Consent Agenda: Approved Vouchers for July 15, 2020 through July 27, 2020 totaled $206,767.01.
Old Business:
FY21 budget--Phyllys Dowd reported to the Board that she was still waiting for more information from the State Department of Education so she could present an overall recap of what AB-3 did to the budget.
Churchill CSD Re-opening—Dr. Stephens presented the district’s three different plans for the Board to approve. This included a Fully Remote option meant to deliver instruction at the highest levels of caution, a Hybrid option that would combine elements of remote learning and in-person learning (the option Churchill will be opening with), and a Fully Open model that may or may not have restrictions built in.
Dr. Stephens explained that the district was also required to provide a full-time remote by choice option for families to consider and use throughout the 2020-2021. This model is NOT the same as Fully Remote for All. At this time there are approximately 175 students that have applied. For more information and the application process go to: https://sites.google.com/churchillcsd.com/reopeningchurchillcsd/digital-learning-in-churchillcsd?authuser=0
Currently the directive in place by Governor Sisolak provides for no more than 50% capacity or 50 people in one space, whichever is lower as well as a current face covering mandate across the state through at least July 31, 2020. Dr. Stephens shared that at this time the state will be supporting the use of social distancing guidelines (3 ft. for students in PK-MS and 6 ft. for HS and adults--all to be wearing approved face coverings). The district will be purchasing 2 cloth masks for all students, up to 5 for staff, and face shields for those that request them.
Dr. Stephens thanked the various community leaders and organizations that have come together and supported another. She also spoke of a need for businesses to support working parents with more flexibility in scheduling so that picking up and dropping off students was more available as busing will look different than it has in the past. She encouraged parents to possibly work out schedules for carpooling and sharing of some of the afterschool responsibilities.
Staff were asked about their comfort of returning to work in August. Out of the 333 respondents, 87.5% of those said they were comfortable returning to school with some accommodations.
Dr. Stephens shared plans for increasing the opportunities for professional development, both for staff and parents. She expressed a need for more growth as we move through the different needs that arise as educators and parents work through the many changes they face. Support for families to increase their comfort with and understanding on how to use the different online and offline tools is also a major goal currently.
This district is working to have a fully detailed plan out by August 7th. Many procedures still need to have details worked out. Attendance across all three plans will follow the guidelines set by the NDOE. One of the requirements is that there is daily contact with every student across all grade levels. No drinking fountains will be running in the schools. Students are asked to bring their own pencil box with the items necessary for school. Sack breakfasts and lunches will be sent home with eligible students. Adjusting to all these changes requires an in-depth look, and time has made this challenging for the leadership team, but Dr. Stephens was very positive with the progress they are making.
Trustee Strasdin asked about the possibility of needing to look at some adjustments to the current attendance policy. She also brought up for discussion the idea of having scrubs available for employee.
Trustee Pinder stressed the need for everyone to be extremely flexible and patient. “It’s mind boggling.” He asked for clarity on the definition of a face mask and face shield and stressed the need for flexibility as issues arise.
Trustee Schank expressed support for the half day option as it allows the students to attend classes but only having to wear their masks for 3 hours rather than all day. She was supportive of the idea of employees having the option to wear scrubs. The need for microphones was also brought up.
Trustee Getto asked about the numbers in the Fully Remote by Choice. Dr. Stephens explained that at this the numbers vary across all the grade levels.
Trustee Whitaker asked about the process for giving families the opportunity to have all students in one household assigned to the same track. Dr. Stephens responded that this was definitely something they are addressing. Whitaker stressed how important it will be for parents to be keep ill children at home. She also asked about the Canvas program being added. Dr. Stephens explained that all classrooms are required to have a Google classroom and that the state of Nevada has purchased Canvas for a 2-year period for all secondary students. Currently, the use of Canvas is optional. Whitaker asked if there were policies other than transportation and attendance that might need to be looked at for changes. Dr. Stephens replied that at this time, those were the ones that she was anticipating for right now. She added that there may need to be changes to the dress code policy to address the issue of masks.
Trustee Hyde asked if there had been a threshold set for the number of positive cases that would place the district at Fully Remote. Dr. Stephens said at this point ‘no’. She felt that if schools reached over 10% there might be extending cleaning and safety protocols, but at this time, the chief medical officer for the county as not set a number. Dr. Stephens will try to get more clarity on this issue.
The Board members thanked Dr. Stephens and all those that have worked so diligently at this difficult task and stressed the necessity for patience, flexibility, and working together.
Various concerns were read from the public. Dr. Stephens will respond to these and have them posted as a supplemental item to the Board Book.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the submitted plan for all three phases and to reopen with the hybrid option.
For a complete explanation of what each phase in the plan entails, there is a Special Meeting Supplemental Documents at:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o8O_S5Y_b97v5_Oc1-2ADuXKzZDtj-J_ and also on the district’s website https://www.churchillcsd.com/board-members-96c2e861
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:30 PM.
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