2020-2021 School Year Planning

Special Meeting of the Board of Education (July 27, 2020)

Emergency Special Meeting of the Board of Education (July 31, 2020)

Reopening of Schools - July 27, 2020

Staff Presentation - July 27, 2020

Reopening Survey Results Presentation - July 31, 2020

The 2020-2021 school year will begin as scheduled on August 24, 2020.

Instructional options will be presented to the LBUSD Board of Education in late July.  Parents will be notified of the decision in the days following that meeting.

Based on survey results, we are looking at two options, which would allow families to choose what is best for them.  One option being considered is a full-time distance learning program, the other an on campus cohort model.  As stated above details have not been finalized and options will be presented to the Board at the end of July.

a. What if they need to change?

This will be a challenge and will need to be handled on a case by case basis as cohorts are going to be developed at the beginning of the year based on those who select in-person v online learning.  
 

Our goal is to be as full time as possible.  We will present that option to the Board for their consideration at the end of the month.  We think we can get really close for full time; knowing that it deeply impacts families to have any type of hybrid model at the elementary level and we know that distance learning is challenging for young students.  We are working on a draft schedule that is almost everyday, but we have challenges we need to address in order to maintain the cohort sizes.  Our goal is a minimum of four days on site.

Staff will be moving to Canvas grades 6-12 to support online learning, grades K- 5 will be using Seesaw and Google Classroom as the learning management system. Staff will be participating in additional professional development throughout the summer to improve distance learning implementation. 

When schools throughout California moved to online only during the stay at home order there were not state guidelines on instructional minutes for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.  For the 2020–21 school year the state budget waives the minimum requirements for instructional minutes offered during the school year and authorizes a local educational agency (school district) to meet the minimum requirements for instructional minutes offered during a schoolday and for instructional days offered in the 2020–21 school year through in-person instruction or a combination of in-person instruction and distance learning. Instructional minute requirements are as follows:

• 180 instructional minutes in kindergarten,
• 230 instructional minutes in grades 1 to 3,
• 240 instructional minutes in grades 4 to 12.

At this point we will return to the traditional grading system used in previous years (Board Policy 6012). We are awaiting further details regarding state requirements for recording attendance. 

Teachers, site administration, and counselors will be developing the cohorts based on a variety of factors including recommendations from previous teachers, student needs, etc.  Parent/Guardian requests to be placed in a certain cohort will not be able to be fulfilled. 

Cohort sizes will be approximately 12 - 15 students based on physical classroom sizes.

Fully online can be a challenge.  Students and staff need social interaction.  It’s hard for classroom teachers to create an environment with students when fully online. Relationships between teachers and students is very important. It can be done online, but face to face time with teachers and fellow students is important.  

We will not be looping students.  The K-5 teachers are working closely together to identify potential student learning gaps and will work to remediate them. Sites worked to identify gaps in curriculum that may not have been covered with students due to the school site closures from March-June and sharing that information with the next grade level.  

We are working to find a way for students and staff to navigate through this in the most feasible way possible.  We realized that students taking six classes at one time and moving to an online format was very challenging for middle and high school students.  We are hoping to reduce the number of classes they are taking at one time, allowing them to be hyper focused on class work in the event we have to go to a fully online format.  This does not mean they will take fewer classes this school year; but at each given window it may look more like college formatting in that you take fewer classes at one time.

We know we need to work at creating more normalcy regarding hard schedules for students.  There will be expectations on timing and what students have to do.  Our goal is that during regular school hours students are going to be participating in school work, whether it’s a hybrid platform, in person, or fully online.

We are determining what our needs are and at this time we do not foresee the need to hire additional certificated staff but we may need to hire additional classified staff or extend hours. 

Shifting gears in March to a fully online distance learning program was not without its hiccups.  Some staff were able to transition more easily than others.  This is not something that we planned for and staff did the best they could.  

We began additional professional development training for teachers and staff who work with students to provide online instruction and will provide more high quality instruction, how to assess students and more.  We will bring in outside experts and use in-house expertise to assist and support all teachers.  We hired an additional teacher on special assignment at the elementary level who will continue to support our teachers and staff around online learning.  We also have staff at the middle and high school level who are coaching teachers as well.   

If we are able to identify a safe outdoor space they can eat at they may eat outside with their class cohort only. The challenge at elementary schools is space.  Lunch tables may be being used for outdoor classrooms.  We are looking at ways for students to be able to eat outside at all levels; however, social distancing needs to be maintained.

Looking at guidance and trying to maintain cohorts, all students couldn’t be together at the same time, it would be cohort by cohort.  We know how important it is for students to get outside and to exercise.  We will develop a schedule on site that allows flexibility, but our intent is not to allow cohorts to intermingle.  Currently we are not sure what they will be able to participate in and are awaiting further guidance.

At the elementary level, definitely.  We are utilizing an Encore (a way to strategically schedule non-core classes such as PE and music) schedule to maintain cohorts in providing enrichment activities and having students on campus as much as possible.

High school sports is a challenging situation.  Regarding summer camps, we originally received guidance from the OC Health Care Agency stating summer camps could reopen; however, the Department of Public Health at the State level stated summer camps could not be opened.

Without guidance it’s hard to determine what sports will look like this school year.  There are several factors contributing to future decisions.  Determining how to mitigate social distancing among contact sports will be difficult.  CIF is reviewing and may shift seasons.  We are awaiting guidelines and direction. 

Working with our performing arts teachers, looking at utilizing any spaces we have that might work and allow social distancing.  We are working hand and hand to find the best way to continue our programs.

LBUSD is following the CDC and OC Public Health guidelines as closely as possible, especially the Orange County guidelines.  We’re looking at what fits us best in accordance with the Department of Public Health.  The safety of our students and staff is priority.

LBUSD is awaiting further guidance from OC Health Care Agency.

a. How will parents be notified of an outbreak?
We will alert the OC Health Care Agency and they will help determine our next steps in alerting parents and staff. We are awaiting guidance from them on this topic and will share it when we receive it.

b. How will the school know?
If there is a positive case of a student or staff member the OC Health Care Agency has stated they will alert the school site as appropriate.
 

We are investigating ways to streamline our processes for screenings to reduce the impact at drop off time.

Students are expected and should wear masks at all times, the only time they might be able to remove them is when we can achieve 6 ft of social distancing.  For example, if they are on the field outside.  We are awaiting further clarification from CDPH as they have stated they will be providing additional directions to schools on this very topic.

All spaces are being considered.  The district has received several quotes for additional shade coverings.

Working with Durham, we believe we can fit students onto busses in a safe manner.  Routes will be determined based on the number of students who choose to ride the bus.  Based on the survey results, there were a number of families who have chosen not to participate this year who would normally utilize the services.

California schools are required to check immunization records for all new student admissions at Kindergarten/TK through 12th-grade and all students advancing to 7th-grade before entry. All immunization requirements continue to be in effect. Students will be delayed in starting school until immunization records have been submitted. 

Five years ago the district switched to high quality filters for the HVAC systems. All HVAC systems are new or in the process of being replaced and utilize the highest standard filters available for our HVAC units.

Quotes are being obtained from three vendors for sanitation processes to totally disinfect every surface throughout a campus, both indoor and outdoor. All exposed surfaces will be disinfected, hard and soft, which will be done in addition to our normal custodial cleaning that is done on a daily basis. Options for disinfecting that are being looked into include UV Light, a disinfectant fogging machine, and disinfecting power washing.  The outside services are in addition to the daily cleaning routines of the LBUSD custodians.

We have been in communication with the Boys and Girls Club off and on regarding this and are trying to navigate the best ways to support families.  There is a meeting set up in mid-July.  They are very open to finding new ways to support our families and will also be working in cohorts.  Based on survey results, families will be impacted and in need of child care if a hybrid or online model is implemented.

As we developed the schedule we realized that a large number of students at one time in a Zoom session is very challenging, and is not the best for students.  It’s hard to assess students as well.  We are working to create cohorts with fewer students to allow for small group interaction, which will create more accountability for students and staff as they work through the curriculum and allows for more face to face time.  This is true and both the elementary and secondary levels.

We will work on identifying staff who were the most successful at providing best practices for online learning and look for ways to engage with fellow teachers.  Our teachers work hand in hand in small groups, professional learning communities and have already identified areas that we can get better at.  We appreciate feedback from families that have shared what is working well.

Yes.  Last year we began the transition to Canvas for secondary schools.  Staff began training in March and will continue to be trained at the 6-12 level.  Elementary staff will use Google Classroom and have begun the transition after a pilot was run by limited staff.