Virtual Town Hall Meeting

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[10] SPEAKER_18: Good evening. Good evening, everyone.

[40] SPEAKER_18: Good evening. Good evening.

[87] SPEAKER_18: All right, we're at about 172. We'll wait about 30 more seconds and then we'll get started. Mr. Delawage, do you want to put up the deck? All right, why don't we get started here? Okay, welcome to everybody. Thank you for coming tonight. This is our virtual town hall meeting regarding reopening, an update on reopening. My name is Mark Triplett. I'm the superintendent here in Newark Unified. And tonight I'm accompanied by Ms. Castellon, is going to be helping with the facilitation. Ms. Pierce, Mr. Dulowicz, Ms. Ingham-Watters, and Ms. Delacruz. So we're very glad that you're here. We know that there's been a lot of questions about reopening, a lot of things happening very quickly. And so we wanted to hold this meeting to share some information and then answer questions that you have regarding the reopening of schools. We have the next slide, please. So tonight the agenda is going to be, we're gonna share some developments in the reopening Then we'll have a chance to share calendars and schedules. I know that many of you are anxious to understand what does the schedule look like and what does the next couple of weeks look like as we transition to reopening to in-person learning. We will share safety protocols and give you updates around all of the preparation that's been going into our reopening to in-person. And then we'll have time for questions and answers before we close for the evening. So I will start here. I'm just wanted to give you some updates. Number one, most of you have probably heard, but on April 15. the school board voted to direct the Newark Unified School District to proceed with the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding with our teaching association labor partners. And so what that means is that the board said and directed us to begin the process of reopening for in-person learning. We have, because of the timing, we have adjusted the timeline a little bit for in-person learning. And then I'm happy to say that as we continue to negotiate with the Newark Teachers Association, we reached a third tentative agreement today. And so that is very exciting. I'm very pleased that we were able to reach another agreement and address the concerns that our Teacher Association was lifting up. And so the Teacher Association, I believe, will be discussing the agreement with their members in the next 24 to 48 hours, and then we'll be taking another vote. Next slide, please, Mr. Dulwich. So I'm gonna turn it over to discuss a little bit more about what this means, what the implications of this are. I'm gonna turn it over to our Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Ms. Nicole Pierce.

[325] SPEAKER_22: Thank you. And we just got noticed that we do have an ASL interpreter that needs to be on the screen too, so that we can make sure everyone has access. So I don't know if we should pause for a moment. If that's possible CJ Perez and again this was in the we didn't have prior notice, I just noticed in the Q amp a section.

[355] SPEAKER_32: Okay, let me consult with it Paul give me just a moment.

[370] SPEAKER_22: My apologies. I just want to make sure everyone gets a chance to hear. Um, there was also a question, um, about interpretation and I just want to make sure everyone knows, although I should be saying this in Spanish as best as I, as I could, but if you do click on the globe at the bottom, um, you can, um, that will also help with interpretation. Um, so Dr. Triplett, should I continue for now until we can, because again, I think they need to be approved as well.

[402] SPEAKER_32: Paul said we can add him, Dr. Shiplett, if you're okay with adding him.

[407] SPEAKER_18: Please do. Thank you.

[429] Jodi Croce: Thank you. And I'm ready to go.

[431] SPEAKER_22: Great, thank you. And again, thank you for speaking up in the chat. Much appreciated. All right, so what does this mean? This means we will have a very atypical modified schedule for these next coming weeks, as we align our safety practices and our protocols for staff, as well as providing time for teachers to really prep classrooms for students to return. So in a little bit more detail on the next slide. Um, for this, this, this week, um, we have a regular Monday, um, and we, excuse me, sorry. Um, and we also have synchronous instruction, um, today with asynchronous instruction in the afternoon. Wednesdays will be students will engage in asynchronous learning. Um, this day is really designed for teachers to get into the classrooms, prep their rooms, really transition into, um, in-person instruction, essentially. And so students will still learn, but it will be an asynchronous day. On Thursday, again, they'll have synchronous live instruction in the morning, followed by afternoon asynchronous learning, and again, the same schedule for Friday. As we go to the next slide, that really ramps up for, oh, on those modified days, we also wanted you to know exactly what would be happening on those days. So if you look at the elementary side, you can see in the morning students review their schedule, followed by a whole class live online instruction block. a break, instructional block one and two, and then students engage in asynchronous learning so that teachers can continue their preparation in the afternoons. And for secondary, that's going to look like each day they'll have two periods a day. So a period will still happen. And then they'll have period one. They'll have a break. They'll have period two. And then on Thursday, it'll be period three, four. And on Friday, it'll be periods five, six. Again, on those days, students will engage in asynchronous learning. while teachers continue to prepare for reopening. That is just part of our plan. As it continues the following week, that's where we really start to ramp up. So what you'll see on Tuesday is a dry run day. That is a chance for us to practice arrival, departure procedures and routines. It's a chance for some of our students who have never seen their school campus to see it for the first time. It's also a chance for teachers to review safety protocols and really focus and drill down on the instructional practices that will help with safety, that will help with social distancing, and that will help with clear movement around the site. During that time, our distance learning students will be engaged in asynchronous learning. And then on Thursday, our hybrid schedule begins. And we're going to learn a little bit more about what that dry run looks like in a second. We're also going to talk a little bit more about the hybrid schedule and what that looks like. So starting Thursday, TK7, ninth grade, and prioritized people groups in all grades. Prioritized people groups are going to be our special education students, our English language learners, our students who are struggling to engage and have communicated that struggle with their site administrators, are some of our high school students who may be off track to grad. Those kinds of things are what we're looking at. And then the following week, the following Tuesday, we will add grades preschool and 12 for in-person instruction. But starting on next Thursday, we will be on our new hybrid schedule. Next slide. So again, it's really important that we provide the time and space for teachers to prepare for this transition, while also providing instruction to students. And so to do this again, we have the Wednesday completely asynchronous day for students, but really a preparation day for teachers as well. And then we've got half days on April 20th, the 22nd, the 23rd, the 27th and 28th. Again, this is really so that teachers can still provide instruction as they would in the morning, but then have the time in the afternoons to really prep for in person. And our dry run through day just to give it to give a little bit more context about what that will look like. There is an arrival window between eight and 830 and sites site principles will be giving more information about this. As people arrive to campus, they'll do so in a staggered fashion, most likely by last name unless their siblings and families need to come together. During this dry run we're going to practice, and we're going to be okay with the fact that it might not be perfect right from the beginning. But there will be a daily will practice the daily health check procedures which you'll hear more about in this presentation will practice entering campus will again will practice the appropriate social distancing and use of masks, identifying students classrooms. We'll also just practice, you know, little things like entering the classroom safely, where to put materials, what materials go with each student group. All of those things require time and energy, and we want to make sure we provide the time to do it right. We'll also practice dismissal. And then again, our students who are in distance learning will still receive the asynchronous activities, which will include teacher feedback. And now I'm gonna turn it over to Mr. Dolowitz to talk about our schedules.

[777] SPEAKER_06: Wonderful. Thank you, Ms. Pierce. Good evening, Newark families. So I'm gonna jump into the instructional schedules that are effective Thursday, April 29th, as Ms. Pierce outlined. Tuesday, April 27th is our dry run through, and we have a number of prep days in that calendar she shared in order for staff and teachers to be prepared for April 29th. At the elementary schedule, you may have seen it, but we have a cohort a and a cohort be cohort a receives in person instruction in the morning, Tuesday through Friday and. Cohort B, after lunch, receives live synchronous instruction. They are our distance learning cohort. Monday remains the same, so instruction takes place. It is synchronous for all students, and we have cleaning occurring each day. More on that to come. And so I'm gonna go into the details of this a little bit further, but this is the foundational piece for all of us to root ourselves in for elementary, beginning again, Thursday, April 29th. We're very excited for the students that are interested and ready to return after over a year. And so I'm gonna jump into it. And again, some highlights to lift up. Mondays remain the same. sites will be pushing out information regarding a staggered arrival and that coincides with the same window on the dry run through April 27. So again, that window begins 8am to 830. On Thursday, April 29, our recommendation is for students last names A through L to arrive at 8am. and last names M through Z to arrive at 8.15 a.m. Instruction begins at 8.30 a.m. beginning April 29th. Of course, there are site-specific issues. Please work with your principal. We are more than happy to be flexible and accommodating. We know that it does require changes on all of our schedules, not only our students, but parents as well. Staggered dismissal occurs first. 11 a.m. and thereafter at 11 15 a.m. exact times will be determined at the site level and it should be noted that for our science teachers science resource teachers SRT and our PE teachers both cohort A and cohort B will be receiving the same amount of instruction and each cohort will still receive science and PE instruction. When cohort A is in person with their general ed teacher in the morning, they receive instruction from the science teachers and the PE teachers virtually in the afternoon. And alternatively, cohort B, they receive synchronous instruction from their gen ed teacher in the afternoon, and therefore cohort B receives science and PE instruction in the AM. So those schedules are coordinated at the site level with our specialists and principal. And so it's important to reiterate that as we know there's a number of changes on the horizon. If we look a little bit deeper at the elementary schedule for students. You can see again what I reiterated that Monday. Students and families still receive a weekly virtual schedule. It is synchronous for all students on Mondays. That's aligned with our hybrid schedule, and that was planned actually in the summer of 2020. And then Tuesday through Friday is the schedule I just detailed. In-person instruction, you can see for cohort A. Cohort B receives virtual instruction for science and PE. And then that alternates in the afternoon, specifically cohort B students receive live instruction in the afternoon from their teacher and cohort A students return home before lunch and they receive virtual PE and science instruction in the afternoon. So happy to revisit this. We know it can be a change for students and especially as Ms. Pierce mentioned, students that are new to campuses. So we wanna make sure that we take the time to teach the procedures, to reiterate them, and there'll be more information around preparation upcoming, but that's also a part of what our dry run through on April 27th is all about. Again, some highlights, arrival and dismissal, eight and 815 respectively based on last names for elementary in the morning and then dismissal coordinated at the site level and information is forthcoming this week from principals to communities. There is consideration for teachers to supervise in class during arrival. So in other words, we'll have personnel such as campus monitors and administration and district administration on campus to support. And then teachers, some teachers will be in the classrooms, ready to greet those students, make sure they understand the protocol, the procedure, how to enter class appropriately, where to locate their desk, to practice procedures and so forth. Recess supervision will take place in the morning after our morning instructional block. It's coordinated at the site level, as it has always been. Excited because we know that students not only have missed out on in-person instruction, but they've missed out on socialization with their peers. So a very important opportunity for our students. They still will remain in stable cohorts, and a snack will be included. And as mentioned previously, we wanted to be very conscientious around allocating the same number of instructional minutes for cohort A as well as for cohort B. So students are receiving exactly the same minutes and type of instruction, both from their gen ed teacher as well as from specialists. If we switch gears and move into our secondary schedules, there's distinctions to be drawn for our junior high in comparison to our high schools. our junior high schedule Mondays will remain exactly the same. We are very excited to support the Newark junior high staff as they've implemented a social emotional curriculum named character strong and that is actually district y tk through 12. We have a vertically aligned social emotional curriculum for our students which is one of our district instructional priorities and so that will occur on Mondays at the junior high, and they will follow the same schedule they've been following, namely synchronous live instruction with teachers. Tuesday through Friday, this is a line for our families with the elementary level, you can see cohort A receives in-person instruction, while cohort B receives live synchronous instruction in the afternoon. And of course, there's daily cleaning occurring each and every day for our staff and our students. But again, the junior high follows consecutive periods Tuesday through Friday. So what this means, and you see it there, Tuesday and Thursday, periods one, two, and three. And likewise in the afternoon, cohort B receives live instruction, periods one, two, and three. And then Wednesday and Friday, is periods four, five, and six. So it goes in consecutive order. That's a distinction that we want to draw your attention to. If you have multiple children, one, for example, at the junior high and another at the high school, there is a difference in those schedules. And so again, one, two, three, Tuesday and Thursday, four, five, and six, Wednesday and Friday. Those same periods for Cohort A are the exact same periods of instruction that Cohort B receives. If we look at that distinction for our high schools, you can see specifically regarding the periods, they go in a block fashion, periods 1, 3, 5, Tuesday and Thursday, periods 2, 4, 6, Wednesday and Friday. And again, that correlates with cohort B receiving live synchronous instruction in the afternoon. Mondays also remain the same, just like the junior high. It should be noted for the high school that the A period will remain virtual. Specifically, A period will remain 745 and it will now end at 810. That's important because that allows students to transition on time to their in-person class if they so choose. Also, ROP and Newark Memorial High School administration are committed to holding students harmless during the transition. and ROP teachers are working with students individually to resolve any potential conflicts. Already a number have been mitigated, and there's just a small number remaining. So ROP and Newark Memorial Administration are in close contact. But we did want to mention that, that A period remains virtual. If we lift up some of those highlights I mentioned, Mondays remain the same. Specifically, there's an emphasis on social-emotional learning. And then staggered arrival occurs 8 and also 8-15, correlated with students' last name. Staggered dismissal occurs 11 a.m. for students' last name A through L. and last name M through Z dismisses at 1115. It should be noted, and Ms. Pierce outlined this, that during the dry run-through on April 27th, we do practice and preach patience. We want to make sure that the students understand the safety protocols, and it will be their first time returning. in over a year. Very excited for many. We want to make sure that they understand the new expectations vis-a-vis the health screening app, walking on campus, locating their room, entering and exiting campus, and appropriately social distancing from peers. So we did want to place an emphasis on that just to reiterate, and we're happy to revisit it in the Q&A. Our secondary schedule, if you go a little bit deeper, you can see the breakdown in times. The times occur, and at 1120, students that are cohort A in person in our secondary schedule model, they are dismissed, and they have staggered departure, including lunch distribution, and the teachers have a much needed break, and then they engage in live synchronous instruction in the afternoon. So did want to drill down for our families here. This will be a public deck that we can share out this information. And of course, more information forthcoming, but critical both the calendar that Ms. Pierce outlined, as well as the schedules to make sure that the necessary and appropriate adjustments are made for the students that are attending in person. Again, some of those secondary schedule highlights. include the fact that the junior high follows consecutive periods, one, two, three, Tuesday and Thursday, four, five, six, Wednesday and Friday. The high schools follow a block schedule, a 135 specifically, and a 246, and at all three sites including bridge point and crossroads, our Monday site schedule remains the same at the secondary level. So some highlights to lift up, and very excited to support the staff, the administration, and have the students return that choose to do so. Now I'm going to turn it over for a review of our comprehensive safety protocols and updates, and look forward to answering any related questions to schedules later.

[1519] SPEAKER_25: Good evening families. My name is Catheerine Ingham-Watters. I am the Executive Director of Human Resources. And previously this year and for many years prior, I was the principal at Birch Grove Intermediate School. So we'll be talking about some work on safety protocols. And first is an orientation video in which all site leaders have been working hard on. Sites will be sharing the protocol videos With staff and guardians, by this Friday, the 23rd of April, in both English and Spanish, we ask that guardians view the site orientation video and discuss the safety protocols with their child. So please look to that distributed from the site principals themselves. And I think Dr. Triplett's going to talk a little bit about vaccinations.

[1577] SPEAKER_18: All right. Thank you, Ms. Ingham-Watters. So we're going to shift gears a little bit and talk about some of the preparation that we've done in terms of safety and facilities in order to make sure that we are really working hard so that all of our staff and students are safe. One of the things I'm really proud of and really appreciative of is we have some had some amazing partners that have supported us in making sure that all of our staff are vaccinated. So we had a partnership with hollers pharmacies and Fremont Fire Department. They gave us appointments for any staff on the 27th of February and 28th of February, the Oakland Coliseum created a educators only days, and that was available to all educators in Alameda County on the fourth and fifth of March. And then TrueCare 24 has been an amazing partner. They offered us an exclusive NUSD vaccination session on site. So it was here at Newark Unified on the 22nd of March and then again this week on the 19th of April. So we're really grateful to all of the partners that have provided these opportunities for all our staff to be vaccinated. And then we do have some upcoming plans for NUSD to host vaccination hubs for the general public as well. So more information about that forthcoming, but just wanted to share out what we've been able to do in terms of supporting our staff to be prioritized during the priority window, priority 1B window to become vaccinated. Now I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Dela Cruz, who's going to speak more about our HVAC systems and the work that we've been doing to make sure that we are really addressing airflow and ventilation.

[1706] Marie dela Cruz: Thank you, Dr. Triplett. Good evening, everyone. My name is Marie Dela Cruz. I am the chief business official for Newark Unified School District. In regards to our HVAC system, we have replaced our filters three times this year already. We started in August and then in December and then just recently this March, April, and then the next round of replacement is scheduled for June. and the filters that we are using are MERV 9s. We've also installed CDC compliant UL rated at $29.98, the needlepoint bipolar ionization devices, which are also ASHRAE compliant. And we have purchased portable air purifiers that have the HEPA filters for all of the classrooms. The air purifiers are scheduled to be delivered on Monday, April 26, so they will be in the classrooms by the reopening day of April 29th. We've been able to do assessments for airflow, both electronic and mechanical. Our electronic monitoring system, which is through Sizerco, allows us to monitor our HVAC systems remotely, and we ran a report that did identify 125 discrepancies. So soon after that, the district mobilized our district technician and an outside contractor, April 10th and 11th, to investigate the discrepancies, which meant we had all of those mechanical units checked physically, We had technicians up on the roof checking to see why there was a discrepancy. Good news is they were able to resolve 107 of those discrepancies and we have 18 that are remaining. And of those 18 issues, three of them are classrooms and 15 are other spaces. We are in the process of getting those issues repaired and they should be completed by Friday this week or Monday or Tuesday of next week. We also contracted with our commissioning and with a commissioning and air balancing tests agencies. They'll be testing ventilation and the balance of the inside and outside air, measuring the CO2 levels and the effectiveness of the ionization devices. Those contractors have started doing the tests and assessments today and they should be completed in about a week or two. Dr. Triplett, you're on mute.

[1881] SPEAKER_18: Thank you. So I did want to address something that has been brought to our attention. And that is, there were some photos that were that were taken evidently of some of the HVAC units at the junior high. And we were just shared Those photos were shared with us yesterday. We had heard about them. They had even been mentioned at the board meeting, but we actually had not received those photos nor been notified about them. However, the photos did show seven different units at the junior high, the HVAC units, and they were expressing concerns over what was perceived as HVAC units that did not have filters or correct filters or dirty filters. So I did want to share with the community, just because I know this information is out there, and just wanted to address it head on. Once we received those photos yesterday, we immediately sent our technician up onto the roof at the junior high. Like I said, there were seven units that were being referenced. And so what you see in front of you, and you go to the next slide, please, Mr. Dulwich. These are the different units that were being referenced in those photos. And these are the new photos that were taken yesterday of all of those units being addressed. Just to be totally transparent, so there was seven units. Of those seven, 2 of them, it does look like that the filter was dirty and we're trying to determine why those filters appear not to have been changed earlier this month or in March. And so those filters were changed out. There was two units where the filters had been changed in March, and during the course of the month, month and a half, they had received a little wear. The good news is when a filter is is looking like it's been a little worn. That's a sign that it's doing its job. It is filtering out the particles that we don't want in the air of the classroom. So we did replace those two as well. There was one photo that was taken of a storage unit. or an HVAC that was connected to a storage unit. That unit is not working. It's part of a, it goes to the storage unit. There will not be children nor staff in that space. And so we did change the filter just because we know people have been really anxious about all the filters. However, that unit has not been in service and it's why there was not a different filter in there. And then there was one unit for the library, where there was a, I believe there was a combustion motor that had been replaced recently and I believe that was one of the reasons why the filter had not been changed there so that that the unit has been changed as well. And then there was one unit that was missing a filter. And we are really concerned that there were there was someone up on the roof opening these these units. And now we have a unit with a missing filter. We replaced the unit or sorry, we replaced the filter. And so now all of those all seven of those units, the filters have been replaced in some cases for the second time in about a month or a month and a half. Oh, that's another pic. So what you saw in those photos were the clean filters that had been have been replaced as of yesterday. I believe Miss Ingham-Watters is going to speak a little bit about cleaning protocols. Is that right, Miss Ingham-Watters, or am I taking this one? I think you're still on. OK. So we did want to talk a little bit about cleaning protocols and other aspects of preparation. So you've probably heard me discussing this before, but we have purchased fogger equipment, which is equipment that we are using non-toxic disinfectant. It cleans more rapidly of all our spaces. And so the protocol is that we will be cleaning every space daily, disinfecting and cleaning. And so that is part of the protocol that we have for all our schools. And this is Ms. Dela Cruz, is that right? Okay.

[2171] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, thank you. So part of our process will include a health symptom screening app. So we've contracted with Qualtrics and purchased an app that will allow our parents and students to complete the survey in the morning. They will receive an alert by email every day. And this alert will come from this domain, the nusdhealthcheckatqualtricsurvey.com. And in the subject line, you'll see action required Newark Unified School District. So families are supposed to complete this every morning. You'll get the alert probably around six or seven in the morning so that when you come to school, the monitors will know that you have completed your survey. Monitors will be trained this Thursday. We have what's called a dashboard and that provides a report on who's completed the app and who hasn't and who's got symptoms in terms of who's allowed to be in school or not. And that training will occur this Thursday. Our families will be piloting this program on the dry run day of April 27, which means that we will go ahead and test it that day and families, students, you should expect to receive the email that morning. COVID testing, I believe, Dr. Triplett or Ms. Singham-Waters?

[2282] SPEAKER_18: I can I can jump in there. So we did want to share also about covid testing. So in addition to the vaccination opportunities, of course, we have contracted with Curative. It's a company that many districts in Alameda County and across the state, across the nation, I believe, have utilized to continue to do asymptomatic testing. And so we will have monthly testing of staff. This is a self-administered test. It's an oral fluid swab. So it's not the nasal one, but it's an oral swab. And the results will be received by the by the employee and the district within 48 hours. So even though we have We have been able to provide the vaccine opportunities for all staff. We will, of course, continue to provide other opportunities such as this monthly testing cadence. And I believe Miss Ingham-Watters, you're jumping in here, right?

[2347] SPEAKER_25: Yes. In the event that your child is exposed to COVID-19 at school, this is following the protocol given by the county and the state. It would start with notification. our school district's liaison would contact the families by phone or email and receive an exposure letter. It would then go into investigating the case to determine which students had close contact with another person in the school setting. And students who had close contact may be advised to quarantine or get tested for COVID-19. So quarantine for those close contacts Children or staff who are under quarantine will be asked to stay home for 14 days after their last exposure while the case was infectious. That would continue with isolation for the COVID-19 diagnosis. So staff and children must isolate, will do so for at least 10 days, and meet the following criteria if they're symptomatic, or asymptomatic, and of course this would be communicated in the notification. And then finally, the safe return to school. So students or staff may return to school after meeting the requirements in number four based on the symptoms, receiving a letter of release from a medical evaluator, and finally, close contacts may return once the 14-day quarantine period is complete. and they have no symptoms or have tested negative for COVID-19.

[2458] SPEAKER_18: All right. Thank you, Ms. Ingham-Watters. So at this point, we wanted to try a little Zoom poll. So this is an opportunity for everybody on the Zoom call. Unfortunately, the poll does not work on YouTube. I apologize, but that's just the way the technology works. So in a moment, we're going to put up the polling question. Miss Castillon, can you put up this question in a minute? There we go. And so what the question is, now that Newark Unified is set to return, the topic I still have the most questions about is. And so we're trying to get a sense from you is based on this presentation and other information that's been shared. What is the things you still want to learn more about. So the options are week of want to learn more about the week of April 19 as in this week and what that's going to look like. I want to learn more about the dry run run through on April 27. I want to learn more about the first day of school on April 29th. I want to learn more about in the instructional schedules, or I want to learn more about the safety protocols. So Ms. Casión, can you start the poll?

[2530] SPEAKER_32: Yeah, it looks like we've started already.

[2532] SPEAKER_18: Oh, already started. Sorry. All right. So we're going to take a minute, allow people to to fill out the poll and then we'll look at the results and then that will help shape the question and answer time. All right, it looks like we have the results. So people are most interested in learning more about the instructional schedules. We had 87 folks marked that. People are also very interested in learning more about the safety protocols. 41% marked that. And then the other big one was learning more about the dry run through on April 27th. So 35% marked that. And then we also had some folks who want to learn more about this week and some folks who didn't want to learn more about the first day of school on the 29th. Thank you. So hold on to that because we are about to go into questions and answers. But first, I wanted to just lift up the fact that we are planning on holding summer school this this summer to, of course, we know that during this entire year we've had, although it's been an amazing effort on the part of all of our staff to really address and support the learning of our young people. We also know that distance learning has no doubt not been the same as in-person learning. And so we're sure that there are many families that are interested in having their child come to a summer school to be able to do some remediation. So we will have summer school June 14th through July 9th. It'll include elementary grades, secondary grades. There will be a family survey in this month to get a sense of who is interested in attending the summer school. And there will of course be classroom modifications and shared space considerations as we plan the summer school. So with that, why don't we move to questions and answers? And so what we're going to do is we already got many different questions in the question and answer box. And so what I will do is I will try to find some patterns in the questions, see if there's certain trends, and then I'm going to ask our staff to help with responses. And then, Mr. Dolores, I think it'd probably be good to just take down the screen at this point. There we go. Great. All right. Why don't we get started? So question. And I think this will be for Miss Dela Cruz. Will the health screening be in Spanish?

[2720] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, Dr. Triplett, the health screening app will be available in Spanish, and if you don't have the app, I know I'm probably answering another question, but there will be paper forms at the sites as well. But it will be available in Spanish, both in the app and on paper.

[2741] SPEAKER_18: OK, great, and so that was another question about how to access the this health screen if you did not have the app, so it will be on it is available on both computer, I believe, and smartphone. But if folks cannot access that, there will also be paper copies. All right. Question about, let's see, what time do the, so this may be a good one for Mr. Dolowich or Ms. Pierce. What time do high school students need to be at school? What time do high school students need to be at school?

[2784] SPEAKER_06: So it is recommended that they arrive to school either at 8am or 8.15am based on their last name. And of course, we do expect it that the process and procedures will take a little bit longer during the dry run through and possibly during that first day or two. But then, of course, with our outstanding staff, we imagine procedures will go very smoothly. But again, eight or eight, 15, depending on the last name.

[2818] SPEAKER_18: All right, thank you. So let's see. So clarifying questions around our 8th grade, 10th grade, and 11th grade students, are they going to be in person? So that would be also a question for Mr. Dolowich or Ms. Pierce. 8th, 10th, and 11th grade students, are they in person or are they distance learning?

[2846] SPEAKER_22: So 8th, 10th, and 11th will remain in distance learning for the remainder of the year, unless they are a priority pupil. And again, those are the students who have been uplifted by the state. And so those are students who need a little extra help, are struggling to engage in distance learning, are English language learners, are students with special needs. in those categories. And so those students have been outreached to and will be invited to return. So priority pupils at all grade levels are invited to return. But yes, 8th, 10th and 11th as a whole will remain in distance learning for the remainder of this year.

[2886] SPEAKER_18: All right, thank you. Another question for the two of you. Will the schedule change? Will the last day of school still stay the same or will it change? Last day of school, will it still be the same or will it change?

[2899] SPEAKER_22: So yes, the last day of school will stay the same.

[2904] SPEAKER_18: All right. Question for Miss Dela Cruz. Will there be plastic dividers for all students? Will there be plastic dividers for all students?

[2917] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, we purchased plastic dividers, the desk shields for all students district wide.

[2924] SPEAKER_18: All right. Thank you. Um, is there a restriction on what kind of mask that students should be wearing in class? Um, and I believe, uh, Ms. Del Cruz, could you answer that? Is there a restriction on what kind of mask that students should be wearing in class?

[2942] Marie dela Cruz: The mask that they should be wearing could be the cloth mask or the disposable mask. The only ones that they should not be wearing are the, I forget what they're called, but the ones that have the vents, those ones are not allowed.

[2955] SPEAKER_18: Great, thank you. um question about um uh what happens if we are not able to attend the dry run so we had a couple different questions about that if it's not possible to attend the dry run um and i'll answer that um it's uh if if there's for whatever reason you absolutely cannot attend the dry run we understand please let the school know that that's the case um so that we'll be able to um to uh um adjust accordingly but um uh If you cannot attend, that is totally understandable. But we do want to provide the opportunity for everyone to have a chance to practice and understand the flow of the system and the structures.

[2999] SPEAKER_25: Can I jump in, Dr. Triplett?

[3001] SPEAKER_18: Yes, please.

[3001] SPEAKER_25: According to the poll, one of the bigger percentages was about the protocols, the safety protocols. And so I just like to highlight having worked on them as a previous site leader. I just wanted to review the five protocols that will be shared in in depth in the videos, which include, you know, students or teachers kind of showing how that's done. So one of them is arrival. And that shows the expectation if you're arriving by foot or by bike, as well as by car and what that looks like. The same goes for dismissal. If you're leaving by foot or by bike or getting picked up in a car and how at dismissal time, there's an opportunity for grab and go lunch from child nutrition services. Another safety protocol will be the mid morning break time. and how cohorts are able to play outside, socially distant, but in different zones. So they'll get an opportunity to do lots of different areas, but within their cohorts. So we'll talk about what that looks like, as well as a snack provided by Child Nutrition. The next protocol is using the restroom during those break times, as well as during class time, and what the steps will be for that. Another one is office injury or illness. In past years, kids would pop into the office to say hi or all sorts of things. And we're really limiting the access for injury or illness, including an isolation space for symptomatic students. So we'll talk about visiting the office. And then actually the first one that we address is the daily health screening. And we actually have a video clip that shows every screen. of the app and so look for that again from your site principals by Friday.

[3122] SPEAKER_18: All right, thank you Miss Ingham-Watters. So some more questions, more about the dry run. Is the dry run a drop-off day or do parents stay? I believe the dry run is a drop off day. So parents will drop off and then they will return later to pick up their child. Is that correct, team? Do I have that right?

[3150] SPEAKER_06: That is correct. All right. That is correct. Yes.

[3157] SPEAKER_18: Question around what supplies will students need to bring to school? So that's really a good question for the principal and also the teachers at your individual school. So that's the kind of information that the school will be sharing out in the near future. So let's see. Oh, question about the difference between asynchronous and synchronized or synchronous learning. Mr. Dolowitz, you want to take that one?

[3189] SPEAKER_06: Sure. So asynchronous activities are assigned and they are not live. So it's not virtual. It's not remote instruction live from the teacher. They're assigned such as projects or through an online platform or an assignment that a student needs to complete on their own, not during class time. Was there another part of that question?

[3216] SPEAKER_18: Nope. I believe that's it. Questions around the Daily Health Check app. What is the name of the app? It's called Qualtrics. Qualtrics. And we will be sharing out the deck and you'll be able to see the address where you can connect to the app. But I believe, Ms. Dela Cruz, that it will also be sent, the links will be sent to all families. Is that correct?

[3246] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, correct. So every morning, the families will receive an email alert. And the survey, the questionnaire should be completed every morning before you arrive at school. And you will also be able to opt in for text alerts. So initially, you'll get the email. And then when you do your first survey, you can opt in to receive text alerts.

[3273] SPEAKER_18: All right, thank you. Questions around when will we know if our child will have a different teacher or what teacher our child will have? So Ms. Ingham-Watters, maybe you can respond to this. When will we know if our students have a, what teacher they're assigned to?

[3294] SPEAKER_25: So the goal is for Monday, April 26. that any families experiencing any kind of shift would be notified. We're actively working to finalize any staffing changes this week. And so it would be Monday the 26th if there's any changes, if you haven't heard yet, if your family or child is affected by that.

[3322] SPEAKER_18: All right, thank you. Questions around PPE. So Ms. Delacruz, this might be for you. Are there extra masks that will be available if something gets wet or is ruined? And also, will teachers have PPE and will teachers be wearing face shields? So actually, I can just take this question. So there is PPE that's for teachers, including, I believe we have face shields in addition to masks. And so teachers will be wearing masks or face shields if they so choose. And then we do have additional PPE for students, although we don't have like a mask a day for every single child. So we do ask that families have a mask for their child, but anyone who forgets one or something happens to it, we have extra masks and that shouldn't be a problem.

[3384] SPEAKER_06: On the topic of masks, if I could just add on, students should not use bandanas as masks. So masks for students need to cover their nose and mouth. And bandanas, unfortunately, don't sufficiently do that. So no bandanas used as masks.

[3403] SPEAKER_18: Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Dulowicz. uh question there was a question about why were adult masks purchased for children so we did um Ms. Del Cruz correct me if I'm wrong but I believe we purchased both the smaller masks and adult masks I think we we purchased uh the the masks for the little ones as well is that correct?

[3427] Marie dela Cruz: Yes we should have both sizes available.

[3430] SPEAKER_18: Great um question about um when can what sorry What kind of safety protocols can we expect to see in the orientation video for families? I'm going to have Ms. Ingham-Watters, you can answer this one. What kind of safety protocols can we expect to see in the orientation video for families?

[3451] SPEAKER_25: So those would include the daily health screening that we reviewed today through Qualtrics. It would include ingress and egress. So how you're arriving and entering campus and how you will be dismissed. It will include office visits or office injury and illness, restrooms, and break for the little, the smaller students, play zones, but break and snack as well.

[3482] SPEAKER_18: All right, excellent. Question around Chromebooks and the availability of Chromebooks. And so I will answer this one. So any student who has been issued a district Chromebook And if the teachers are requiring or necessitating that there will be the need to use the Chromebook at school, then we do ask that families have their students bring the district-issued Chromebook to school during the day. I understand that that's a little nerve-wracking, taking the Chromebook back and forth to school. However, unfortunately, we do not have enough Chromebooks that every student in the district gets two. So we do have enough Chromebooks in the district for every student to get one. So if a family was not issued a district Chromebook, in other words, a family has a computer at home that's their own and they've been using, we do not expect that family to have to bring that computer to school. And so we will have Chromebooks available for students who have not been issued a Chromebook already at the school. But if you do have a Chromebook already, then we will ask if the teacher needs the students to be using the Chromebooks at school, then we will ask that folks bring their district-issued Chromebook to school. Let's see. So questions around, OK, more about Chromebooks. So a question around an independent study option for those of us whose schedules this does not work for. So just to be clear, if a family is saying that their in-person schedule does not work for them, they can remain in distance learning and continue to receive instruction at home via online. So that is still an option for families who have chosen to do that. Question around, will children be allowed to play on the playgrounds at school? Yes, the playgrounds will be open. We will be following protocols around the playgrounds. And it does include continuing and maintaining distance, appropriate distance, and also hand sanitization and other things like that. Okay and we're running a little over but why don't we take a couple more questions before we wrap up and then of course we will be continuing to compile questions and create an FAQ for families that we hope will go out later this week. So we will be collecting all these questions even if we unfortunately did not get to your question. So a question about, does this mean the district office will reopen and the board will meet in person? Oh, looks like Ms. Pierce is already responding to that. Yes, the district office will be open. The board has expressed interest in returning to in-person meetings as well. And so we are working on that. However, I hope you can understand that we are prioritizing the return of our students first, and then of course we'll be working on initiating the board to be meeting in person as well as they wish to do. Question around what is the number of students returning? And so this will be the last question. I saw a number of times. So we have approximately half the students have and half the families have expressed interest in returning. But of course, that does vary by school. And so schools have been following back up with families to confirm, and then we'll be sending out information about classes and things like that, I believe later this week. Is that right? Is that what was said earlier, Ms. Singham Waters? Or early next week?

[3744] SPEAKER_25: Yes, Monday.

[3745] SPEAKER_18: Monday. Thank you. All right. Well, it is 805. I apologize that we could not get to every single question. But I hope we were able to address some of the questions that you had and you raised up. We want to thank you very much for attending tonight. We also want to thank you for your patience and grace. This is this transition is going to be challenging. We are going to have bumps in the road. We're going to be in it together. We're going to be working through them. As things come up, we appreciate that you raise them up to us so that we can seek to address them. And we will all be very much focused on the safety and well-being of your child, as well as our staff and families of the district. I also want to give a deep appreciation to all of our staff, teachers, principals, food service workers, custodians, central office staff, who have been working all year under these really, really challenging conditions. It is amazing the amount of love and care that I see from all of our staff for our students and families. And then lastly, families, I want to thank you. because this has been really challenging and we will continue to have challenges as we get to the end of the year, but I really appreciate your support of us, your support of the teachers, and of course how you have been helping with your own children while they've been at home in distance learning. We're going to have another town hall next Tuesday, a follow-up, and please expect to continue to get information and updates throughout the week. Thank you again. Have a wonderful evening and we will see you soon.

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