school reopening

On this episode of What Will We Take With Us?, a series featuring our conversations with education leaders across the United States on how they grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic in K-12 education, we chat with David Quinn, the Director of Technology Innovation at Mendon-Upton Regional School District in Massachusetts about how, in spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic, the district was able to leverage opportunities that remote learning had to offer to design innovative practices, facilitate flexible learning for educators, integrate strategic scheduling, and offer career-oriented learning for students.

.Also: Prof Noor Ismail on domestic terror networks.  Also discussed: PAN joins Widodo's alliance and the first of a two-part segment on extraordinary debt financing or 'burden sharing'.

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On this episode of What Will We Take With Us?, a series featuring our conversations with education leaders across the United States on how they grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic in K-12 education, Bob Ettinger of Renton School District in Washington shares with us how district leadership prioritized both staff and student wellness, facilitated opportunities for authentic engagement through choice and voice, and tackled challenges with the support of teams made up of district personnel and students who co-designed solutions collaboratively.

On this episode of What Will We Take With Us?, a series featuring our conversations with education leaders across the United States on how they grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic in K-12 education, PK Diffenbaugh of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in California shares with us how the district integrated inclusive communication, collaboration, and transparency with critical stakeholders in their school community, ensuring that students, teachers, and families were set up to navigate a school year like none they had experienced before.  Through multilingual supports, proactive partnerships, and a focus on innovative practices, the district was able to take deliberate steps to move their initiatives forward and bring the full community into the fold.

Resources:

• Class Size Matters’ video on why class sizes should be reduced in NYC schools
• Bronx Parent Leaders Advocacy Group Facebook page
• The group’s concerns and a Chalkbeat article on their advocacy.
• Ross Barkan’s new book, The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York
• Ross Barkan's newsletter, Political Currents

Resources:

• NYC Public School Parents - Controversy Over Comments of Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams on Class Size
• Class Size Matters - Report with charts comparing positions of Mayoral candidates on public education
• DYCD - Info on how to apply for Summer School
• NY Daily News - NYC school officials struggle to plan for fall school opening — task ‘extremely difficult’ and sometimes ‘impossible’

Resources:

• Mayor de Blasio’s announcement on Morning Show that there would be no remote learning option next year
• NYC Chancellor Meisha Porter’s letter to families about DOE reopening plans
• Randi Weingarten’s May 13 speech, Return, Recover and Reimagine: Toward A Renaissance in America's Public Schools. Video here, transcript here.
• Gothamist, Social Distancing Requirements Will Be Pivotal In NYC Schools Reopening Next Fall
• How the Billions of Additional School Funds should be spent: Results from the May 22 Parent Action Conference, co-sponsored by Class Size Matters, NYC Kids PAC, and Teens Take Charge 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• USC Article: Parental Loss Increase of up to 20%
• Neuro Sequential Model
• Feelings Charts
• How to check-in video
• Check-in Questions
• Check-in planning template

Guest: 
Dr. Maria Martinez-Poulin, Superintendent, Whittier City SD (CA)
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrMariaMPoulin

Host: Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools, Washington, D.C. 
Twitter: @thomascmurray 

Future Ready Schools Website: www.FutureReady.org 
Free Future Ready Institutes: www.FutureReady.org/Institutes
Free Future Ready Virtual Events: www.FutureReady.org/virtual
Twitter: twitter.com/futureready
Instagram: www.instagram.com/FutureReady 
Facebook: Facebook.com/FutureReadySchools
YouTube: YouTube.com/FutureReadySchools

Future Ready Schools is a registered trademark of the Alliance for Excellent Education, located in Washington, DC.
#FutureReady

Listen to more of our conversations about school reopening with students, parents, teachers and the school district here.

Dr. Carol Birks’ start at Chester Upland School District didn’t go quite as planned. Like most entering superintendents, Birks had planned to spend her first months at the Pennsylvania district meeting and listening  to her community. 

However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that. Instead of hitting the ground running in July 2020, Birks was forced to alter her entrance strategy. Instead of the standard transition, she found ways to meet people who  couldn’t be physically present and navigate school reopening in an area with extremely high transmission rates.  

In this episode, Birks shares how she made connections in spite of COVID-19, and how Chester Upland is now returning to the classroom.

Dr. Carol Birks (@drcarolbirks)

Chester Upland School District (@ChesterUplandSD)

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Subscribe to SchoolCEO at SchoolCEO.com for research, stories, and strategies for leading your schools. And if you have a story you’d like to share, email us at editor@schoolceo.com.

Resources: 

• New Class Size Matters report on overspending on charter facilities and underspending on public school matching funds
• Daily News article; and WCBS TV segment on the lack of matching funds.
• AQE: Send a letter to Gov. Cuomo and state leaders on protecting students in the state budget by taxing the ultra-wealthy
• More on Outward Bound NYC public schools, including MS 839.
• Gothamist article on different proposals that have been made for the use of the federal funds, including reducing class size.

It has been exactly a year since we launched the Adventures in Ed Funding series. And what a year it was! In addition to our focus on school finance, we also produced additional episodes with timely information and stories to help schools and communities navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. In total, our first season included 36 shows. Here's a quick look back at just a few of the highlights during a difficult time when we've all learned so much.

Note: We’re currently taking a break from production. We'll be back soon with an update on some exciting developments for the next season.

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For the latest information about education and school business, be sure to check out CASBO Connect, the new podcast series hosted by chief business officials and CASBO leaders Eric Dill and Tina Douglas.
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Guests featured in this episode include:

Samantha Tran, Managing Director of Education, Children Now
Episode 1, February 7: “California schools: Where the adults aren’t.”

Elizabeth Esquivel, Senior Director of Policy and Governance for CASBO
Episode 9, March 20: “School Closures Due to Covid-19: What you should know.”

Paulo Azevedo, Director of Maintenance. Operations, Transportation and Facilities, San Ysidro School District, San Diego County
Episode 16, May 7:  “A Clean Restart for California's Schools.”

Amy Rovai Gregory, Principal, Greer Elementary in San Juan USD, Sacramento County
Episode 25, July 27: "A Back to School Like None Before."

Linda Darling-Hammond, President, California Board of Education
Episode 26, August 2: “Checking in with Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond.”

Diane Deshler, CASBO Vice-President and Chief Business Official, Lafayette School District in Contra Costa County
Episode 27, August 9: "Back to School Safety and Planning: A View From the CBO’s Chair."

Paul Gothold, San Diego County Superintendent  of Schools
Episode 34, November 3: “California Schools Put to the Test.”

ABOUT the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

CASBO is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Be sure to visit CASBO.org for the latest budget news and more information about the many valuable professional development programs. Follow on Twitter at @CASBO

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Your series guide Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Follow on Twitter at @pjr100. 

Contact us at EdfundingCA@gmail.com

The latest research on COVID and schools emphasizes the importance of reopening but far too many schools remain closed. Harvard Professor Meira Levinson discusses how efforts to reopen often stall due to a lack of trust in the school district. Levinson, who co-authored The Path to Zero Report, which provides guidelines on how to safely reopen, emphasizes how even with the best safety protocols, ventilation, and adequate supplies in place that districts face an even bigger issue: how to rebuild trust among the many key players it serves. 

Despite the pandemic, California students are beginning to return to campuses for in-person instruction. In this episode, we connect with education leaders in San Diego and Napa counties to explore how schools in their regions are addressing key guidelines for reopening safely, including partnering with their county health departments to test employees for the COVID-19 virus.

OUR GUESTS:  

• Dr. Paul Gothold, San Diego County Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Gothold was appointed County Superintendent in 2017, after four years leading Lynwood USD in Los Angeles County. He has more than 25 years of experience in K-12 education with a focus on building school systems with equity at the core.  
• Josh Schultz, Deputy Superintendent and Chief Business Official for the Napa County Office of Education. Josh has served in the Napa COE  for the past 12 years. Prior to that he served as a director in the office of research at Sonoma State University. He also taught high school for seven years in Napa County. 

When and how best to safely reopen our schools for in-person instruction remains top of mind for students, families, educators, communities, and the whole state. It has also become highly politicized. Under California's color-tiered monitoring system, schools in many counties across the state are now eligible to resume in-person classes, as long as they follow guidelines for safety and physical distancing -- and many students are indeed back on campuses. Josh and Paul share challenges to reopening in their counties, strategies being utilized to address them, and protocols in place for when positive cases occur. 

Also, series host Paul Richman shares a few highlights from recent informational hearings in the state legislature.

• Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 On Education Finance, Tuesday, October 27th, 2020
• Senate Joint Hearing Education and Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response Committees

JUST OUT: To help organizations, including schools, increase COVID-19 testing capacity, on Nov. 4 the California Department of Public Health issued a letter to school leaders and a Playbook regarding the new Valencia Laboratory state partnership.

MORE RESOURCES

• California’s COVID-19 website – COVID-19.ca.gov
• California Department of Education Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance – CDE.CA.gov

ABOUT the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

CASBO is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Be sure to visit CASBO.org and check the “Learn” tab for more information about our many valuable professional development programs; @CASBO

Your series guide Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant; @pjr100.

Contact us at edfundingca@gmail.com

Resources:

• InsideSchools website
• InsideSchools plus
• InsideSchools free course for parents: "How to Support Online Learning at Home"