Note: Please see all Superintendent updates and the most current information on our Coronavirus webpage.
March 24, 2020
Greetings BSD Community,
It has now been one week since we’ve been out of school and I have already heard stories of teachers missing their students and staff missing their coworkers. I do hope you and your family are well during these uncertain times.
Yesterday I shared a few updates via a live Press Conference on YouTube. Below you will find those updates and a few more which I hope will help you and your family to navigate the current shutdown based on the details we have available at this time. As always, please visit our Coronavirus Prep website for information on meals, curriculum, best practices and more.
Food Services: During the first week of service, BSD provided over 3000 meals at 11 sites throughout Burlington. The Burlington School Food Project team has really stepped up and are doing all they can to be sure that our students remain well-fed throughout this crisis. As a reminder: meals can be picked up for multiple days, and for multiple children at the same time. These meals can be picked up by parents/guardians and children need not be present at the time of pick up.
If you have family or friends that live outside of Burlington and are needing meals: Please let them know that anyone, 18 years old and under, may access meals at our sites, they do not need to live in Burlington or attend a Burlington School. In an effort to be sure that we have enough meals for all children that need them, we ask that you take just what you need to get through to the next delivery day. Keep in mind that our Friday drops will have enough meals to get everyone through the weekend. We appreciate your help in making sure all of our families are well taken care of.
Child Care: We have been working hard to create a plan for childcare for our community. I want to thank our staff members who have been leading this work and have worked tirelessly to create and communicate this plan. Also, want to thank those who are making themselves available for this work, particularly our Paras and Afterschool staff. I know teachers also volunteered but we are trying to have teachers just focus on continuity of learning plans as that may change in the coming weeks.
Last week we surveyed our community to determine the level of need for care in our community and this weekend we spent time communicating with families the specifics regarding who will be eligible for this service and where we will be providing care and during what hours of the day. I am pleased to say that the official start of our child care offering will be Wednesday, March 25th.
In our District, we are working to implement a hybrid model of care, focusing on students PreK-5th grade.
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First, some Childcare will be facilitated directly in homes by family members or friends and we will be looking to help reimburse providers for their in-home work.
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For those families that need care outside of the home, we will begin offering on-site care at one of our schools Wednesday. In order to have more preventative measures in place regarding the spread of coronavirus, our team will put a number of safety pieces in place:
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Staff will be assigned to the children of ONE family. Those groups will use one classroom that will not be used by any other groups. This means our onsite childcare service will have a much lower ratio than what is being proposed on a state level. We expect the ratio of caregiver to students to be anywhere from 1:5 to 1:1.
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A school nurse will meet all students and parents at the doors of the school. Keeping physical distance. All will be checked for temperature and we will ask families general health questions. The provider will then bring the child(ren) directly to their classroom. The classrooms used for care in this plan will all be equipped with restroom facilities and sinks, and many will have a door leading directly outside. This will ensure that all activities will occur in the classroom or outside on school grounds, including all playing and learning, eating, washing of hands, and use of the restroom.
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In addition, we will take the temperature of our employees daily and ask them general health questions as well.
Curriculum: During the March 18-April 6 time period, the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE), based on the Governor’s directive, has given the educational community a set of guidelines for how school and learning will happen during this period of initial school closure. The AOE has made a distinction between “maintenance of learning” and “continuation of learning.” During “maintenance of learning,” schools are required to provide enrichment activities for students to “maintain” learning.
TIMEFRAMES
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Maintenance of Learning: March 23-April 6
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Continuation of Learning: April 6 and Beyond
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Technology/Powerschool Update: Please note, Powerschool has issued a note saying that they are experiencing degraded performance. We are working with Powerschool daily and ask you to remain patient with our provider and our teams.
Parent-Teacher Conferences: At this time, parent-teacher conferences originally scheduled for March 26 & 27 have been postponed. Our District Lead Principal and Director of Curriculum are communicating frequently and we will let you know when and if these are rescheduled.
Internet Safety: Remote learning may involve more screen time than your child typically experiences at school. With that in mind, I want to encourage you to talk to your student(s) about Internet safety. If you need guidance, please find a list of safety tips on our Coronavirus Prep website.
Special Education: I know many are wondering, “What will happen to my child’s services while school is closed due to COVID-19?” In this challenging time, it is important for families to collaborate with their student’s case manager to determine what is appropriate and reasonable for each individual student with disabilities, including those who cannot access learning online. Our staff developed over 700 individual plans in the last week.
During the period of school closure, BSD will provide supplemental enrichment materials to prevent loss of learning or loss of skills. These enrichment materials must be made accessible for students with disabilities and are optional for parents to use. The student’s IEP team will review how the closure impacts the delivery of special education and related services to students eligible for special education services. This will be even more important if closure extends beyond April 6. Once schools are reopened, IEP teams will meet to determine if there was significant regression or loss of skills during the closure. If so, additional services or extended school year services may be offered.
Students with disabilities who have 504 plans will also be contacted by case managers to determine what supports the student may require to access the general education curriculum provided during school closure.
If annual IEP/504 reviews or eligibility reviews are due during school closure, please work with your student’s case manager to meet as soon as school is back in session, or through alternate means during a closure, such as a video or audio conference calls.
(Physical) Social Distancing Saves Lives: In his most recent update, Mayor Weinberger addressed social distancing and shared the helpful graphic below. As I said yesterday, I want to ask our parents and students to take this virus seriously. While I know that most people are practicing physical distancing, I also know several students are not.
On Sunday, I witnessed a group of students playing football. Last week, I heard stories of high school students gathering for parties. In my experience, when the sports world stops, when schools close, and when religious institutions cease gatherings, we need to take heed.
Parents, I urge you to talk to your students and remind them that we all need to be taking the proper precautions and engaging in physical distancing at this time. It is important to try to stay connected “socially” whether it be online or via phone, but want to maintain physical distance in order to help reduce the spread.
Join the Journey,
Superintendent Obeng
Updated Chart from Vermont Department of Health
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Positive test results* |
95 |
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Total tests conducted |
1,535 |
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Deaths+ |
7 |
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People being monitored |
339 |
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People who have completed monitoring |
316 |
