06 We are going to ask students to keep their backpacks and their
8:47:10 personal items with them
8:47:12 instead of – typically they keep them, you know, kind of put
8:47:15 them in the corner and everybody
8:47:17 grabs them. We’re asking students to keep their own items with
8:47:21 them. We will use the
8:47:23 cafeteria social distancing plan that we currently have for food
8:47:28 service. We’ll be cleaning between
8:47:30 each time students move about the program. We will use small
8:47:37 group activities following
8:47:39 social distancing, but we may have to limit enrollment based on
8:47:46 the capacity of the room
8:47:48 in which is available in the school and how many students we can
8:47:53 safely put in there.
8:47:54 For example, right now we’re at 50 for a group, so we would have
8:48:01 to limit that unless we had
8:48:03 more than one space within an elementary school. So that’s where
8:48:08 we are. We’re meeting with
8:48:10 Dr. Karen Ivory from my division has been given the task to take
8:48:21 over the leadership
8:48:22 of Brevard Aftercare as the director, and then we’ve hired a new
8:48:27 coordinator, Theresa
8:48:28 Kavanagh. So the two of them are working on plans to activate
8:48:34 this in a safe manner for
8:48:36 opening in the fall. And then the last slide we have is this is
8:48:43 not a complete list, but
8:48:46 it is the beginning. Some of these things are already in place,
8:48:50 and some of them are
8:48:51 just reminders for principals. They have to develop a
8:48:56 registration process that limits
8:48:59 direct contact and large group gatherings. That includes their
8:49:06 faculty meetings, because
8:49:09 if the faculty is more than 50, we have to figure out a way, and
8:49:13 we have to do that with
8:49:15 social distancing. A lot of our schools are already thinking
8:49:21 about outside under the pavilions,
8:49:24 different places to have their beginning the school faculty
8:49:28 meetings. We have to make sure
8:49:30 that not only our teachers and our custodial staff, but any of
8:49:34 our substitutes are trained
8:49:36 in the procedures and protocols related to COVID-19. They have
8:49:44 to plan for how they’re
8:49:46 going to replenish the PPE equipment that we’ve given them using
8:49:51 the monies that we’ve
8:49:52 set aside through CARES. They have to plan the classroom
8:49:57 cleaning protocol when the classes
8:50:00 rotate. And this is also when a class may be at recess, our
8:50:04 custodians could be in cleaning
8:50:06 that classroom at that time. The hallway movement patterns we’ve
8:50:11 talked about a little bit,
8:50:12 but minimizing that face-to-face contact. Ensure that all our
8:50:18 custodians have completed
8:50:20 the training and the protocols about infection control. We have
8:50:27 to place posters, and as
8:50:29 Dr. Sullivan said earlier, Molly Vega has taken on the role of
8:50:34 ordering posters for
8:50:36 our schools, but we’re going to have the COVID-19 educational
8:50:40 materials. We’re going to strategically
8:50:42 place those throughout the school and the classrooms. We are
8:50:50 verifying that the classrooms
8:50:51 are set up to maximize distance. I think it was Mr. Susan
8:50:56 earlier said, how are we going
8:50:59 to verify that these things are going on? Well, the directors
8:51:04 and Dr. Sullivan and I
8:51:06 will be working directly with the principals to make sure that
8:51:09 these things are in place
8:51:11 and are followed up. We have to plan for the family engagement
8:51:15 activities to be virtual.
8:51:16 We talked earlier about kindergarten, but it’s not just
8:51:20 kindergarten. It’s transitioned
8:51:22 from 6th grade to 7th grade. It’s transitioned from 8th grade to
8:51:27 9th grade. Parents want
8:51:29 to know what the school looks like, and it may be their first
8:51:32 experience in that school,
8:51:34 so we have to provide that virtual experience. We have to, it
8:51:40 came up a lot in our feedback.
8:51:43 The arrival and dismissal procedures. You know, in elementary we
8:51:48 use our patrols. They’re
8:51:49 opening doors. We have to rethink that because we can’t expose a
8:51:55 patrol to opening a car
8:51:57 door and not knowing the situation in that car. So a lot has
8:52:05 gone into, our principals
8:52:09 are already working this, and I know all of you said, you know,
8:52:12 hats off to our principals.
8:52:14 It is truly a very unique and very different time for our
8:52:22 principals, but we are trying,
8:52:26 all of us are trying to guide and support them and direct them
8:52:29 and give them additional
8:52:31 support, and I think that, you know, we, like I said earlier, we
8:52:36 have, I have work groups
8:52:38 that are working around to help solve and be the thought
8:52:42 partners for our principals,
8:52:45 and that work is ongoing. So that is the principals checklist,
8:52:52 and I believe we have covered it
8:52:54 all. We’re gone. I don’t know, do you want to break before we
8:53:12 circle back with the revisit
8:53:14 list, Dr. Mullins, or do you want to trudge through? We didn’t
8:53:22 take the question in the
8:53:23 Q&A after that last section, so I would suggest we do that, just
8:53:28 to follow where we’ve been.
8:53:30 If we do break to get food, I would propose a working pizza
8:53:37 discussion, and so –
8:53:39 » All right. So I will take questions from slides 38 to 45. Ms.
8:53:53 Campbell?
8:53:56 » So just where did it go? On the principal checklist, the
8:54:02 replenishment of initial supplies
8:54:04 and PPE, that is going to be expected to come from their CARES
8:54:08 funding that you’ve set aside
8:54:09 for each school?
8:54:12 » That is correct.
8:54:13 » That we talked about this morning or whenever it was.
8:54:16 » Yes, yes, sometime today. And our procurement team, Don – no,
8:54:23 Don Richard has, is developing
8:54:25 a list of where we’ve already purchased things, and so that the
8:54:29 supplies are –
8:54:30 » So we have the bulk pricing, whatever, they’ll just need to
8:54:33 keep track of their own,
8:54:34 how their supply list is going, how their supplies are going,
8:54:38 okay. And then I’ll just
8:54:43 say this part, the closing school part, this is the part that
8:54:47 makes me nauseous. You know,
8:54:52 in and out, in and out. And I’m sure you guys have been nauseous
8:54:55 for me thinking about it
8:54:57 for a while. One thing that we haven’t talked about is we’ve
8:55:02 briefly – it’s been mentioned
8:55:03 every now and then is the substitute situation. You know, I’ve
8:55:07 got teachers e-mailing me saying,
8:55:10 you know, we can’t do the – oh, we don’t have a sub, so we’ve
8:55:12 got to split classes
8:55:13 and combine them, and we can’t do that. So are those the kind of
8:55:19 situations if we consist
8:55:20 – and I know sometimes even principals will step in and sub for
8:55:24 a class and cover and,
8:55:25 you know, subs don’t get a planning period because they go cover,
8:55:28 you’re not as a sub
8:55:29 – guaranteed a planning period anyway. But if we get to a
8:55:32 situation where we’re just
8:55:33 not covering, are those the kind of circumstances where you’re
8:55:36 talking about we have to close
8:55:37 temporarily?
8:55:38 » Yeah. We’re looking at what the threshold is for the response
8:55:43 team to review it. And
8:55:44 it’s not just we have a one day where we have 20% of our faculty
8:55:49 out, it is a we have 20%
8:55:52 of our faculty out and they are projected to be out for so many
8:55:55 more days.
8:55:56 » Right.
8:55:57 » So it’s hard – it’s hard to talk about it right now only
8:55:59 because we haven’t determined
8:56:01 that threshold. I’ve gotten feedback from maybe five or six
8:56:05 secondary principals so
8:56:07 far, haven’t been able to speak to the elementary principals yet
8:56:11 since we started talking about
8:56:14 this part of it two days ago. But what we’re going to do is just
8:56:21 try to get some feedback
8:56:23 from them. I mean they know how they can safely function in
8:56:26 their building and continue to
8:56:27 instruct students and meet the guidelines of the plan. And then
8:56:31 we’ll take that percentage
8:56:32 to cabinet and we’ll determine what the threshold is to review.
8:56:37 I started out kind of really
8:56:40 black and white on things that you know we’re going to
8:56:43 absolutely do it this way. And now
8:56:45 having – I’m going to say I’ve been through probably 30 or 40
8:56:50 different COVID scenarios.
8:56:53 I realize that there’s all kinds of gray in there that needs to
8:56:57 be worked through. So
8:56:59 that’s our plan.
8:57:00 » Gotcha.
8:57:01 » Ms. Campbell, if I could add, it’s going to seem strange at
8:57:04 first but this was a strong
8:57:05 factor in our block recommendation. Because a student who’s
8:57:11 found out to be positive is
8:57:14 going to in almost certainty have four teachers, you know, so
8:57:19 about seven teachers for 14 days
8:57:23 in one fell swoop. And that’s one student attending seven
8:57:30 classes in a day. And that
8:57:33 was one of the reasons we pressed past it’s hard, it’s this, it’s
8:57:37 that, it’s whatever.
8:57:39 One student, seven teachers, one fell swoop. And that’s assuming
8:57:43 there’s not other sub
8:57:45 context with the coach that’s his buddy, you know, and this and
8:57:48 that. One student can have
8:57:50 that kind of impact on a school. And not that four is better,
8:57:55 but it’s better. And so those
8:57:59 people in contact and our potential risk for being on the 14 day
8:58:03 quarantine.
8:58:05 » Potential and potential risk because they’re critical
8:58:08 infrastructure workers. So there’s
8:58:08 there’s, we got to always keep that in mind.
8:58:10 » Right. And the other thing that’s going through my mind and
8:58:14 because I just know you’re
8:58:16 you’re still tweaking how this is going to happen. But on our FSBA
8:58:19 call a couple weeks
8:58:20 ago, I don’t know if you’re listening in Ms. Belford, but we had
8:58:25 the lady who is I can’t
8:58:27 remember what her name is, but she’s at the State Department of
8:58:31 Health. One of the doctors,
8:58:33 the main epidemiologist for the for the state.
8:58:35 » Dr. Blackmore.
8:58:36 » Hmm.
8:58:37 » Dr. Blackmore.
8:58:38 » Probably.
8:58:39 » I could find it in my email. But one of the things that she
8:58:42 said was because they
8:58:43 specifically asked, I remember typing in this question in the
8:58:46 chat. So you’re telling me
8:58:47 if there’s a positive case in the classroom that that whole
8:58:50 classroom plus the teacher,
8:58:51 all those people are to be, you know, quarantined for 14 days.
8:58:55 And she clarified, she said,
8:58:56 well, it’s going to depend on who’s directly around the student,
8:59:00 you know, and even to
8:59:01 the point of saying, well, every teacher every day needs to kind
8:59:04 of have a picture of who’s
8:59:05 there and where they’re sitting or whatever and, you know, your
8:59:07 assigned seat because
8:59:07 she said, you know, a student who was 20 feet across the room
8:59:11 all day is not necessarily
8:59:13 a contact point. So are we going to get down to that specific or
8:59:16 we’re going to say there’s
8:59:17 a positive case in this classroom, so the whole entire class
8:59:20 plus the teacher, they’re
8:59:21 all well, except for the teacher because they’re an essential
8:59:23 worker, they’re all they’re all
8:59:24 going home. Are we going to say, all right, this group of kids
8:59:29 around that positive case
8:59:31 and I plus I saw them, you know, much in the hallway or whatever,
8:59:34 you know, they’re all
8:59:36 going home. So this mission on campus, but you know, I’ll just
8:59:40 tell you the cases just
8:59:42 I want you to think in terms of of your parents, the parents
8:59:46 that are in that are going to
8:59:47 call your offices, the parents whose kids are in our schools. So
8:59:52 in the elementary setting,
8:59:54 basically the guidelines are within six feet for longer than 15
8:59:57 minutes. So we can assume
8:59:59 any one of our kids is in is in contact with their peers for
9:00:03 longer than 15 minutes in
9:00:05 either the elementary setting or the secondary setting. In an
9:00:09 elementary setting, when they’re
9:00:11 in with the same teacher all day long, there’s no way, no way I
9:00:14 couldn’t say that kids weren’t
9:00:16 around each other closer than six feet farther away than six
9:00:21 feet in the secondary setting.
9:00:24 Now you’re looking at not just contact tracing one classroom
9:00:27 with 25 kids or 28 kids, you’re
9:00:30 looking at contact tracing across seven classrooms and hallways
9:00:35 and cafeterias. So I hesitate
9:00:38 to give you an answer other than we’re going to do the best we
9:00:41 can with the information
9:00:43 that we have. We will be sending students home. We are going to
9:00:48 use the guidance that
9:00:49 if we cannot prove they weren’t within six feet for longer than
9:00:52 15 minutes, we’re going
9:00:53 to err on the side of caution. And the phone calls that you are
9:00:57 going to get are going
9:00:58 to be on both ends of the spectrum. How dare you send my child
9:01:03 home for 14 as well as how
9:01:05 dare you not tell me that there was a COVID case and you did not
9:01:08 do something about it.
9:01:09 So it is a lose-lose proposition, but the win is that we’re
9:01:14 keeping kids safe and healthy.
9:01:17 I’m sorry.
9:01:19 » Like I said earlier, I don’t have to like it.
9:01:28 » Thank you, Ms. Campbell. Ms. Campbell, did you have more for
9:01:31 this section or are
9:01:32 you good?
9:01:33 » No. The only other comments I have are just – or questions,
9:01:35 rather, are just general
9:01:36 – not on this section. They can speak.
9:01:40 » Okay. Ms. Duskovich, did you have anything for this
9:01:41 particular section?
9:01:42 » No, I’m good right now. Thank you.
9:01:45 » Ms. McDougald, did you have anything for this particular
9:01:50 section?
9:01:51 » Mr. Susan, I’m afraid to ask.
9:01:53 » Yep. Here we go. Nope. So one of the – so going to first
9:02:00 page, which is 38, does the
9:02:02 DOH have the capability to cross the addresses and notify us of
9:02:07 the tests? Meaning out in
9:02:09 the random world of this testing environment, you know, this guy
9:02:16 tests. All of a sudden
9:02:18 we look back at the address and that matches, ding, ding, ding,
9:02:23 BPS’s addresses and we notify.
9:02:25 Is there a back tunnel like that or no?
9:02:27 » For BPS to notify?
9:02:29 » No. For us to be notified by you, if a test in the county is
9:02:34 positive, that is also
9:02:35 at one of our addresses so that we can be notified prior to the
9:02:39 families. Because I
9:02:41 know in some cases – and this is just my thoughts and not fact,
9:02:46 but I know in some
9:02:47 cases some parents would – they may not tell people because
9:02:52 they’re afraid that their child
9:02:54 is going to be labeled so they just keep them out, right, and
9:02:59 that’s okay. But for our protection,
9:03:02 we may need that. Is there a way to do that or no?
9:03:05 » I can tell you just like with any other contagious disease,
9:03:09 if we’re getting notified
9:03:11 and we do get notified of every positive COVID, if we know that
9:03:15 the child is school, we go
9:03:16 to the school district and say, hey, there’s a positive case in
9:03:21 this school. So we can’t
9:03:23 identify the address of the person. We can’t even identify the
9:03:28 student to anybody except
9:03:31 we can tell them what school they’re in, but we can’t notify
9:03:34 anybody else.
9:03:35 » So you know the school that the student attends but no other
9:03:39 information?
9:03:41 » We as DOH, no. We know everything about the student.
9:03:48 » So you know all of – so whether it’s a student or whether it’s
9:03:50 a person that tests
9:03:51 for the COVID, they have – you have their address. You have
9:03:54 everything, right?
9:03:55 » For us to do contact tracing, correct.
9:03:58 » Is that address then provided if we give you a list of our
9:04:01 addresses, a ping that says
9:04:02 –
9:04:03 » No. No, we don’t do that. We can’t do that.
9:04:08 » That’s not HIPAA. That’s all that. Okay.
9:04:10 » Correct.
9:04:11 » Okay.
9:04:12 » We notify the school district when there’s a child in the
9:04:13 school that’s positive, and
9:04:14 then they take it from there as to what school, what classroom,
9:04:18 and they do that.
9:04:19 » It’s just something I was wondering because it would help us
9:04:22 identify. Okay. So we have
9:04:24 a lot of these things, 14 days, 10 days, all of that, and I’m
9:04:27 assuming that that is directly
9:04:29 from the CDC. We talked about that, right?
9:04:31 » Yeah. So the guidelines that we got from the CDC, the 10 days,
9:04:36 I kept saying it was
9:04:37 10 days plus 3 days beyond our last fever. And so I combined
9:04:42 those two things, and looking
9:04:44 at the way it’s written now, this is the way it’s going to be
9:04:46 written in our plan. It is
9:04:47 10 days from the onset of symptoms and 72 hours beyond the last
9:04:53 fever without taking
9:04:55 medicine and 72 hours since the symptoms have improved. So it’s
9:05:00 a longer standard, but that’s
9:05:02 what – that’s how it’s going to read.
9:05:03 » And if for some reason the CDC comes out next week and says,
9:05:07 “We changed all that.”
9:05:09 » Yes.
9:05:10 » Are we going to adopt hours to follow the current CDC
9:05:12 guidelines next week, or will
9:05:14 we in your mind try to continue down the path that we’re
9:05:17 currently on with the 14 days and
9:05:20 everything else?
9:05:21 » Yeah, one of – my recommendation would be that we follow the
9:05:24 CDC and DOH guidelines
9:05:25 from the –
9:05:26 » If they change, we change.
9:05:27 » If they change, we change. That would be my recommendation.
9:05:31 » Okay. This one caught me, and I wanted to get a little bit
9:05:34 more in depth on it. The
9:05:36 sick leave employees would be able to apply for COVID leave and/or
9:05:40 if it’s already been
9:05:41 used to use their personal sick leave. Can you give me an
9:05:44 example of when somebody in
9:05:45 our district would have to use their sick leave?
9:05:48 » So if an employee already took their COVID leave, if they
9:05:53 were – either they were symptomatic
9:05:56 or they took it for other reasons, and then they came to school,
9:06:01 and then they got sick
9:06:03 with COVID, and their leave no longer existed – their COVID
9:06:07 leave no longer existed because
9:06:09 they used it for the other reasons that they were allowed, they
9:06:11 would have to apply and
9:06:12 use their sick leave.
9:06:16 » Okay. So if I’m an employee and I get – I test positive for
9:06:21 COVID, I’m told to go home
9:06:23 for 14 days. After the 14 days, I apply and get another test,
9:06:29 and it shows that I still
9:06:31 have it because we’re seeing some symptoms up to 50, 60 days.
9:06:35 Are you saying that there’s
9:06:36 a window where I may have to start using my own sick leave based
9:06:38 upon the fact that I’ve
9:06:39 already used during that 50, 60 days the COVID?
9:06:44 » Right now, the way we operate, and this is really HR, so if I
9:06:46 step on it, Beth, would
9:06:48 you rather me just shut up?
9:06:49 » No, you’re actually doing very well, but if you want me to
9:06:51 take over, I can.
9:06:52 » Yeah, take it.
9:06:53 » Yes, they would be using their leave. And we do have cases
9:06:56 where somebody has already
9:06:57 taken COVID leave or a portion of COVID leave while awaiting a
9:07:01 negative test, you know,
9:07:02 and they’ve gotten a negative test and they’ve come back and
9:07:06 then get sick later. I’m anticipating
9:07:08 more of that. I’m also anticipating rather robust discussions
9:07:12 with our unions about it
9:07:14 as well.
9:07:16 » How long is COVID leave?
9:07:18 » There’s – under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
9:07:22 that was put out, I guess, in
9:07:24 March at some point, the emergency sick leave provision is 10
9:07:29 days. And there are six prongs
9:07:32 to that emergency sick leave. Three of the prongs are at 100% of
9:07:36 pay. Three of the prongs
9:07:37 are at 2/3 pay.
9:07:41 » So we force everybody to stay out for 14 days, but we only
9:07:45 pay them through the sick
9:07:46 leave piece, that 10 days, right? So there’s four days that they
9:07:50 would have to, if they
9:07:51 tested positive under the current ones, use their own sick leave
9:07:54 or not get paid?
9:07:54 » Yes, that is correct. There’s potential for that.
9:07:57 » And is that money from the COVID backed up by a federal money,
9:08:00 or is that part of
9:08:01 our CARES Act money that we already have?
9:08:03 » No, it’s not part of CARES Act money. This is the expansion
9:08:07 of FEMA – not FEMA, I’m
9:08:08 sorry – the FMLA, and it’s through the Families First Coronavirus
9:08:13 Response Act.
9:08:14 » So we have – do we – and I’m sorry to go through this
9:08:16 because I just need to learn
9:08:17 about it. We apply for that after the fact, or we’ve been given
9:08:22 X amount of dollars that
9:08:24 we tap into?
9:08:25 » We have not been given a specific amount of money. In fact,
9:08:28 right now, we’re just collecting
9:08:30 the data on people who are out and we’re paying, you know, we’re
9:08:32 just – we’re working through
9:08:33 payroll the same way we always would. It’s, as I understand it,
9:08:37 a reimbursement.
9:08:38 » Kind of like FEMA, we’re applying for it. It goes back. We
9:08:41 don’t know how long. There’s
9:08:43 no direction as to when we would get return pay on it or
9:08:45 anything.
9:08:46 » That’s correct.
9:08:47 » But just a second because I want to clarify the 14 and the 10
9:08:50 days. The 10 days that we’re
9:08:51 required to pay, those are working days.
9:08:54 » Correct.
9:08:55 » And the 14 days someone would have to be out, those are
9:08:57 literal days.
9:08:57 » Those are calendar days.
9:08:59 » So that actually would most of the time equate to 10 working
9:09:03 days would be the 14
9:09:04 days. Does that make sense? So it’s not that they’re going to be
9:09:07 out 14 days and they only
9:09:09 get paid for 10 of them.
9:09:10 » I couldn’t agree with you more on that.
9:09:12 » Okay. Just wanted to clarify that.
9:09:13 » There’s going to be – but there are – there may be
9:09:16 instances where that’s not the case,
9:09:18 but that’s not where I’m going. I just – and maybe we need to
9:09:22 discuss this now or Dr. Mullins
9:09:25 tell me if we need to discuss it later, but I just got a problem
9:09:27 with somebody that comes
9:09:28 into our schools that tests positive for COVID and then all of a
9:09:31 sudden they end up having
9:09:33 to stay out because it’s not their fault. They may be more symptomatic
9:09:37 than anybody
9:09:37 else and then they’re out 40 days. And then because they chose
9:09:41 our profession, we end
9:09:42 up not paying them for 30 of those 40 days or however many that
9:09:47 are actual work days.
9:09:48 I have an issue with that. Like I think that that’s a big deal
9:09:52 for me. So is that something
9:09:53 we need to talk about labor because we’re going into
9:09:55 negotiations or is that something
9:09:57 we discuss now?
9:10:01 » I don’t know that we’re prepared to talk about it now because
9:10:04 what you’re suggesting
9:10:05 I would propose has financial implications to the district. So
9:10:12 if that’s – if the board
9:10:14 wants us to do an analysis of what that could be, that would
9:10:17 take some time to do. We’re
9:10:18 not prepared to discuss that today, but we can certainly take
9:10:22 direction from the board.
9:10:23 » So I was looking at this because I knew that when I was
9:10:25 looking at it last night I
9:10:26 was trying to put together as fast as I could the numbers. We
9:10:29 already allocate the amount
9:10:31 of money that we need for the individuals that are inside of our
9:10:33 schools through our
9:10:34 budget. So the budgetary items that we would be referring to to
9:10:38 get paid back for would
9:10:39 be actual substitute costs. Is that the cost that we would be
9:10:42 referring to? Dr. Thette,
9:10:44 do you know?
9:10:46 » No, not just substitute costs. Because with the COVID leave,
9:10:51 the Families First Coronavirus
9:10:54 Response Act would pay that amount of money for that leave, not
9:10:57 for the substitute. Because
9:10:59 keep in mind, many of these occurred while we weren’t using
9:11:04 substitutes at all. We would
9:11:06 still bear the cost of the substitute should that scenario that
9:11:09 you just explained happen.
9:11:11 » Okay. So maybe now is not the time to talk about it because
9:11:14 you’re right, we need to
9:11:15 do it. But how do we – what is the process for that being the
9:11:18 fact that we’re coming
9:11:19 back early August, and you want to plan together that probably
9:11:24 includes this to be signed off
9:11:26 on, what is the time period? When would you know the
9:11:31 ramifications behind this? Go to
9:11:34 the teacher’s union and present it. When would they – I mean,
9:11:37 where is that? Do you understand
9:11:39 what I mean? If now is not the time to talk about it and we’re
9:11:42 ramping up on a short schedule,
9:11:44 when is it that we should be discussing this as a board to give
9:11:47 direction whether we support
9:11:49 paying our people or not pass the COVID leave that we have?
9:11:54 » I would – first, it’s not part of this plan because it’s
9:11:58 really an employment factor,
9:11:59 not a reopening factor. So it’s really two separate issues. I’d
9:12:04 have to get with the
9:12:05 team and we’d have to develop a proposal. I anticipate it would
9:12:09 require doing some research,
9:12:10 knowing what the impacts are, because it will have implications
9:12:14 on other employees requesting
9:12:15 leave and being out as well. So it would require likely another
9:12:19 board workshop just around
9:12:21 that topic. Dr. Thede, would you agree?
9:12:23 » I would concur with that.
9:12:27 » So is that something – can you give me a timeline that that
9:12:29 normally would be occurred
9:12:31 into? That way we can –
9:12:32 » We’ll have to get together with financial services and do
9:12:35 some forecasting because right
9:12:37 now we don’t have that information. It’s basically looking at –
9:12:42 I won’t say guessing who that
9:12:43 might affect, but the scenario that you’re talking about, I’d
9:12:46 have to work with the Department
9:12:47 of Health to figure out how many people potentially that could
9:12:51 affect. If you’re just talking
9:12:53 about the additional days for somebody to be isolated, that’s a
9:12:56 different scenario.
9:12:58 The other piece of it is what Mrs. Moore talked about, which was
9:13:02 you could have somebody who
9:13:03 is a contact to a case that’s a close familial relationship, and
9:13:08 that person is asymptomatic,
9:13:10 but that person is home for 14 days and on the 14th day becomes
9:13:14 symptomatic, and then
9:13:15 they could be out another 14 days. So those are all forecasting
9:13:18 pieces that we would have
9:13:19 to do, and that will take some time to make those projections.
9:13:23 » I just think that because they are part of a risk class, it
9:13:27 makes them think that
9:13:28 we are dealing with right now retention and recruitment. And if
9:13:32 we’re creating a system
9:13:33 where people aren’t going to feel confident about being paid
9:13:40 back for a situation that
9:13:42 they’re walking into that they normally don’t walk into, it’s a
9:13:44 conditioned environment
9:13:45 that we have, I don’t know. I think that that becomes part of
9:13:49 the conversation that individuals
9:13:52 are going to have prior to coming back. That’s all. So however,
9:13:55 and I’m only one board member
9:13:57 and I don’t mean to speak for my board in any way, but I’d love
9:13:59 that thing to be as
9:14:00 fast as possible because I see that as a huge issue at the
9:14:03 teacher’s union and the teachers
9:14:05 that we represent and staff. » I would propose I at least need
9:14:10 Monday
9:14:10 to meet with staff to develop a plan and a proposal, and I could
9:14:13 bring an update to the
9:14:14 board on Tuesday at the 14th day. » Beautiful. Okay. Page 39.
9:14:23 Who is on BPS’s
9:14:24 response team? » Right now that team is being formed, so
9:14:28 I have a primary and a backup that represents HR, that’s Beth Ettie
9:14:31 and the backup is Mike
9:14:32 Alba. I have Stephanie Sullivan and Jane Klein representing
9:14:36 Leading and Learning and they’re
9:14:37 going to provide me both backups. I have I think it’s Jim Powers
9:14:43 as my primary and Pete
9:14:44 Trnica is my backup. I have Robin Novelli who is my primary and
9:14:50 Kevin Thornton who is
9:14:51 the backup. And Patty. And me and Jana Jenkins is my backup. I
9:14:59 may have missed somebody,
9:15:01 but that’s basically the makeup of the team. » Is there a way
9:15:08 to put the chair for the
9:15:10 school district in that conversation at all or is that not
9:15:13 appropriate? I’m just trying
9:15:14 to » I would suggest it’s a day-to-day operation of the
9:15:22 district and the board would certainly
9:15:24 remain informed of the direction or the discussion of the
9:15:29 recovery response team. I don’t know
9:15:33 that it would be appropriate to have a board member on that team.
9:15:36 » Makes sense. I can understand that. » In the governor’s plan
9:15:39 that team is called
9:15:40 the crisis team because we already have that. We chose to call
9:15:44 it a response team. But just
9:15:46 if you’re cross walking in the governor’s plan it’s called the
9:15:49 crisis team.
9:15:50 » Okay. And then we have our custodial strike team and they’re
9:15:55 going to respond in the event
9:15:57 that we have an issue at one of the schools. And in the event
9:16:01 that we create multiple schools
9:16:04 and we start getting to a point where the critical response team
9:16:08 can’t, do we have as
9:16:09 part of our plan that this has gotten to the point where we need
9:16:13 to go virtual because
9:16:14 of the amount – I think Ms. Belford had mentioned earlier that
9:16:18 there’s like a critical point
9:16:20 where we just say we’re shutting down this area, this district
9:16:24 and everything else. Can
9:16:26 we make sure that a part of the district, that’s part of the
9:16:30 plan or no?
9:16:31 » We’re looking at on Monday when we start talking about
9:16:33 thresholds that’s part of the
9:16:34 conversation. And I don’t know how far we’re going to get in
9:16:37 that discussion. But it is
9:16:39 part of the – part of what the response team is going to be
9:16:42 working through is those thresholds.
9:16:44 Now keep in mind I think we have to get direction Dr. Mullins
9:16:48 and permission from the DOE to
9:16:50 shut down the district if I’m correct. » Yeah. Mr. Susan, did I
9:16:54 hear you correctly
9:16:55 to say if we get to a place that we need to close the district?
9:16:58 All schools?
9:17:00 » If we close the district down, I apologize. That comes from
9:17:04 the DOE. That comes from the
9:17:05 top. I’m sorry. I apologize for that. It just seems like there’s
9:17:09 –
9:17:10 » So to clarify, are you speaking of actually closing a school?
9:17:13 Like no one reports for
9:17:15 a period of time? » Yeah.
9:17:16 » So apologize. What was the question? » The thresholds that
9:17:21 you’re going to adopt
9:17:22 on Monday, can you bring those to the board on Tuesday so that
9:17:24 we can see them?
9:17:25 » Oh, I don’t know that we’re going to adopt those thresholds
9:17:28 on Monday. That’s the beginning
9:17:29 of our conversation. I can’t say that we’re going to walk out
9:17:33 with a defined plan on that.
9:17:35 The response team isn’t meeting for the first time until
9:17:38 Thursday morning, I believe. So
9:17:41 I don’t know that I’m going to be ready to present that to the
9:17:44 board on Tuesday now.
9:17:45 » So the thresholds of when we shut down a school, when we –
9:17:49 where we – if we shut
9:17:50 down a classroom, if we shut down – all of those thresholds are
9:17:53 going to be developed
9:17:54 by a team that starts on Monday or Thursday of next week. And
9:17:58 when would those thresholds
9:18:00 be available to us for approval, stuff like that?
9:18:04 » Well, I hesitate to use the word threshold. Threshold is when
9:18:07 the response team meets
9:18:09 to review the data. Because if we say the threshold is 15%, let’s
9:18:14 say it’s 15% of your
9:18:15 faculty is out, the response team is going to need to look at
9:18:18 that individual school
9:18:20 circumstances and say, well, they’ve met 15%, but tomorrow, even
9:18:25 though they’re at 15% today,
9:18:27 they’re going to be at 10% and they can operate. So it’s not
9:18:30 going to be something where we
9:18:32 say, boom, this is it. It’s going to be what is the – what is
9:18:35 going to be the threshold
9:18:36 by which we need to meet and review that school circumstances
9:18:40 and make a rapid response recommendation
9:18:43 to the superintendent.
9:18:44 » Okay.
9:18:45 » I think the other piece of it is availability of substitutes
9:18:48 and length of time. I mean,
9:18:49 we may end up with enough substitutes. We’ve sent out our
9:18:53 response letters to our substitutes.
9:18:55 And of the ones with active records that have responded, we’ve
9:18:59 had 541 responses. And of
9:19:02 those, 526, as of today, have indicated they’re returning. What
9:19:07 does that mean when school
9:19:08 starts? I don’t know. But that will all play into that rapid
9:19:11 response team and how we can
9:19:13 function within a school.
9:19:15 » Thank you. Why – three days to shut a school down. What is
9:19:18 the number behind that,
9:19:19 the three days? What is that?
9:19:20 » Sure. The recommendation is that an area needs to be empty
9:19:24 for 24 to 48 hours. And
9:19:26 then we need to – we need a day to clean. You know, if we get
9:19:31 notified on a Friday,
9:19:33 Saturday and Sunday would be two days. And Monday would be the
9:19:36 day to clean. So again,
9:19:39 we’re not putting out hard, fast numbers. You know, my original
9:19:44 – my original words
9:19:46 were like three days and we’re out until we really started
9:19:50 having those discussions about
9:19:52 all of the possibilities and what ifs. So that’s why we backed
9:19:56 off giving you a definite
9:19:57 number of days and a definite threshold because there’s just too
9:20:01 many what ifs and different
9:20:02 circumstances that may arise.
9:20:06 » Mr. Susan and for the board, we can certainly provide the
9:20:10 board an update as the response
9:20:12 team is developed and they’re working through the process. But
9:20:19 also the board will be part
9:20:21 of the informed piece of when the response team is met and any
9:20:25 decision is made that
9:20:27 a school has to be closed for any period of time. So we’ll make
9:20:30 sure that we include in
9:20:31 our process when the response team has made a recommendation to
9:20:34 me and the decision is
9:20:36 made to close a school that the board will receive prompt
9:20:38 notification that that’s coming.
9:20:41 » That’s part of what it is, just somewhere looped inside there
9:20:43 that we get it.
9:20:44 » Absolutely.
9:20:45 » I did miss two members of the response team and they’re
9:20:46 critical members. It’s Nikki
9:20:47 Hensley and her backup. So that we do have a coordinated
9:20:53 response and communication plan.
9:20:55 » Okay.
9:20:56 » Just a quick comment. When we spoke about a response team, I’m
9:21:04 not sure we’re all envisioning
9:21:07 the same thing. So I think it’s really important. These are the
9:21:12 key players when we have to
9:21:13 make a decision about school. These aren’t people who are
9:21:16 replacing Department of Health
9:21:18 guidelines or anything like that. The players you represent is I
9:21:22 got to call the principal,
9:21:23 we’ve got to deal with bussing. If we’re closing the school, we
9:21:25 don’t have to deal with, you
9:21:27 know. So we’re not anticipating this team gaining expertise on
9:21:35 these things. We’re anticipating
9:21:37 this team coming around some quick decisions on student cases
9:21:43 that reach a critical mass
9:21:46 when the principal is like, okay, I’ve got this, this, this,
9:21:49 this. And then we need to
9:21:51 all be in the same story so we can rapidly deploy once Dr. Mullins
9:21:56 with knowing Dr. Mullins
9:21:59 is going to be making five phone calls and then we make a quick
9:22:02 decision. And so that
9:22:05 was our vision. I just want to make sure it didn’t get warped in
9:22:08 how we presented it.
9:22:10 Very similar to the team and the actions that we deploy on other
9:22:14 critical incidents. Those
9:22:16 other critical incidents start with Brian at the top of the
9:22:20 pyramid and then we begin
9:22:22 communicating. These would really start with Chris at the top of
9:22:26 the pyramid and beginning
9:22:27 to deploy that communication and those conversations and those
9:22:33 teams. I just thought it was important.
9:22:35 » No, I understand what you’re saying. It’s just, it’s a gray
9:22:38 area that I’m just trying
9:22:39 to poke at to try to figure out all the answers. Okay, so I’m
9:22:43 moving on to slide number 41.
9:22:45 I’ve got, so there’s some talking, there was some talking and I
9:22:50 may have just written a
9:22:52 note down there. We have a time period because we’re waiting on
9:22:57 tests, right? So we send
9:22:59 people out for a test. We do these things to test. I know right
9:23:04 now that we have our,
9:23:06 there’s certain classes inside our county that are able to move
9:23:10 to the front of the
9:23:11 line on the testing procedures. Is there an opportunity for us
9:23:15 to do the same as teachers
9:23:17 so that if a teacher tests positive or a student that we’re
9:23:21 concerned about testing because
9:23:23 part of our, and let me explain so that if I’m sending a student
9:23:27 to go get a test or
9:23:28 I’m asking a teacher to go get a test or whatever and they go to
9:23:32 test, we’re waiting six days
9:23:33 to find out the result of that test which may push back the time
9:23:36 period. Is there a
9:23:37 way to shorten that time period is what I’m asking? The state
9:23:42 and the labs have priorities.
9:23:43 Priority one testing are first responders that are symptomatic
9:23:47 and hospitalized patients.
9:23:49 Priority two are, and then, I’m sorry, priority one is also long-term
9:23:53 care facility workers
9:23:54 because they’re concerned about the long-term care facilities.
9:23:58 Priority two are symptomatic
9:23:59 people, healthcare workers. Then the last priority are the asymptomatic.
9:24:05 So we have
9:24:06 very strict guidelines as to who is what priority. If someone is
9:24:10 symptomatic, they take a higher
9:24:12 priority than someone who is just going to be tested because
9:24:15 they just want to know they’re
9:24:16 asymptomatic. Teachers, I would consider a first responder. Is
9:24:25 that up to your determination?
9:24:26 I would love it if it is. What they have is they have first
9:24:33 responders as a whole category.
9:24:36 When someone comes to us, my assistant nursing director and I
9:24:39 discuss who’s a first responder,
9:24:42 and it’s anyone whose critical infrastructure is considered a
9:24:45 first responder of which teachers
9:24:48 are considered critical infrastructure. Law enforcement, EMS,
9:24:52 healthcare workers. That’s
9:24:53 what I was wondering because if we have to shut down, like you
9:24:56 said, a popcorn situation
9:24:57 with seven different classes and all the teachers, I would
9:25:00 consider that. Absolutely. That would
9:25:02 work to where a teacher would go to this testing location and be
9:25:06 able to move up in the line
9:25:08 to be tested and do the results on the back end the same amount
9:25:12 of time? It depends on
9:25:13 the lab. I know Quest and the state lab have the priorities, and
9:25:18 we have to identify who
9:25:20 we’re testing, and we identify who’s a priority one, two, three,
9:25:24 or four, or asymptomatic.
9:25:26 The state lab, we only send priority ones to because they’re
9:25:30 getting inundated. There
9:25:32 are so many other private labs out there that I can’t answer for
9:25:37 them. I don’t know how
9:25:38 they do it. No, I understand. If I come in on priority one and I
9:25:41 test on Wednesday morning,
9:25:43 how long until that test comes back to the school district to
9:25:48 tell me or me? I can tell
9:25:50 you priority ones come back within 24 to 48 hours. Got it. But
9:25:56 we as a school district,
9:25:58 if I understood you guys today, can’t say to a teacher or
9:26:01 student, go get tested. Correct.
9:26:03 And those results would come back? That’s not what this is about.
9:26:06 This is about me figuring
9:26:07 out this testing piece. That’s all. Thank you. Okay, I
9:26:09 understand, but you’re starting
9:26:10 with the premise that if we tell a teacher to go get tested or
9:26:13 we’re waiting for them,
9:26:15 that’s not part of this conversation because we can’t do that as
9:26:18 much as we might like
9:26:19 to. So a teacher goes to take a test. This is where we’re at.
9:26:22 They have to report to
9:26:23 us that they’re positive, otherwise we wouldn’t even know. So
9:26:27 the teacher goes to take the
9:26:29 test, we can get them to be in the first class, priority class,
9:26:32 right? They can get that 24
9:26:34 hour test and be available if they needed it. That’s what I’m
9:26:38 hearing you say. Okay.
9:26:40 And that is at your locations. And do you know of, what is the
9:26:44 cost, I’m sorry, to the
9:26:46 district for us to have an employee go take that test? I believe
9:26:51 it varies depending on
9:26:52 the lab and depending on where you go. But I believe the last
9:26:55 estimate I had was between
9:26:57 $80 and $100. Does that sound correct, Patty? I don’t know what
9:27:00 the private labs, I can
9:27:01 tell you if they come to us. Yes, ma’am. It’s free for anybody.
9:27:05 Yeah, I think I should share
9:27:07 my experience because I think that would help. Please. I was a
9:27:12 contact to a case. I was a
9:27:14 contact to a contact to a case. I was a contact to a contact.
9:27:17 But it was driving my family
9:27:18 crazy. And they were on me every day. You need to go get tested.
9:27:21 Sure. I called Patty.
9:27:23 I said, Patty, where do I go get tested? And she said, if you
9:27:25 want to wait a day, you can
9:27:26 come to the Department of Health. If you don’t want to wait a
9:27:29 day, you can, without a prescription
9:27:31 and without an appointment, go down to Eastern Florida State and
9:27:36 be tested there. I drove
9:27:38 down there midday. I waited in my car for about an hour and a
9:27:42 half, which was fine.
9:27:44 I had a book. It didn’t matter. It was handled very privately.
9:27:48 It was handled very safely.
9:27:52 The test was not at all as I had been led to believe in terms of
9:27:56 what it was. It was
9:27:58 like a tickle in my sinus, to be honest. I hate this. I hate
9:28:03 them. And I left. And they
9:28:04 gave me a little code in which to download an app. Thirty hours
9:28:09 later, I had my results,
9:28:10 which I was happy to report to my mother so she could get off my
9:28:14 back were negative. But
9:28:16 I will tell you, the whole process from start to finish was
9:28:22 pretty painless. And it took
9:28:24 me 30 hours to get my results and cost me absolutely no money,
9:28:27 no prescription, in order
9:28:29 to get the test and no appointment needed. Is that consistent
9:28:32 with Eastern Florida State
9:28:34 right now, 30-hour turnaround? Is there a list out there that –
9:28:37 is there somewhere
9:28:38 that the teachers can – they know? Well, let me back up a
9:28:44 little bit. Eastern
9:28:45 Florida State, in addition to all other labs, are now anywhere
9:28:49 from five to ten days out
9:28:51 for results. The labs are extremely backed up. If somebody is a
9:28:58 first responder and they’re
9:28:59 symptomatic – and I know the sheriff’s office, we’ve done a lot
9:29:04 of EMS – we will send them
9:29:05 up to the state, and they’re coming back quicker. I won’t
9:29:09 promise it’s 24 to 48 hours any longer,
9:29:13 but first responders and priority ones and twos, we get back
9:29:16 fairly quick.
9:29:17 And that’s free to our health care? Anybody comes to us, it’s
9:29:21 free. We don’t
9:29:23 check insurance, we don’t do anything. Eastern Florida State is
9:29:26 free. If they go to –
9:29:30 Right, I don’t want to name any particular – Any place that’s
9:29:34 not what she just mentioned,
9:29:36 any place that’s not in Eastern Florida, there is a charge to
9:29:38 our insurance company, and
9:29:40 that’s the number I was giving you. Do we have a way of telling
9:29:43 all of our people
9:29:45 what these charges are? Or do they – do you see what I mean?
9:29:48 Like, if I’m a teacher, one
9:29:49 of the issues that we’re dealing with right now in the insurance
9:29:52 is to try to steer them
9:29:53 towards lower-cost options. You know, is there a way to identify
9:29:58 where the lower-cost options
9:30:00 are for our teachers to go get tested, or do we just want to
9:30:02 start steering them towards
9:30:03 the DOH? We have typically not steered them in one
9:30:09 direction or another when they’ve asked. They know where the
9:30:12 free tests are, and, you know,
9:30:13 we’ve given them that information, but some want a different
9:30:16 kind of result and a different
9:30:17 quicker result, and they’ll go to a local place that does that
9:30:22 and charges the insurance.
9:30:24 Are we – Go ahead. What is our stance on this test as far as
9:30:27 insurance goes? Are we co-paying, deductible? What is it – If
9:30:32 they don’t go to the Department
9:30:33 of Health and they show up at MedFest and they take the test,
9:30:35 what is the breakdown
9:30:36 for our employees? Do you know? They’re paying the MedFest co-pay
9:30:39 at that
9:30:40 point. Okay.
9:30:41 And then we are charged, I believe, $120 for that MedFest visit.
9:30:45 I got you. Okay. So that’s how it’s breaking down.
9:30:58 Okay. On page 43, what is the idea that we could
9:31:03 make a recommendation to not do these drills, or as many of them?
9:31:10 Is there a conversation
9:31:11 that we would? Would you recommend against that? I mean, I
9:31:14 understand that we want to
9:31:15 do them, but I have a serious – I know how this is going to go
9:31:19 when we go to do the drill.
9:31:20 Everybody has to get outside. There’s only a limited amount of
9:31:23 time to do it. You know
9:31:24 what I mean? And I would try to avoid it as much as possible.
9:31:27 Where are we at with that,
9:31:28 Brian? You’re talking about a national argument –
9:31:30 Okay. – discussion, of course, here in Florida
9:31:33 as well, okay? When legislation was in session, there was a bill
9:31:37 before them to reduce the
9:31:39 drills. They ran out of time. The pandemic hit, the building
9:31:44 gets signed, and they were
9:31:45 extremely close. So here we are. We’re going to start the school
9:31:49 year, and the statute
9:31:50 is very clear that we will do these drills. The only folks that
9:31:54 can advise otherwise will
9:31:55 be out of the Office of Safe Schools if that direction comes.
9:31:59 Like I said, I know Mr. Novelli
9:32:00 is going to training at the end of July. Office of Safe Schools
9:32:03 will be there at that time.
9:32:05 There’s a lot of districts waiting for any type of other
9:32:08 guidance. So is there a possibility?
9:32:10 There is, but right now we’ve got a plan otherwise. No, I
9:32:13 understand 100 percent. Thank you for
9:32:15 bringing that forward. It’s something that we have to do, but
9:32:17 maybe that’s part of the
9:32:18 conversation, is that, you know, we as a school district make a
9:32:22 serious request into the fact
9:32:24 of reducing the amount of those, because I think that that’s a
9:32:26 point where we have to
9:32:27 be of concern for safety. Mr. Susan, I have a call in to Joy
9:32:31 Frank
9:32:31 with FADS, the FADS attorney, to bring this to their attention
9:32:35 as well, and ask that FADS
9:32:37 appeal on our, on Superintendent’s behalf, because that’s a
9:32:40 concern for all of us, to
9:32:41 the state, to get a waiver or something like that.
9:32:44 And if FADS does it, then our school board association will do
9:32:46 it, and that would be
9:32:47 something that’s there. All right. That can be later on. Oh,
9:32:54 last thing. Principal’s checklist
9:32:56 plan for the replenishment of initial supplies and PPE on page
9:32:59 45. We’re going to use CARES
9:33:01 Act to replenish all the supplies for the CARES Act stuff. That
9:33:03 was all. It didn’t have
9:33:04 an asterisk on it. I just wanted to make sure. Okay. All right.
9:33:09 I am done with the minor
9:33:10 questions. So, we’re good. The minor questions? Yeah, because we’re
9:33:14 going back to the other
9:33:15 major ones. Right? Okay. Okay. I believe we are going to take a
9:33:24 very brief break, like
9:33:26 five minutes, run to the restroom, grab some pizza. We’re eating
9:33:31 on camera, so. Ms. Belford?
9:33:33 Yes. Is the board going to want Ms. Seibert to stay? I think I’m
9:33:39 good. Yeah, I don’t,
9:33:42 I’m, Patty, thank you. Amazing that you have, I mean, this, we
9:33:46 are accustomed to, like,
9:33:48 this occasionally, but for you to have committed to be here with
9:33:51 us all day, really, thank
9:33:53 you so, so very much. I’m willing to stay if you need me to stay,
9:33:57 but I’ve got issues
9:33:58 at work that I have to deal with. I think if you notice, I’ve
9:34:01 been texting and getting
9:34:02 all these, these things. Yeah. Are you sure? Yes. Go right ahead
9:34:06 and take care of your
9:34:07 stuff. Thank you. Thank you. You’re welcome. Anyone have
9:34:12 anything for Lieutenant Neal?
9:34:14 Oh, he’s got to stay with us, doesn’t he? Are you our security?
9:34:21 I’m here. Okay. You’re
9:34:23 out of luck then. I tried. And I’m guessing everybody else is
9:34:26 probably going to be on
9:34:27 the hook for some part of that discussion. So we will take five.
9:34:53 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:11 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:16 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:34 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:38 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:57 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:35:59 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:36:20 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:36:23 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:36:41 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:36:44 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:05 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:07 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:23 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:24 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:44 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:37:49 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:08 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:12 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:32 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:35 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:52 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:38:55 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:39:18 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:39:22 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:39:45 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:39:51 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:40:12 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:40:19 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:40:39 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:40:43 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:41:05 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:41:12 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:41:33 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:41:38 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:01 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:01 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:22 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:30 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:53 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:42:54 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:10 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:11 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:35 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:36 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:55 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:43:58 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:44:14 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:44:15 Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:44:36 Okay. Okay. Okay.
9:44:37 And we are back from our recess. Before we get too far into our
9:44:53 questions, I did want
9:44:54 to send out a huge thank you to Kyle Savage, who on his own sent
9:44:59 us pizza to feed the entire
9:45:02 crew who is here this evening. Yes, so the pizza was courtesy of
9:45:07 Kyle. And for those
9:45:08 who have not been watching us all day, these folks have been in
9:45:12 this room since nine o’clock
9:45:13 this morning, with the exception of a 30 minute lunch break and
9:45:17 a couple of really quick bathroom
9:45:19 breaks. So the dinner was much appreciated, Kyle, beyond beyond
9:45:23 measure, you just don’t
9:45:24 even know. So yeah, thank you. Okay, we can we can we say where
9:45:29 that was from, since it’s
9:45:31 right locally here, Viera Pizza. Can we say that? You never miss
9:45:35 an opportunity, do you?
9:45:36 Can we say I mean, he’s a huge supporter of Viera High School.
9:45:39 And I just want to give
9:45:40 Savage a shout out because he doesn’t even live in the area, but
9:45:42 he figured out that
9:45:43 the best place to get it is here. So just wanted to give him a
9:45:46 shout out. Okay, so we
9:45:49 finished working through our slides, there was an indication
9:45:52 that there were potentially
9:45:53 some general questions that were not slide specific before we
9:45:57 circle back to our more
9:45:59 complicated discussion items. So Ms. McDougall, are you still
9:46:03 with us? Did you have any general
9:46:07 questions that you wanted to ask?
9:46:08 Well, I guess I want to know the ramifications. So this plan is
9:46:20 very robust and very aggressive.
9:46:24 And our staff has been working tirelessly and probably around
9:46:28 the clock on this, especially
9:46:29 if you’re dreaming about this. What would happen if we push back
9:46:36 opening our schools?
9:46:38 Or are even are we even allowed to legally do that in the state
9:46:42 of Florida? I’m just
9:46:44 asking the question, what would happen?
9:46:49 Ms. McDougall, I’m going to ask Dr. Thede to talk about the
9:46:53 school calendar. I will
9:46:55 say that the state has, you know, has always given school
9:46:59 calendar jurisdiction, if you
9:47:01 will, to the local school district. But there are implications
9:47:05 of changing the school calendar
9:47:08 at this time. Dr. Thede.
9:47:10 Thank you. So currently we’re students are scheduled to start on
9:47:13 Tuesday, August 11th.
9:47:15 And the emergency order from the commissioner does say starting
9:47:18 school in August. Making
9:47:20 an assumption that we would still start school at some point in
9:47:23 August, you would change
9:47:25 the rest of the calendar by the number of days that would be
9:47:29 potentially starting later.
9:47:31 So if we start 10 days later or some other model, we would end
9:47:36 up moving the calendar
9:47:38 along 10 days, which would push – there are a couple of
9:47:41 implications. One is salary. So
9:47:43 I’ll get to that in a minute. But what it will do to the student
9:47:46 calendar is it will
9:47:47 push the end of first semester into January, which has
9:47:50 implications for our dual enrollment
9:47:51 students who attend Eastern Florida and the few that attend
9:47:57 Florida Tech with our program
9:47:59 with Palm Bay High. It makes a difference for those students.
9:48:03 And then it pushes us
9:48:04 at the end of the year into June. Right now I think we’re
9:48:07 scheduled to end the school
9:48:08 year May – I want to say 28th as the last student day,
9:48:11 depending on the number of days
9:48:13 that we would adjust the calendar potentially, that would change
9:48:16 the ending of school. There
9:48:18 are also implications to pay. Right now our teachers are paid on
9:48:24 August 15th to July 30th
9:48:27 schedule. If we delayed starting school and they weren’t working
9:48:32 on a delay, there would
9:48:34 be a pay implication to that. There would also be a pay
9:48:37 implication to our other employees
9:48:39 in our 1010 unions, our 10-month employees, our 9-month
9:48:43 employees, and some of our 11-month
9:48:44 employees that would have start dates changed. And that would
9:48:48 affect pay – not affect their
9:48:50 overall pay, but affect paychecks. Because they are the – for
9:48:54 example, our teachers
9:48:56 are under a contract for 196 days. The amount would not differ.
9:49:01 It’s when it gets paid that
9:49:02 would be potentially a problem. » Ms. McDougall, I appreciate
9:49:08 the acknowledgement
9:49:10 of the tight timeline. I will potentially speak for the task
9:49:15 force. I believe that they
9:49:17 have been operating consistently under the expectation and
9:49:20 anticipation of a regular
9:49:21 school start date. We have not had any discussion about any
9:49:26 alternate start date.
9:49:28 » I see there’s a lot involved if we should push this back. But
9:49:34 I needed to know that
9:49:36 and I needed our community to hear that also. » Thank you, Dr.
9:49:43 Fetti and Dr. Mullins. Any
9:49:45 other general questions, Ms. McDougall? » Just some of the old
9:49:49 questions that we’re
9:49:50 going to go over again. No. » Okay. Ms. Campbell, any general
9:49:56 questions
9:49:56 before we get into issue specifics? » Yes. And I – these are
9:50:03 – I just have
9:50:04 some financial questions. Ms. Lisinski, you haven’t had to say
9:50:11 anything all day. And this
9:50:14 may be Dr. Mullins’ question as well. So if I read our emergency
9:50:19 order correctly, you
9:50:22 know, when it first came out and Ms. Belford, you mentioned this
9:50:24 this morning, there was
9:50:25 a lot of, oh, my gosh, this is horrible. But as part of it, if I’m
9:50:29 reading it correctly,
9:50:30 there’s some good news in here in that our funding will be much
9:50:35 more stable than we anticipated
9:50:37 or worried, at least for the fall semester. So it looks like to
9:50:40 me in the governor’s orders,
9:50:42 it says that at least for the fall, that they’re planning on
9:50:47 giving us, no matter what our,
9:50:49 you know, October numbers are, giving us the funding that was
9:50:55 projected in our conference
9:50:57 reports that were given back in the spring, which would be our
9:51:02 normal pre-COVID numbers.
9:51:04 Am I reading that correctly? » Yes, you are. So – and I’m
9:51:10 trying to get
9:51:11 clarification if that would go all the way through the third
9:51:15 calc. But then – so that
9:51:16 will give us an opportunity to get an idea of student enrollment
9:51:21 and where we will be.
9:51:22 I don’t want to give us any false thoughts that after the
9:51:27 election in November that we
9:51:30 would not have a reduction as we had talked about before. But
9:51:35 this allows us to start
9:51:36 the year and be able to take a look to see what kind of
9:51:40 enrollment that we have and then
9:51:43 try to adjust down and prepare for what we think that that cut
9:51:48 will be if we are cut
9:51:49 after the election in November. » Okay. And the reason why I
9:51:52 ask that is
9:51:53 because – I know you guys can’t give me the answer to this
9:51:57 right now. And I’m not going
9:51:59 to ask it to give me the answer. But when I first read that, I
9:52:02 thought, okay, this is
9:52:03 great because then we can fund our schools with the allotment of
9:52:06 teachers that we would
9:52:07 have expected, but we’re probably going to have fewer in our
9:52:10 buildings and, you know,
9:52:11 we’re going to have some parents do different things, virtual
9:52:14 school, whatever. But we can
9:52:15 – that will give us smaller class sizes to start out with and
9:52:18 as people become more comfortable
9:52:19 and the students trickle in, then we can, you know, fill up. But
9:52:23 I realize that there’s
9:52:27 a risk involved in that and that if we go ahead and do that and
9:52:30 we have those smaller
9:52:31 class sizes and the legislature comes back and says, okay, for
9:52:35 the spring semester now
9:52:36 we’re adjusting your funding to how many students you actually
9:52:39 have, that would be really dangerous
9:52:41 because at that point we can’t let go of staff or it would be
9:52:44 very difficult to do that mid-year.
9:52:47 Am I also thinking correctly along those lines?
9:52:50 » You’re absolutely right. That’s what I tried to say that I
9:52:53 still think we need to
9:52:55 be concerned about a reduction in funding in November or
9:53:00 December with a special session.
9:53:03 So the funding now holding harmless allows us to go into the
9:53:08 year and then we’ll be able
9:53:10 to understand better of, you know, what kind of enrollment we
9:53:15 have and then start planning
9:53:17 for what we think that will be. But I don’t think we should go
9:53:20 all out and spend everything
9:53:21 because we know that that money is going to –
9:53:25 » So we may have a little bit of flexibility but not as much as
9:53:28 –
9:53:28 » We have more time to – this gives us time to plan might be a
9:53:31 better way of saying it.
9:53:33 » Okay. So it gave us time.
9:53:34 » Yes.
9:53:35 » All right.
9:53:36 » So if I can add to it, just to put it in perspective, the
9:53:39 timeline and how tenuous
9:53:40 it could become because we don’t have clarification from second
9:53:45 calc to third calc. So the order
9:53:47 – did I get that right? Second calc is in October, correct?
9:53:51 » Yeah.
9:53:52 » No, second calc will be the 19th of July.
9:53:55 » Okay. So we’re third to fourth calc. Third is October and
9:54:00 fourth is February. Is that
9:54:03 right?
9:54:04 » January.
9:54:05 » Yeah. I might –
9:54:06 » The FTE period is October and February. Third calc comes in,
9:54:09 I believe, in January
9:54:11 is when we got it this year and we got fourth calc, Ms. Lisinski,
9:54:14 I believe, in May.
9:54:15 » We just received the fourth calc in May.
9:54:18 » Right. So the fourth calc comes based on second semester
9:54:22 enrollment and – pardon?
9:54:24 » February.
9:54:25 » Yeah. February FTE. So the order does not address the fourth
9:54:33 calc. It only addresses
9:54:35 the start of school. So to your point, we could potentially find
9:54:40 out there is a reduction
9:54:42 in funding based on enrollment for second semester, but not
9:54:47 until April.
9:54:48 » So –
9:54:49 » In which that money would have to be returned to the state –
9:54:50 » Correct.
9:54:51 » – if that’s what they chose.
9:54:52 » It’s – so it would be very dangerous to go into second
9:55:00 semester with fully – with
9:55:04 enrollment – or with staffing based on enrollment projections
9:55:09 from last year when we may be
9:55:11 held accountable to true enrollment at the – on the – on the
9:55:15 February FTE. Does that
9:55:17 make sense?
9:55:18 » Yes.
9:55:19 » And that is what occurred this year, correct? We took a $1.3
9:55:26 million hit on fourth calc?
9:55:29 » It was right around –
9:55:30 » Or it was at 800 –
9:55:31 » It was right around a million dollars. I don’t remember
9:55:32 exactly.
9:55:32 » I think it was 999,000.
9:55:34 » Okay.
9:55:35 » Very close to one. Thank you. Ms. Campbell, any additional
9:55:41 general questions?
9:55:42 » No, that’s it.
9:55:43 » Ms. Deskevich?
9:55:44 » I’m good.
9:55:45 » Mr. Susan.
9:55:46 » All right. So we’re going to do – get a percentage of
9:55:51 students that signed on that
9:55:54 were in free and reduced. Is this the longest meeting in BPS
9:55:59 history for a workshop?
9:56:01 » I think it is.
9:56:04 » It might be at least since the recession.
9:56:07 » Is that how long you’ve – all right. And then we’re going to
9:56:11 do a practice day video.
9:56:12 I love that from communication. Okay. And for teacher COVID
9:56:17 leave, single point of communication.
9:56:20 We’re going to work towards a single point of communication,
9:56:24 follow up with issues. Okay.
9:56:26 What is the idea for Tuesday’s plan for the board meeting? Are
9:56:31 we allowing public input
9:56:34 as we normally do? Is there a time period that – since
9:56:36 everybody’s watching here, if
9:56:38 there’s any family members that want to? Ms. Han, can you
9:56:40 explain that process with the
9:56:42 day that they’re supposed to, when they’re supposed to put in?
9:56:45 Are we having it here
9:56:46 in person with people coming in? What’s the plan for it?
9:56:49 » So the plan is similar to how we’ve been running our previous
9:56:52 board meetings during
9:56:53 the pandemic. The link will be live tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.
9:56:57 So you can go on our website
9:56:59 and they’ll be right on our front page will be a note that says
9:57:02 register here, click this
9:57:03 link to register. You just fill out the form. And that includes
9:57:07 a phone number when you
9:57:08 put your phone number in. Compile those. We close the link on
9:57:12 Monday morning at 8 a.m.,
9:57:14 after which I send the roster of folks who would like to speak
9:57:18 at the board meeting to
9:57:20 our vendor. And then they do a call at 530 p.m. on Monday. And
9:57:26 we generally just call
9:57:27 people in the order in which they signed up. And record everyone’s
9:57:31 three minutes and then
9:57:32 we play that live at the board meeting on Tuesday morning.
9:57:35 » And then is there any idea of when we may be going back to
9:57:39 being in person with people
9:57:41 and everything else? Is there a plan for that? I think we said
9:57:44 something about July, but
9:57:45 » So Mr. Gibbs and I have been discussing that. And I think the
9:57:51 plan at this point,
9:57:52 keeping in mind that every plan is fluid right now depending on
9:57:56 how things look numbers wise,
9:57:58 I think. But the current executive order for – excuse me – for
9:58:05 restrictions for our meetings
9:58:07 I think ends on July 30th. And so there’s strong possibility
9:58:11 given the numbers continuing
9:58:13 to rise that that will be extended. But what Mr. Gibbs and I had
9:58:17 talked about was potentially
9:58:20 beginning with workshops in August, have those open to the
9:58:23 public because we won’t have so
9:58:25 many people that likely attend the workshops on a regular basis
9:58:30 to give us an opportunity
9:58:32 to kind of ease back into it and make sure that we can handle
9:58:35 people appropriately. One
9:58:36 of the things that I was explaining to Ms. Campbell earlier
9:58:39 today is, you know, even
9:58:41 though we have the board room space, we, the board and the
9:58:45 superintendent and we can’t
9:58:47 socially distance up there. So us being up there is not doable,
9:58:54 which means we would
9:58:56 have to be down here and then we would have to figure out a way
9:58:59 to make space for an audience
9:59:00 as well. So the plan is to work toward that starting in August,
9:59:05 though.
9:59:05 » Can I ask the question, there are other municipalities that
9:59:08 are inside of our county
9:59:10 that are meeting with different guidelines. Is there a guideline
9:59:12 that was set by the governor
9:59:14 saying you have to follow these? Or are we following a list?
9:59:18 Where is our overarching,
9:59:19 these guidelines that we’re following currently, where are they?
9:59:22 Like where are they coming
9:59:23 from?
9:59:24 » It’s basically come from direction from Mr. Gibbs and
9:59:29 discussion between Dr. Mullins,
9:59:31 Mr. Gibbs, Ms. Han, and myself as to how to best ensure the
9:59:36 safety of all involved moving
9:59:39 forward.
9:59:40 » Any –
9:59:41 » The guidelines right now are just sunshine law. The only
9:59:44 thing that’s suspended is the
9:59:45 in-person quorum. So we don’t have to – we have to account –
9:59:49 we have to allot for everything
9:59:50 else, the public participation piece and every other element has
9:59:54 to be allotted for.
9:59:55 » So not having people come in and sit in here or us standing
9:59:58 on the dais or any of
9:59:59 those decisions are our decision as a board not being guided by
10:00:04 –
10:00:04 » Right, those are –
10:00:05 » Federal government, that’s us.
10:00:06 » Those are operational decisions.
10:00:08 » So I would like to move towards a different format if anybody
10:00:10 else wants to have that
10:00:12 discussion.
10:00:14 » I support that. I’m wondering, I was just listening to Ms.
10:00:17 Belford’s concerns, though,
10:00:18 could we sit like this? And I’m not exactly sure how the county
10:00:22 commission did it because
10:00:24 I was only watching it online, but it seemed like people waited
10:00:27 outside and came in one
10:00:28 at a time. So if the podium was like over there by the door,
10:00:31 came in once, spoke, left
10:00:33 as public comments. There’s just something about the public
10:00:36 feeling heard when they can
10:00:38 look at their representatives in the face. I don’t know if that’s
10:00:41 an option, but I’ll
10:00:42 just throw it out there because she’s right, we can’t sit up
10:00:44 there, but we could sit down
10:00:45 here.
10:00:48 » And so this is Cheryl, and I would – if you all want to wear
10:00:52 a mask, I don’t have
10:00:54 a problem showing up, but I don’t see anybody wearing masks. So
10:00:57 I’m protecting you, but
10:00:59 no one’s protecting me.
10:01:03 » Can I ask the question, then, that we’re getting hit on on
10:01:06 social media? If we are
10:01:07 not going to have the meetings, how are we having kids coming
10:01:10 back to school if we’re
10:01:12 not going to sit within the same parameters and perimeters that
10:01:15 other people are? And
10:01:17 that’s the reason I pointed the question is, is that I have an
10:01:20 issue with that. I have
10:01:21 an issue with our kids having to come back to school and to go
10:01:24 back into the meeting
10:01:26 and us not do it. And I would make the recommendation that we
10:01:29 return to the dais, we put the chairs
10:01:30 out socially distanced, and we move on a meeting like that. I
10:01:34 mean, if we’re going to send
10:01:35 the message that we’re going to send pre-K kids back to school,
10:01:37 if we’re going to send
10:01:38 the message we’re coming back to school with 72,000 or 68,000
10:01:41 kids, I think it behooves
10:01:42 us to meet in a normal stance, especially when our other
10:01:45 municipalities and governments
10:01:47 are.
10:01:49 » I would suggest that they all are not, but –
10:01:51 » There’s some that are.
10:01:53 » There are some that are. The other thing that I would say, Mr.
10:01:56 Susan, and I understand
10:01:57 people saying how can we send students back to school in August,
10:02:03 as Ms. Hand spoke earlier
10:02:05 about prioritizing where we put our energies, one thing that is
10:02:10 absolutely certain is the
10:02:12 more that we change things up right now and the more
10:02:16 expectations that we put on staff
10:02:19 to handle our time here in the building is the more we’re
10:02:22 pulling them away from the
10:02:23 work that they need to do, and so I feel like we have a process
10:02:29 that’s working right now,
10:02:31 and I think absolutely working toward bringing people back into
10:02:36 the board meeting in August
10:02:38 is perfectly appropriate. My concern is if we say we decide, oh,
10:02:44 well, next Tuesday we’re
10:02:45 just going to go to a regular public comment, that is going to
10:02:50 be a whole lot of people
10:02:52 that the staff here at ESF are going to have to figure out how
10:02:56 to manage, how to socially
10:02:58 distance, how to clean up after, how to – we can’t set up there
10:03:04 six feet apart because
10:03:05 we can’t access – first of all, six feet apart, there’s just
10:03:09 too many of us. We can’t
10:03:11 fit up there and be six feet apart, so we have to be down here,
10:03:14 or some of us have to
10:03:15 be down here.
10:03:16 » But that’s our guidelines per the thing.
10:03:18 » No, six feet is CDC.
10:03:19 » Yeah, those are the recommended guidelines.
10:03:21 » So the other municipalities that are within six feet are
10:03:24 breaking the CDC guidelines?
10:03:25 » If you go to the county commission, you have only like four
10:03:28 county commissioners spread
10:03:29 across the top and the county manager, so the other one is
10:03:32 calling in remotely and the
10:03:34 attorney is on the floor, so that’s the way it was this week
10:03:37 when we went over there.
10:03:39 So they are spread out. They’re every other chair.
10:03:42 » So City of Cocoa, some of the other areas that I’ve been into
10:03:44 speaking at, they’re not
10:03:46 – they are a little bit tighter, but here’s my – here’s the
10:03:49 ultimate argument, is that
10:03:51 if we’re going to put kids inside a classroom shorter than six
10:03:54 feet, then I don’t think
10:03:55 that we can be respectful. I personally believe that. I just –
10:03:59 that’s my thing. And I may
10:04:01 be one board member that’s speaking to this, but we’re about to
10:04:04 ask all of our kids to
10:04:06 do the same. We’re already asking them to do that. I think that
10:04:09 we stand with them,
10:04:10 and that’s my feeling. So I would like to see what everybody
10:04:13 else’s feelings are on
10:04:14 that. And I understand that changing it to July 14th may be a
10:04:17 little difficult, but moving
10:04:18 that ball faster I think would be what I would be asking. But I
10:04:22 did have one question. You
10:04:24 said that the staff’s time would take longer if we did that.
10:04:27 Besides the public comment,
10:04:29 they’re already in here, right? Because I’m trying to understand
10:04:33 if that’s –
10:04:34 » Correct. No. I’m not talking about the cabinet because the
10:04:37 cabinet is typically available
10:04:38 during the meeting anyway. But what I’m talking about is how
10:04:40 many people do you think would
10:04:41 show up for a meeting next week to speak at public comments. And
10:04:46 all of those people have
10:04:46 to be managed, right? So we have to have – we have to manage
10:04:50 where they sit. We have to
10:04:51 manage when they’re coming into the building, how they’re coming
10:04:54 into the building. We have
10:04:55 to manage everything being cleaned after they leave the building.
10:05:00 And that’s pulling people
10:05:02 in general away from task. Not to mention, you know, exposure as
10:05:08 well. So I absolutely
10:05:10 understand your point of we’re sending kids back and we should
10:05:12 be willing to do the same,
10:05:14 and I get that. My only suggestion is that we phase it in
10:05:18 through starting with our workshops
10:05:20 in August so that we can gradually manage it instead of opening
10:05:26 up, you know, a huge
10:05:28 floodgate of people coming into the building that we have to
10:05:30 figure out how to manage in
10:05:31 a socially distanced safe way. » We could – an idea that I was
10:05:35 thinking
10:05:35 about because I thought about this is we could have – just like
10:05:38 you have people testing,
10:05:40 you could have a number system where people sit in their cars
10:05:42 out there and if they want
10:05:43 to give public comment, they can walk in, stand there. Or we
10:05:47 could give another location
10:05:48 inside the building where they walk in and give – just like
10:05:51 they do at the county commission.
10:05:52 I think they let them come in, they let them speak inside of
10:05:55 another area, and then they
10:05:57 leave. But that might be another area to do, and that would take
10:06:00 less than two people to
10:06:01 monitor that. I just feel strongly. I mean, like I – and I know
10:06:06 that I don’t want it
10:06:08 to seem like it’s a pandering thing to the public, but the
10:06:10 bottom line is that I feel
10:06:11 strong about it, and I really think that we should be together,
10:06:15 and I think it also sends
10:06:17 a message that we’re together also. I know that we’re trying to
10:06:20 do socially distanced,
10:06:21 but if we’ve got kids that are inside there that are tighter, we
10:06:25 can get tighter, and
10:06:26 that’s what my feelings are. And I’ll leave it up to the other
10:06:28 board members to make comments.
10:06:30 I’m sorry. » This is Cheryl again.
10:06:34 » Go ahead, Cheryl. » I haven’t – I didn’t hear anybody say
10:06:39 whether they would be willing to wear a mask to protect me or to
10:06:43 protect anybody else that
10:06:44 walks in that room. I did not hear that. Is there a problem with
10:06:49 that? I mean, really,
10:06:50 is there really a big problem with that? » I don’t think
10:06:54 anybody in here has a problem
10:06:56 wearing masks, Cheryl. I wanted to sit next to each other. The
10:06:59 issue that you have with
10:07:00 the mask is that when you’re speaking into the microphone and
10:07:03 when you’re doing other
10:07:04 things, it makes it difficult. That’s all. But if that’s what it
10:07:08 requires for this board
10:07:09 to meet up on the thing, I do not mind doing it. But I don’t see
10:07:13 that – I mean, you can
10:07:15 still call in virtually. I’m not requiring asking you that you
10:07:19 have to come in. But I
10:07:20 don’t have a problem doing something like that if it meant that
10:07:23 we could be together
10:07:24 on the dais. » While we’re going around, I’ll just weigh
10:07:31 in on, you know, since we’re trying – I’ve had similar thoughts
10:07:34 to Mr. Susan. I feel
10:07:36 like we need to come back, not next Tuesday, because it’s too
10:07:38 short of a turnaround. Our
10:07:39 next meeting after that is July the 30th, I believe, our budget
10:07:43 – our Thursday night
10:07:44 meeting, right? That would be right before everybody starts
10:07:48 coming back, August. We manage
10:07:50 it. It’s my understanding of the phase that we’re in. We can
10:07:53 have meetings of up to 50
10:07:54 people. You know, as far as, you know, we still need to be
10:07:57 spread out. It’s also my
10:07:58 understanding of CDC guidelines. And Ms. McDougall just
10:08:02 addressed that, you know, that if the
10:08:05 – if you have masks still, you know, it depends on where you
10:08:07 are, and different governments
10:08:09 are doing different – making different decisions. But masks are
10:08:12 for when you can’t socially
10:08:13 distance. We’re sitting actually eight feet apart today. If we
10:08:16 can sit eight to ten feet
10:08:17 apart, you know, and I’ve got my mask on when I walk in the door,
10:08:20 and I take it off when
10:08:21 I sit down, I don’t have a problem. But I, you know, for right
10:08:25 now, the executive orders
10:08:27 are that we can still – you know, we don’t have to have the quorum.
10:08:30 So Ms. McDougall
10:08:32 can call in, can vote and all of that, that she might not
10:08:34 normally be able to do. But
10:08:35 –
10:08:36 » Ms. – I mean, she can always call – as long as you have a
10:08:38 physical quorum, you can
10:08:39 – the board can still allow remote attendance. So –
10:08:42 » Right. But under normal circumstances, remote means that you
10:08:45 can –
10:08:45 » You can still – as long as you have the physical quorum,
10:08:48 they can still call in. It’s
10:08:49 left up to the board.
10:08:50 » They can still vote. Also –
10:08:51 » Yeah.
10:08:52 » Okay.
10:08:53 » That’s a board decision.
10:08:54 » Okay.
10:08:55 » It’s like in Marion –
10:08:56 » Okay. And we would never want to take away a vote.
10:08:57 » In Marion, they had a rule that you could not vote. They
10:09:00 would let you speak to an item.
10:09:01 » Okay.
10:09:02 » But board members that were not present in the room could not
10:09:05 vote.
10:09:06 » Gotcha. I mean, as far as – you know, we can do remote as
10:09:10 long as any one of us
10:09:12 – and, you know, truth be told, we talked about this way back
10:09:14 in March. There might
10:09:15 become a time when one of us tests positive or it needs to be quarantined
10:09:18 and, you know,
10:09:19 or three of us or four of us. I mean, as long as the executive
10:09:22 order is there, we can call
10:09:23 in whatever. But I’d like for us to start moving in that
10:09:26 direction as well, as long
10:09:27 as we can, you know, follow the current guidelines for
10:09:30 gatherings.
10:09:31 » But not next week.
10:09:36 » Ms. Duskovich.
10:09:38 » Oh, I thought I chimed in. Yeah, I think next week is
10:09:44 obviously too soon with everybody
10:09:45 scrambling to finalize the plan and with all the feedback coming
10:09:48 from today. But I definitely
10:09:50 want to get there. And I think that August workshops only is a
10:09:55 little slow for my taste.
10:09:58 Ms. Campbell, that’s everything I’ve read, is that if you’re
10:10:01 more than six feet apart,
10:10:02 the mask is – and that’s what we seem to be practicing with the
10:10:05 students with your
10:10:06 recommendations is when they’re on the bus and can’t be further
10:10:11 apart, masks, if they’re
10:10:12 going to be doing close contact things, masks. And maybe that’s
10:10:16 our – like right now we’re
10:10:17 eight feet apart. I don’t see a need to wear a mask. If we’re on
10:10:20 the dais, I don’t know,
10:10:22 somebody want to measure if it’s too close, maybe you have to
10:10:24 wear a mask. But then, you
10:10:25 know, I just have trouble hearing people. I was around three
10:10:29 people last night with masks
10:10:31 and I literally had to get like so close to them and go like
10:10:35 this. So I could hear. I
10:10:37 don’t know, maybe my hearing is not that good and I read lips
10:10:39 more than I thought. But it’s
10:10:41 so awkward for me because I’m not a personal space. I don’t like
10:10:45 getting in people’s personal
10:10:47 space. But if I can’t hear you, then I start getting closer and
10:10:49 closer and yet we’re in
10:10:50 a pandemic. And I’m like, well, now I’m like practically
10:10:53 touching you so I can hear you.
10:10:54 I’m just – you know, the whole thing is way more complicated
10:10:58 than it needs to be. Short
10:11:00 answer, I think we need to get the public back engaged. We’re
10:11:03 making really big decisions
10:11:05 that is affecting the public. Not just these things, but on our
10:11:11 budget we’ll be voting
10:11:12 on the media assistance, what we plan on doing with their
10:11:17 positions. These are all things
10:11:20 that I think the community needs to be able to look at us and
10:11:23 share their concerns. Does
10:11:25 that give you all the information you need? » And just since we’re
10:11:28 talking about public
10:11:29 comment, we may still have some public who want to comment but
10:11:32 don’t feel comfortable
10:11:34 coming in. And I want to be aware of that. Just like Ms. McDougall
10:11:37 is not comfortable
10:11:38 coming in right now, we may have some public. If there’s a way
10:11:41 for us to continue the phone-in
10:11:43 version, you know, if we can – to make things more complicated.
10:11:48 But if we can do both and
10:11:50 at least for a little while, because I don’t want people to be
10:11:53 silenced because they don’t
10:11:55 feel comfortable coming in. Does that make it too complicated?
10:12:02 » I think we’re just complicating it at a time when there’s
10:12:05 already a whole lot of complication
10:12:06 going on. But if that’s the wishes of the board, then that’s the
10:12:10 way that we move forward.
10:12:11 So I’ll get with Pam and find out what has been advertised and
10:12:15 how it’s been advertised
10:12:17 and look at the calendar. And then Dr. Mullins, I think the
10:12:21 board has given you a charge to
10:12:22 figure out how to get people in here safely. » We will work
10:12:28 toward that. If Cheryl’s not
10:12:31 coming in and Pam’s not on the dais, we might be able to start
10:12:34 saving some space up there,
10:12:36 if that makes sense. » We’ll take a look at all the
10:12:38 combinations.
10:12:39 » All right. The other thing I was going to say is did we talk
10:12:41 about possibly moving
10:12:43 the well care centers into a focus on COVID or anything like
10:12:47 that? Was that part of any
10:12:48 conversation? Because they’re well care centers, right? The
10:12:53 focus of our well care centers
10:12:55 is to focus on the well being of our people, focused on the
10:12:58 people that need it the most.
10:13:00 Would it behoove us to move our well care centers into kind of a
10:13:03 COVID focused area
10:13:04 to help those people get the test, to help them move, you know
10:13:06 what I mean, to help that
10:13:08 process? » That is a discussion that I’ve had with
10:13:11 Mr. Langdorf, and I can explore it further. I’m sorry Mrs. Seibert
10:13:16 is gone, but prior
10:13:17 I don’t even know what time it was. She talked about the PPE
10:13:20 that those who do the tests
10:13:21 have to wear, and that was one of the impediments in making sure
10:13:25 everybody’s isolated and those
10:13:26 well care centers aren’t set up for that. But it certainly –
10:13:30 » Not so much testing. I think that that wouldn’t be
10:13:32 appropriate at the time. But I
10:13:33 think that helping those individuals in this process through
10:13:37 getting the test from the
10:13:38 other place, being that, you know, there’s Cigna supposed to
10:13:41 follow up with follow up
10:13:42 care and everything else, and making sure that they have the
10:13:45 responsible piece. I mean,
10:13:47 part of well is being well. And I think that a lot of people don’t
10:13:50 take into consideration
10:13:52 that during this process the better your immune system is, the
10:13:55 better off you are. So if we’re
10:13:57 focusing on people that are taking the test and we’re calling
10:14:00 them to say, hey, here’s
10:14:01 some of the things you can be doing in order to, you know,
10:14:03 benefit yourself and come back
10:14:05 at an earlier time, I think that’s something that we could be
10:14:08 looking at, that’s all.
10:14:10 And then the other one is, is the whole hurricane plan that we
10:14:14 talked about, don’t say the letter
10:14:16 H. I know that it’s part of what we’re going to be doing, but we’re
10:14:19 going to be smack dab
10:14:20 coming right into hurricane season. And I don’t know what the
10:14:24 guidance is going to be
10:14:25 for cleaning and disinfecting and all that stuff. So it’s just
10:14:28 something to put on the
10:14:29 radar. And then –
10:14:32 » Mr. Susan, Mr. Novelli is in regular communication and work
10:14:36 with the Bart Emergency Operations
10:14:38 Center, specifically John Scott. And we’ve got – we’ve been
10:14:42 given direction in that.
10:14:44 I can ask Mr. Novelli to provide the board an update on where we
10:14:48 are with –
10:14:48 » We don’t need an update. I just – I just wanted to make sure
10:14:51 it was – and if that’s
10:14:52 good, we’re there. The last thing that I wanted to say was this,
10:14:55 is that we have a message
10:14:57 to get out. And I think that I am going to – and I would – I
10:15:01 think that a lot of the
10:15:03 other board members were going to do this, too – is that we
10:15:06 need to message the positive
10:15:07 in this, the heroes, the people that are doing it right, rather
10:15:10 than pointing out the ones
10:15:11 that don’t. And meaning that when we’re messaging and we should
10:15:14 be telling our parents that
10:15:16 we should be honoring the kids that are wearing the masks, not
10:15:19 pointing out the kids that
10:15:20 aren’t, if that makes sense, drive the positivity as opposed to
10:15:24 pointing out the negativity.
10:15:26 I think we could get to a good place with that. That’s all. And
10:15:28 if we could message
10:15:29 some really positive things about kids doing the right thing
10:15:32 with the masks, doing the
10:15:33 right thing with social distancing, doing the right thing, I
10:15:36 think that that helps sometimes,
10:15:37 too. That’s all. And that’s it. I’m done.
10:15:42 » All right. Circling back. Dr. Mullins, did you have
10:15:47 additional things that you wanted
10:15:49 to address before we go back to the big issues that were on your
10:15:52 list?
10:15:53 » Well, just for the benefit of making sure we’ve got our –
10:15:56 you know, everything covered
10:15:57 that we’ve discussed, if I can take a moment to just go through
10:16:00 my notes, some of the things
10:16:01 that we’ve already agreed to follow up on and provide to the
10:16:05 board, either by way of
10:16:06 an update or at the next – or at the board meeting on Tuesday.
10:16:10 Mr. Susan, you alluded
10:16:10 to the request for free and reduced lunch and distance learning
10:16:15 from the spring. We’ll
10:16:16 get you that – we’ll get that information for the board. We’ll
10:16:19 also be following – ensuring
10:16:20 that our videos for training will be also accommodate Spanish
10:16:29 version or other languages.
10:16:33 We’ll be looking at the chronic illness form as a possible
10:16:38 digital form to expedite the
10:16:40 process.
10:16:43 » And actually, if there’s any way to put more resources
10:16:45 towards it, if there’s a help,
10:16:47 because that’s going to be a funnel point. Sorry.
10:16:50 » I had a couple more. Just a second. We’re going to be
10:17:00 developing an illness indicators
10:17:02 quick reference card for employees as they are in contact with
10:17:06 students so that they
10:17:08 have, you know, a sense of what are some of the indicators that
10:17:12 they need to be aware
10:17:13 of to potentially send them to the clinic for further evaluation.
10:17:19 The discipline policy
10:17:21 team committee will be coming together to look at the
10:17:25 transportation, willful disobedience,
10:17:28 are there additional considerations that need to be made when
10:17:31 behavior is increasingly dangerous,
10:17:35 other consequences and that sort of thing. Also, there’s a
10:17:39 request for a timeline of
10:17:40 the training videos for staff. We’ll provide that to the board.
10:17:43 I don’t know that I’ll
10:17:44 have that ready for Tuesday, but that will be coming forward.
10:17:49 And Rachel Winston, our PE resource teacher, I’m not sure that’s
10:17:54 the right title, but she’s
10:17:56 going to be continuing to work on developing adaptive best
10:17:59 practices for PE teachers across
10:18:02 the district. So, they’ve got options outside of the traditional
10:18:09 gymnasium. And Dr. Thede
10:18:12 is following up on developing a plan for board discussion or
10:18:16 workshop around the potential
10:18:18 of employee leave related to COVID. Just again, for the board, I
10:18:27 have a call in to Joy Frank
10:18:30 related to the active assailant and fire drills, particularly in
10:18:34 the first 30 days of the school
10:18:37 year and hopes that FADS will take a position or statement on
10:18:41 that to the state looking
10:18:43 for some allowance or a waiver for that. And then Dr. Thede is
10:18:50 going to follow up on the
10:18:51 well care clinic focus related to COVID. Those are the things
10:18:56 that I have. We certainly will
10:18:58 be following up on for the board. The topics that I have listed
10:19:04 for additional direction
10:19:06 from the board in preparation for Tuesday’s board meeting,
10:19:10 feedback, direction on our
10:19:13 academic plans, both for the elementary level as well as the
10:19:17 secondary level, the utilization
10:19:19 of temperature checks. There was discussion, we have thermometers,
10:19:24 touchless thermometers
10:19:26 in all of our schools, but there was discussion around expanding
10:19:31 the utilization of temperature
10:19:33 checks. We did not have that as a recommendation in the plan, so
10:19:36 we do need further direction
10:19:38 from the board. I summarized or surmised that doing temperature
10:19:44 checks upon initial entry
10:19:46 of students on the campus would be very difficult from a
10:19:51 capacity standpoint. It is more feasible
10:19:54 once students arrive in their classroom, but that would require
10:19:58 some discussion with the
10:19:59 union. There was an optional discussion, so we would need
10:20:03 further direction from the board
10:20:04 of what the expectations are there. There was discussion, we
10:20:08 need further direction
10:20:09 on face coverings and the language expectation or enforcement of
10:20:14 utilization of face coverings
10:20:16 on campuses. There was discussion about volunteer access on
10:20:22 campus. We had recommended that
10:20:25 volunteers not be permitted on campus and there was some
10:20:28 discussion that that be reconsidered,
10:20:30 so we need further direction from the board on that as well as
10:20:34 utilizing swing sets. I
10:20:37 believe there was consensus on the board that playgrounds should
10:20:41 not be accessible, but
10:20:43 there was some discussion specifically around swing sets. So I’d
10:20:47 appreciate board direction
10:20:48 on those items. If I could circle back with two things on
10:20:54 the previous list, two general questions that I would like to
10:20:59 pose or comments, I guess.
10:21:02 One is for Dr. Sullivan and Ms. Klein, you guys did, well, and
10:21:08 government and community
10:21:10 relations did such a phenomenal job with the videos last time
10:21:14 during our distance learning.
10:21:17 If there is the capacity and the patience and the desire to do
10:21:20 so, I think that it would
10:21:22 be phenomenal if you could do one for elementary education
10:21:26 options and one for secondary education
10:21:29 options, just kind of highlighting, especially I think Dr.
10:21:33 Sullivan, some of the secondary
10:21:34 stuff gets really complicated, but I think it would be really
10:21:37 good information for parents.
10:21:39 So if you have the opportunity to do that after we finalize
10:21:43 where we’re going, temporarily
10:21:46 finalize until things change again, I think that would be really
10:21:49 helpful for our families
10:21:50 to really understand. And then my second thing is one of I think
10:21:59 one of the challenges that I have in really knowing how to best
10:22:04 move forward and what
10:22:06 things I should be paying attention to within our reopening plan
10:22:11 is kind of a lack of knowledge
10:22:13 about what we currently have going on with regard to COVID. And
10:22:18 Ms. Moore, feel free
10:22:19 to tell me if this would just be an absolute nightmare for you,
10:22:23 but I would love for the
10:22:25 board to have updates similar to what we have with our incident
10:22:28 reports. We get the daily
10:22:30 incident report of things that are going on in the district. I
10:22:34 feel like it would be really
10:22:35 helpful for us to know where we’re seeing problems and where
10:22:39 what we’re doing is working
10:22:41 and not divulging private information about anyone, but so that
10:22:48 we have an idea of the
10:22:49 types of challenges that we’re facing with regard to COVID and
10:22:52 potential issues. Does
10:22:53 that make sense? Yeah, I understand.
10:22:56 Is that a huge ask of you? No.
10:23:00 Okay. Thank you. Welcome. I think I think that would that for me
10:23:04 anyway, I think it
10:23:05 would help me to gauge, you know, as we’re going forward what we
10:23:10 need to do. All right.
10:23:12 Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And Ms. Moore, I think you had
10:23:16 something as Dr. Mullins was
10:23:17 running through his list. I didn’t want to leave out the
10:23:22 concerns that Mr. Gibbs was
10:23:25 going to look into in terms of what it would mean to for our
10:23:32 teachers to do a scan, a medical
10:23:35 screener on students every day and whether or not we would need
10:23:40 parent permission to
10:23:41 do so. There’s just some complications in there we need to get
10:23:45 answered as we move forward
10:23:46 on that. Good, Dr. Mullins. All right. Then let’s go ahead and
10:23:55 start with the elementary
10:23:57 academic options. Does anyone have concerns, questions,
10:24:01 suggestions, recommendations or
10:24:04 do you want to give a thumbs up to move in the direction that
10:24:06 they’re currently moving?
10:24:08 I’m going to give a thumbs up. I think that is the e-learning is
10:24:11 absolutely what the public
10:24:12 has been asking for. Parents have been asking for the ones who
10:24:15 aren’t ready to go for active
10:24:16 brick and mortar. They want to stay in their regular school but
10:24:19 be able to do it from home
10:24:20 at least for the time. Ms. Deskevich. Thumbs up with just the
10:24:26 small caveat of or the comment
10:24:31 of and I’m sure we’re already planning on it, keeping the desks
10:24:34 as far apart as possible.
10:24:36 We seem to be getting a lot of concerns already about the three
10:24:39 feet instead of the six feet.
10:24:40 So if we can manage the six feet, I think we need to do
10:24:43 everything we can to get that
10:24:45 six feet in. And Ms. Campbell and I were chatting on the break
10:24:49 just for a minute about potential.
10:24:51 We can’t promise class sizes will be smaller but it seems like
10:24:54 if more people choose the
10:24:55 option to not be in the school, then ultimately the class sizes
10:24:59 will be smaller. So I know
10:25:01 everybody’s panicked that they’re going to be at max capacity 18
10:25:06 to 22 but if the trend
10:25:08 is the same as what the state is seeing that half the kids are
10:25:10 choosing other options,
10:25:11 I would think the classes would be not half size because we’re
10:25:15 still going to have this,
10:25:17 you know, a lot of the teachers are going to be teaching
10:25:19 virtually but it seems like
10:25:20 the numbers would come out smaller. Am I incorrect? Because you’re
10:25:25 looking like I’m incorrect.
10:25:28 We will, we are certainly required to meet class size and we
10:25:32 will, we would do that but
10:25:34 I can’t make any assurance that class sizes will be smaller
10:25:36 because we’re not funded for
10:25:37 them to be smaller. Understood. If students aren’t coming and
10:25:42 they’re taking advantage
10:25:43 of eLearning or BVS, then those teachers that would have been in
10:25:46 brick and mortar will be
10:25:48 diverted to those other things. Understood. And I know nobody in
10:25:52 this room wants to mention
10:25:53 it but somebody may choose something else that’s not in our
10:25:56 choices and our numbers
10:25:58 could potentially go down. We will lose the funds, yes, but we
10:26:01 will still have the same
10:26:02 allocations. No, we won’t. No, we will have to make adjustments
10:26:07 based on the allocations,
10:26:09 particularly with uncertain funding second semester. That was
10:26:14 the conversation. I just
10:26:16 don’t want the public, I don’t want the public to leave this
10:26:19 conversation believing that
10:26:20 we’re going to be able to provide smaller class sizes than we
10:26:22 have before. That is not
10:26:24 the case. So, we are leaving this meeting pretty confident that
10:26:27 classes are going to
10:26:27 be 18 and 22 in elementary school or thereabout. We will adhere
10:26:32 to class size. You keep saying
10:26:34 adhere and that makes me think we’re not going to pass it up,
10:26:37 right, like we’re going to
10:26:38 adhere but you’re saying we’re not just going to adhere. It’s
10:26:42 not like we want to have 18,
10:26:44 we always max it at 18, right, or 22, whichever the grade level
10:26:49 is. Our obligations to class
10:26:51 size amendment are average class size by school and we have met
10:26:54 that consistently as a district
10:26:56 and that would continue to be our practice. That, what we have
10:27:00 instances where there was
10:27:03 a class with 19. We will certainly work to avoid that but we don’t,
10:27:08 we’re not being assured
10:27:09 the funding that we’re going to be able to sustain that. I
10:27:13 understand our funding issues
10:27:15 but I think, and I’ve been fine with the averages that we’ve
10:27:18 used in the past but I’m wondering
10:27:20 now if we really need to strictly adhere and try to figure out
10:27:25 how to, I know that’s dropping
10:27:27 a bomb after a nine hour meeting but if the averages end up
10:27:32 putting 20 kids in a class,
10:27:35 I mean that makes a difference right now more than ever. So, do
10:27:38 we have any idea what the
10:27:40 cost is if we strictly adhere to the 18 and 22? We, I can’t
10:27:45 provide the Board a cost.
10:27:47 Didn’t we at some point strictly adhere and then we switched to
10:27:51 using the averages? When
10:27:53 we were not a full choice district we didn’t qualify for the
10:27:57 average school. I want to
10:27:59 say that was at least five or six years, several years ago. Even
10:28:03 more than that? We have been
10:28:05 utilizing the average class size for the last several years.
10:28:10 Okay. Okay, well you ultimately
10:28:14 have my thumbs up. Yes. Sorry that was a long, long way around.
10:28:18 Mr. Susan. I was, Dr. Mullins,
10:28:21 I think you’re hinting on it and I think everybody needs to know
10:28:25 that we will not know our numbers
10:28:26 and how that’s going to allocate until they put that survey
10:28:30 together and again we need
10:28:32 to back into that survey and fill that darn thing out but I was
10:28:35 getting at, if you have
10:28:37 a teacher that’s in that classroom and we’re trying, say 13 kids
10:28:41 leave the classroom and
10:28:42 there’s 13 kids left, just say for instance, so that everybody
10:28:46 knows whoever’s teaching
10:28:47 those online classes is going to have to have more than the
10:28:51 actual amount to compensate
10:28:53 for the fact that we only have 13 in this teacher’s classroom
10:28:56 because we only have so
10:28:57 many teachers for so many kids. We don’t have allocated more
10:29:01 allocations for more so the
10:29:03 online classes are going to have to be more kids than the kids
10:29:06 inside the classrooms to
10:29:07 compensate for the 13 less seats. Does that make sense, Dr. Mullins?
10:29:11 I understand what
10:29:12 you’re saying. I don’t know that that will necessarily be true
10:29:15 that the e-learning, because
10:29:16 we’re going to have to adhere to class size for the e-learning
10:29:19 classes as well. What may
10:29:21 occur, and Ms. Klein alluded to it, is that we may have a multi-age
10:29:26 class, which we have
10:29:28 had in the past as a result of needing to meet class size
10:29:32 amendments. So there may be
10:29:35 a fourth and fifth grade e-learning class combined, if that
10:29:38 makes sense, to get to maximize
10:29:40 class size. Ms. Klein, did I represent that correctly? Ms. McDougall,
10:29:47 you want to weigh
10:29:47 in on the elementary plan? I want to give it a thumbs up also,
10:29:53 and I also would much
10:29:54 prefer that our desks are six feet apart than the three, or as
10:29:59 close to six, because I think
10:30:02 that will make a difference. All right, and I will give you a
10:30:09 thumbs up on elementary
10:30:10 as well. Same concerns, you know, just doing as much as we can
10:30:16 to ensure distancing. That
10:30:19 brings us to our secondary plan. Ms. Campbell, you want to weigh
10:30:25 in? Oh, I get to go first.
10:30:27 You want me to start with Ms. McDougall? Yes. Ms. McDougall. For
10:30:36 me, I like the black schedule.
10:30:41 I think it will provide some safety for our teachers. I think it
10:30:45 will be more beneficial
10:30:47 for some of our students. So, yes, a thumbs up for the black
10:30:54 schedule. Mr. Susan. Oh,
10:30:57 you want me to go before everybody else? I was just going in
10:31:00 order from. When we’re giving
10:31:04 direction here, you’re asking for direction to continue to look
10:31:08 into it. You’re not looking
10:31:09 for direction to completely drive the actual, we’re going to
10:31:13 block right now because you
10:31:14 said you’re going to go back to your principal, correct? I’m
10:31:21 asking for your support if we
10:31:26 can make the math work, utilize some CARES Act funds where
10:31:32 necessary, and Dr. Mullins
10:31:35 is in support of what the financial impact would be for us to
10:31:39 proceed with that plan.
10:31:41 It is, again, a big lift. So I can push the teams to move
10:31:50 further on that. But what I
10:31:56 need to know is if we can make it to his satisfaction and, of
10:32:00 course, Ms. Lisinski and those things,
10:32:02 is this something that you support? Okay. So where I’m at with
10:32:10 this is that we
10:32:11 just decided in this decision right here to move the entire
10:32:15 secondary possibly to block
10:32:17 scheduling, which I feel we need some time to get to the
10:32:21 principals to do all those things.
10:32:24 I would love to have that decision come back to us on Tuesday,
10:32:28 whether we do it or not,
10:32:30 because I think some conversations need to be had. I’m hearing
10:32:33 from both sides that it’s
10:32:34 good, it’s bad, right? I need some time to look at it. But when
10:32:38 I look at this from the
10:32:39 beginning, I see we are going to have less teachers coming back
10:32:43 than the ones that we
10:32:44 had before. We’re going to be asking teachers to take on more
10:32:48 because even though it’s block
10:32:50 scheduling, there is a need inside that block scheduling for
10:32:54 teachers to teach four of four.
10:32:56 So they’re going to have to – there is going to be a need for
10:32:58 that. There’s possible PAR,
10:33:00 which means that we’re going to need more teachers in the
10:33:02 schools, which if it was one
10:33:04 or two, that’s no big deal, but when we have 18, a couple of
10:33:08 extra units. So there’s the
10:33:10 cost of it all, but then the other piece is that when you start
10:33:15 looking at how much time
10:33:17 we have to teach a bunch of teachers that have never taught
10:33:22 block on how to not only
10:33:24 teach the way that they’re supposed to for COVID, but now all of
10:33:28 a sudden they have to
10:33:29 take what they would have had done in 47 minutes, and some of
10:33:32 these people have been teaching
10:33:33 20, 30 years on 47 minutes, to then shift it to 90 minutes, confining
10:33:40 a class for disciplinary
10:33:42 issues, time that staff needs. We normally take a year when we
10:33:46 move a school to block
10:33:47 scheduling. I remember when we did it at, I think it was Space
10:33:51 Coast, it took a year
10:33:53 for them to transition, or it was Titusville or astronaut.
10:33:56 Somebody took a whole year.
10:33:57 We were talking about that when we first came on, is that it
10:34:00 takes a year for them to transition
10:34:02 and we’re going to be putting that down into like a week. And
10:34:05 then on top of that, the
10:34:06 other thing is, is that a lot of those kids that are inside
10:34:08 those schools have gone through
10:34:09 the block scheduling, so they’ve continued to do it over and
10:34:13 over again. And so they’re
10:34:14 conditioned for it. And I just, I know that the way that they’re
10:34:19 successful in some of
10:34:20 those things is that they teach zero blocks. They teach extra
10:34:24 blocks. And I have a concern
10:34:26 there, but I do know that the bottom line is, is that you’re
10:34:28 trying to do contract tracing.
10:34:30 You’re trying to make sure that when they get test positive,
10:34:34 that you can control that.
10:34:35 And that’s a big piece here. So I need some time on this one. I’m
10:34:39 okay going forward,
10:34:40 you know, to take a look at it, but I don’t want this thumbs up
10:34:43 right now to mean that
10:34:44 if you can make it work, you just go. Because I might find out
10:34:47 tomorrow or the next day
10:34:48 that it’s completely a disaster. We might all find out. We need
10:34:52 to have that ability
10:34:53 to come back to you. I don’t think with the current time period
10:34:57 that we have, that we
10:34:58 can do that. So I would request that it comes back to us for
10:35:00 further discussion if we have
10:35:02 any issues. Does that make sense on Tuesday? Yeah, I just, I
10:35:07 mean, it’s just, if I have
10:35:11 to say it less time, less time for them to plan scheduling,
10:35:15 nobody’s done the scheduling
10:35:17 for block and any of the other schools except to the ESC becomes
10:35:21 an issue because now we
10:35:22 have to code. We have to make applications and do those pieces.
10:35:25 How does a substitute
10:35:27 work into block? Have they ever done it before? So all of our
10:35:30 substitutes need to switch over.
10:35:33 I just think that it’s a lot to put on a teacher at a time when
10:35:35 we didn’t have time. That’s
10:35:37 all. All right, I’m good. So I don’t like block, going to this
10:35:44 really quickly because
10:35:45 of the reasons that I shared, but everything that’s positive
10:35:50 about this is, outweighs what
10:35:53 I don’t like. And as far as, you know, and our teachers, yes,
10:35:57 they’re going to make some
10:35:59 huge adjustments, but from the feedback that I’ve seen, even
10:36:02 already coming in the breaks
10:36:04 checking different things, I’m already seeing positive of, I
10:36:06 would have felt so much more
10:36:07 comfortable coming back to school if I only am exposed to three
10:36:11 classes of kids versus
10:36:12 six. And the changes, you know, less passing periods, which is
10:36:16 one of the things we’re
10:36:18 so concerned about and more time to plan, more time to adjust,
10:36:22 especially if we’re going
10:36:23 to be in school, out of school, our kids only having four
10:36:27 classes of work, you know, full
10:36:29 long classes, but four that they’ve got to focus on in the weeks
10:36:32 when we’re going to
10:36:33 be distance learning because we have cases pop up in schools. I,
10:36:39 so I’m ready to tell
10:36:40 you, yes, move forward and check in with our principals. I would
10:36:46 just ask, very seriously
10:36:49 ask, I’m going to give you my serious face, that very strong
10:36:53 consideration to students’
10:36:55 schedules and their preferences, especially when it comes to,
10:36:57 you know, if, you know,
10:36:58 I don’t know how Titusville does it, but if they do band all
10:37:00 year long and they’ve got
10:37:01 three other classes, but whatever, that, you know, students are
10:37:03 all of a sudden, their
10:37:04 preferences that they put in in the spring of what classes they
10:37:08 wanted, everything kind
10:37:09 of gets readjusted because you don’t get to pick, am I going to
10:37:11 take it in the fall, I’m
10:37:12 going to take it in the spring, and with the academic classes, I
10:37:14 know there’s probably
10:37:15 a better way to do that and it all gets shuffled out, but just,
10:37:18 you know, that’s really going
10:37:20 to rock some of the performing groups and the arts and the elective
10:37:25 classes world in
10:37:26 doing this, and so I’m very cautious to do that, but I just, ooh,
10:37:32 but I can give you
10:37:33 my yes.
10:37:43 » I share a little bit of Mr. Susan’s concern on making such a
10:37:48 big decision with, I mean,
10:37:50 I’ll admittedly say I know nothing except for what’s been spoken
10:37:54 today about block scheduling.
10:37:56 On the surface, you’ve got my support, you’ve got my vote.
10:38:00 Basically because it reduces by half the contact, and I think
10:38:05 that’s, you know, that’s what
10:38:07 this meeting is about today is how we’re going to go back to
10:38:10 school with 68,000 students
10:38:13 as safe as we can in the most normal fashion, and this still
10:38:18 allows kids to have their classes
10:38:21 and to, I mean, it’s going to cause issues.
10:38:24 I’m really concerned about AP and some of the advanced students,
10:38:28 I’ve had a lot of concerns,
10:38:30 but I think, and you didn’t even speak about that, you said it
10:38:34 later in the meeting, like
10:38:35 not even when you were presenting, and it hit me just as this
10:38:40 wasn’t an easy decision
10:38:42 for you to even bring forward.
10:38:43 You know what this is going to do in the disruption and what it’s
10:38:46 going to put on your principles
10:38:47 and I know how you like to protect them, so I’m assuming you
10:38:51 feel strongly that this is
10:38:52 going to keep everybody the safest, and so you have my thumbs up.
10:39:00 » So I’m living block, actually I’m living block and I’m living
10:39:04 a seven period because
10:39:05 I have one on block and I have one on seven period day.
10:39:11 And I will tell you that they make it work very well.
10:39:15 The feedback I’ve heard is it would be great if we could have
10:39:17 more time, maybe if we could
10:39:18 start school like a week later to give more time to train
10:39:22 teachers and that sort of thing.
10:39:24 And I understand that, but you know, having taught at the
10:39:31 college level, some days you
10:39:34 are teaching a Monday, Wednesday, Friday class and you’re
10:39:37 teaching for 50 minutes and some
10:39:39 days you’re teaching a Tuesday, Thursday class and you’re
10:39:43 teaching for two hours and you
10:39:46 know, I think content wise, teachers can adjust with some
10:39:50 coaching along the way and make
10:39:53 it work.
10:39:55 I believe that they are absolutely professional enough to step
10:40:00 in and do that and will it
10:40:01 be phenomenal and ideal day one?
10:40:05 Probably not because it is an adjustment, but I do believe that
10:40:08 they can quickly adjust
10:40:09 to the block schedule.
10:40:13 You know, the Titusville community when we got rid of block at
10:40:16 astronaut was very upset
10:40:17 because it was what they had already known and they really
10:40:20 appreciated it.
10:40:21 The Titusville high community loves their block schedule because
10:40:26 of the CTE and the
10:40:28 extracurriculars and it works out really, really well for them.
10:40:33 Perhaps most importantly, I will tell you that when we did have
10:40:40 to go to our emergency
10:40:42 at home learning, it was much easier with my block schedule kid
10:40:48 than it was with my
10:40:50 seven period kid.
10:40:52 And when I say easier, I don’t mean like academically easier.
10:40:57 The rigor was there with the four classes, but being able to
10:41:01 manage four classes as opposed
10:41:03 to managing seven classes and seven different teaching styles
10:41:07 and seven different ways of
10:41:09 putting the assignments out, the block schedule was so much
10:41:15 easier for I think everyone to
10:41:17 adapt to our emergency at home learning platform.
10:41:23 And I anticipate a significant amount of that coming in our
10:41:26 future, unfortunately, just
10:41:28 to be realistic.
10:41:30 But my big driver in supporting the secondary plan is, you know,
10:41:36 as I said earlier, I am
10:41:38 incredibly nervous about our responsibility to keep our faculty
10:41:42 and staff and our students
10:41:44 safe.
10:41:45 And I feel like this probably has one of the larger impacts on
10:41:50 really minimizing those
10:41:52 exposures for our secondary faculty, staff, and students.
10:41:57 And so you have my thumbs up, Dr. Sullivan.
10:42:00 The only thing that I would say is I still love the possibility
10:42:04 of being able to do some
10:42:05 in class and some at home if it comes to that, and looking at
10:42:09 those ways that if we have
10:42:11 a teacher that has to go out on, you know, a 14-day quarantine
10:42:15 because she was in contact
10:42:17 or he was in contact with someone, looking at ways that we can,
10:42:21 you know, keep them engaged
10:42:23 with their students.
10:42:24 [ Inaudible Remark ]
10:42:25 Yes.
10:42:27 So, yes, I was looking at you both, so.
10:42:31 But I thank you for making this a possibility.
10:42:35 And please thank your principals if they move in that direction.
10:42:38 The only thing that I would say is if you go back to your
10:42:41 principals and they’re like,
10:42:42 you are absolutely going to kill us, you know, I don’t want to
10:42:47 push them over the edge, but
10:42:49 if they truly think this is doable with the timeline that you
10:42:52 have put before them, then
10:42:53 you have my blessing.
10:42:55 OK.
10:42:56 Was that enough guidance?
10:43:00 Did you need further?
10:43:02 [ Inaudible Remark ]
10:43:06 So, to summarize, by far the board’s consensus is to move
10:43:16 forward with block and, you know,
10:43:22 if Dr. Sullivan determines and we evaluate the fiscal viability
10:43:28 of it, we will bring
10:43:30 that recommendation forward, you know, hopefully on Tuesday or
10:43:34 at least an update of what that’s
10:43:36 going to look like for further consideration.
10:43:39 But my– what I’m sensing is the board is supportive of moving
10:43:44 forward with this as
10:43:46 the primary consideration for our secondary schools next year.
10:43:50 With the auspice that the principals are supportive and that our
10:43:55 union is in support too so that
10:43:57 we don’t–
10:43:58 I think I feel comfortable living in both lanes because in
10:44:03 reality, there’s not going
10:44:06 to be a ton of movement between now and Tuesday.
10:44:09 And so, I would certainly anticipate our board members, you know,
10:44:15 having additional thoughts
10:44:17 and things like that.
10:44:20 I want to empower them a little to start taking more steps and
10:44:23 reaching out to their school
10:44:24 communities and so, what I hear is that I have the support to go
10:44:28 ahead and have them
10:44:29 start reaching out to their school communities.
10:44:31 Again, prior to today, only the principal and assistant
10:44:34 principal knew because they
10:44:35 didn’t want any discussion prior to the board.
10:44:38 And so, what I’m hearing is enough support to go in that
10:44:43 direction but again, of course,
10:44:46 this actual presentation to the community is on Tuesday and of
10:44:49 course the board, you
10:44:51 know, can certainly weigh in again on then as well to Mr. Susan’s
10:44:55 point.
10:44:55 » I think it’s– for me, it’s the principals and just learning
10:44:58 more about it because what
10:44:59 Ms. Belford just said was great.
10:45:00 You know what I mean?
10:45:01 You made some great points.
10:45:02 I’m learning as we go on it.
10:45:04 That’s all.
10:45:05 Thank you.
10:45:06 » Thank you.
10:45:07 » All right.
10:45:08 So, elementary and secondary, we are good Dr. Mullins with
10:45:12 direction?
10:45:13 » Yes, Madam Chair.
10:45:15 » Moving on to temperature checks.
10:45:19 I know it’s Mr. Susan’s issue but we received a message
10:45:22 somewhere along the way here that
10:45:24 other districts are doing like spot checking in a sense so it’s
10:45:28 not every single student
10:45:30 but it’s Monday, kids that come through the front gate get it,
10:45:35 Tuesday, kids come through
10:45:36 the side gate get it.
10:45:37 And it’s not a perfect system but something for us maybe to
10:45:42 think about.
10:45:43 I don’t think something like that should be hardcore in policy
10:45:46 like every Tuesday.
10:45:48 I don’t know.
10:45:49 But that’s–it sounded like maybe it’s something we should
10:45:54 discuss.
10:45:55 I’m interested in after our discussion at least allowing if it’s
10:46:00 legal and doesn’t infringe
10:46:02 on privacy, us providing a thermometer for teachers that request.
10:46:09 I don’t know how we budget for that because we don’t know how
10:46:11 many would want one or how
10:46:12 long does it take to get them in?
10:46:15 » I’m going to hedge my response, you get another ish because
10:46:20 inventory changes with
10:46:22 great regularity.
10:46:23 This amount that we ordered we got very quickly and when I say
10:46:28 very quickly within two weeks.
10:46:31 At this–the next scale and as we get closer to school year, I
10:46:35 certainly can’t–nobody
10:46:37 can speak to that supply chain issue.
10:46:40 The sooner we get the order in the better and so obviously as
10:46:44 you guys are thinking
10:46:46 through any changes you want us to make before Tuesday, we would
10:46:51 want to get the order in
10:46:52 as soon as possible.
10:46:55 And it would have to in all likelihood be enough for all
10:47:01 teachers only because I think
10:47:04 that’s odd if we don’t.
10:47:06 And so what we–like we did with the shield, we did all teachers,
10:47:11 these are way more expensive
10:47:13 but we could–we could order tomorrow.
10:47:19 That’s not my decision to make, that’s the board’s and Dr. Mullen’s
10:47:22 decision to make
10:47:22 but once that decision is made, we can place the order quickly.
10:47:26 We’re working with a vendor, again, unless supply chain is
10:47:30 choking closer to the start
10:47:32 of the school, I can’t guess.
10:47:34 » If I could speak, I felt that we just needed some kind of a
10:47:39 stronger plan there and I was
10:47:41 looking for us to reevaluate how to do that.
10:47:45 I will say that pulling the trigger on purchasing one for every
10:47:49 teacher, we would have to check
10:47:50 in with the teachers to see if this is something that they
10:47:53 really want.
10:47:53 I don’t even know.
10:47:54 I may leave here and they may say, “You’re crazy.
10:47:56 I don’t want one of those things,” or they may say, “Yeah.”
10:47:59 I think that needs to come in but, you know, Disney is literally
10:48:03 going to temperature check
10:48:05 every single person that comes into Disney.
10:48:08 There’s got to be a way that we can figure out if that behooves
10:48:12 us to be stronger for
10:48:13 parents to come back that we can do it.
10:48:15 That’s all.
10:48:16 » They also check bags and have metal detectors and, you know,
10:48:19 Ms. Campbell was 100% right
10:48:21 like when we were visiting all that, we don’t have the manpower,
10:48:24 we don’t make money like
10:48:25 Disney does to – » And theme parks have staggered entry.
10:48:31 I mean, keep in mind, we’re trying to bring in hundreds of kids
10:48:35 within –
10:48:35 » Thousands.
10:48:36 » Yeah, or thousands within 20 to 30 minutes at best.
10:48:41 So that’s what presents the capacity challenge if it’s upon
10:48:48 entry.
10:48:49 » Well, and if every – so let’s break it down from there.
10:48:52 If you have 100 teachers at Viera, which you have more than that,
10:48:55 and you have 2,000 kids,
10:48:57 then that’s 20 kids per teacher, right?
10:48:59 It takes one and a half seconds to actually register the thing,
10:49:03 okay?
10:49:04 So if we have the teachers have them in their hands when the
10:49:07 people are coming in and they’re
10:49:08 able to figure out a way to where that student does not enter
10:49:12 into that classroom, we may
10:49:14 potentially stop what would become one of these breaks where an
10:49:17 entire classroom and
10:49:18 teacher and everybody else has to stay out in 14 minutes.
10:49:22 The fiscal cost of that, I think, far exceeds anything of
10:49:26 preventativeness that might be
10:49:28 out there.
10:49:29 That’s all.
10:49:30 But I didn’t ask to purchase one for every teacher.
10:49:33 I just asked if we could look into what that looks like.
10:49:36 There’s probably a thousand ideas.
10:49:38 You just found out that there’s this spot checking that goes on.
10:49:41 There may be other ideas out there.
10:49:43 I just think that our public would want a stronger response than
10:49:48 if we can or we can’t
10:49:49 even test them, then we’re just going to give a couple and just
10:49:52 hope that we test some kids
10:49:53 that don’t normally have family support to be – I just think
10:49:58 that that was not a strong
10:49:59 one.
10:50:00 I think we can do better.
10:50:01 That’s all.
10:50:03 Okay.
10:50:04 My turn.
10:50:05 Thank you for clarifying.
10:50:06 You’re not asking for us to have one for every teacher.
10:50:11 I just don’t think that’s feasible and I’m thinking about a new
10:50:14 routine as we’re asking
10:50:15 every teacher as students line up to walk in, pump up hand sanitizer,
10:50:18 and that’s about
10:50:19 as long as we want them standing in the hallway all together
10:50:21 waiting to get into their classrooms.
10:50:22 You think about two classrooms right next to each other.
10:50:26 We’re trying to avoid situations where they’re standing close
10:50:30 together, and so – and the
10:50:33 younger they are, the more difficult it’s going to be.
10:50:35 And so we’re just – hand sanitizer on the way into classrooms,
10:50:38 and I think we’re just
10:50:39 adding an extra step.
10:50:40 I do – wouldn’t mind us just not necessarily purchasing more,
10:50:43 but having – if we can find
10:50:45 out what opportunities can we have to, you know, random – if
10:50:49 the clinic nurse doesn’t
10:50:50 have anything else to do, you know, in period two, you know,
10:50:53 maybe come around and just
10:50:55 doing, you know, random checks.
10:50:56 If that’s – I don’t have a problem with that, but I just don’t
10:51:00 – I think this is – I don’t
10:51:02 know that this is the be all and all thing that’s going to save
10:51:06 the day.
10:51:06 I think when we talk about all the things that you guys have
10:51:10 planned to put in place,
10:51:11 we’re doing all those things not to keep COVID out, but because
10:51:13 we’re actually expecting
10:51:14 it to come in.
10:51:15 Not wanting it to, but expecting it to come in.
10:51:17 So that’s why we’re facing all the same way.
10:51:19 That’s why we’re strongly recommending masks.
10:51:21 That’s why we’re, you know, limiting – we’re changing to block
10:51:23 schedule, doing all those
10:51:24 things, because we expect it to come in, and all these things
10:51:26 are going to mitigate the
10:51:27 spread when it comes in.
10:51:30 So you know, I understand what Mr. Susan’s thought is to, you
10:51:35 know, kind of put a stronger
10:51:37 wall defense around the thing, but I think we’re going to have
10:51:41 to rely on our teachers
10:51:42 and our staff to recognize beyond what our parents are doing,
10:51:46 but sometimes a kid comes
10:51:48 to sick school and they’re just fine, and once they get to
10:51:50 school, then they start looking
10:51:51 sick to do what they have always done as far as sending kids to
10:51:55 the clinic and then moving
10:51:57 through our procedure from there.
10:52:02 » Did that tell you how I feel?
10:52:06 » I think so.
10:52:07 I’ll summarize at the end, just so there’s no, you know, no
10:52:10 confusion.
10:52:11 » Are we – are teachers holding the sanitizer and actually
10:52:14 pumping it at everyone?
10:52:16 That was something that we asked them?
10:52:19 Are we setting it to the side so they can do it coming in?
10:52:21 » I imagine some will want to do that.
10:52:23 So our – we did not imagine that when we ordered them, but
10:52:29 honestly, could I see that?
10:52:31 Absolutely 100% I could see that.
10:52:34 We imagined that at like a little table when you walked in, but
10:52:40 to Ms. Campbell’s point,
10:52:42 I could see that as well.
10:52:44 We just got the biggest jug we could get per teacher just for
10:52:50 economy of scale, but we
10:52:53 hadn’t planned to mandate how the teacher utilized said hand sanitizer.
10:52:57 » Right.
10:52:58 This is going to be another step in the process.
10:53:00 » Dr. Thede wanted to ask a clarifying question as well.
10:53:02 » I just need to – I need to go back for a second to the thermometers.
10:53:05 I heard volunteer.
10:53:06 I heard something that sounded a little bit like required, and I
10:53:10 want to make sure that
10:53:11 when I walk out, I understand what we’re looking at.
10:53:14 I know – I don’t remember when, but a while ago, Mr. Kluche
10:53:17 shared survey results with
10:53:19 me of teachers that BFT had done, and there was some agreement,
10:53:24 about 60% of volunteering
10:53:26 to do temperatures.
10:53:27 I want to make sure we’re all on the same page with volunteer
10:53:30 versus required in keeping
10:53:31 with what Ms. Moore said about the privacy.
10:53:33 So I just wanted that clarification because I heard two
10:53:37 different things.
10:53:38 » Can I jump in here?
10:53:39 Can I have a turn here?
10:53:41 Is that possible?
10:53:42 » Yeah.
10:53:43 Go ahead, Ms. McDougal.
10:53:46 » I’m wondering if – you know, teachers – oftentimes,
10:53:49 teachers know when a student
10:53:51 is not feeling well right away, and so that student goes to the
10:53:54 office, and let’s say
10:53:55 they come back and they have a fever.
10:53:58 At that point, wouldn’t it make sense that maybe we check more
10:54:02 students in that classroom
10:54:04 as they – as a way to maybe do it?
10:54:10 And I like the idea of – and I don’t know if it’s possible –
10:54:14 random, you know, okay,
10:54:16 so Mondays we do this classroom, and Tuesdays we do this
10:54:19 classroom.
10:54:20 But if there’s somebody who is showing symptoms, would it be
10:54:26 feasible or okay to check everyone
10:54:29 in that class?
10:54:30 I’m just asking, just some way to have a check, because I don’t
10:54:35 think it’s a bad idea.
10:54:37 I just – logistically, I think is where we’re struggling at
10:54:44 this point.
10:54:45 I would – my recommendation would be that if a teacher wants a
10:54:48 thermometer check, to
10:54:50 check the children coming into their class, that we make that as
10:54:52 one of the – that they
10:54:53 should not have to pay for it.
10:54:55 That would be my recommendation, and I would try to check that
10:54:57 out.
10:54:58 I would also remind everybody that’s in here that at arrival,
10:55:03 dismissal, cafeteria, sports,
10:55:05 these kids are all together, and although we can try to, you
10:55:10 know, socially distance
10:55:12 and keep them three feet apart and everything else, there’s
10:55:15 going to be more places than
10:55:17 just the classroom where these kids are together.
10:55:19 And I think that just because we’re able to make sure that they’re
10:55:23 socially distanced
10:55:24 in the classroom, it’s going to be even harder to do that
10:55:27 outside of there.
10:55:28 So creating some sort of check system before they get in is good,
10:55:31 that’s all.
10:55:32 Because once that argument comes in of who they were in contact
10:55:36 for, for more than 15
10:55:38 minutes, when you start talking about cafeterias, you start
10:55:41 talking about sports, you start
10:55:42 talking about things, you start shutting down whole areas like
10:55:46 that too.
10:55:47 So that’s all.
10:55:49 Thank you.
10:55:50 » Is that clear as mud for you, Dr. Mullen?
10:55:55 » Yeah, I’m going to need a lot more help, I’m sorry.
10:56:01 » So I will say that I’m not sure that we can move forward on
10:56:04 an enormous amount of
10:56:05 clarity on this issue until we get some information from Paul
10:56:09 that Chris had requested on the
10:56:12 privacy and the legality of doing that.
10:56:15 I think we’re probably going to need that information.
10:56:19 For me personally, big fan of doing whatever we can to limit
10:56:24 contact and exposure and risk
10:56:26 for our team members, right.
10:56:29 So my preference would be that if we have teachers who would
10:56:34 like to be able to take
10:56:35 temperatures on their kids, that we support them in doing that
10:56:40 provided that one, it’s
10:56:41 not violating anything.
10:56:44 Two, that they commit to privacy for that student and not, you
10:56:50 know, pulling him aside
10:56:52 right in front of everyone and calling him out and that sort of
10:56:55 thing.
10:56:55 You know, there would have to be some communication of
10:56:58 expectations there if we were going to
10:57:00 open that door, if Mr. Gibbs felt like it was an appropriate
10:57:05 thing to do.
10:57:06 But I don’t know that we necessarily go out and buy enough thermometers
10:57:10 for all teachers.
10:57:12 I would say, you know, maybe let’s wait and see what the
10:57:15 response is and have the teachers
10:57:18 understand that it may be a little while before they get their
10:57:19 thermometer depending on how
10:57:20 many want them.
10:57:21 I think that might be our better way.
10:57:23 » So I’ll make a suggestion and the board, if you would, let me
10:57:27 know if this is acceptable.
10:57:29 What I’m hearing is there seems to be board, some board
10:57:34 consensus on voluntary teachers
10:57:37 being provided a thermometer to do temperature checks in their
10:57:41 classroom, assuming we can
10:57:43 meet all privacy and legal implications of that practice.
10:57:51 I will work with Mr. Gibbs and see if we can’t get that
10:57:55 clarification for Tuesday.
10:57:57 We will hold off on the purchase of any additional thermometers
10:58:00 at least until Tuesday, but we
10:58:02 can get our procurement department ready to do something in the
10:58:05 event that the board gives
10:58:06 us a go on Tuesday, assuming all of the implications, the legal
10:58:10 implications, et cetera, are in
10:58:12 place.
10:58:13 Does that seem to represent where the board is at this time?
10:58:19 » Yeah.
10:58:21 But the part of it with the teachers is just part of the, we
10:58:24 need to develop something
10:58:25 stronger.
10:58:30 Whether it’s teachers testing them right at the gate when they’re
10:58:33 coming into their classroom
10:58:34 or whether it’s a school that might figure out, hey, we can do
10:58:37 this.
10:58:38 We can test every kid that comes in.
10:58:40 I just wanted a stronger plan, and if that plan requires more
10:58:44 testing, you know, guns,
10:58:47 then I would love to be able to provide that to them.
10:58:50 So if that’s a school where the teacher says, yes, I want one,
10:58:52 they should get one.
10:58:53 If a school says, hey, if we get 10 more, then we could test
10:58:56 everybody on the campus
10:58:58 because we figured this out because we have all the duties the
10:59:00 teachers do in the morning
10:59:01 already that are supposed to monitor and supposed to do all that
10:59:04 stuff.
10:59:04 If you deployed them into certain areas, you probably could get
10:59:07 them to be tested coming
10:59:08 in.
10:59:09 So if there’s a plan out there that a school has that they can
10:59:11 test them all coming in,
10:59:12 man, that would be amazing.
10:59:14 And if we could deploy the tests to them to do that, that’s
10:59:18 great.
10:59:18 Or if the teachers want them, I just think we need a better
10:59:21 barrier.
10:59:21 That’s all.
10:59:23 » I don’t think we’ve ever suggested that schools couldn’t
10:59:29 develop a plan to do enhanced
10:59:32 thermometer checks or temperature checks.
10:59:34 » And if they need more, we give it to them.
10:59:36 » If they need more, we can certainly, you know, particularly
10:59:40 because they are FEMA qualifying,
10:59:43 you know, that makes it much more affordable.
10:59:45 So we will be prepared to do that.
10:59:48 » And these would be covered if they were to go buy them on
10:59:51 their own with their lead
10:59:53 money that they have for the classroom, that 250?
10:59:57 » I don’t.
10:59:58 » If they went out and bought one, could they get reimbursed
11:00:01 for it?
11:00:11 » I think that’s something we have to check with Mrs. Lisinski
11:00:11 on for that answer regarding
11:00:16 the teacher lead money and how that’s used.
11:00:18 » And if other districts are already testing kids and that’s
11:00:21 part of their plan, then the
11:00:22 legality of it is probably allowing us to do this.
11:00:32 » Was my summary acceptable?
11:00:33 » Sounds great.
11:00:36 » Any other board member have concerns with the summary put
11:00:38 forward?
11:00:39 All right.
11:00:40 Moving on to masks.
11:00:41 Who wants to start?
11:00:42 » You made a recommendation for strongly advised.
11:00:55 » Expected.
11:00:57 I support it.
11:01:01 » What’s – what was – I mean, I have the American Academy of
11:01:09 Pediatrics page up in
11:01:11 school guidelines.
11:01:13 I wholeheartedly agree with that whole page.
11:01:16 What are you all proposing as far as language or otherwise Ms.
11:01:19 Belford came up with some
11:01:21 language?
11:01:22 Is that a language you like?
11:01:23 You want something different?
11:01:24 » If you look on slide 28, our in-school guidelines for face
11:01:33 coverings is on page 28.
11:01:37 So the committees or the task force recommendation is all
11:01:40 members of the school community are
11:01:42 strongly recommended to wear a face covering.
11:01:45 Standard rules apply on school appropriateness.
11:01:47 Mask should cover the nose, mouth and not the full face.
11:01:50 And then there are additional criteria over on the right.
11:01:55 Which includes the expectation for buses.
11:01:58 » I am in favor of it as it reads I would not be in favor of a
11:02:05 kind of mandate that
11:02:08 would cause discipline for students to take it off for a moment.
11:02:16 Or I strongly encourage the community also to wear one.
11:02:22 But I like the way the wording is as it is.
11:02:25 I could go along with expected but again it’s kind of like some
11:02:34 of the ones that are in
11:02:35 the community.
11:02:36 There’s no teeth in it.
11:02:37 But we just want to encourage as strongly as possible people to
11:02:39 do it.
11:02:40 I can go along with that.
11:02:46 » So the proposal is just to change the words all members of
11:02:49 the school community are strongly
11:02:51 recommended to all members of the community are expected to wear
11:02:57 a face covering?
11:02:59 » Understanding that we’re going to have to use common sense
11:03:02 where we have kids that
11:03:02 have sensory issues and people who can’t breathe.
11:03:07 But I think the expectation – » I’m okay with – I don’t think
11:03:14 the word
11:03:15 bothers me.
11:03:16 I went back and have been reading this over and over the
11:03:19 American academy of pediatrics
11:03:21 and that last paragraph if not developmentally feasible – I’m
11:03:26 thinking about kindergarten
11:03:29 a lot and VPK.
11:03:32 You all have kids, four, five years old.
11:03:36 Yes they can wear a mask but it specifically says in here if
11:03:38 they’re touching their face
11:03:39 more than they would otherwise because the mask is on and every
11:03:43 four-year-old I’ve been
11:03:45 around that’s pretty much what’s going on.
11:03:52 Are we expecting four-year-olds?
11:03:53 Is it a high expectation that every four-year-old in that –
11:03:57 what does that language play out
11:03:59 like is my question in the classroom.
11:04:01 We can say that’s the language but now we’ve got a VPK teacher
11:04:05 standing there with 12 four-year-olds
11:04:08 who are like ping, ping, ping.
11:04:11 She’s like they’re expected to keep it on.
11:04:14 What does this look like for our teachers?
11:04:18 » I’m going to back up.
11:04:19 I’m sorry.
11:04:20 It’s my prerogative.
11:04:21 It changed my mind.
11:04:22 I’m actually going to back up because there is that.
11:04:26 It’s kind of like the cities who are saying it’s mandatory to
11:04:28 wear a mask but you can’t
11:04:30 get fined and you can’t whatever.
11:04:32 They’re saying to the community we really, really, really,
11:04:35 really, really want you to
11:04:36 wear a mask but we can’t make you.
11:04:40 And honestly that’s kind of how I feel.
11:04:43 I really, really want to say wear a mask, wear a mask but we’re
11:04:47 not going to make you.
11:04:49 And staff, students, both because I just – I just can’t get
11:04:53 beyond the fact that even if
11:04:56 we say expect, there’s going to be that discipline factor that’s
11:05:00 going to come in.
11:05:01 You don’t have your mask on or whatever.
11:05:07 This points to other kids and then the little kids and I just,
11:05:11 you know, that is about as
11:05:13 far as I can go.
11:05:14 And I think you guys have done a lot of work around this and you’ve
11:05:18 taken into consideration
11:05:19 parent input.
11:05:20 And for the people who are emailing me all day today, actually I’ve
11:05:23 had from both sides,
11:05:24 I’ll check on the breaks, you know, people saying don’t mandate
11:05:27 them, people saying mandate
11:05:29 them.
11:05:30 Everybody needs to realize that everybody doesn’t think like
11:05:33 everybody else.
11:05:34 So I just – we’re going to – this is – the way you guys have
11:05:38 worded it I think is great.
11:05:41 And here and then we, you know, we’re developing videos, we’re
11:05:45 going to tell people the benefits
11:05:47 of that.
11:05:48 We’re going to give them options, you know, they can express
11:05:51 their style, you know, in
11:05:53 their mask.
11:05:54 We can have our leadership, you know, I don’t have a problem
11:05:56 when I go visit a school having
11:05:57 a mask on to set a good example and all of that.
11:06:01 I just – yeah.
11:06:04 » Ms. McDougall.
11:06:07 » I think people understand how I feel.
11:06:11 I think science has really talked about the – it mitigates the
11:06:17 spread of the virus.
11:06:19 It protects each other.
11:06:22 And you’re absolutely right.
11:06:23 I would never expect a pre-K or a kindergarten child to be able
11:06:27 to wear a mask and they don’t
11:06:29 particularly recommend that.
11:06:34 And I am concerned.
11:06:35 I just think that what Ms. Campbell is saying, she’s right, she
11:06:41 says we have people on both
11:06:43 sides of the issue, but again, I still feel that we need to be
11:06:49 stronger on it.
11:06:51 And I don’t see students getting punished for it, that that
11:06:55 should not be a discipline
11:06:56 issue.
11:06:57 I know there’s something quite wrong.
11:06:59 But anyhow, I really feel that we should be stronger on the
11:07:04 issue.
11:07:05 And science supports that.
11:07:07 And like I said, other countries can seem to do it, but for
11:07:11 whatever reason, people
11:07:13 feel that they can’t do it here in Brevard.
11:07:18 » I would not suggest discipline for mask wearing, but I, you
11:07:22 know, I do think that
11:07:23 Expect is a little bit stronger than strongly recommend.
11:07:30 So I would continue to suggest that we move in that direction
11:07:36 just to ensure, I mean,
11:07:39 we’re putting people in less than ideal situations and, you know,
11:07:43 I think we have a responsibility
11:07:45 to do what we can to protect them as much as possible.
11:07:50 » If I could, two comments, I just sent you guys an email that
11:07:55 lists the full text from
11:07:56 the AAP.
11:07:59 In the presentation, it’s linked, but they do grade band
11:08:02 recommendations, so given the
11:08:03 discussions you were having, might want to take a look at that
11:08:09 prior to Tuesday.
11:08:11 The one thing that I think we have to consider with the word
11:08:17 Expect is then a parent is going
11:08:20 to trust that word Expect that the teachers are wearing masks.
11:08:25 And so I just wanted to make sure that that’s an intended
11:08:30 outcome.
11:08:31 We honestly are absolutely willing to support whatever the
11:08:34 wishes of the boards are.
11:08:35 We’ve got our pens, we’re typing changes as we’re speaking.
11:08:39 I just felt that was worth clarification, did you intend for
11:08:42 that, because when we put
11:08:43 the word Expect that, that’s empowering students and parents and
11:08:48 teachers that we expect that,
11:08:52 and as differently and passionately as parents feel, our
11:08:57 teachers feel as differently and
11:09:00 passionately as well.
11:09:02 And again, honestly, honestly right now you could tell us
11:09:06 anything and we’d be like sure,
11:09:08 but separately on this topic, you know, we came into this
11:09:13 absolutely giving our best
11:09:16 recommendations supporting whatever the board feels is best
11:09:18 interest of the district.
11:09:19 So I just wanted to throw that out there because they didn’t
11:09:23 want any unintended consequences
11:09:24 of us making decisions at 8 o’clock at night.
11:09:27 Sorry, Dr. Holmes.
11:09:29 » No, I was exactly going at the same place.
11:09:31 I wanted to make you aware of that additional language.
11:09:34 But I do appreciate the clarification, I hadn’t thought of that,
11:09:37 that if the language of expectation
11:09:39 would raise the bar for employees.
11:09:43 » I did.
11:09:47 » He agreed with the expects, right?
11:09:59 » I think we should consider the, I clicked on your link there,
11:10:08 and it definitely says
11:10:11 pre-kindergarten, right, face coverings for children in pre-K
11:10:17 may be difficult to implement.
11:10:21 So we’re saying with this blanket statement that we are
11:10:25 expecting 4-year-olds to mask
11:10:27 up and keep them on.
11:10:30 » Because our pre-K teachers are also classroom teachers.
11:10:33 » Of course, they’re classroom teachers.
11:10:35 » You want to plug that one in there?
11:10:36 » But there’s just a huge difference between a 4-year-old and a
11:10:38 17-year-old.
11:10:39 » My 4-year-old, this morning, I sat there and I asked Matthew,
11:10:42 I said, I said, are you
11:10:43 going to be able to wear a mask all day in class, and he sat
11:10:46 there and he goes, yeah,
11:10:47 dad, I can do that because that keeps me safe.
11:10:51 And then, I’m not kidding you, 7, 10 minutes later, he comes
11:10:54 back, he says, I can’t do
11:10:55 that because it doesn’t fit right on my face, and I thought
11:10:58 about it, dad, and I’m just
11:10:59 not going to do that.
11:11:00 So that’s the mentality, like, back and forth, I don’t like this
11:11:03 thing, he’ll be wearing
11:11:04 it on his ear, he’ll go lick one of the chairs, I mean, that’s
11:11:07 my 4-year-old.
11:11:08 » It becomes more hazardous, is what I’m saying, is because
11:11:11 they are, they’re touching
11:11:12 it, they’re pulling it, they’re –
11:11:13 » But we can strongly recommend it.
11:11:15 » It just –
11:11:16 » Well, and then if you have the situation of a teacher who
11:11:19 needs to take it off to communicate,
11:11:20 for example, especially in a preschool class, or in a choir
11:11:24 class, or whatever, I mean,
11:11:25 if we’re – that’s why not mandating, because if you say mandate,
11:11:28 you say expect, then it’s
11:11:29 going to expect not only will you wear it, but you’ll wear it
11:11:31 all day, except for when
11:11:32 you’re eating, or drinking, or whatever.
11:11:36 You know.
11:11:37 » Yeah, but –
11:11:38 » Yeah, face, shield, or mouth.
11:11:43 » And my thought is, whatever word you land on, know that we’ll
11:11:46 finesse the language to
11:11:47 make it work.
11:11:48 And we recommend works as a general statement.
11:11:51 Expect would need more language wrapped around it to cover the
11:11:55 concerns that you have.
11:11:56 But whichever word you land on, we’ve heard your concerns, and
11:12:00 we would wordsmith those
11:12:02 in there.
11:12:03 » Right, and I think you’ve heard from all five of us, we don’t
11:12:05 want discipline involved
11:12:06 in –
11:12:07 » Yeah, absolutely.
11:12:08 » – the masks.
11:12:09 » Yeah.
11:12:10 » I think we probably need to take a look at the information
11:12:16 that Dr. Sullivan sent.
11:12:20 And I mean, I think you basically know where our sentiment is,
11:12:23 and perhaps we can come
11:12:24 back and have additional discussion on Tuesday with specifics.
11:12:28 Is that okay for you guys?
11:12:31 » If it’s okay with the board, we’re going to leave the
11:12:33 language as it is, since we’re
11:12:34 not being given direction otherwise, but anticipate that there
11:12:39 may be further discussion on Tuesday
11:12:42 at the board meeting before a final decision is made.
11:12:45 Is that acceptable?
11:12:47 » Any board members opposed to that?
11:12:48 Sounds good.
11:12:49 » Okay.
11:12:50 Thank you.
11:12:51 » All right.
11:12:52 That brings us to volunteers.
11:12:53 Tina, I think that was yours.
11:12:56 » Yeah, is anybody interested in creating a special class of
11:13:05 volunteers, or am I out
11:13:08 on a limb?
11:13:09 » No.
11:13:10 I want to hear it.
11:13:11 Let’s hear it.
11:13:12 » I’ve already laid it out a little earlier.
11:13:13 I just feel like we have – every school seems to have one or
11:13:16 two that are part of the team.
11:13:18 And you know, maybe – I think I discussed it maybe with Dr.
11:13:21 Mullins at some point over
11:13:22 the last few days, and maybe it is we take it nine weeks by nine
11:13:27 weeks, but I think some
11:13:28 of these volunteers are vital to the functioning of our school,
11:13:32 and they’re an extra set of
11:13:33 hands that are reliable and responsible.
11:13:35 Just because they’re not getting a paycheck doesn’t mean that
11:13:38 their work sometimes isn’t
11:13:40 just as valuable.
11:13:41 Because they’re not paying them, we’re kicking them out of
11:13:44 campus.
11:13:44 » Right.
11:13:45 We’ve got volunteers who put hundreds and hundreds of hours in
11:13:47 every year.
11:13:47 » And do real work.
11:13:49 They’re not just – they’re shaking hands and –
11:13:51 » Right, there’s some schools that don’t do any of their laminating.
11:13:55 No staff does any laminating.
11:13:56 Only volunteers do that.
11:13:58 And which has got to be done.
11:13:59 It’s hours of work.
11:14:00 The thing that I keep coming back to when we were talking about
11:14:01 that is, you know, we
11:14:02 just said, you know, we haven’t passed our budget yet, but one
11:14:04 of the recommended cuts
11:14:05 is our media assistance.
11:14:08 And one of the things that, you know, came to my mind as we were
11:14:10 going through that process
11:14:11 is schools would have to develop, like the smaller schools that
11:14:14 don’t have media assistance,
11:14:16 volunteer corps who could come in.
11:14:17 And I know media centers are going to be completely different
11:14:20 this year than what they have ever
11:14:21 been before.
11:14:22 But, you know, we’ve just said, okay, now you’re – if your
11:14:26 media assistant leaves during
11:14:28 the year to take another position because they won’t be funded
11:14:32 next year, then you don’t
11:14:33 get one for the rest of the year, right?
11:14:35 You’re on your own.
11:14:37 And so – but now they don’t have volunteers to make that work.
11:14:40 So I don’t know about a special class.
11:14:43 I guess at the very least I would request that that would be
11:14:46 some of the first people
11:14:47 that we let back in as we work our plan and it’s flexible and we
11:14:51 tweak it, whatever, that
11:14:53 that, you know, volunteers, not parents come in and eat lunch,
11:14:56 but are people who are working
11:14:57 and just very essential to the functioning of our schools, that
11:15:01 we find a way to work
11:15:03 them back in as quickly as possible.
11:15:04 And I don’t have a problem with asking our volunteers to do a
11:15:09 screening, to wear a mask,
11:15:11 because they’re not a part of our school body, wow, it’s 8 o’clock.
11:15:18 So – but I – if we can – that – like I said, at the very
11:15:20 least, I’d say how – let’s
11:15:22 find a way to quickly work them back in as the – depending on
11:15:26 how things go.
11:15:28 » Some of the discussion I had with Ms. Deskevich was I – we
11:15:32 could certainly do that.
11:15:34 I think the plan is malleable enough that we can, you know,
11:15:41 periodically reconsider
11:15:43 making adjustments along the way.
11:15:46 I think we may be surprised at how adaptive our volunteers who
11:15:51 really want to be committed
11:15:53 to help our schools can still provide support and assistance,
11:15:58 even not on campus.
11:16:00 So I’m not the most creative person, so I’m not going to try and
11:16:03 pretend what that could
11:16:04 look like, but we’ve seen it happen with other entities.
11:16:08 I think Junior Achievement was recognized earlier for adapting
11:16:14 to the current environment.
11:16:17 For board consideration, if we identify a certain kind of
11:16:23 volunteer, it does put our
11:16:26 principals in a rather unenviable position to say to one
11:16:30 volunteer, “You may come in
11:16:32 and another volunteer, you may not,” I would propose that we
11:16:35 need to not put our principals
11:16:37 in that position, particularly given all of the other variables
11:16:40 they’re going to be dealing
11:16:41 with going into this year.
11:16:45 So that would be my additional request for consideration.
11:16:50 » What if there was some type of allocation each school gets?
11:16:55 I’m thinking about my very specific middle school who doesn’t
11:16:58 have a media assistant
11:16:59 right now because she’s not coming back, and now it’s just the
11:17:03 media specialist.
11:17:04 It’s exactly what you just said, and now her volunteer – so she
11:17:08 runs a great, great program,
11:17:10 and she had her media assistant and a full-time volunteer, and
11:17:14 she’s losing both.
11:17:15 So is there a way to say “just” in those circumstances, or is
11:17:19 there a way we can hire her as a substitute
11:17:22 media assistant and not pay her?
11:17:25 Is there a workaround so that the principal’s not put in the
11:17:29 position where you’re a special
11:17:31 volunteer and you’re not?
11:17:33 » There’s certainly that consideration.
11:17:36 I feel Chris Moore in my ear.
11:17:39 And that is – » I’m way over here.
11:17:41 » I think Ms. Kline is moving around in her seat more than –
11:17:44 » I just – I think for consideration, for the board’s
11:17:49 awareness, if the volunteer is
11:17:51 on our campus and happens to test positive for COVID, then our
11:17:56 schools could be impacted
11:17:58 because of the volunteer’s presence, in addition to the others.
11:18:02 » Can I speak real fast?
11:18:04 I think the affirmative is that we want to put people inside,
11:18:07 and the dissenting piece
11:18:08 is we don’t want them to impact our students, right?
11:18:12 We don’t want them to look at our students and say – and impact
11:18:15 them because that’s
11:18:16 the key.
11:18:17 What if we set a set of guidelines for the volunteer to
11:18:21 volunteer but not have contact
11:18:23 with the students?
11:18:24 Because a lot of the volunteering is putting together the copies
11:18:28 and preparing the stuff
11:18:29 and working inside, like you said, the media center.
11:18:34 What if they didn’t have contact?
11:18:36 What if the plan was that they could volunteer but not have
11:18:39 contact but stay on the school?
11:18:41 And instead of creating a separate classification for volunteers,
11:18:46 you ask them to become substitutes
11:18:49 because we’re going to need a huge pool of substitutes.
11:18:52 And in my mind, when I’m looking at this, the substitute is
11:18:55 actually supporting the
11:18:56 class the same way.
11:18:58 We’re about to put all of those substitutes that come in through
11:19:02 the same things that
11:19:03 we’re going to do, take COVID testing, whatever those things are.
11:19:07 I don’t see a problem with allowing them to become part of the
11:19:10 substitute pool and acting
11:19:12 as support, not with kids inside the classroom, but offering
11:19:16 opportunities outside, inside
11:19:19 the media center and stuff like that.
11:19:20 What about that as a thought?
11:19:25 I don’t know.
11:19:26 I just thought about it.
11:19:27 11 hours strong and still got some stuff.
11:19:29 What do you think?
11:19:30 She’s getting a climb.
11:19:31 Why are you looking at me like that?
11:19:34 We would request direction from the board.
11:19:37 I would suggest the committee has made the recommendation, if
11:19:40 the board is directing
11:19:41 us otherwise, we will move forward appropriately.
11:19:44 The sky has input.
11:19:46 This is Cheryl.
11:19:50 Dr. Mullen’s idea about how creative our volunteers are.
11:19:57 I do believe they are.
11:19:59 I’m going to give you an example.
11:20:01 When we shut down in March, I know that some of the rolling
11:20:05 readers videotaped and recorded
11:20:07 their stories and sent it to the teachers and the teachers
11:20:11 played it for the students.
11:20:12 There are ways to be creative without having contact with our
11:20:18 staff.
11:20:19 Right now, the numbers are going up.
11:20:22 They’re not going down.
11:20:23 At this point in time, to bring in people who, yes, they’re
11:20:29 vital.
11:20:30 They do play a vital role and I get it.
11:20:34 But at the same time, I rather have us be flexible and reevaluate
11:20:39 this at this point
11:20:41 in time.
11:20:42 I really think that we need to – we have so much going on with
11:20:46 what we’re trying to
11:20:47 do for our staff at this point and keep our students safe that
11:20:51 to bring in an unknown
11:20:52 is, I think, a little bit risky.
11:20:57 Okay.
11:21:00 So I’m on board with you.
11:21:03 I think our reopening plan needs to be the same as what you have
11:21:06 it written, but my request
11:21:07 would just be that as soon as we can, that that’s the first
11:21:11 group of people that we open
11:21:13 the doors to.
11:21:14 On our reopening plan, all of it at the bottom says these
11:21:19 guidelines may change at any moment
11:21:22 of time before we leave today, we could get a new directive.
11:21:28 So we are – everything we’re doing is flexible and this was
11:21:35 really, really a hard point in
11:21:39 our decision making because we know the value of our volunteers.
11:21:45 I’ve been on the phone with rolling readers probably four times
11:21:49 this summer working out
11:21:51 plans on which way they can continue to support our schools
11:21:57 through a virtual platform because
11:22:00 not only do they not want to put our staff at risk, they don’t
11:22:04 want to be at risk themselves.
11:22:06 So I think we’re looking at safety for all when we do this at
11:22:12 this point in time.
11:22:14 Just to summarize, I believe the board is supporting the current
11:22:33 direction of the recommendation
11:22:35 that’s printed and continue to reevaluate and look for an
11:22:40 opportunity to open access
11:22:42 to our volunteers.
11:22:43 Does that include PTOs, PTAs?
11:22:46 Okay.
11:22:47 Just checking.
11:22:48 » They could still hold virtual meetings.
11:22:51 » Yeah.
11:22:52 » They can be off-site.
11:22:53 I mean, we used to meet in local places sometimes just for a
11:22:57 change of scenery.
11:22:58 » Does any board member have opposition to the summary that Dr.
11:23:02 Mullen put forward on
11:23:03 that particular issue?
11:23:04 » No.
11:23:06 » All right.
11:23:07 Then we are moving on to swing sets.
11:23:08 » Can I ask, do we normally clean outdoor playground equipment
11:23:13 ever?
11:23:14 No?
11:23:15 » No.
11:23:16 » Okay.
11:23:17 Wait.
11:23:18 What, Cheryl?
11:23:19 » I doubt it.
11:23:20 I would be so surprised if we ever cleaned outdoor equipment.
11:23:22 » Okay.
11:23:23 Well, you can’t see Sushi shaking her head no.
11:23:26 I mean, it’s outdoors exposed in the sun.
11:23:28 I doubt unless somebody like, sorry, threw up on one or whatever,
11:23:31 we probably wouldn’t.
11:23:33 » We do clean them after vomit, bodily – » But on a yearly
11:23:40 regular basis, outdoor playground
11:23:42 equipment is – » It gets pressure washed usually twice a
11:23:45 year.
11:23:46 » Okay.
11:23:47 » Yeah.
11:23:48 We’ve never had the handy dandry steamer, though, that kills germs
11:23:50 on –
11:23:50 » I think that’s an Endor.
11:23:51 » I don’t know.
11:23:52 What’s the name of Endor?
11:23:53 » What’s the term for that thing?
11:23:54 It’s swifter?
11:23:55 » No.
11:23:56 I have a swifter at home.
11:23:57 » Spritzer.
11:23:58 » A mister.
11:23:59 » Honestly, I can’t remember at this moment in time.
11:24:01 » She said it looked like R2D2.
11:24:03 » Yes.
11:24:04 » It’s getting late.
11:24:05 » What are you doing?
11:24:07 » Nothing.
11:24:08 I mean, if you’re wrapping up the whole party, you might as well
11:24:14 wrap up the swings, too.
11:24:17 » We will definitely reevaluate.
11:24:18 » I know.
11:24:19 We heard that a few minutes ago.
11:24:24 » I mean, we can’t keep kids from touching things that other
11:24:26 kids have touched.
11:24:27 Just reality.
11:24:28 We were going to play soccer – okay, well, you’re not supposed
11:24:31 to touch the ball.
11:24:32 Sorry.
11:24:33 But at some point – soccer would be a great sport for everybody
11:24:36 to do because you can’t
11:24:37 touch the ball with your hands.
11:24:39 But at some point, somebody’s going to touch something that
11:24:42 somebody else touched, which
11:24:42 is why we’re washing our hands frequently, we’re using hand sanitizer.
11:24:47 So we can’t keep them from – you know, we just can’t bubble
11:24:51 wrap them, but, you know,
11:24:53 so –
11:24:54 » The swings seem so harmless to me.
11:24:56 They’re not climbing on top of each other.
11:24:57 They’re not sliding down a slide that one just touched all the
11:25:00 way down.
11:25:00 » If they can sit in a bathroom –
11:25:01 » Whatever your direction is, we will make it happen.
11:25:04 » If they sit in a bathroom seat, how can they not sit in a
11:25:08 swing seat?
11:25:09 » Is there any – Ms. McDougall, anybody else have input on
11:25:16 swings?
11:25:17 » I will share my thoughts if you all want.
11:25:25 We’ve talked repeatedly about how robust this plan is and how
11:25:29 many moving parts we have
11:25:30 and how things are changing every single day with the
11:25:34 expectations for our team.
11:25:37 And I want kids to play on the playground as much as the next
11:25:41 person.
11:25:42 We are really, really asking a lot of our people.
11:25:46 And I feel like the more that we can phase into things as
11:25:52 opposed to throwing all these
11:25:55 enormous expectations all at one time, you know, if they don’t
11:26:00 have to worry about getting
11:26:01 someone out there to sanitize the playground or if they can just
11:26:05 gate off the playground
11:26:07 and not have to worry about supervising in that area or – I
11:26:13 just feel like we really
11:26:14 need to be looking for opportunities to minimize challenges
11:26:19 until everybody can get a stride.
11:26:21 And then I think we can revisit a lot of things, but –
11:26:24 » I just think it is already a great challenge to send kids out
11:26:29 to recess and have very little
11:26:32 to do.
11:26:34 » And I think we’re all picturing a school that we’re most
11:26:37 familiar with.
11:26:38 I keep picturing Indy Atlantic, which the playground that you’re
11:26:41 going to gate off is
11:26:42 separate from the swings, which is all the way on the back field
11:26:44 where the kids are going
11:26:45 to be running around.
11:26:46 So visually I’m thinking just leave the swings alone.
11:26:48 I don’t even know how you’re going to gate them off because they’re
11:26:51 just over there.
11:26:51 But maybe Miss Belford, you’re picturing a school where it’s all
11:26:54 together and you lock
11:26:55 the gate and it’s done.
11:26:56 So look, at this point, I’m not going to fight for an Indy
11:27:01 Atlantic swing, but I sure wish
11:27:04 our kids have the opportunity to have stuff to play with out
11:27:08 there.
11:27:09 I just think I’m going to see teachers out there more trying to
11:27:12 block the swings and
11:27:13 tell kids to get off of them because they’re not in a place that’s
11:27:16 gated, then it’s going
11:27:17 to be worth trying to keep –
11:27:20 » I wonder if we could unhook the swings.
11:27:23 If we’re worried about that, I wonder if we could unhook them.
11:27:29 » Or just flip them around 20 times so they’re stuck up.
11:27:37 » You guys have done so much work, and I’m willing to – my
11:27:42 thoughts on this are the
11:27:43 same as the volunteers.
11:27:44 Let’s go with a plan as written on this, including swing sets in
11:27:48 place and play ground equipment.
11:27:49 But, again, as things change, once we evaluate things, and you
11:27:53 said every school is a little
11:27:54 bit different, that’s one of the things that we move to open
11:27:59 when we can, we feel like
11:28:01 we can.
11:28:02 » Is anybody opposed to that plan moving forward?
11:28:08 » Just to confirm, we’re going to leave as is and continue to
11:28:11 evaluate, re-evaluate and
11:28:12 see if there’s opportunity to expand or increase things, which
11:28:17 could happen next week or two
11:28:19 weeks or –
11:28:20 » Tonight.
11:28:22 » Some weeks from now.
11:28:26 » Or maybe the H word comes and blows COVID away from us far,
11:28:31 far away.
11:28:32 » That’s not making us feel any better.
11:28:33 » And for those of you who just joined us, the H word is not a
11:28:36 bad word.
11:28:36 It’s a large circling storm.
11:28:38 Sorry.
11:28:39 I don’t guess.
11:28:40 So let me just make sure we’re all good.
11:28:45 » Are you comfortable with the consensus direction?
11:28:49 » Yes.
11:28:50 Thank you.
11:28:51 » Excellent.
11:28:52 » If I may just take a couple minutes and just –
11:28:55 [ Laughter ]
11:29:01 » We’re almost to 12 hours.
11:29:05 I think you understand how much work went into the committee
11:29:11 because the 11-some hours
11:29:14 of deliberation that it took to work through it is just a
11:29:17 fraction of what the team put
11:29:19 into getting to the place that they presented something to you.
11:29:23 And the same debate and consternation and back and forth and our
11:29:27 – I think the white
11:29:29 board back in the conference room has been marked up and erased
11:29:34 and everything else dozens
11:29:36 of times.
11:29:37 I say all of that because I haven’t had a chance to express my
11:29:42 appreciation publicly
11:29:44 today, anyway, for the work that our team has done in the most
11:29:48 historic unenviable circumstances
11:29:51 we have ever known in our generation.
11:29:55 I want to thank the board for your acknowledgment of the team
11:29:59 and their work.
11:30:00 They have been intentional.
11:30:02 They have been focused on every last detail, as I think you can
11:30:06 see.
11:30:07 They have been conscientious both to a quality learning
11:30:11 environment, but also the impact
11:30:13 of the decisions that they brought forward, all while being
11:30:16 flexible and upholding quality
11:30:18 learning as the benchmark of what we want for our kids.
11:30:22 So to these folks here, to everyone around the room who have
11:30:27 contributed, everyone has
11:30:30 contributed to this effort in addition to the extended task
11:30:34 force, Lieutenant Neal,
11:30:37 and others has just been remarkable.
11:30:40 And I couldn’t be more proud to serve as a superintendent with a
11:30:43 team like this around
11:30:45 me.
11:30:46 So thank you.
11:30:47 » Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
11:30:48 We absolutely appreciate the amazing work that your team has
11:30:50 done.
11:30:51 I would say that your team is fabulous, but they are partly
11:30:55 successful because of your
11:30:57 leadership and support of them as well.
11:30:59 So we appreciate your leadership through this difficult time as
11:31:02 well as the work of all
11:31:03 of the team members to get us to the recommendations that you
11:31:06 brought forward.
11:31:07 And thank you for hanging in there with us for almost 12 hours
11:31:11 today to work through
11:31:12 all of this.
11:31:13 And now I would like for you all to go home and get some rest,
11:31:16 and we will see you guys
11:31:18 on Tuesday.
11:31:19 Meeting adjourned.
11:31:29 [ Music ]