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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-11-HASTINGS-min MARIA �7������� ������ �� uu�W��^� �� � �� ~� � ���� �U �� U� U �� �� � PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE Meeting School Based SiteCounoil— KAariaHastingsElennentary Date Monday, 1/11/2021 Time 7:45ann-8:30ann Location ,)61n ZOOrM MeE�hing UD�:96096260340 Password:f80581 Present Louise Lipsitz, Katie O'Hare Gibson, Brenda Rich, Lisa Contre, Kinn Ryan, Sarah Davison, Grace Lee, Beth Bristol, Daniel Pan, Becky DeSantia Agenda 1. Approve 1/31/ZOMinutes: Kim Ryan moved toapprove, Beth Bristol seconded, minutes approved unanimously Z. MernberTopioa The district has entered into a contract with a company to do surveillance testing for Covid-19. This company iaatother districts across the state, and LPS nurses went to see them in action at the VVe||ea|ey public schools, and decided to move forward with this process for PreK-12 staff and 6-12 students. This will be saliva PCR testing. The testing starts with staff this week, and the samples will bebatched into sets ofZ4samples. |fany ofthose batches come back positive, then they are tested again insets ofZ. |fyour sample iainapair that comes back positive, you will be notified to stay at home, and they will be tested individually for diagnostic testing. All of this is confidential. The vials are identified by bar code, and only the nurse leader(Karen Maria l0a8ti1Ig8 Elementary School 17 Crosby Road | Lexington,MA 102421 Rufo) has that information. Limited information will be shared, as well, with the superintendent of schools. This process will continue once every 2-3 weeks for the next 6-8 weeks. More detailed information here. Beth Bristol asked if the call for volunteers will be ............................... ongoing in order to support this effort. Louise will ask one of the project managers for more information. Grace Lee shared that she has been volunteering, and said that her understanding is volunteers will be asked to do 1-2 shifts a week (3 hour shifts) of assembling the kits, and they will also be looking for volunteers to drive. Daniel Pan had heard that they have plenty of volunteers and there is not an urgent need for volunteers, but they are still eager to accept funds for the program. Grace Lee shared that the LEF is doing fundraising for the testing program as well (though we are not sure if you can make a 'targeted donation' specifically for this program. Kim Ryan asked if there is any plan for going beyond these 6-8 weeks, if needed. Louise responded that Governor Baker and Commissioner Riley announced last week that the state will be supporting surveillance testing, so our district will be looking to get more information about that, and perhaps that will be an option if needed after this initial contract. Grace Lee asked if this was available to remote students, or only hybrid students. Louise will check to get more information to be clear. Kim Ryan asked if this program will be giving us more information, and if that will lead to more closures, and if that will be decided by the school principal or the superintendent. Louise shared information about the fact that we have 2 building based subs that can be used when there are staff absences, and that the SSP staff has also be assigned to specific classrooms, and can be used to help cover absences as needed. The superintendent has not hesitated to close buildings if staffing challenges make it impossible to provide proper supervision of students for health and safety. Vaccinations: school staff will be vaccinated in the second phase of vaccinations. Budget for 2021-2022 will be tight. The superintendent presented the draft budget to School Committee on January 5 and is presenting it to the staff at a voluntary meeting this afternoon. She is working toward a level budget for the coming year. It is unlikely that there will be any growth in the budget. 3. Update on Remote/Hybrid formats of teaching and learning We have —200 students in RLA. In some grade levels we have 1 RLA class, in other grade levels we have 2 RLA classes. In those classes, we have a range of needs, including students that are new to Hastings, as well as returning students, students with additional learning needs. The decision to join RLA or hybrid was based on family decisions and new families are offered the choice when they register. The hybrid model is that we have no more than 12 students in grades 1-5, and no more than 16 in K (based on space, but our K classes do not have more than 12 on any given day). Every staff member has masks, a face shield, gloves wipes, any other necessary PPE supplies, paid for out of the CARES Act. Families that want to shift from RLA to hybrid can make that request this month for now to the end of the year. More information will come out in the next few weeks from the Central Office. As new students enroll, they are asked at that time if they want hybrid or remote. If people who have been RLA want to switch to hybrid, we will need to look at space availability as part of the decision about where to place the students, both their classroom and their cohort. If anyone wants to switch to RLA at this point, they should do so with the expectation that it will be for the remainder of the school year. 4. Equity initiative at Hastings This is an initiative that has been supported for many years at Hastings. Last year we had a consultant (Pipier Smith-Mumford) come in to work with us about how to make this community shift to welcome so many new students and staff this year, and to help us do so thoughtfully, reflecting on our individual identities and that of our school as a whole. Ms. Smith-Mumford worked with our whole staff in January 2020, and was scheduled to work with them again in March 2020, which was cancelled due to the emergency closure. She worked with the Equity team over the summer of 2020, and we expect she will work with the full staff in 2021-2022. In the meantime, the Equity team has been designing learning for this year in working with the staff. Members of the Equity Team worked with the RIDES program this fall, which is informing much of our work this year. We are focused on adult learning and are seeing good progress already in our work together. Beth Bristol shared her gratitude for us continuing this work, even in an especially trying year. Louise also expressed her gratitude to Julie Hackett and Johnny Cole in their support of this work across the district and in our school specifically. We are also happy to report that we have been successful in hiring many new staff in all areas of the school community to better reflect the students and families we serve. 5. Update on the Building Project: solar panels The solar panels are no the roof and installation is on-going. The porous pavement in the parking lot is for the runoff of solar canopies. We do not have a clear timeline for when that will happen. Kim Ryan moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:31 am. Brenda Rich seconded, and the motion passed unanimously