April 17, 2020 at 8:00 AM - ALL STAFF Zoom Meeting: April 17th Update

Minutes

Minutes

I. Discussion Items

Rationale:                                      Communication
Effort          Respect                        Responsibility                          Belief

One Good Thing! Please add your affirmations or "one good thing" in the chat box on the right.

MEETING AGENDA AND DISCUSSION TOPICS: This meeting included ALL-STAFF.

1. Directed Health Measure: We continue to operate under a state-wide Directed Health Measure for the remainder of the school year. While the directed health measure requires us to practice social distancing and limit groups to 10 or less, we are required to provide our students with continued access to education.

2. Expanded Flexible Workdays: We will continue with flexible workdays through next week. This provides you the option to work from school or home. I want to remind you that you need to continue to use this time, whether at school or at home to work on school related work, conducting online or zoom classes, reaching out to students and parents.

3. School Calendar: I have had several questions about our last scheduled workday. Our final workday is still May 21st (185 Day Contract). If we cut it short, you will not receive work credit/hours for a full year toward retirement.

4. SCS Education Plan: The third preschool through 12th grade education packets will need to be completed by Monday, April 27th and will be available for pickup on Thursday, April 30. Any remaining packets will be mailed on Friday, May 1st.

5. 4^th Packet Preparation: The fourth and final packet for preschool through 8^th grade should be completed by Monday, May 11th, ready for pickup on Thursday, May 14^th, remaining packets will be mailed on Friday, May 15^th. The high school will not have a 4^th packet as their job is to work with students on returning all assigned work by Monday, May 18^th. Final grades are due on Wednesday, May 20^th. Your principals will be providing guidance on grading for 4^th quarter and second semester final grades.

6. Teacher/Administrator Work: While you are busy working on your educational packets, attending and/or hosting zoom meetings, working in your classrooms, etc... additional work items to be completed on your own include:
a. 2020-21 Teacher Requisitions.
b. 2020-21 Recommended Handbook Changes.
c. Curriculum work assigned by Dr. Gibbons and your principals.
d. Continue listing support staff jobs and verifying completed work.
e. Close up your room for the summer.
f. Correct/return completed student work. (9-12)

7.   Staff Leave: Remember, if you use contracted leave (PTO, Sick, or Vacation) or if support staff work at school, no work assignment is required. However, if you are working from home, we expect continued work. Administrators and support staff, working from home, must list their work assignment daily. Please make sure you have a job assigned and cleared by your supervisor. Teachers and administrators, if you post and assign a job, you must also mark the job as complete in order for us to verify pay.

8. Food Service: We continue to experience a great need for our food service program in our community. Thank you to the food service staff for your continued work in this program. Any staff who want to work in this program may sign up at the middle school.

9. Backpack Program: Staff interested in working in helping out with the backpack program on Friday mornings can sign up at the middle school.

10. Teacher Requisitions: Please continue to finalize your classroom requisitions for 2020-21 school year. Deadline for classroom requisitions is May 1^st.

11. Prom, Awards Night, Graduation: High school administrators are working on options for the three main year end events. Attached is an update from Commissioner Blomstedt on "Graduation Ceremony Guidance and Interpretation". See attachment below.

12. Summer School: There will be no summer school in June. We are considering options for July summer school. At this time, it looks like our best option may be to provide virtual, remote, and/or online classes. We will make a decision by May 4th and begin recruiting staff interested in developing a three-week program.

13. COVID-19 Peak: It is anticipated that the peak for COVID-19 in Nebraska will be within the next month (4 weeks). Keep in mind that our number of possible positive tests could increase in our county, community and families. Please also be aware of the possible increased stress and anxiety in our families affected either by the virus or changes in their employment. If you are aware of any families that are struggling, please let us know so that we can respond to their needs.

14. Statewide Survey: Included below is a state-wide survey on topics of interest on how schools across Nebraska are operating under the COVID-19 school closure.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR:

65.2% of districts are sticking with their adopted academic calendar and not modifying contract days.
17.9% have moved their final contract day up and are concluding the school year early.
11.6% have not made a determination on final contract day.

GRADUATION:

46.6% of districts have not yet made a determination regarding graduation date.
15% are planning on a July in-person graduation ceremony.
3% are planning on a June in-person graduation ceremony.
2.9% are planning on a May virtual-only graduation ceremony.

GRADING:

27.4% will issue grades based upon letter grade earned by students prior to the mandated school closure.
18.4% are maintaining their adopted grading system for the full semester.
13.6% will issue second semester grades as Pass-Fail only.
Nearly 40% of respondents indicate some combination of maintaining a letter grade with a Pass/Fail option or the opportunity for students to improve their grade during fourth quarter but not receive a lower grade than that earned by end of third quarter / prior to closure.

SUMMER SCHOOL:
44.2% of districts will not be offering summer school.
28.9% of districts are planning on a remote-only summer school program.
26.9% of districts are planning on running a site-based summer school program.

Key issues and topics identified by respondents for which guidance is sought from NDE:

Rule 10 Waivers
Reading Act/ statutory waivers
How ADA and attendance figures are to be calculated
Whether NDE will issue guidance on grading during this period
CARES Act funding and expenditure guidance for schools
End-of-year state reporting requirements and how these will be handled

15. Thank You: I know teaching at a distance or remotely is a tough job. Thank you for your continued effort to reach out to our students, provide carefully planned homework packets to keep them engaged, supporting our families at home, and caring for our kids. Special thank you to Michael Trotter for sharing "What if?" See attachment below.

Attachments: (2)

Graduation Guidance 4162020

4/16/2020 at 3:28 PM
what If?

4/16/2020 at 3:00 PM

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