[1:50] it's thursday august 6th and it is my son's 16th birthday so i wanted to wish him a happy birthday [1:56] though he is not actually watching the meeting we do have a quorum so i will call this [2:01] meeting to order due to the current federal and state emergency declarations [2:07] the minnesota directive to residents to stay home and the guidance about limiting person-to-person contact [2:13] due to coven 19 this work session of the edina public school district school board is being conducted online [2:19] in accordance with minnesota statutes 13d 021 persons may monitor this leaving [2:26] from a remote location by using the district's youtube channel school board members are reminded to [2:31] mute their microphone or phone when they are not speaking school board members wishing to speak [2:37] should unmute their microphone so i can see who is waiting to speak and then wait to be recognized by the chair [2:42] i will determine the order in which board members wishing to speak will be recognized [2:48] tonight the district leadership team will discuss planning for the 2020 2021 school year to date [2:56] they have provided the board and a community and community a comprehensive update on planning to date and next steps i [3:03] would first like to commend you and your leadership team on the work you have done to get us [3:08] to get the district to this place i also want to acknowledge the community staff and educators that [3:14] this is a very stressful and anxiety provoking time and we realize there are still many [3:19] on there are still many outstanding questions to be answered we're hoping to get some of these [3:24] questions answered tonight and please know that we are working as fast as we can without sacrificing [3:30] quality to get information to you i also want to acknowledge that there have been a number of questions raised [3:36] regarding the process in place for providing school planning information to the community [3:42] and the board's role in that process as everyone is aware the district was not provided guidance from the state until [3:48] july 30th with a planned start date for school of august 31st [3:54] this left the district with very little time to put together a proposed plan and provided the community [3:59] in addition the changing numbers regarding covid makes it imperative that we seek additional information from our [4:04] families and teachers regarding their comfort level going forward as we try to put together a schedule for beginning the school year [4:12] given these parameters the decision was made to put together a proposed plan and get additional feedback from our [4:17] families and teachers based on this plan the governor's committee has [4:23] been meeting and discussing processes to try to help guide the administration on how we can balance the sense of [4:28] urgency we have as a district to communicate information to the community in order to get accurate [4:34] numbers from a staffing and student choice perspective with the need to meet and discuss issues as a board [4:41] knowing we had this work session planned for tonight and we are working under such compressed time frames i agree with the decision to have the [4:47] district send out information to the community regarding the school year prior to the meeting by doing so we provide our [4:54] community with additional time to process the proposed plan while still providing the board with the [4:59] opportunity to discuss the plan tonight as board chair i take responsibility and [5:04] ownership for any questions or complaints about this process i'll now turn it over to you john um so [5:11] you can start walking through the board and the community with um the update on the 2020 2021 [5:20] um school year plan um to date thank you chair ellenberg i'm just going [5:26] to introduce the staff that are here andy beaton from the high school chris holden from normandale [5:31] jeff jerkinson from special ed jody d st hubert director teaching and learning karen [5:37] bergman from countryside katie mahoney from highlands principal highlands [5:42] leah byrd early childhood lisa hawthorne early childhood special education mary [5:48] hyman our health coordinator and [5:53] mary whitey communications mike walker technology integration [5:58] [Music] from human resources rachel hicks from child care randy schmazel assistant [6:05] superintendent sean dudley middle school principal at valley view steve buettner [6:12] technology troy stein and athletics val burke from community ed and our [6:17] trusted technician zach horn is running our feed tonight [6:23] so tonight we are presenting the hybrid model for edina [6:29] public schools as as you know the governor put out uh the safe [6:37] learning plan last thursday and under that plan um the case rate for [6:43] hennepin county they are having us determine what our our model will be based on the [6:51] number of cases per 10 000. on last thursday [6:56] july 5th through july 18th there was 20.93 cases per 10 000 [7:01] which put us into a a model where both our elementary and secondary would [7:07] be hybrid we are also to provide a distance learning which we are calling [7:14] edina virtual academy so that's our distance learning option we just have renamed it and just [7:20] to let know that the cases the number of cases per 10 000 [7:27] hennepin county according to the department of health has gone up to 23.24 [7:34] and that just came out today so um so we are building our model based on both our [7:41] elementary and our secondary being hybrid and also offering our families a distance learning or a [7:48] edina virtual academy choice so tonight what we're going to present [7:54] is we're going to start by having we have our health professional partner from bloomington public health [8:01] nick kelly here to talk to us about a little bit about the virus itself and [8:08] remind us about uh what what's happening in public health [8:13] related to the virus and then also talk about the partnership that we will have with bloomington [8:19] public health as we move forward we're also going to quickly go through buildings some of the building [8:25] considerations eric hamilton will be on dan hutchinson will be here from chartwells to talk about food um have [8:32] troy talk about athletics those are quick uh presentations then we'll get into each of the [8:37] areas of the instructional program for the district early childhood [8:46] elementary middle school high school special ed jeff will talk a little bit about social emotional learning we want [8:51] to talk about child care and then we'll close it down with communication so i'm going to turn it over to uh [8:57] steve buettner and mary hyman to introduce nick and uh we'll start there [9:04] great i think i'll i'll hand it over to mary hyman after i welcome vicki as well we were [9:11] put in touch with nick last week nick is a epidemiologist for bloom indian public [9:18] health and has a lot of work been doing a lot of work around coved [9:23] he does assist the cities of edina richfield and bloomington and more than likely the minnesota [9:30] department of education talked about having a health resource a regional resource and more than likely the bloomington public [9:37] health will be ours and so nick's been a great resource already but he has just a wealth of [9:42] knowledge around uh kovid around the practice of testing and mitigation and contact [9:50] racing i don't marry if you want to add any more before nick takes over um yeah the one thing i [9:57] just wanted to add is the other uh in addition to the covet issues right [10:02] now we will continue to use bloomington public health for our influenza flu shot clinics that [10:10] we utilize their staff in the fall as well so that's another kind of a key public health partnership [10:16] we have with bloomington public health without a do nick welcome [10:24] good evening um it's a pleasure to be here and uh working with you all on uh some [10:29] of the most important work we get to do taking care of our our young children and making sure our [10:36] staff stay safe as steven and mary highlighted we [10:43] we work very closely with the city of edina and have had a long relationship [10:48] working with the school district on a variety of projects in the past and kovid is not going to be any [10:54] different than that and so our ability as a local city-based health department we get to [11:01] work closely in this entire process as part of that regional support system that the state [11:06] is setting up we know edina we know our partners there [11:11] and we get to see the the city level data and be able to have a bit more insight [11:17] into what's actually going on in edina um as opposed to just the high level at [11:22] the county level and be able to help guide some of that decision making process [11:28] as we're seeing trends as we're seeing concerns that could help modify or change the [11:34] decision making process once school is in place and prior to school starting [11:40] as you decide on your learning module we were also available as part of that [11:46] process to work with the district and and assist in any uh decision making or risk assessment [11:53] process as you're going through learning modules or processes and trying to [11:59] be that second third set of eyes to help guide any concerns from a health standpoint [12:06] with our partners at the state and the department of education [12:11] so those are some of the things we can do and as part of that process [12:17] as cases occur during the school year we'll be in very frequent contact with mary's team [12:25] and working through that case contact investigation process to make sure that anybody that's been exposed [12:33] and needs to be put into a quarantine process can that can be done very uh quickly [12:41] and safely to protect our students and staff and also minimize [12:48] the ability for an outbreak to grow inside any kind of school setting [12:56] so that's just kind of a high level of kind of some of the help we can do on that end i didn't know if there were [13:03] specific questions about the process or how that process actually works [13:10] so i think this is the place uh eric and i talked earlier that maybe for each of these topics we just stop [13:15] and take the opportunity to ask some opportunity to ask questions for the board to ask questions uh [13:22] with nick here and i'll just turn it over to the board for any questions they may have related [13:28] to public health services and the public health role in in this and mary i don't know if you [13:35] want to say anything more about what's happening within the school system uh for as it relates to to health i mean [13:41] there's a lot going on but as it relates to cobid oh yeah nick can [13:47] i ask you a question so how how does you know based on our numbers in the the [13:54] county level numbers how can you help um the community and school board members assess [14:00] the risk of a hybrid program and you know it because i've had a lot [14:05] of questions on if there's a you know a teacher the test positive or a student that has symptoms [14:11] how we're going to work together on that so i don't know um if you have a uh obvious to see [14:18] i know how we can work together but i just want um other people to hear it from your perspective how that might [14:24] work yeah so one of the the first things that we looked at from the the risk standpoint [14:30] and in our work with the city of edina we're [14:36] we're in a joint incident command process and so every week we're providing situation reports [14:41] uh in part to the city of edina and that's allowing us to look closely at [14:46] our local data and so we recently started providing uh case rates per 10 000 in case rates per 100 [14:53] 000 different metrics that are being used around the world and the us to understand what's going on what we've [15:00] seen in edina is edina had a an increase in cases we saw [15:08] the end of june early july and there was some flurry of activity especially with uh [15:14] athletics and and youth activities where we saw an increase in cases um edina did some actions to work on [15:22] mitigating that the cases have dropped quite a bit since then and so when you're looking at the [15:28] the rate of cases in edina uh they've been on a downward trajectory [15:33] uh since then and the case rate per 10 000 is um uh [15:40] under 15 uh while the county is in that low 20 range and so the [15:47] conditions on the ground so to speak in edina are more favorable than the county level [15:54] conditions and so i think that that should give you some confidence um that you know if you go down the hybrid [16:01] approach that you're you're actually in a better position with the virus [16:06] in the community um than other places within hennepin county [16:11] and the ability to manage uh exposures and events in a hybrid setting are [16:19] are well structured the reason the state set that plan up is if you have half [16:24] capacity in a classroom that means your your potential exposure is significantly less [16:31] of your students and the ability to minimize outbreak [16:36] transmissions when you're cohorting and when you're structuring those environments that way with social [16:42] distancing and face coverings and all those other added measures you have the ability to manage [16:50] anything that happens at the school setting better especially when your rates are at this [16:56] level and so as mary kind of hinted at when when something like that happens and [17:01] when you get a case because it you will get a case um [17:07] we're going to be working extremely closely with okay you get the lab confirmed results we then understand based on how the the [17:13] structure of that classroom or that school is set up who was exposed and [17:18] then rapidly work to make sure that they know that they need to be home for the appropriate period of time to [17:25] protect the rest of the students and staff at the schools and so that process will likely play out [17:33] multiple times during the school year um and that's something that will work [17:38] very closely and based on the state guidance and the process it can be tailored uh to every situation [17:45] so it may just be a classroom it may be a grade or maybe a building [17:51] it really depends upon uh each individual situation so it's hard to give a blanket answer if [17:57] this is exactly how it's going to work because every exposure every every situation is going to be a little unique [18:05] and that's part of the the partnership and relationship is we'll work through that together with you [18:10] [Music] so can i ask a question is that yep [18:16] i think one thing that um i think i'm trying to understand and i think the community is trying to understand [18:21] is from a protocol perspective if a um either student or teacher [18:28] shows signs of covid would they at that point be removed from the classroom um [18:36] or do we i guess i'm just trying to understand sort of the the process there or do we so are they [18:43] removed then do we wait for a positive or negative confirmation for that student to come back to the classroom or [18:50] that teacher to come back to the classroom um how does that just even initial [18:55] process work so i can talk a little bit about the current process [19:01] um but that current process on the exclusion guidance and when to keep students and staff [19:08] out of a school setting is going to change in the near future [19:16] as they're they're working on tweaking it a little bit more recognizing schools getting ready to start um [19:22] the the high level aspects are going to be the same if a student or staff member has [19:29] symptoms they're going to be told to go home the ability to do more is really dependent [19:37] upon a test and so if somebody goes home with a uh start coughing in the middle of the [19:43] school day um they go to the nurse office they get picked up and go home [Music] [19:48] they're gonna be instructed to get a test and the test results going to really determine our next steps [19:55] and so that test result will tell us yes it's kovid no it's not cobid um it could be influenza it could be [20:03] one of about 200 other viral or bacterial things that we see that we [20:08] call influenza-like illness that we see every fall and winter and so [20:13] they're trying to tighten up the exclusion guidelines a little bit more to accommodate more of that reality [20:20] so that schools are not being asked to make clinical judgments it's it's a little bit more cut and dry [20:29] there's a little bit more judgment right now in the current exclusion guidance the process would be the same it's if [20:35] you test positive there's this pathway where if somebody test positive then we're looking at [20:41] their close contacts who are they spending more than 15 minutes with within six feet [20:47] those people are going to go home for 14 days if they test negative but still have symptoms [20:52] there's a separate path for that process where they're going to be excluded for a certain period of time until their [20:58] symptoms resolve and you just basically work through that [21:03] uh process um depending upon the situation [21:09] and so the magnitude of the impact obviously varies depending on [21:15] um what grade they're in where they are in the school system because that obviously at the secondary [21:21] levels if someone is in different classes it could be affect quite a few students at that [21:28] point it is potential um a lot of that is is based on the the [21:34] multi layers of structure that are put in place um so you could have a [21:39] uh a first grade classroom where everybody's being pretty good and staying you know [21:45] seven eight feet apart and it it could end up being a very small exposure [21:52] you could also then have it a large exposure at a high school setting um [21:59] we're not the passing somebody in the hallway when everybody's wearing cloth face coverings that's that's a short [22:06] short time frame and so when people are doing all these additional steps and processes [22:13] that the state health department and mde have put in place to [22:18] make school as safe as possible you have a lot of opportunity to [22:24] minimize exposures and so that's why it's uh it's really going to depend upon the individual [22:30] situation and how well those protocols and processes are being followed and what actually happened great [22:38] julie um yeah thanks um so i have two questions one [22:44] um you answered um from what and it has to do with defining exposure and it sounds like [22:51] there's gonna be some guidelines that you said are coming out from the state and kind of the process and the protocol that i would think [22:57] would include exposure would you agree with that like what like you were you were saying like [23:03] i think there's i've heard it said it's kind of on a spectrum right so you have a high level of exposure which maybe you're in a [23:09] classroom but then a low level exposure would be you're passing someone in a hallway right and so is that going to be part of the [23:17] guidelines that you're expecting to see in a protocol more definition of what exposure looks like [23:23] yeah the what we're expecting to see is more clarity and some of the exclusion [23:28] guidelines i don't think exposure will change much [23:34] it it used to be a different number um it's been pretty consistent now that if you're within six feet [23:39] for more than 15 minutes that's an exposure only one level it's you're exposed or [23:45] you're not or is there a spectrum the way we're looking at it uh [23:51] from the public health end is yes or no it's it's a binary um so [23:56] yep it's it's possible to have a variety of exposure but you you set up a process that works for [24:04] population level okay great thanks for clarifying that and then my second question is about testing so um [24:12] in in it's kind of two parts so in the um now from the governor they talked [24:18] about um a saliva test that all the teachers were going to have one saliva test and the results would come within [24:23] 24 to 48 hours is that what we've been seeing that if we have a [24:30] teacher that is tested that we would get those results within 24 to 48 hours so that's the first part of that [24:36] question the second one is have we thought or looked at doing some [24:42] proactive testing so for example everyone coming to school [24:47] oh everyone coming make sure you have a you have a negative cova test before you come in i know it's [24:53] it seems like a huge ass but i think there are colleges that are doing that and are expecting that [24:59] i just i'm trying to see where is the proactive piece in determining the safety of students [25:05] more than a at home screening to really rant you know to bring it up a level is that even a possibility [25:12] no so the first part the the saliva test any any positive test result that comes [25:19] back in the state of minnesota is required by uh state statute to be reported to the state health department [25:25] right and so those uh results will get reported into a central system that we work with the state on [25:32] and so if a case comes in that way um somebody in local public health will reach out and and contact that [25:39] individual and do a contact investigation in that process we'll understand about [25:45] their employment status or you know they're a teacher in the edin school district that'll trigger additional steps in that [25:51] process so yes we'll find out as soon as it gets [25:56] into the system and it'll get queued up processed that way and we work closely with the state [26:01] on that aspect as far as the the proactive testing there's been a lot of discussion and [26:08] look at that from the logistics and sustainability and process standpoint [26:14] our approach has been to look at ways to do more if something's happening [26:20] find a way to test well in that area we don't have a whole lot of insight [26:26] right now about the the value of doing broad testing with pcr based testing [26:34] the molecular testing we're doing when somebody's asymptomatic and so we the [26:42] the the value of that it did tell you at that point in time we weren't able to detect the rna for [26:47] sars cov2 in that individual but that afternoon they could become exposed [26:52] and part of the concern with doing blanket testing is uh some people can [27:00] make an assumption i'm good to go because there's there's no concern there's no risk because i don't have it [27:05] because i got tested on monday but you were doing some things that you probably shouldn't have been doing [27:10] and you got exposed on tuesday and you start developing symptoms on on friday but you think because you got [27:17] tested on monday and you were negative oh it's just something else and don't worry about it [27:22] so there's we're not we don't have plans for that blanket testing and that's not [27:28] something that we're really seeing happening here in minnesota especially at this level it's happening [27:33] at some aspects in critical infrastructure but it's not uh not happening [27:40] at the education level here part of that's testing supply chains logistics because [27:46] if you're if you're going to do that you'd want to be able to do it on a repetitive consistent basis [27:52] with a representative sample and that uh with some of the challenges [27:59] we're seeing right now nationally and internationally with some of the the key components of the supply [28:04] chains for testing um that would be a hard thing to pull off okay and i i had asked about like the [28:13] turnaround of those tests how confident are we that those turnarounds would be between 24 and 48 hours because i think [28:20] that has a huge impact on the longevity of someone quarantined [28:27] so uh those we don't know yet but i just i want to be real honest about that so [28:34] those are likely going to be asymptomatic uh tests so you're likely not going to have [28:40] a bunch of symptomatic teachers doing the saliva test the state has told us [28:45] they feel pretty confident on the turnaround the the difference with somebody [28:50] symptomatic in getting a negative test result and then being asymptomatic and getting a test result that's negative [28:57] they're treated a little differently if you have symptoms we don't want you in [29:02] the workplace or the school setting until those symptoms reside regardless of your test result [29:08] okay thank you have something to add to this point yeah just on that point i really like [29:15] your thinking um i am not super confident in the false [29:20] negative rate of some of these tests in these early stages so if we were to consider using them as a [29:27] barometer that says if we tested some people and they were not positive that makes it safe that's not [29:35] actually a very confident read-through so i think we should be waiting a little bit longer to think about any kind of [29:41] broader testing to make decisions off of from that perspective so i think this is really good thinking [29:47] i was concerned about it went the other way [Music] thank you um ellen i know you've been [29:53] waiting and then i have you owen too so ellen do you wanna yeah go ahead yeah and i [29:58] i'm curious a little bit about what uh nicholas would say about face masks [30:04] and i know that we are we have some requirements for face masks as a [30:10] mitigation method and i'm just wondering what does the state [30:16] say with respect to requiring face mass [30:23] the executive order um it was a recommendation to have all [30:29] students and staff in schools wear a cloth face covering the executive order made it a [30:35] requirement and so it's uh very clear in the guidelines that everybody is [30:42] expected to wear them um the state is going to be providing [30:47] cloth face coverings and some additional protective equipment to every district [30:54] in the state as part of that process and as far as the the safety and the value if every [31:02] student and staff member our and teacher are wearing a cloth face covering and teachers are going to be you know at [31:09] the state level they're going to provide face shields for teachers and a good portion of the [31:15] support staff wearing a face shield and a cloth face covering or a surgical mask [31:20] um that's the same thing that their surgical mask and a face shield is the same thing they're wearing in a [31:25] healthcare setting that's very good from a protection standpoint the the [31:33] face shield uh is gonna allow for a lot more of that uh [31:38] education where you're you're uh teaching kids how to read and spell and they can see your lips move um and adds a huge value to that [31:45] aspect while also providing some source control and uh um we see the face shields do [31:52] provide some aspect of actual protection to the user too okay and and i i understand [32:04] um i'm sorry i was hearing someone else was uh it so we will not have any exceptions edina [32:11] will not have any exceptions to wearing face masks is that right [32:20] we will have exceptions for students that have are in special education and cannot [32:27] um for various reasons have a face mask um but beyond that it's required [32:37] kids can't have masks over their face so troy if i'm not mistaken athletics also [32:43] during their practices and workouts they do not have to wear masks is that correct troy yeah that's correct [32:50] so um when they are in a position of uh working out [32:56] they do not have to wear a mask and the minnesota chapter of the of the [33:01] american academy of pediatrics has also um come out with a statement that said [33:06] you know they're going to there are they're limited accommodations um for not wearing a mask [33:12] for the um you know the ones that have been mentioned here but you know there might be some other uh [33:17] medical issues but they we would be requiring um you know sort of an exemption [33:23] letter or or notation so i'm just going to i'm my concern is that [33:31] um we want to keep all students safe and what i just heard from nicholas is [33:37] that that the governor was saying that this was a mandate for all buildings um and when students [33:44] are not wearing a mask you're putting other students at risk so um and we have a distance learning [33:52] option so i'm just i'm just wanting to make sure [33:57] that i understand both sides i understand that some [34:04] students can't wear a mask and and [34:11] that they those students though should not be putting the whole district at risk [34:20] i'm just wondering if nicholas could talk to that yeah so [34:26] as everybody's articulated there are some exceptions and and part of the process and the [34:32] planning that every district's been asked to do is is find ways to make accommodations and [34:39] structures so there there may be a student that that cannot wear something [34:44] and there's different processes that can be done to make those accommodations and increase the the [34:50] safety and the well-being of individuals in the school and that student through that process [34:56] so in some of those cases are are processed on kind of an individual [35:01] level if you have a student that has high risks there's [35:08] clear guidance on the the state side for how to provide [35:13] for safety for the staff providing that direct service to the student and support that environment in a safest [35:20] possible manner but that does not [35:26] the what we see is if you have you know an individual [35:31] that can't do that and they're in a large group if they're maintaining that six feet of distance [35:37] that's the most important thing and so the social distance aspects are [35:42] throughout all the plans and requirements and so first and foremost that's the most important thing [35:48] to minimize spread inside a school setting all the other layers are things that you add on to try and [35:54] add multiple layers so that you're doing everything possible to minimize those risks [36:00] for the staff that might have to be taken care of or supporting a student that has an inability to wear cloth base [36:08] covering they're going to be wearing a little bit different uh ppe or personal protective equipment to [36:15] minimize any risks on their end but wouldn't then all students that come [36:21] anywhere near that student need the same amount that you are just saying the teachers would need [36:29] i mean i i don't understand i actually you know i've been on a delta [36:34] flight where they literally turned around the plane because someone took off their face mask [36:42] and and so and i'm just saying on on a district level with when the district has an option um [36:49] that is the account that could be the accommodation for students that are unable to wear [36:56] a face mask mostly because i'm looking at trying to make sure that [37:02] we have our schools open for all students [37:08] and the transmission is being mitigated in as strong away as possible so all students will be safe and um [37:15] and knowing what we know about face masks it just seems as if if we have some loophole um it [37:24] um it puts all people at risk i don't think there's a loophole that [37:29] you say ellen and i think the problem with what you're suggesting is the majority [37:34] of students that would fall in that category also fall into the category of [37:41] students that are special services and need the most hands-on attention that we're most [37:47] concerned about at when we were doing distance learning and [37:53] um i think that these all of these situations need to be dealt [37:58] with on a one-on-one basis and through these mitigation factors and [38:03] i don't from my perspective i'm not comfortable saying if you can't wear a face mask [38:09] then you can't go to school because i think that would be excluding some of our most severe needs students [38:17] so are we going to be requiring a medical exemption [38:26] i think that if we're given a medical exemption we would have to honor that i would [38:32] assume mary wouldn't we if there was a medical reason for not [38:39] wearing a mask they couldn't wear a mask [38:45] yes we would be honoring that and and the other the other thing is you know it's it's [38:53] the multi-layer approach and um you know what that means it's um like said it's it's social distancing [39:00] you know we're doing the passive screens where we're expecting people to come into school [39:05] um they're well and ready to go they don't have symptoms of covet um you know we're doing the hand washing [39:12] we're providing any other sorts of masking or you know face covering that sort of thing so [39:17] it's it's not just going to be one thing in line it's it's going to be all of those [39:22] things that need to be ready so so i i understand that and my [39:28] um my my real intent is to understand how the [39:34] district is going to create these policies and have the safest experience for all [39:40] of our students and i just understand that there is a anti-massacre [39:47] contingency out there and so if our policies don't include [39:54] something like the need for a medical exemption [39:59] i'm not sure how we will be able to operate with consistency and integrity [40:10] so i i can make i just need to address that a little bit from a special education standpoint ellen [40:15] um one of the things that excuse me ms jones uh but there there is a concern about you [40:21] know if the school district is going to require that especially in the case of special education that's an evaluation [40:27] type of a model and if the school district requires that we may also be required to [40:33] to pay for that in order to for students to get that exemption from their physician [40:39] especially in the area of special education and the other side of it is that it's not always a medical exemption sometimes [40:46] it is also a developmental exemption because the the students developmentally [40:51] don't understand the rationale for masking or can't keep that mask on for a long period of time because they're just [40:56] developmentally just not understanding the why of the masking we're taking every precaution from a [41:01] special education standpoint to ensure that those students learn those regimens and and asking parents to join [41:07] us in that but it is something that we are taking the most caution [Music] [41:17] [Music] sorry do you have something directly related to this matter can i move to [41:22] owen directory related just to clarify for math there is no age break either way including we think [41:28] about early learning centers part of the overall capture what is the age because i've gotten that [41:33] question many times do two three four five what if a five year old enters kindergarten it's supposed to [41:38] be five and above or six and above by different guidelines you know you just make a very clear statement about that just so everybody's [41:45] on the same page that's just one clarification i think before we move on yeah the the executive order requiring it it's [41:53] five and under are exempt [Music] it's recommended over the age of two but [41:59] five and under are exempt from the the requirement the other um the other piece [42:05] i'm just looking at what we've got on the website the specific language that talks about anyone who has trouble um [42:11] breathing or unable to remove the face covering without assistance [42:17] or anyone who cannot tolerate a face covering due to a developmental medical or behavioral health condition [42:25] okay thank you you know thank you for reading that mary that um that does clarify um [42:32] a lot and i and thank you also jeff it's my my my biggest concern is um [42:38] you know there are kids that won't want to wear masks and there's families that don't want to [42:45] wear masks and um so we know that this really does impact the health of the [42:51] whole school and i'm just wondering if you could speak to what happens if a kid [42:57] just takes off their mask will they what what's going to what's going what is the district's plan [43:03] for that well i can maybe comment a little bit in uh um [43:09] you know one of the things that we have talked about with the elementary principles is that um you know once they've got [43:15] their their group of students together the group of 10 or whatever the capacity is [43:21] and um everyone is social social distanced and you know all those other sorts of [43:26] things are done um it it might it's it could be appropriate to say okay we're gonna have [43:32] a mask break you know you get to you get to take your mask off or maybe get the chain put a new mask on or change your mask [43:39] that's going to be at the discretion of the the teacher who knows their their his or her [43:45] students quite well and then that can be done developmentally and that will be part of [43:51] the education that goes along with the social emotional um pieces of life and times of [44:00] in you know during a pandemic and in elementary in the elementary life you know level those are the sorts of [44:06] things that um i think are very appropriate to to to work with an elementary school [44:12] just the other day we were somewhere and there was a mom that was working so well with her her little six-year-old about well here [44:19] here's another mask this one might be better for you right now you know to give some options of [44:24] masking um because it's not an option not to wear it so there that's those are the sorts of things [44:30] that we'll we'll include in our training this fall well can i just address that the mask [44:36] break i mean that kind of defeats the purpose of having a mask well well other districts are are [44:44] specifically prohibiting mask breaks because of the reason that you're [44:50] wearing the mask is takes precedent over over [44:56] giving kids a little break and and then breathing on each other [45:04] nick can you addre can you speak to that i i i've seen in person what a mask break looks like [45:10] at our um child care facilities so i know that there are safe ways that that it is and can be done um so if we [45:17] had a classroom if we had 10 students and they were socially distanced as as would should we [45:24] we be worried if kids are spread into different areas in the classroom if they took a [45:30] you know a five minute mask break if that was something that seemed appropriate for that age group so the [45:38] i i guess i want to reiterate the the masks are a second third fourth layer of [45:45] protection in the process and so there there are exemptions for when you can [45:50] uh remove it or not have it in certain settings and process you know eating drinking certain activities [45:58] but it always needs to be done in that context of are you socially separated are you are [46:04] you more than six feet apart are you doing this in a context with other layered levels of prevention um [46:11] and there's there's also guidance in the executive order that talks about [46:17] some kids may have a challenge wearing a cloth face covering routinely and uh encouragement of what about trying a [46:24] face shield for that kid um in the process that way face shields don't bother your [46:29] your uh your communication as much and there's recommendations and [46:35] suggestions that way to try and minimize uh risks um but just keeping in mind uh [46:42] the the cloth face coverings are are something we focus a lot a lot on [46:47] because it's a tangible visible thing it's it's down on the list of things [46:53] that we're trying to do from a public health standpoint to keep our students and staff safe there's many other things [47:00] especially that six foot distance that have a much greater impact [47:06] and it's added it's an added level of protection that we're trying to do to make sure people stay [47:11] safe [Music] thank you so i think from our timing perspective unless there are any more questions [47:17] about face mask i clearly there's more work that needs to be done in granularity where we need to [47:24] get into this um but we also have a lot of other information to get to so [47:30] um i've always been waiting for students and i um want to make sure that we can get to [47:36] owen with your questions okay thank you erica uh just a final [47:41] comment about phase coverings on the bottom of page nine the mandates and exceptions [47:47] are specified so they repeat a lot of what mary just read for us just fyi my question gets to [47:55] back to the documented exposures issue that we had talked about and i'd like to get a sense of scale as [48:02] to our range of actions we would take in a worst case scenario [48:10] imagining that we had an exposure of a broad radius a lot of kids or [48:18] faculty were somehow exposed to covet by someone in the district would we [48:25] potentially get to the point where we would shut the school down and if we did i would like to talk about [48:32] that later on in the meeting so if that if that is the case i'd like to walk back from that one [48:39] so nicholas thoughts recommendations on that so it it's um [48:46] you know if you're going to use your your worst case scenario of you somehow managed to get to everybody [48:52] in the school and against all the current protocols and doing gymnasium and sit in circles uh for an hour [49:00] singing songs um that school in that kind of situation depending upon [49:06] the exposure uh the outcome may be [49:11] that that classroom that grade level needs to be home for 14 days um it's really the intention behind it [49:19] is to be very targeted to be as least disruptive but as safe as possible [49:25] so it's not like you have a a cluster in a classroom you shut the district down [49:30] you if you have a cluster in the classroom and all the protocols are being followed and and people are doing [49:35] the way the plans are written it's likely just going to impact that classroom and so you you should not have events [49:43] that result in a massive exposure um it's the the threshold they're looking at is [49:50] you know a substantial exposure is going to be about 50 people and in that case the state would provide [49:56] additional support and do some testing to help get a handle on what happened and who may be getting ill [50:02] or exposed and test positive for for covid in a situation like that so our [50:09] protocols are designed from the bottom up to limit the radius [50:14] of exposure and because of that by definition that would isolate how the worst case [50:21] scenario of how many people may have to be quarantined and sent home for say two weeks okay good i think that [50:29] that's going to be very reassuring for members of the community okay thank you [50:36] thank you owen yeah i do i just want to go back to something [50:41] about um the testing and the turnaround so it's kind of multi-layered say [50:47] um a teacher goes in for a test and then you said the information gets put into [50:53] the database for the state what's the turner what do you expect that turnaround time to be from when the [51:01] test result comes in to when we actually would be acting upon that is that another say [51:07] say the test result comes in at three o'clock on a tuesday do we know by wednesday morning that [51:13] that teacher won't be back in the classroom say they had a positive test say they were asymptomatic they took a [51:19] test will we know that quickly for them to not return to the classroom the following morning just knowing that there's some [51:25] bureaucracy that um you know we unfortunately we have to deal with when it comes to this stuff [51:32] so that's one question the other part of it is if we have a student that goes home sick say they had a sore throat they go to [51:38] the nurse they go get a test and then they get their result and the parent calls us [51:43] and says my child has a positive result can we act upon the parent letting us know that or do we have to wait for that [51:49] result to come through the state database so uh most of the time when somebody [51:56] gets a positive test result they're going to find out about it the state it'll go into the database at [52:03] approximately the same time but that individual likely get a phone call or a text message [52:09] that hey your test result is positive or electronic message through their health system [52:16] there's going to be follow-up to that message but that message will likely result in that individual notifying their employer hey i got a positive test [52:22] result when that happens uh the district then would reach out to the regional support structure which [52:30] would be uh we'd be in that we'd be able to go into the system say yep it's here and work on that [52:37] contact investigation and assist the district on okay who who was exposed to this individual in the previous 48 hours [52:44] those individuals that had close contact in that time frame are people that we'd want to see uh not [52:50] present um and work through that process as far as the turnaround time [52:56] on the the test it it depends upon where the test is being done and who's [53:01] doing it and so minnesota has phenomenal capacity for the tests that are done here in minnesota whether [53:08] they're at the mayo clinic or the u of m lab but some clinics and other systems [53:13] are sending them out to the national testing group so if if you're going to some clinics they may [53:20] mail it out to a central repository in the entire country and it gets put in a queue and so tests [53:27] done here in minnesota we're seeing they're getting done relatively fast tests that go into some of those [53:32] national systems um are taking uh sometimes several days [53:37] okay and so if somebody goes home symptomatic they're going to be told not to come back [53:43] until they have no symptoms there's a that's the exclusion process [53:49] the other the other piece that um if we if we have a student or a staff at this [53:55] primarily i'm speaking about a student if they have symptoms um that relate to some other what we call [54:02] just a routine childhood illness you know we're still expecting them to stay home 24 hours based on the child [54:10] care guidance that we follow from hennepin county and other uh and all the epidemiology standards so [54:16] though you know we still have to go by those things um you know if it's strep throat maybe they've got a stomach ache other [54:23] influenza like illness symptoms things like that so so those are still also a baseline for [54:30] the practice that we're making decisions on okay [54:35] thank you thank you jamie lenny a quick question you had mentioned the [54:41] parameters of six feet and 15 minutes do we have any data on the risks associated with over six [54:48] feet but exposure of four to six hours [54:55] the it it becomes a continuum and so there is limited data [55:03] but it's not the the standard that we're using um that the cdc and this data set are [55:10] six feet 15 minutes [55:17] so from your perspective really the social distancing is and i don't want to [55:24] put words in your mouth but that's the critical piece so from a district perspective [55:33] that to me seems like a critical thing that we have to commit to is that distancing part and [55:40] that like you said there are other layers that we're putting into the system but from what i'm hearing from your [55:48] expert opinion is that the most important piece is that six speed of distance between people [55:56] and you'll hear later on erica you're absolutely right you'll hear later on as we start thinking about how to add students into our model [56:04] um it gets problematic because we lose the ability to social distance the more [56:09] students we add into the system right okay i just wanted to yeah you're absolutely right [56:15] okay ella did you have more questions just a quick one who's um going to be [56:21] paying for the uh edina tests and contract and contact tracing [56:29] um the the contact tracing uh the work we do is part of our routine [56:35] public health work that we do uh to provide for the city of edina um the if there is a exposure event that [56:44] rises to that threshold of 50 the state would be assisting on the testing [56:50] but until then um even for our teachers it's um is it out of pocket [56:59] the saliva tests are the state's providing those for free [57:04] at a certain quantity and then the state is negotiated for most [57:11] providers covid tests are no charge and there's going to continue to be [57:17] community testing events occurring all over the metro in the state this fall and winter [57:23] so there will be multiple ways that individuals can get tested if they [57:29] if they need to get tested or have some symptoms that are either no barrier or low cost um through their health [57:36] system or through some of the state uh or other community events that are occurring [57:41] okay thank you are there any other questions for mr kelly while he's here [57:47] [Music] well i really i just want to extend my [57:52] gratitude to you you're obviously going to be invaluable to our district and the partnership we have with you [57:58] and keeping our students and staff safe so i really appreciate it and i appreciate your time here [58:04] and answering all these questions thank you thanks nick yeah thank you thank you [58:10] nick it's a pleasure to work with you okay okay i'm going to uh uh run through um [58:19] to talk a little bit about buildings and and food so i'm going to talk have eric and maybe mary hyman [58:26] just talk a bit about how our buildings are being due to our um to this pandemic [58:33] and to the protection of our staff and our students so i think i'll start with eric and mary and then we'll go to [58:38] dan for food and then troy we'll go to trade next with athletics so eric [58:47] hi everybody um john asked me to talk a little bit about what we're doing with our buildings and [58:54] and um as far as prepping for school and then during [58:59] school we created a checklist with the help of our mechanical engineer at wold [59:05] to look at mechanical systems as far as steps to take at each site and so we're [59:12] looking at filtration we're looking at run times we're looking at outside air we're looking at days of [59:19] operation we're looking at modifying the systems [59:25] themselves right now all the new systems are controlled by [59:30] minimum outside air is required by the state and co2 measurements based on how many kids [59:37] are actually in the classroom we're going to modify those and eliminate the co2 portion so it doesn't [59:43] restrict it down we're going to set our minimums and then we'll adjust it based on [59:49] outside air temperature and so we can get the most outside air [59:54] as possible coming into our buildings we do plan on running those our [1:00:00] our mechanical systems at least six days a week so we get the full flush on wednesday [1:00:06] and on a saturday we're going to run [1:00:11] the mechanical systems at least or we're reviewing how long they're going to run but at least two hours before and two [1:00:17] hours after um staff come into the building so that the buildings are [1:00:23] um starting fresh every day we're looking at [1:00:30] the filtration system on each one on each air handling unit to maximize the [1:00:36] the quality of the filter and we're going to start out with new filters on on every air handler unit [1:00:44] we're looking at working with the isolation room to create a negative space so that our [1:00:51] negative error so we don't allow that air in in as much as possible [1:00:59] allow that air to be transferred into another space [1:01:05] cleaning we're going to do obviously wednesdays are going to be extra cleaning days for [1:01:10] the touch surfaces and we'll obviously do cleaning as we have in the past in all the [1:01:16] classrooms we'll do additional cleaning during the day on those high touch areas whether it's doorknobs or hand rails and those type [1:01:23] of of areas we're working with our chemical supplier to make sure we're really clear [1:01:28] with mary and her team on the chemicals that we're using in our district and [1:01:33] which ones we're going to have in the classroom that are safe for teachers and students and which ones are [1:01:38] going to be used by health and custodial that have been trained to use it [1:01:46] we're setting up specific cleaning protocols so that and we've been able to practice them for [1:01:53] the summer programs that we've had making it really clear what the custodians are touching [1:01:58] and which make it um so that we're really coordinating with the [1:02:04] teachers within that space so they understand what we're touching compared to what they should be touching [1:02:09] and i think that worked well in the in the three summer programs that we've [1:02:15] kind of gone through we still have to work a little bit through the lunch scenario [1:02:22] but i think we're pretty comfortable with the one modification that we're making is [1:02:28] we're not going to break down organics so in an elementary classroom they're [1:02:33] going to get a lunch in a bag of some type or they'll have a paper towel as their [1:02:39] placemat eat their lunch pick everything up and everything goes in the trash we're not going to do the [1:02:45] separations and what that trash is actually going to be out in the hallway so we can take it all out in the hall and get it out of [1:02:51] the classroom immediately um i think those are the [1:02:56] top ones i don't know if mary has any other thoughts i'm actually looking at the uh family [1:03:03] dashboard that mary whitey has done and um under facilities um they did add [1:03:09] hand dispensers and all of the vestibules of each of the main buildings or the main entrances of the building so [1:03:15] that's primarily for once we get um you know visitors and families back in students will be expected to use [1:03:23] the soap and water at the bathrooms before they go into their um into their classrooms once they get to [1:03:29] their little pod area um you know we're going to be doing [1:03:34] markers on the floor for social distancing but um [1:03:40] the other thing that we're we're trying to still kind of go through this um from a health services standpoint if [1:03:46] if a student needs a medication or some sort of first aid we're going to do some extra training [1:03:51] so that the teachers will um you know get some reassurance on the first day that they provide in the classroom but [1:03:58] also i think we will go to the classroom to administer medications [1:04:03] and so we won't have the you know 75 visits at the high school um you know back every day um there's [1:04:11] significant numbers in some of the the different schools so we're going to bring the services to them [1:04:17] um so those are some of the things that we're looking at but otherwise i think eric really hit the uh um that the talk does pretty [1:04:26] well um from a covet self-screening um we've come up with a printable [1:04:31] pdf um that go over the symptoms that we want students and families to review every [1:04:36] day and we have a slightly different system for visitors and volunteers once we're at [1:04:41] that point coming into the buildings every day but um [1:04:46] we will not a lot of people have been asking if we're going to be doing temperature checks at the buildings the [1:04:52] answer to that is no um that should be part of a the covid's self-screening [1:04:58] at home but that doesn't mean that if um if there's someone that might have some symptoms at school [1:05:04] let's do that we'll still do still do that process at build the buildings that that piece [1:05:10] is still there um but it would just create too many complications if you've got a whole bus [1:05:15] of students coming into the front of a building or even if we staggered the students and they're coming in different [1:05:21] doors we need to have a consistent sustainable process across all of the buildings and so um [1:05:30] taking the temperatures is just not sustainable and consistent and especially when the [1:05:36] weather starts to get cold we don't want a backup of students so there's a number of reasons and then [1:05:43] from what i've read temperature fever is just one symptoms [1:05:48] there are many other aspects of that um rather than just one number of a fever so that's um that was the rationale [1:05:56] behind that protocol thanks mary um why don't we jump to uh food service [1:06:06] dan yes sir good evening folks uh let me make a [1:06:14] a broad swipe of where we're at um [1:06:19] starting with the elementary schools uh just looking at the uh and each school is different and i plan [1:06:25] on reaching out to the principals starting tomorrow to schedule some time to talk about [1:06:31] what we do in each building um because it does vary based on on the different things that we've done [1:06:37] there um over the years but uh basically the breakfast program has all been uh in a bag already it's a [1:06:44] cold program that uh some kids come in and grab it [1:06:50] from a cart right near the door and go to their classrooms some have gone to the cafeteria and picked it up [1:06:56] uh but we don't see that changing much all the product is all pre-packaged so we [1:07:03] see that i'm staying pretty much the same from the lunch standpoint as much as [1:07:09] we'd like to serve hot food we know kids eat more hot food than than cold [1:07:15] we'll have to um you know evolve to that once we work out [1:07:21] some kinks you know the next few weeks um so we'll start with the cold bags [1:07:26] uh the elementary schools expressed a desire for us to deliver the bags to [1:07:31] the room so with infinite campuses help there are a couple pieces of software [1:07:38] and i've looked at that we think would be very beneficial to uh to us one is if [1:07:45] the teachers when they take attendance they can certainly ask students if they're going to partake in the lunch today [1:07:52] and we can get numbers of how many classrooms need lunch bags and milk to the managers so [1:08:00] we know how many to prep and how many to deliver if we can get buy in on that and also on [1:08:07] the back end so that from a safety standpoint to not have to worry about claiming [1:08:13] uh the meals as we deliver them then again the teacher or a pair or somebody adult in [1:08:19] the room can pull up there's a program called class serve that [1:08:25] depending on who has a bag in front of them they can just click the student's account and it can debit their account [1:08:32] so it would take a lot of time out of [1:08:37] you know certainly my managers have been doing doing doing it manually uh i will add a little caveat that um [1:08:45] we're finding uh the chartwells is our company and you may know through the [1:08:52] politics of things that there is some talk that they're going to continue the summer school program and if they do that and [1:08:59] don't go back to the national school lunch then everybody [1:09:04] will continue to get a meal if they're under 18. and so that would streamline things [1:09:10] incredibly well uh from a claiming standpoint the other could be cumbersome [1:09:15] based on you know if we have to look at the eligibility and and ding [1:09:22] students accounts so that's sort of it in a nutshell there i'm planning on reaching out [1:09:29] the principles um and uh to start schedule some time next week to drill [1:09:34] down further on their particular schools i've had some talks spent some time with [1:09:41] tammy jo over at southview the other day regarding how selfie would look um [1:09:48] need to speak some more with sean uh spoke with andy at the high school uh his team [1:09:54] today uh have a better idea of what those look like but basically breakfast can still stay the same in [1:10:00] those schools a similar pickup uh and either eat in the cafeteria [1:10:07] southeast does go to their classrooms and that has worked well but lunches the the students would come [1:10:14] down by class come through the surgery to just a couple points uh through social spacing to pick up a [1:10:21] bag choose their milk the cashiers would have [1:10:26] a radar gun that could you know just click the barcode on their on their badge so we're [1:10:32] looking to implement the students need ids to to eat every day and so that way [1:10:39] nobody's touching pen pads they just walk up make sure everything's in the bag so all [1:10:45] they have to do is just [Music] click the gun to read the barcode [1:10:52] along with that so that there is no change of money and having to deal with [1:10:57] students passing over money or cashiers having to deal with money we've looked to go to a a cashless checkout [1:11:06] so we are starting to communicate to the district that um families will need to put money on [1:11:13] accounts uh i did correct uh something to marry tonight [1:11:18] latest earlier this afternoon about we can still take money uh at the offices or the front office or [1:11:25] checks uh my managers can put them in during the school school year so it's not like [1:11:30] everybody has to go on the portal at least i think people don't have to go on the portal [1:11:36] and get the uh for the charge uh to put money on their account it can still be [1:11:42] brought to the school we can still have it we're just trying to eliminate uh it would slow down the process for [1:11:48] starters plus it would eliminate uh any of the uh touching of money and [1:11:53] passing it back and forth and so forth so we're so we're looking to to implement that this year a lot of [1:11:58] school districts around the area have been uh not using uh cash for some time [1:12:06] um but uh that's sort of it in a nutshell um i do have one other thing about [1:12:14] uh uh were two issues that we will have to work through um and one of [1:12:21] the usda commodities that we buy um the money that the district gets that [1:12:27] i purchased uh the uh government at this point and it's controlled by the state does all [1:12:33] states manage the usda program but we're told that commodities are still coming so everything that i've [1:12:40] ordered this past spring that will start showing up here in september [1:12:46] quite a bit of it is frozen goods the canned goods i buy tend to be um you [1:12:52] know just fruit canned fruit uh canned vegetables aren't that good so i buy fresh frozen [1:12:59] vegetables but the meats and the cheeses [Music] are all freezer uh oriented and of [1:13:05] course the as you can imagine the typical processes the you know the products come in uh we menu [1:13:12] uh the products that we're using and we cook them and send them out so uh and i've letting all the all the [1:13:18] builders know but as soon as we can get to doing some hot food based on whatever happens [1:13:23] the next month or two uh sooner the better even on a small scale because it looks like we'd probably be needing [1:13:30] to uh store whether in a contract storage unit or [1:13:38] a you know reefer a refrigerated truck that sits somewhere but it looks like if [1:13:45] we stay cold for any period of time certainly into next year you know i'll [1:13:50] be running out of space to put things then [1:13:55] some are aware of the whole distant learning uh part of the piece of this and the state [1:14:04] does require kids our home learning they're still allowed to [1:14:10] participate in the food program so again if it's something like this summer where it's a [1:14:15] matter of just delivering it to them or having them come pick it up say when they're picking up their student at the end of the school day uh [1:14:21] it'll be easy to pass them out if it's a matter of going back to the national school lunch program [1:14:27] there's a process of claiming but we still have that [1:14:38] dan dan you muted yourself somehow i'm sorry how far back did i [1:14:47] where did i leave off maybe you were just talking about the um two sentences yeah not that far [1:14:56] okay yeah the the distant learning piece yeah there you go yeah and um so [1:15:02] you know distant learning we need to get children you know meals and so part of the idea is if we stay [1:15:08] with the 212 on tuesday afternoon if a parent comes to pick up their child and they want to [1:15:13] partake we could give them breakfast and lunch for wednesday thursday friday [1:15:19] and then again on friday for those families they would get meals technically for for [1:15:24] monday tuesday wednesday when they're home studying but you know how do we do that and manage it [1:15:30] does each school have a google doc that they sign up for or you know it's it's something that is a pretty big nut [1:15:37] to crack okay dan uh troy real quickly you want [1:15:43] to run through what's happening athletics and then we'll stop for questions and then we'll move on to our programs [1:15:49] yeah good evening everybody and uh board chair allen berg and superintendent um thanks for having me this is uh troy [1:15:56] stein assistant principal activities and athletics director at the high school and i'm here to [1:16:02] give a few quick announcements related to athletics and activities um on tuesday the high school league the [1:16:09] minnesota state high school league made a decision to push football and volleyball [1:16:15] to the spring and create what we're calling a fourth season which would be between [1:16:21] the winter and spring then pushing back a little bit into summer and those specific details are [1:16:28] remain to be determined they also reduce the remaining fall sports [1:16:34] uh in the number of weeks to 20 percent and reduce competitions and 30 percent [1:16:39] and the concept around that was to try and mitigate the [1:16:46] transmission of any potential virus to other communities limit travel focus on local travel so local travel [1:16:53] being defined as conference and or section opponents specifically we will continue [1:17:02] to work with uh the high school league and the hmde mary hyman has been remarkable with [1:17:08] working with us in terms of establishing protocols for the safe return of fall athletics [1:17:13] specifically and we are just starting the process to look at what it's going to look like for [1:17:19] our clubs if we have them activities for example we are working with [1:17:25] speech and debate for a virtual experience this year and they are they are well along [1:17:32] the way to providing that so uh we are working with transportation uh [1:17:38] there's some complexities with um with limitations on how many students we can get on a bus so work [1:17:44] with hr and and uh we have a transportation waiver that we're going to use [1:17:50] that can help help families and the district get to away local [1:17:56] events um if we need we do plan to provide transportation to every event so we're going to ask if [1:18:04] if we can't get everybody on a bus due to the requirements that we would ask families that are able [1:18:10] to drive to the event to do that and then we would provide to anybody that can't [1:18:15] um a big a big uh change from the high school league was that uh [1:18:22] due to coved and and the fact that the high school league budget is really generated from 80 percent [1:18:30] of state tournament revenue and the loss of the basketball boys basketball state [1:18:36] tournament from winter and the more than likely the loss of state tournament revenue from fall [1:18:42] uh the high school league did uh reformat uh their fees to member schools [1:18:49] which would be more of a membership fee concept and so our fees at edina will go up [1:18:55] um they went up this past year and they will continue to rise and i'm i'm guessing [1:19:01] that we're going to be around 20 000 in fees this year's to the minnesota state high school league [1:19:06] which is going to be more than double than uh what we have done so again this is uh somewhat coveted [1:19:12] related but also an ongoing issue as state tournament attendance has continued to decline in that area so uh that's my quick [1:19:20] update and i'll turn it over for any questions questions for for those three areas [1:19:26] buildings and food and athletics janie i have a question right off the [1:19:33] bat if i uh troy could you call out specifically [1:19:38] what the activities and what the sports are that will run this fall [Music] [1:19:44] yeah so um we will have cross country both boys and girls and and again these [1:19:50] uh these will start on the normal fall start date of august 17th we're gonna have soccer boys and girls [1:19:58] uh girls swim and dive and then girls tennis [1:20:05] adaptive all adaptive store sports are still to be determined as they work with the adaptive [1:20:11] association over the potential safe return in that area [1:20:20] okay um theater will that still go on we are looking we are looking at all of [1:20:27] the fine arts and activities and co-curriculars as they come up we were just talking [1:20:34] today in our admin team around you know what are the possibilities to do that in a safe way [1:20:40] we know that we're not going to be having an audience and in fact when you look at sports for example we [1:20:47] we are not allowed to bring spectators into anything into our schools so we're working with a streaming group [1:20:53] right now to be able to stream those events and similar to a theater production we [1:20:58] would look at that possibility our hope is to certainly do that if we can [1:21:05] and do understand that a certain amount of spectators can go to football [1:21:11] games and soccer games you're gonna have some way of handling that um can [1:21:17] no attendance at swimming needs i understand can there be attendance at um cross-country meets yeah so [1:21:25] uh specifically the the venue dictates uh your attendance so for example at [1:21:31] coleman stadium outside we can have 25 percent of the capacity up to 250 [1:21:38] so we will certainly work with the high school league in the late conference so we're providing some guidance in terms [1:21:44] of how we can how we can equitably allow spectators in [1:21:49] i'm guessing a focus would be on parents um and then and then we go from there um [1:21:56] the cross country meet um they've said with open open campuses then it's r you're related [1:22:02] to the square foot of that area so uh we have a lot of flexibility with uh [1:22:07] with a cross-country meet okay thank you troy yeah [1:22:15] yeah i had a question i don't know if this is directed at eric or not but um will classrooms be set up [1:22:22] with kind of predetermined spaces for desks and tables to keep kids socially distanced well [1:22:28] will that be done kind of on a higher level so there's consistency or is that something that teachers will have [1:22:34] autonomy with to design their learning spaces within the guidelines that [1:22:39] are given yeah working with the principals it it seems more realistic that it is at [1:22:46] the the teacher principle level um obviously we're there to support but each room is [1:22:52] so unique to itself not only just the size of the room but it might have cabinets it might not [1:22:58] the furniture could be different so leaving it up to the people that are going to be working within the space [1:23:04] and then knowing the number of kids that are actually going to be there will dictate that okay thank you [1:23:14] so eric i i've got a couple questions on ventilation systems and um and i'm just wondering if you [1:23:23] if the state has any standards in air flow in classrooms um or [1:23:29] is that is that left to the districts no um so our building as we're doing [1:23:36] mechanical upgrades we're bringing them to code and code is 15 15 [1:23:42] cubic feet per minute first person and so we'll be meeting um all of our [1:23:49] buildings meet that code and it's not based on anything but that [1:23:54] that okay that number um so and that's really good to hear i [1:24:01] know that the district's been working hard at upgrading the hvac systems um and then i'm wondering um i [1:24:08] i i've been just doing my own research on this and and university of minnesota just came [1:24:14] out with a research brief on how coronavirus travels indoors [1:24:19] and it has some recommendations on where a teacher should stand in front of the ventilation [1:24:25] system i was wondering if you were aware of that i i did briefly see it i don't know that [1:24:32] i read the entire thing but i had a conversation with it with our mechanical engineer just this afternoon yes [1:24:38] super so that that's the type of information that where the teacher stands makes a big [1:24:44] difference um and um i would recommend that that those types of guidelines be [1:24:50] incorporated in our school um [1:24:55] we consider laying on the room set up right keep in mind that that test with [1:25:03] at the university was in a highly controlled environment and they knew [1:25:09] exactly where air where the damper positions on the louvers were they knew exactly how [1:25:16] much air was going through they knew exactly where it was going and again each one of our classrooms could [1:25:22] be different and so to say exactly where to for somebody to stand for the perfect [1:25:27] model we would have to have have all those criteria under control got it [1:25:34] um and can you talk to me a little bit about what uh super cleaning or whatever going on on wednesday [1:25:42] night or sure it's happening sure so wednesday is i'm just calling it a [1:25:49] rest day so if the building is we're still going to have people in the building it's still going to be i'm assuming [1:25:55] teachers are going to be there i'm assuming there's going to be some people in there but the load of the building is [1:26:01] going to be dramatically less and so we're going to run the air handler as it's a full building so [1:26:06] we're bringing in fresh air and that's a really key component the buildings should be clean because [1:26:12] they're clean tuesday night as far as getting the trash cleaning the bathrooms doing all those touch here doing the [1:26:18] all the big areas and so we'll have more time to go in and clean those touch areas in classrooms [1:26:24] and so we'll be working through um protocol with our custodians to hit specific areas and we'll list those out [1:26:31] for the teachers so that we're all on or the principles that we're all on that same page but it's our opportunity to [1:26:37] do additional cleaning on top of the cleaning that we did the night before and is is that same cleaning going to be [1:26:44] done then on saturday or sunday before then the alternative [1:26:54] um so we're there's a couple things that are happening first of all we have an extra day in there so we have an [1:27:01] extra day of of downtime we're gonna do um as much cleaning as we [1:27:08] can on a friday and we also have a building check on a saturday and sunday and so they'll be [1:27:14] assigned tasks to come in and do specific touch surfaces again this is a team [1:27:20] effort and this is a layered approach as mary said there's multiple layers of what [1:27:25] we're doing and you know it's interesting because more and more research [1:27:30] that i hear and i if i get a chance i'll have to ask the epidemiologist what his thoughts are on but [1:27:36] it's that the touch surfaces are not as critical as it was three or four months [1:27:42] ago so i i'm gonna have to get his input on that yeah no that's what i understand too [1:27:48] thank you so much eric you at thanks for the question [Music] [1:27:53] yes um eric i just had a quick question related to the ventilation i know you said that um [1:28:02] you said that the buildings themselves pass all the ventilation does that mean do all portions of the [1:28:09] buildings ventilate as well as others and i basically only speaking of the basement [1:28:15] of the high school and those rooms down there that don't have any windows and things like that [1:28:21] sure so um i did get this question from [1:28:27] the union representative he was going to get back to me about specific rooms that they had questions on but [1:28:32] yes the ventilation does feed into all the areas when a ventilation system has designed [1:28:38] its design with the cfm requirement and it's also designed with doors closed [1:28:45] and if it has operable windows with windows closed so it doesn't matter where you are within any building it's designed with the [1:28:52] classroom door closed and any exterior window if it has it closed so it kind of replicates that same environment [1:28:59] everywhere okay thank you you bet julie questions i do i just have one um you [1:29:07] answered a lot of the ones that i had but i just have one question you talked about how [1:29:12] you are going to flush the ventilation system six days a week you said two hours [1:29:17] before and two hours at the end of the day correct eric something like that yeah two hours before and two hours at the [1:29:24] end at a minimum for the five days a week and that's that's something that we're gonna again get a mechanical engineer to [1:29:31] give us his opinion on but that's kind of where our starting point thinking is okay and have we i i guess i'm just [1:29:37] curious about the change have we ever done that before as a district or this is new so you know my philosophy has always [1:29:45] been um control costs right and so i don't i don't start until i have to we [1:29:52] it's called an optimal start we know when kids are coming in and we can put it in the computer and it doesn't optimal start it [1:29:57] doesn't if it's if it's warm outside we're not going to start it right away if it's cold outside we'll start it a [1:30:03] little bit earlier and at the end of the day we you know sometimes we'll shut things down right when the [1:30:09] kids are gonna exit the building because we know there's plenty of fresh air in the building for the [1:30:15] last teachers to kind of hang out and the load of the building is dramatically less [1:30:20] but we're not going to be looking at it from an energy standpoint this school year we've talked to [1:30:25] i've talked to everybody about it that's not going to be a factor we're doing it for [1:30:31] complete operation of get as much fresh air in the building as possible excellent okay great i just wanted to [1:30:37] point out that there's a big shift in what we're doing yeah no it'll be dramatic and we'll see it on our electric bills [1:30:44] all right thank you so much for your work eric i've got a question for you [1:30:49] we in the hybrid model need to be at 50 capacity and uh you may have said this a few [1:30:55] minutes ago but i either missed it or i misunderstood it when we talk about the definition of capacity for a room [1:31:02] are we talking about the class limits as specified in our class size [1:31:08] guidelines are we talking about fire code because those are different numbers [1:31:15] would you happen to have an answer for that oh and um we'll get to that when we start talking [1:31:22] about the buildings and the classrooms so um can you wait and hold that because [1:31:27] we've got an explanation because we got that uh you know kind of an instructional application to that [1:31:34] okay sounds great all right thanks on [1:31:41] other questions okay [1:31:48] what can we go on erica i'm sorry okay so yeah i just i wanted to thank eric and dan [1:31:53] and troy and mary for being here and all your work that you're doing for this i appreciate it okay um let's jump to child care [1:32:01] um real quickly and uh staff and and administrators the board has [1:32:08] read the report so no need to repeat the report but just hit the highlights uh when you're doing your presentations [1:32:16] this is meant to really allow them to ask questions um for their constituents so let's start [1:32:23] with uh rachel and val regarding child care so rachel you just want to talk a little [1:32:29] bit about what the plans are moving forward i know we still have some plans to do around child care [1:32:35] and um so i'll turn it over to you [1:32:40] you're muted rachel good call um [1:32:46] my name is rachel hicks and i'm the youth programs coordinator for edina community education and we've been [1:32:53] working closely with the district to look at uh what the district is offering as far as models [1:32:59] and then how we can work around it um and how we can work with it uh so [1:33:06] what we're looking at for this fall currently is looking at offering after school care [1:33:13] for all of the elementary schools four days a week so it will be on the [1:33:18] monday tuesday and on the thursday friday that is currently where we have landed [1:33:25] and we will continue to assess and reassess the needs and the space available to us [1:33:35] in order to look at additional options regarding care [1:33:42] val is there anything else you wanted to add no i think you covered it beautifully [1:34:01] can i jump in with a question erica absolutely [1:34:07] i just wanted to actually sorry no that's okay so um just from [1:34:13] a uh thinking standpoint for parents who may be questioning [1:34:19] if my child say i have an elementary child that goes to school monday tuesday or have we looked at whether or not they [1:34:25] would be eligible for any child care on the even if it was just the afternoons of [1:34:31] tuesday thursday and also what is um kind of the thinking behind i think i [1:34:37] i'm going to know the answer but i just want to make sure i'm not offering any care on wednesdays [1:34:43] good question um so one of the things i'm looking closely at [1:34:49] uh in regards to offering care on thursdays and [1:34:54] fridays for a kiddos and vice versa for b kiddos is the ability to keep them [1:35:02] separated into pods um one other thing we learned one of the things we learned this summer [1:35:09] in programming is the um positive results of [1:35:14] having kids closely connected to pods and traveling with those pods and being able to contain them [1:35:20] and uh looking at that is something we'll absolutely look [1:35:26] at going into the fall if if that's something we can offer to families [1:35:32] however it'll be very closely looked at according to safety protocol and what we [1:35:38] can put in place in regards to staffing and student uh student separation or or [1:35:46] into pods um in regards to wednesdays um we [1:35:54] have looked very closely at um what our building's space has been and what our [1:36:01] capability is um we're also pretty concerned about uh the cross contamination or cross [1:36:09] um that sounds that sounds bad but the cross the crossover of kiddos um the a's and [1:36:15] b's on wednesdays um and so that is that's something we're looking closely [1:36:21] at as well um what we decided is we know that we can sufficiently and [1:36:28] excellently provide care for after school for kiddos when they come on a days [1:36:35] and for kiddos when they come on b days so that's where we'll start [1:36:41] just staying up a real quick thing to that is rachel and her team did an amazing [1:36:47] job this summer of kind of phasing in sort of starting out with a reasonable amount our [1:36:54] philosophy was under promise over deliver and i believe they did that and so i think [1:37:00] we will take that same approach this fall as we're all sort of learning from the delivery systems we're offering [1:37:07] how we can phase in additional care and additional options for families because i think i think space will [1:37:13] follow it's just initially we all have a lot of learning to do so we are prepared to step into that as [1:37:22] um as it evolves and so um again i really would applaud the team [1:37:27] this summer for taking that approach because as you learn you really are able to perfect the processes [1:37:34] and i know there's been a lot of cross-learning amongst us about how they they did their work this summer [1:37:40] thank you alan yeah um and i just want to just double check [1:37:46] that these are not you are not talking about child care for first responders right [1:37:54] so is that and and child care for first responders will be totally separate you know you are you're [1:38:00] talking about your concern about um a and b day kids getting out of their bubbles [1:38:07] i'm just wondering i'm just making sure that we um that this this is what the plan is is [1:38:13] to make sure that we are maintaining the a bottle bubble the b bubble and then the first responders [1:38:19] first responder bubble is that what i'm hearing [1:38:25] right now we're working with the district on on perfecting that plan um for but absolutely will we be [1:38:32] covering our first responders and our tier one workers um i think we're gathering data [1:38:38] right now on how many there are who they are uh i'm not who but i mean how many [1:38:43] really and where they fall in terms of what school um etc so we can plan space accordingly [1:38:50] but our building principles have reserved spaces in each building to try to help us determine that based [1:38:55] on spring numbers so i wish i had a absolute answer for [1:39:01] you but our programs sort of surround the instructional plan [1:39:06] i mean they don't sort of they do and so we're just waiting for that to absolutely [1:39:11] you know absolutely be um in place so then we can determine with our um colleagues how to [1:39:20] continue to maintain the groups i mean everyone that's front of mind for [1:39:26] everyone it's just no one's going to tell you differently [1:39:31] it is complex and i think as you talk to the building principles from the elementary you're going to see that and so um [1:39:38] fabulous team to be working with in terms of problem solving but i don't have exactly how that will be in terms of the [1:39:46] spaces they'll be today [1:39:52] dooley [Music] so um valet reading here that we're [1:39:59] planning for up to 100 families at each elementary school and can you tell me what that means from [1:40:06] a um space perspective as far as classrooms that's going to require [1:40:11] at each elementary school the beauty of the aabb days is that really once school ends [1:40:19] we have access to spaces so we have you know we have access to more spaces and [1:40:25] so we're very fortunate josh jansen who's one of our new deans [1:40:30] is our liaison with our building principles in terms of how do we determine once we see how many are [1:40:36] actually in each building that need after school care what spaces and how you know our communication plan with the teachers [1:40:42] that we'll use because we do know that we will need classroom spaces it's not our [1:40:48] traditional program is based on large spaces and open areas where we can intermingle kids on a [1:40:53] regular basis we know from this summer and if we know from the disease or the virus that isn't the case so [1:41:01] and our principals know that so we will be working closely with buildings and grounds and with our [1:41:07] principals and josh to determine like what the spaces we need for the amount of students that are [1:41:13] in there and we base that 100 just sort of on the limited data we have right now from [1:41:20] parents that are telling us they need child care is that can you give me an estimate [1:41:26] because i know that this directly impacts the number of students we can bring in for k to five [1:41:35] is this space swap so i just didn't know if you were [1:41:40] talking about three classrooms four classrooms no i mean if we serve 100 students we're [1:41:46] planning on a 1 to 15 ratio so we'll need eight classrooms you know we'll after school though again once the [1:41:53] school day is completed and so we've we're pretty good at the transition time and how [1:42:00] we're going to lay that out and then um our kiddos will go to i mean in a [1:42:05] perfect world they would be in a classroom in the day and that classroom would move to the [1:42:12] same pod after school that's the perfect world um and [1:42:18] we're just continuing on with those discussions of how close to that or could we reach that or how does how [1:42:24] does that how would that really look okay thank you so until we actually get [1:42:30] bodies signed up and get people placed in classes i really am not trying to sound vague [1:42:36] and neither is rachel you know that will be really what tells us [1:42:42] how we have classrooms um allocated after school [1:42:47] what i do know is we are that's i mean we understand clearly that we have working families that need [1:42:54] this and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that they can be served [1:43:01] okay thank you val oh julie yeah i apologize my family doesn't [1:43:07] know where i am so they keep calling me to find me so um [1:43:12] i have a just a quick question you guys um you didn't mention anything about morning care is that off the table i [1:43:19] just wanted to make sure that i understood that i assumed that but thought i would just ask [1:43:25] no that's a good question julie um we've talked about that quite a bit and we it's still on the table as a possibility [1:43:32] for normandale because their school starts later um we haven't i haven't received full [1:43:40] confirmation as to what time students will be arriving based on the busing transportation is [1:43:47] obviously something that's been talked about pretty frequently um and uh looking at the amount of time [1:43:55] [Music] rachel oh my gosh [1:44:02] i was almost done i'm sorry rachel that happens to me in lead team meetings all the time people mute my mic [1:44:09] oh my gosh i'm so excited buttons the last sentence oh really okay um [1:44:16] so we've looked at uh um great now i'm not going to grab um we've looked at uh [1:44:24] the amount of students we normally serve and the amount of time that we are serving [1:44:29] families in the morning and uh the risk factor involved with um adding students to [1:44:37] another cohort another group during that time just as [1:44:42] just outweighs the or the risk outweighs the benefits at that point and therefore we feel as so we can we [1:44:50] can do after school really well and safely we don't feel that way going into [1:44:57] mornings right off the bat got it thank you ellen so i and i'm just trying to figure [1:45:05] out how this is going to work it's after school ends then the rooms are all going to be cleaned uh [1:45:11] the classrooms are all going to be cleaned and then and then child care is going to start [1:45:19] how that's going to work we're working with erica and the buildings and grounds [1:45:25] but it's the same set of kids alan so if we move them from their pod and we [1:45:30] keep them potentially in their classroom um the cleaning requirements for that are [1:45:38] really great they're not changing right that wouldn't make it but it but when i think about 15 in [1:45:45] in to one which is the ratio or saying that's that would be the whole class staying [1:45:52] yeah really so i what i i'm guessing is there's going to be some moving around [1:45:58] yes and i think it's going to be like a staged beginning um and again we're we're kind of [1:46:04] waiting um for the classroom assignments to determine what is this what is the staggered [1:46:10] starts how do we get to our classroom in that sort of waiting period we'll be cleaning protocols that our staff [1:46:17] or alongside our custodians will be doing if it's a mixture of students which it [1:46:23] very well might be you know you might have two first grade classes we're just [1:46:29] that's the part where we're operating a little bit um uh with not all of our knowledge [1:46:36] quite yet until we have all the bodies in the space and we can determine that val can i make a [1:46:42] comment or add to it please do um [1:46:48] one good thing one really positive thing that i think we have going is that we you know my department has a really good [1:46:54] working relationship with val's department and uh and rachel hicks and what we've [1:47:00] learned is that when we communicate really well in other words they tell us what space what they're going to be in [1:47:06] they tell us what time they're going to start and rachel's crew knows what they have to clean and [1:47:11] what we have to clean we can accomplish that if we've got a window of time and so once we know the parameters i don't see [1:47:18] that as a hiccup on our side at all and just like this summer [1:47:24] we've rachel made a really clear sheet exactly what their staff is going [1:47:29] to do exactly what my staff was going to do we worked that plan we modified it as we [1:47:34] went when we went into the next section we modified it again and it's all about communication so i i [1:47:39] appreciate the question i don't see that as a hiccup at all in my world great thank you thank you thank you [1:47:48] i would echo everything that eric just said i that is uh that is one area that i feel [1:47:54] very little stress about i feel like we can really manage that successfully [Music] [1:48:01] are there any other questions for child care planning [Music] [1:48:07] well thank you val and rachel i know it's um it's a planning on the go but you guys [1:48:13] have done a great job over the summer so thank you for building on that and all the work you've done we all appreciate [1:48:19] it thanks okay i'm going to jump to elementary then we'll do early childhood um because we have some just managing uh [1:48:26] individuals schedules here so uh elementary kieran and [1:48:32] e and randy and chris yes good evening everyone [1:48:39] uh karen bergman principal at countryside uh chris holden principal at normandale and [1:48:45] katie mahoney principal at highlands we're going to kind of tag team and give you a little bit of an overview of some of the [1:48:51] projects we're currently working on i'm going to start with just a few logistics [1:48:58] and things that we are are doing on the operations side and then we'll transition to more of the [1:49:04] instructional program and um some of the details regarding that so [1:49:09] uh one of the questions that uh had come up with the child care uh program um [1:49:17] details was around the cohort groups of students that were putting together [1:49:23] our instructional model as well as uh you know the our our aabb [1:49:31] uh schedule um supports that um and we are very cognizant of that [1:49:38] idea around making sure that we are keeping kids in those pods um in those cohort groups a couple of [1:49:45] challenges that we are currently working on and we're getting there [1:49:51] but we have a significant need to be able to meet some very specific [1:49:57] needs for some of our students by possibly providing some additional [1:50:02] time in our buildings with us beyond what that aabb model [1:50:09] does provide and so we're doing a lot of research and having a lot of conversations around [1:50:15] that idea of what does that cohort group look like and how many contacts with the adults [1:50:23] do those groups have as well as how many contacts between kids [1:50:29] are we are we creating during the day so we are talking more specifically with [1:50:37] our health professionals right now just to see um how how some of the adjustments we're [1:50:44] making to the plan to accommodate uh these extra needs of kids [1:50:49] including our child care component how those things are impacting or could potentially impact [1:50:55] our our cohort groups so um that sounds a little [1:51:01] a little um i don't know vague but uh i i just need for you to [1:51:08] know more than anything that uh we are starting with our basic a [1:51:13] a groups and b groups and now we're trying to decide how can we enhance the program and phase in [1:51:19] additional support for kids in a variety of ways without ex [1:51:25] exposing the adults or the kids to more more individuals [1:51:33] than what we feel is safe so we're working on that uh one of the other pieces to the puzzle [1:51:40] uh for us is how do we set all this up very carefully [1:51:45] making sure that we're bringing in kids families teachers and setting everyone [1:51:51] up for success as we start this model so one of the things that you'll hear about tonight [1:51:56] is our proposal for how we kind of do that onboarding what's [1:52:02] our orientation plan uh when are we bringing in families and kids to [1:52:08] orient them and kind of do that open house activity but also provide a more uh face-to-face [1:52:15] opportunity for kids and families to meet with classroom teachers prior to the start of the school year we [1:52:22] know that there's going to be a lot of questions and we also know too that the amount of time people are going to [1:52:27] kids are going to be spending with their teachers will look different so we want to make sure that we set up that relationship well [1:52:34] um so the the plans that we are recommending for that onboarding or [1:52:40] for that orientation time will will help us to set everyone [1:52:46] up for for a good start um included in that is a need for us to gather some [1:52:53] assessment data from our from our youngest learners especially we we are missing some pieces from last [1:52:58] spring believe it or not and so we've incorporated some [1:53:04] plans to gather some um student data just some really key points of [1:53:10] information that we think will help our teachers as kids get started and help us do some of some more [1:53:17] specific personalization and instruction so we'll look forward to getting your feedback on that [1:53:24] one of the other pieces that we are are spending a lot of time on is talking about how do we deliver [1:53:31] um schedules and supervision in a way that supports those cohort [1:53:37] groups so our um our specialist schedule of course supports that [1:53:42] and that's a piece to um to some of our our um ideas around supervision [1:53:49] we're also talking about some additional needs that we've identified for uh possibly paraprofessional support [1:53:57] in in each grade level or [1:54:02] team to make sure that we've got the ability to supervise our kids in like say a recess or a lunch time [1:54:11] and be able to continue to have our cohort groups stay in their cohort groups and that [1:54:17] they are safe and and comfortable in that arrangement so a lot of scheduling kinds of things that [1:54:24] we're working on right now related to that so um again we'll we'll be making some [1:54:29] recommendations and requests and we're working with across teams within our administrative [1:54:35] team to talk about how can we partner for instance uh conversation this afternoon we're [1:54:42] talking with teaching and learning we were talking with special education we were talking with our child care folks [1:54:48] to see how we could kind of share some of those resources and um and do so in a way that [1:54:55] that didn't expend uh too many too many more additional [1:55:00] dollars to make it all work but again our main focus is around how [1:55:05] do we make this happen for kids and how do we ensure their safety and the safety of our staff so um i think probably one of the [1:55:13] biggest things that that we are holding on at this time [1:55:18] is we really need to make sure that we are getting uh the the parent information those [1:55:24] decisions about whether they're going to be choosing the virtual model or they're going to be in the hybrid model with us [1:55:30] um the other piece that is critical to this is getting our staffing information so as [1:55:36] soon as that is available first part of the week we actually can start putting some of these pieces together [1:55:42] and making some more firm decisions and recommendations but [1:55:47] the the child care conversation really is another piece to how do we serve [1:55:54] um serve kids uh kind of in growing or phasing in other steps [1:56:01] within our cohort models and that staffing information and our parent [1:56:08] decisions are really going to drive that it's going to be based on numbers and [1:56:13] how many kids we actually have coming to us each day so those are just some of the highlights [1:56:18] from that those operational things that the elementary team is working on uh katie mahoney is a rock star [1:56:26] of the of our elementary world right now because she is leading um a think tank around how our [1:56:34] our instruction is going to be delivered so i'll hand it over to katie yeah thanks karen appreciate that um so [1:56:41] uh good evening uh school board and superintendent schultz and i just wanted to um just start by [1:56:48] saying that really as we entered into this instructional framework conversation [1:56:53] um jody and myself and the principals we started to really look at the feedback [1:56:59] from teachers and from parents um coming out of distance learning from the spring [1:57:05] and we really started thinking about okay where were the strengths um where do we need to start improving [1:57:10] and and how do we move forward um with what we've learned and so we just learned so much from the [1:57:16] spring and um and there were some real positives and then there were some real areas for continuous improvement and we [1:57:23] all know in this work that that's our job is continuous improvement and i just can't um thank our teachers [1:57:30] enough for all that hard work that they did in the spring and it really guided our learning into summer success [1:57:36] as well as what we're going to be doing in the fall so with that being said as we start to [1:57:41] think about um our instructional planning for the fall we want to ground our teachers back into [1:57:49] what they know is best practice what they know is best for kids and for learning um we know how to teach kids [1:57:56] our staff is some of the best i would say in the nation and they know what to do and now it's just we need to [1:58:02] fit all of that knowledge into these different formats and these different models um to [1:58:08] make sure that we're reaching all kids so we again are refocusing on the four [1:58:13] questions of the plc what do we want students to know how will we know when they know it how will we what will we do when they [1:58:20] don't and how will we keep pushing them um as they as they as they do know it [1:58:26] so that's kind of where we're grounding ourselves as well as in the teaching and learning cycle so really thinking about [1:58:32] um what do we want to teach and then how do we review that as plc teams as district [1:58:38] teams and how do we keep um continuously improving this work so um things that we we can [1:58:47] assure that we're going to be back in is k2 is going to be utilizing seesaw for their [1:58:52] um communication and their online server and then um three through five will be utilizing [1:58:59] the schoology um and that's something that um all teachers [1:59:05] and parents are now familiar with and so that's something that we can come back to really understanding um some language [1:59:11] that we're trying to shift in elementary to get us back again to like what i'm talking about with [1:59:17] comfort and what we know is right and best for kids some language we're talking about is [1:59:22] live teaching so what where are where's the live interactive teaching whether i'm in the [1:59:28] four-wall classroom with my kids or i'm online with kids directly that's considered [1:59:35] live teaching because i'm making those key instructional moves for kids um and i'm talking with kids i'm [1:59:41] engaging kids and i am um teaching students in a live way and then thinking about a flipped model [1:59:49] of instruction for when they are not in front of me [1:59:54] they will be doing um flipped lessons that are grade level standards [1:59:59] or independent work that continues the lessons from the in person and really thinking about how do we [2:00:04] provide the support for both of those elements um but really [2:00:10] a focus for teachers and for students and for families around live teaching because coming out [2:00:16] of the the spring we know that both teachers and parents the main feedback was we need [2:00:23] more live in-person teaching and that needs to be a priority coming into the fall [2:00:28] teachers also know that and then they want to know they want to know how they're going to be supported in that work so that is [2:00:35] really a huge priority for us right now as we start thinking about this instructional [2:00:40] hybrid model and really what i would love for all teachers and the community to kind of to [2:00:46] visualize is that every so elementary teachers teach many [2:00:52] content areas they teach language arts they teach math and science and so forth so every content area has high level [2:01:00] grade level standards or lessons strategies skills that we want all kids [2:01:05] no matter what building they're in we want them all to be exposed to these lessons and these skills and [2:01:12] then um and then there are all of those moments between the teacher [2:01:18] in small groups in one on one in in mini lessons and all those little small moments that we [2:01:23] know are the is the key component to learning for kids you need to know where [2:01:29] they are at you need to know what they need to know and then you really hit hard um those holes to [2:01:34] keep them moving keep them progressing in their learning so as you think about what would be a [2:01:40] flipped lesson um the flipped lessons are those large content [2:01:45] lessons that we know all kids need to have exposure to and we want to make sure that we're consistent in all six [2:01:52] sites um so those lessons we're talking as a district leadership team [2:01:58] about how do we create banks of these lessons that are created by our teaching staff across the sites [2:02:04] in a collaborative and really supportive way and then which really frees up our [2:02:09] teachers to focus on the in-person lessons with all of their kids when they have them in front of [2:02:16] them and really think about those key instructional moves that kids need to make sure they're progressing [2:02:21] and that teachers know exactly what they uh need to know so this is um we started this work [2:02:29] a group of us started this work uh teacher leaders from ever from all six sites as well as myself and [2:02:35] um jody and sean beverson and um this week we put a screencast [2:02:40] together and pushed it out to all the plc leads at all six sites um we've gotten some amazing [2:02:46] feedback from the teachers who have been able to um process this already about just feeling like [2:02:54] they really understand what are the small improve what are the what's the continuous improvement what [2:02:59] are we moving on in the um into the fall and how are they going to be supported [2:03:05] they really feel like they're being supported and it's an exciting conversation um that we're in we of course it's like [2:03:13] everything right i mean it's the mousetrap game once you open up once you figure out one little [2:03:18] ramp five more fall apart so we're constantly putting those pieces together to execute a [2:03:24] full marble marble run um and we'll get there we feel really uh [2:03:30] positive about getting there um and and it's just been an exciting uh [2:03:37] exciting time we're trying to really think about what are the silver linings where's the [2:03:42] positive moves what are we going to learn from this experience that's really going to [2:03:47] benefit and add value to the ada public school system and i really feel like [2:03:52] we've had some great collaboration and moves on that so far so i'm excited to keep keep working with [2:03:58] our teachers and keep making this the best instructional model we can have for kids and parents [2:04:05] starting the school year thank you um are there questions from [2:04:13] board members about these topics [2:04:20] julie yeah i have one so um [2:04:25] it's first of all it's it's i um i really appreciate all of the work and the collaboration i [2:04:31] think that um as you guys are what you said it is a mousetrap and i um [2:04:37] and i know how challenging that is you know you solve one problem and there's like 17 more waiting right behind the door [2:04:43] that you can't even anticipate so i just wanted to acknowledge all that work so um i have a question about the hybrid [2:04:50] model so it sounds like the the the way that [2:04:57] like a student comes to school let's say who susie comes to school on monday and [2:05:02] tuesday and has in-person learning right wednesday is independent [2:05:07] study independent on their own there's no connection with any teacher online or anything right but then [2:05:15] thursday friday the flip model um is there any [2:05:20] interaction any synchronous learning at all or is it is it really them [2:05:27] pulling from recorded lessons um or are they incorporated at all in the day [2:05:33] with the whole class so i mean yes i think [2:05:40] i think there's some i know that um and we've heard a lot of feedback from the community about this too like really [2:05:45] being able to visualize and i know we don't have all the answers but if you can explain that a little bit more i think it would be helpful [2:05:51] yeah absolutely julie i think um we're really trying to think about the ways we can open up the classroom [2:05:58] for kids who are remote and kids or who are at home and whether that's [2:06:03] a community time in the morning that's a morning meeting or community building time every day for [2:06:09] people who are at home or in in the classroom that could be something that everybody could rely on [2:06:14] that would be every day at you know eight o'clock so i think that's one area that we're really trying [2:06:20] to open up and see if how we could stream that the other is just how could we um how could we do other streaming for [2:06:28] kids who are home in a way um that would that could launch the year in a really positive way [2:06:35] right so tapping into that social emotional the connections the relationships and those pieces [2:06:41] um and and and then focusing on the instructional moves being really [2:06:47] intentional and really um focused around what kids need both at a high level and at a really [2:06:53] personal and um intentional focused level so so i think teachers feel very well [2:07:01] the teachers that i've met with on my work groups have felt really comfortable with thinking about the [2:07:06] social emotional and the community time being open and being synchronous um [2:07:11] experiences because that just feels good for all um and yet i think um we want to make [2:07:19] sure that as we um as we build these experiences [2:07:24] we're able to build upon positive um experience we're not like setting our [2:07:29] teachers up to be overwhelmed with you know many tech problems and [2:07:34] many you know we want we want to build upon success and so what can we do that's gonna be a [2:07:41] successful launch for the academics for all kids and really first know your learner know [2:07:46] where they need to go and and that's gonna be those beginning assessments and then really that in person time [2:07:52] and then we know that mental health and social emotional there's a real high need right now so how do we [2:07:58] bring kids together and build that community again that will be the focus so yes um [2:08:05] there's also talk about uh you know having some specialist time on the um days where the the students [2:08:12] would be at home or remote um and you know we also have some intervention and we have some other [2:08:18] pieces that we will also have to fit in um throughout the week and so i think there's going to be opportunities for [2:08:24] kids to get touches from teachers and from certified staff we just have to see how the schedules [2:08:31] play out and what again what's going to maximize the experience and the learning for the child [2:08:37] right and not um over promise and under deliver if that makes sense yeah no that does that helps [2:08:43] clarify thank you if i could i could chime in on one more piece to that uh one of our initial challenges and [2:08:50] conversations was around how do you create a cycle where kids [2:08:55] have contact with their teacher and their class whether they're with us in person in the [2:09:00] building or whether they're remote on their on their opposite days uh [2:09:06] from a content standpoint uh you we you could very easily uh make this look [2:09:12] like only half of the content is getting done because i've got my a group with me on monday and tuesday and i'm going to [2:09:19] present my content and then my b group comes on thursday and friday and i'm going to present the same content [2:09:26] by allowing that peek into the classroom through technology um that we're working [2:09:33] on i think that that's the game changer for allowing continuity of instruction so that the [2:09:40] teachers lessons can have a cycle that not only is a two-day cycle but is a four-day cycle [2:09:48] and it brings all of the students along at that same rate as opposed to having any kind of [2:09:54] distraction or halt to that stream of instruction and that stream of support that teachers are [2:10:01] going to be able to have through that daily contact whether kids are are sitting with us [2:10:07] or kids are peeking in and and participating in the classroom or seeing what's going on in the [2:10:13] classroom i think that's an important kind of an important game changer for us [2:10:19] because it that looks very different than it did in the spring and i think teachers are excited about [2:10:25] the fact that there's there's that continuity with their relationships as well as with the [2:10:31] instruction and standards that we're teaching too excellent great thanks karen for that [2:10:37] owen i have two questions uh the first is um [2:10:44] based off of kitty what you're talking about what i'm picking up is the aspiration is um success leads to [2:10:51] success leads to success so building off of previous successes [2:10:57] is one of the aspirations in that chain of success having classrooms streaming so [2:11:04] that the students in the classroom would experience something pretty [2:11:09] similar to what the experience with these students at home are experiencing um [2:11:15] randy had brought something like this up at our meeting last week and i'm just wondering if that is [2:11:21] something that is planned for desired is it unrealistic do you think just [2:11:28] interested in your thoughts um yes i think um just to be [2:11:34] uh totally um honest i think we will be experimenting with um you know with [2:11:40] how this all works synchronously from the classroom and and how that can work and it just feels [2:11:46] it feels better for teachers to open that up to community and social emotional to [2:11:52] start um and that's not to say that if i'm doing a read aloud kids can't stay for [2:11:57] the read aloud i'm you know so there will be some flexibility obviously around that [2:12:02] but you know i think where i would like to just um what i would like to say specifically [2:12:10] is if i'm teaching in a classroom and i have 12 kids at home who are engaged and i [2:12:16] have 12 kids in front of me how do i truly engage um if i'm teaching [2:12:21] a specific reading lesson or a content area or specific group of readers how like it's the how do i [2:12:29] ever truly engage with any of them in a really personal and intentional way [2:12:34] because i'm multitasking and managing so many things and um [2:12:40] for all of you that have sat in and watched a guided reading lesson or watched a teacher engage with conferring around a [2:12:47] reader it is really intentional and it's really planned out and they give their whole focus and they [2:12:53] have the rest of their class in a workshop model and they are engaged in all of these different activities and they have built this [2:12:59] protocol and built this structure so that the kids can be successful in independent practice and [2:13:04] when they're intentionally teaching and so again how do we build that [2:13:09] same structure for teachers because we know that the true [2:13:16] moves that a teacher can make are at that guided reading table or at that group of five readers [2:13:21] are really in that conversation in the next small move um because let's use the example of [2:13:27] teaching fractions in third grade you might have a standard that all kids need to be exposed to this [2:13:33] this concept of fractions right but you're going to have some mathematicians in the room [2:13:38] that are still really working on addition and you'll have some mathematicians in the room that are way ahead right so yes you're [2:13:45] gonna have a lesson that is on fractions but when you're doing that small group and you're doing those [2:13:50] those um those those more intentional small lessons you're able to really move the student [2:13:57] in a way that's very different if i have 12 kids at home and 12 kids in front of [2:14:02] me all working on fractions and i have parents calling in because my connection is dead and then [2:14:08] how do i get the tech person to help and then how do i get this i mean it just that's a lot um if i'm really trying to [2:14:15] get the teacher to focus on the lesson of math um and so as we move into this thinking [2:14:22] it's not that we're not gonna open up the classroom for kids remotely i think we will and now we'll have [2:14:28] teachers that will move faster into that and to try it and to pilot things and to do it [2:14:34] do it more but what we want to make sure is we have a baseline expectation about what kids and families can expect [2:14:42] and the biggest expectation i think we have in edina is that we engage and we provide high [2:14:48] level instruction around what kids need and and we really focus on on that that that piece we know our [2:14:56] learners we know the next step and um and we make sure kids learn so that's what i think [2:15:03] all elementary folks want to go into this year um with really saying and feeling confident [2:15:10] in those moves and coming out of last spring it felt really awkward and really uncomfortable because we [2:15:16] didn't have those touch points so teachers are really excited um [2:15:22] to be able to do that again and have those touch points and see kids face to face uh and we didn't have really any of those [2:15:28] touch points in the spring so kitty this is steve buettner i just want to add owen is that the how [2:15:34] or the technology is that we're working with uh our technology to ensure that the capability is there in those classrooms [2:15:41] what i like what katie is saying is the why is we're going to take our direction from the instructional leaders [2:15:47] as to set those protocols and those standards so that we make sure that the technological [2:15:52] tools are there for our teachers and that we can support our teachers and that when uh when this gets defined by the [2:15:59] instructional best practices [2:16:05] i do have another question uh thank you katie for that little answer and steve really appreciate your input [2:16:11] my second and last question here is we're talking about assessments and i am wondering um [2:16:20] have we thought about map tests which i understand can be taken at home uh it's a known commodity they're [2:16:27] consistent and naturally normed uh thoughts any one of you [2:16:33] we actually are partnering with the assessment committee right now uh they are meeting i know that jody and [2:16:40] donna and others are are moving uh those conversations forward [2:16:46] the distinction that the elementary team is making right now is what are those pieces of of information that we can gather [2:16:54] during the those orientation or back to school times and then uh again what is [2:17:02] when can the the map test be incorporated into it uh it's difficult to do them from afar [2:17:09] so what we'd like to do and what we'll recommend to donna and team is that [2:17:16] we we think about when we can administer those in person once we have kids in the building and they're [2:17:23] settled into their routines we definitely want to collect that data it's just a matter of when is that right [2:17:29] time and what's the process look like so that we are [2:17:34] not putting kids in additional uncomfortable situations but that we're [2:17:39] making it a part of their day in a more typical way [2:17:45] and actually if you go back and look and see when we did our map testing last year in the fall our testing window [2:17:51] opened the 24th of september so if we keep with a similar timeline [2:17:58] we could we could probably uh you know stay stay somewhat close to that uh [2:18:04] knowing that by that time we have kids in the building and that we're into a bit of a groove and that we would uh be able to see our [2:18:12] our students and support them through that testing process [2:18:17] and there are also a lot of assessments um like the founders and panel basics you know basic [2:18:23] skills assessment that we want to do fast testing like there's a lot of assessments that we will need to do as [2:18:28] karen mentioned um at the beginning of our of our update as we begin the year for all kids so we [2:18:35] really know where all kids are coming in and where they're currently at versus where they were at when they left us [2:18:41] last winter so that'll be really important and again just to [2:18:46] find that on the technology we'll have additional technology that helps support that [2:18:54] um jamie i know you have a question lenny i haven't forgotten you either i just have a list of [2:19:00] people that have questions so um jd why don't you go ahead yeah it's well since i have karen and [2:19:06] katie and chris here um i'm wondering what um the thought is with our choice programs [2:19:12] um are we um is that going to be really based on numbers is that going to be something that [2:19:18] if i choose virtual and i'm in a cp family um that there will be a virtual [2:19:24] cp family how what are what's your thinking on it thus far so related to cp katie and i [2:19:32] have talked about that we know that we can deliver uh cp in its uh you know a similar format [2:19:41] uh with class placements and such within the hybrid model the virtual academy [2:19:48] that's going to be more difficult especially depending dependent upon the numbers if [2:19:55] if we end up with enough numbers it will be more of a district-wide focus and you know we can't guarantee that the [2:20:02] cp teachers at highlands or our countryside would be assigned to those groups [2:20:07] um one of our one of the questions i've received a lot over the last few days from parents [2:20:13] is when we're back in school all together again will my choice of ver choosing that [2:20:20] virtual academy now impact me being back in a cp classroom when [2:20:26] when my kids return to school and i know that katie and i have both talked about [2:20:31] making sure that we keep that intact and that our assumption [2:20:36] is that kids will come back into the buildings and be part of that cp program again and [2:20:42] stay in those those communities um i don't know katie is there anything else that uh [2:20:48] that you would mention around that no i mean i think you you answered it well and the you know [2:20:53] the premise around um relationships and continuity being a focus of cp you know at this time we recognize [2:21:01] the real importance behind all of that so i know that that's going to weigh [2:21:06] heavy on some families and their decisions as they make them and i just encourage [2:21:11] people to think about the health and safety risks first and know that we love them and [2:21:16] care about them and we'll continue to do the best we can and again health and safety has to come [2:21:23] first as for the program of french immersion um we've talked to chris a lot and he can chime in too but [2:21:29] french we are going to try um with staffing to have a french program at uh [2:21:36] the edina virtual academy so that should work out how it works out and who teaches it that's still in the [2:21:42] works because we don't know which teachers will be assigned um quite yet to the virtual academy but [2:21:48] we feel pretty confident that french a strong french program will be able to [2:21:53] be delivered in the virtual academy [Music] great did you have any other oh sorry go [2:22:00] ahead chris no i was just going to say i think we learned a lot during the spring and so [2:22:05] even if we are in a virtual learning situation we can continue to build on students language growth [2:22:11] um this fall if they're if they're at the virtual academy either through streaming uh and we're [2:22:18] looking at bringing our interns back virtually [2:22:24] so there's some opportunities there that we didn't have in the spring that i think we're going to try and leverage staffing will be a challenge i will be [2:22:29] honest with you because um i can't go out and just hire french teachers off of the street [2:22:36] and depending on the numbers that we see signing up for edina virtual academy we [2:22:42] may need to get creative with staffing to provide a french experience but my commitment to those families is that we [2:22:49] provide a french experience in a virtual learning environment great thank you all thank you sir [2:22:56] lenny a couple of questions one i think karen you talked about this so [2:23:02] the monday tuesday lesson plans will be the same as the thursday friday lesson plans [2:23:09] i know actually quite the opposite what we want to make sure that there is a continuity from monday through friday [2:23:17] that kids are moving through those lessons uh it's our hope that it is we're able to structure that in such a [2:23:23] way so that we are able to present and and work with the entire curriculum [2:23:31] instead of just half of it if we were just on a two-day schedule so uh we're working through those logistics [2:23:38] katie's team will will be uh guiding us on that as we get a little closer to [2:23:43] uh what are those daily logistics look like and do we know what a virtual day will [2:23:49] look like for those who choose the virtual academy i'm actually in process right now katie [2:23:56] maybe you can no no i was just going to say exactly that we're we're in process and we're talking about um percentages [2:24:03] of the live teaching whether they're in the virtual academy or they are in the hybrid model [2:24:08] and we really feel like it will be similar if it's 40 in the hybrid model [2:24:15] we feel like it will be a similar experience maybe a little bit less in the virtual [2:24:21] academy but we will try to keep keep the live experience in both to be fairly similar but i know randy has been [2:24:29] working on some of those percentages so i don't know if he wants to talk to that at all [2:24:37] yeah thank you katie i would just add that you know what we plan to deliver will [2:24:43] parallel the standards and the curriculum and uh the experience that kids will get [2:24:50] in the hybrid they're just going to get it virtually and it'll still be a high quality product it'll still be a high quality [2:24:56] educational experience some of our designing of exactly the logistics of how it will work will be [2:25:03] dependent upon how many kids we have signed up across the district we know that as a four o'clock today [2:25:09] there were 136 students opted into the virtual academy [2:25:14] at the elementary level well that's about one section per grade level [2:25:20] or so and so those students if it remained at that number those [2:25:25] students would need to be pooled across the district and pulled together [2:25:30] from all the schools so depending upon how many sign up in the end we still have a lot of work to [2:25:36] do on the design we have some meetings scheduled next week to continue to work on the design of it and [2:25:42] we're working with some consultants at mde on some best practices around online [2:25:48] education design as well did you have another question lenny nope [2:25:55] thank you okay um i had a question and i was wondering if someone could speak [2:26:00] to um we've had a lot of questions about why aren't different grade levels um going for days like kindergarten is [2:26:08] and if someone could speak to some of the complexities around that and the strategy [2:26:13] around bringing kindergarten in i think chris holden should talk about that [2:26:20] i second that i can i can talk about that so um the challenges around bringing [2:26:26] additional students into the building at different grade levels revolve around staffing and space [2:26:31] so as we look to get kindergartners in all day every day we [2:26:38] may need to increase the spaces that we're occupying in the building to get to that to get to that capacity [2:26:45] ratio and then we also need to find staff that can pro can support those students uh in that learning [2:26:52] environment so imagine if you you wanted to add sections at first second third fourth [2:26:58] fifth grade you'd need to find those spaces and find those staff members to provide that [2:27:03] instruction thank you chris ellen [2:27:08] [Music] yeah um and i was actually that is similar to what my question is and um [2:27:17] i'm my goal after hearing katie and um as she [2:27:23] as she rightly said going live is really important that that aspect of live [2:27:29] instruction and i and i think everybody gets that intrinsically and so and and [2:27:37] because the fact that we know about brain development in younger [2:27:43] children the importance of trying to have as much live instruction and face-to-face [2:27:50] instruction in elementary school is really on the top of my mind [2:27:56] and so um i just want to i want to ask a little bit more about how and if the [2:28:02] district did look at other models that would [2:28:08] tip the the balance of face to face time from [2:28:15] from equal you know hybrid all you know for the whole district to more [2:28:20] face time to the younger students given what we know about um [2:28:28] contagions and also what we know about brain development [2:28:35] yeah so i'd like to jump in on that and then maybe some others can follow up if you [2:28:40] uh need to or want to um so we did look at other models and what other [2:28:45] school districts are doing and actually the hybrid model that as we have designed it is probably the most common [2:28:52] that we ran into across the metro but there certainly are some districts that have tried to do some different things [2:28:59] and when you look at those districts sometimes they're they're you know significantly smaller and so [2:29:04] they have a different kind of challenge sometimes the the transportation might [2:29:09] be set up differently so that's a different kind of challenge as well we have a lot of walkers inside of edina [2:29:15] and when you move students to other buildings that creates a different kind of transportation challenge [2:29:21] some districts might have a different set of resources and funds for how they could staff it [2:29:27] as chris mentioned you know you could you could reasonably say well let's just take k3 [2:29:34] and let's put them in the middle schools and let's put them in the high school [2:29:40] and when you're doing that you're also creating extra sections because you have spread those students [2:29:49] out across the district so you still need teachers so you would still need to hire additional staff to make that model work [2:29:57] and then the trade-off is your older students would have less face-to-face time and more online time in doing that model [2:30:05] but we did discuss various models and various ways of doing this [2:30:10] and edina is a unique place edina has a set of characteristics on how we develop a [2:30:17] school system and how we get the school system to function including the size of the district the [2:30:23] size of our buildings our staffing ex the number of students etc and so what we landed on is [2:30:31] a model that we thought was a place to begin and then as we begin implementing this [2:30:38] model and bringing k in we'll be able to learn from how we brought k in and look at our resources and see if [2:30:45] there are other ways to bring in additional students in the hybrid model in the face-to-face with our capacity [2:30:52] part of our challenge is also knowing how many of the families really don't want their children at [2:30:58] school with the potential to be exposed to a virus and would opt for remote schooling [2:31:07] if that's a very large percentage then that actually solves some of these issues around space as well [2:31:13] so it is a very challenging puzzle to solve but we have definitely looked at [2:31:18] models across the metro we've been on the phone we've looked at resources we've looked at websites [2:31:25] we've talked to superintendents and assistant superintendents across the metro through calls with john etc [2:31:32] and we're in conversation with other districts on a daily basis still so randy while you're explaining the um [2:31:41] are you explaining that would you uh address owen's question about the 50 capacity you kind of touched on a little [2:31:47] bit but sure so one of the things we did early on is we wanted to better understand this [2:31:55] occupancy description of 50 occupancy because you could you could on the [2:32:00] surface interpret that as 50 percent of enrollment but in talking with some other districts [2:32:07] spring lake park white bear lake richfield etc they were interpreting that a little bit differently so what we did is we had [2:32:13] world architect do a study of all of our spaces and apply a social distancing formula to [2:32:19] our spaces so what that looks like is if you take a box and you grid that box out with six [2:32:25] foot diameter circles in spaces that could house a student in [2:32:30] a room so if you have counters that doesn't count if you have tables that are permanent you can't count that [2:32:37] but if you put a student in a six foot space that would be the maximum occupancy that we could have [2:32:43] and then from there it gives us an idea of what our true capacity could be while still honoring social distancing within [2:32:50] the classrooms so we shared the results of that study with all of our principals at the school so [2:32:56] they could have a sense of what their capacity for social distancing is in their building and it is more than 50 percent [2:33:03] enrollment but we are continuing to work through how to apply that in such a way that um [2:33:10] you know as families make their choices about what they want to do we can determine how many students we can bring out into [2:33:16] the building but our phase one is to really take a look at kindergarten bring kindergarten back in and then [2:33:22] re-examine and see where we're at and see if we have additional capacity and resource so so randy can i follow up on that that [2:33:30] the capacity so what would what would be the typical class size for kindergarten for example um [2:33:38] if we did that six foot spaces in our rooms so it'd be i think it's the low twenties [2:33:45] um so it's not that different from our current class size guidelines but it is slightly [2:33:52] lower than our class size guidelines right now but it's not half of our class size guidelines so just to be clear about [2:33:59] that but i also i i can i just chime in on that too ellen i also want to say that the elementary [2:34:05] principles um you know you know talking with jody and randy as well as we think about this [2:34:10] planning we are still um even if we're bringing in our full kindergarten classrooms [2:34:16] we are trying to think about how do we utilize kindergarten paras in order to keep those cohorts as small [2:34:23] as possible so if we have 12 kids in the space learning the other 12 might [2:34:28] be in some extended learning some different outside play or some different i like things going on so that we keep [2:34:35] those cohorts of kids um still remaining small so that our teachers can feel [2:34:41] um you know feel confident in coming back as we learn about all of this as well so [2:34:46] we are we are um we understand the the like top the top point of the capacity and as principles we're really [2:34:53] trying to think about ways to keep those cohorts um still learning in small groups [2:34:59] so just i think i've i've had some questions about what we anticipate our [2:35:05] how hybrid is going to look as far as class sizes [2:35:12] so um what did what am i hearing um from you was it 12 [2:35:18] in are you anticipating for elementary it's about 12 is that what i heard or [2:35:24] is it um up going up closer to randy's mention of the full you know going to [2:35:31] physics i think um ellen i'll jump in here so at the kindergarten level [2:35:36] if we're looking at bringing a class size of 22 into the building are our planning is that on the back end [2:35:43] we have uh kindergarten paras who can also at the same at the same time be engaged with [2:35:49] activities with those students maybe in a different space like katie said so the class size might be 22 to 23 [2:35:56] but we're trying to engage other staff to reduce that effective ratio inside that space when learning's happening [2:36:03] at the upper grades one through five we bump into that that ceiling for the [2:36:10] capacity limit pretty quickly because our class sizes are bigger we might be we might have 25 to 28 students in [2:36:17] uh first through fifth grade classrooms and well if we bring all of those kids back we we surpass that capacity limit so that's [2:36:25] why we're looking at the cohort model for those upper grades so that you we can still bring the kids in but we're [2:36:30] still respecting those those limits there depending on how many uh students depend [2:36:38] other dependent learners we bring into the building we probably be in the upper teens to mid [2:36:44] teens for some of those class sizes [2:36:53] um okay so i i i guess i i'm now i'm more confused than [2:37:00] i was when we started because i i understood that our classes were [2:37:06] going to be split by the alphabet so a typical classroom a to z [2:37:13] half of them would be going on a day and the other half would be going on b day and they would all be spaced out by [2:37:21] six feet so now what i'm hearing is that [2:37:28] the class that we may be bringing into a classroom [2:37:33] um a typical class size on [2:37:40] at a time so i'm just trying to figure out have we [2:37:46] i just is that what i'm hearing or am i confused so uh it goes back to that idea [2:37:53] of we need to see what parents are going to choose and we also need to see what our [2:37:58] staffing model will look like let me give you just a little example my [2:38:04] fifth grade classes are right now at 27 and 28 at countryside [2:38:10] if i split those classes into an a group and a b group the first decision [2:38:15] is how many of those kids have already chosen the virtual academy take those off the top now i'm still [2:38:21] going to split those classes into an a group and a b group in addition to that though [2:38:27] if i look at one particular classroom which i can tell you one of my fifth grade teachers right now [2:38:33] if i were to draw a line after the l's and say the a through l's is this group [2:38:40] and the m through z's is this group that particular fifth grade classroom [2:38:45] has eight kids in the uh [2:38:52] in the m through z part of their alphabet just be it by chance [2:38:57] and the rest of the kids 20 kids right now are in the a through l's so a piece to [2:39:04] this is going to be once we have student decisions by parents we need to take a look at our classroom [2:39:10] models and say how many kids are are going off to the virtual academy [2:39:16] and then we will likely have to do some shuffles within our class our current class lists to make sure [2:39:23] that we are balancing those that a group and that b group um to be able to have those smaller [2:39:30] cohorts in those classrooms typically at the elementary level our kindergarten first second grade [2:39:37] classrooms are our smallest uh groups of students so as we start thinking about who can we bring in first [2:39:44] we're going to start with kindergarten they need us the most right now they need us in in in the beginning of the year they need [2:39:51] their teachers because they don't know how to do school yet so that's why the kindergartners are so critical to us [2:39:58] right now we're going to start there and then we're going to see is there an ability for us to take a [2:40:04] look at other groups and based on our numbers based on our ability to [2:40:10] uh you know have that social distance uh in in place we're going to make sure [2:40:16] that that we're not adding something in or phasing a grade level in that is going to put [2:40:23] our kids in a situation where the numbers just don't make sense so i hate to say it but we are at a [2:40:31] point where we need to know what parents are going to decide and then we're going to basically take all of our class lists [2:40:37] and see how do we shuffle them to make sure that we've got kids in the right spot and in the right numbers okay so um i [2:40:44] understand how complex this is and i'm just i'm aware of that and i'm i i recognize [2:40:49] the importance of trying to have smaller groups smaller bubbles [2:40:55] so that if contagion happens we can manage it and also [2:41:02] in order to manage the classroom and and social distancing especially with the little ones so i'm i recognize [2:41:09] that and i'm i'm just also stating that i think that [2:41:14] we we as a district the focus should be on [2:41:20] trying to make sure those classrooms can be kept small and that the groups can be kept together [2:41:27] i'm a little bit less concerned with the the alphabet just as you said [2:41:32] you know i'm a little less concerned about the alphabet as i am about men managing this but the other [2:41:39] thing i'm really concerned about is the golden class time that we know is out there and [2:41:47] part of what i i just want to ask about is we're losing about [2:41:53] 20 percent of our class time on by not offering classes on wednesday [2:42:00] and so i'm i'm i'm wondering if you looked into [2:42:05] having alternating wednesdays for our groups having [2:42:11] a three-day week and a two-day you know alternating so that at least [2:42:17] some students would get three days of of live instruction a week [2:42:22] and then the following week they might get two by alternating that wednesday [2:42:33] it is something that we talked about from a continuity standpoint and at this time we decided to keep it [2:42:39] consistent it certainly is something we could continue to study and look at [2:42:44] down the road we know that it is we are this is a it's hard to explain [2:42:52] what a big ask this is for our teachers to prepare to teach [2:42:57] really um completely differently than they ever have before and they did it in a very emergency way [2:43:04] last spring but now we're doing it in a very intentional a very robust and thoughtful way and [2:43:09] they do need time and they need to be able to collaborate with each other and what we built is a schedule that's [2:43:16] pretty consistent with how other districts as well thought about what their teachers need to be [2:43:22] able to deliver a quality education program to students and so we really feel like that time is critical for our [2:43:29] staff so and and with respect to that i would [2:43:34] um mention i do i am concerned about the capacity of the teachers and [2:43:41] i understand also that that there are ways that you could have [2:43:49] team teaching so only one is dealing with the virtual learning or the virtual learning [2:43:56] is the virtual learning that's being done by our academy so that [2:44:02] teachers really a teacher could be not responsible for [2:44:09] the off you know the remote elements so that that all of their [2:44:16] learning is done during the school day so uh so ellen i i appreciate that [2:44:23] thinking and i think we can keep talking about this but i do want to just chime in that an education of a child needs to be [2:44:31] really aligned and intentional so the lessons that they're receiving from a flipped version as well as the in person [2:44:37] it all has to connect if it doesn't connect it's not gonna it's not gonna connect in [2:44:43] the child's brain either and so teachers need they need to work together and they need to have the most [2:44:49] impact they can for kids that are in front of them and so that means that the teachers need to be [2:44:55] planning and executing um the the flipped lessons in a partnership with what they're doing in [2:45:01] the classroom it can't be completely separate because it then it's disconnected from [2:45:07] the learning and it's it's it's really not not worth it in the end so i have to [2:45:14] say like we need to support our teachers and we need to give them time to do this [2:45:19] well and i know our our community has very high expectations and we want to meet those expectations [2:45:26] but we have to give the teachers the support that they need and we have we are planning a very robust [2:45:32] collaborative and supportive um model for the differentiation for the [2:45:37] flipped learning and those remote lessons for our teachers in the hybrid and yet we also need these awesome [2:45:44] fabulous teachers to help us build that robust system so so it's all connected right and so [2:45:50] the most important part is that we all understand all of this connectivity and that we [2:45:56] support each other in this work um and that we also just let us let ourselves continuously improve in small [2:46:04] and really meaningful steps so that we all can keep this work going and really [2:46:09] be impactful for kids the way we already know how to be impactful so i appreciate the [2:46:15] conversation and yet i really feel like at this stage of the game we're putting forward [2:46:21] the best model that we can for teachers and for students in align with our [2:46:27] transportation and aligned with all the other parameters that we need to stay within indiana public schools [2:46:34] okay ellen i'm going to throw it over to lenny because he's been waiting to ask questions for a while so [2:46:41] let me go ahead matt's been waiting for her longer so oh i don't even see him on the screen [2:46:47] i'm sorry i will give over some of my time to matt [2:46:53] yeah i've been doing jumping jacks no it's fine um just just two quick comments well [2:46:59] first three things first one is uh i appreciate the incredible amount of work that's going into this [2:47:04] and you know there's a lot of background stuff that's not all captioned one evening session that that people are [2:47:10] circling up on with 30 people on the screen so i just know how much work and comparison and [2:47:16] collaboration is going on especially between the buildings more so than ever been required before so thank you all for that work [2:47:22] the second out of thing i wanted to say was um i appreciate the kindergarten being ramped up first for those needs [2:47:28] you said uh i'd also like i'm going to say two things i don't need a response is i think that first grade perhaps is [2:47:36] the next most important one just thinking about the consideration that they had a shortened spring season [2:47:41] and that reading continuum is so important i'm obviously talking from a non-expert to experts [2:47:46] so that's why we don't need to have a debate about it also just to yield time back to uh professor lenny here uh and then the [2:47:53] third item quickly is in this one i don't want to make this a requirement it's just a consideration [2:47:59] katie what you were saying really resonated with me about the pods and the grouping and the responsibility being between both the [2:48:05] teachers and the settings and also collaboratively um as you get into stages two and three [2:48:11] uh karen and think about what do we hear back from the parents and what do the numbers actually look like [2:48:17] the home settings and the neighborhood settings can also be a really good sense of continuity and support [2:48:23] the a to l mdz example that you were just talking through karen a few minutes ago as well was meaningful to me so i think one [2:48:30] thing as you put together the checklist of secondary support systems some families or others might group into [2:48:36] pods now it's going to be impossible for you guys to get an email from one family that says hey can you shift [2:48:42] all my advisories so me and three kids can be together i know that but i'm just trying to think [2:48:47] about when you get to that third order uh layer of differentiating so how many [2:48:53] kids do we have what exactly are we offering and one thing to keep in mind too is for those people we usually have [2:48:59] seven to ten people on the school board feed there's like 230 tonight so for those people that are kind of [2:49:04] looking at this for our first time this is a initial plan and this set of [2:49:09] administrators and team leaders and staff will be constantly reviewing this and modulating [2:49:14] it so that is one thing to keep in mind so on day one with no wednesdays as ellen was saying that might change on day [2:49:21] 30 but it's the day one so i'm not making any asks necessarily for day one but i'm just saying my two preferences for [2:49:28] consideration to be the first graders or next um if possible for the reasons i stated about reading [2:49:34] and secondly the thought around if there's a way to help home groups that want to collaborate to [2:49:40] take a little bit more burden off of the teachers and professional staff and i'll stop there i don't need a back [2:49:46] and forth i know you've already thought about it i just want to communicate those two thoughts thank you just uh two quick things our [2:49:51] first graders are our next are that next group we're going to look at because they're they're [2:49:57] they're next on the list and we are already hearing from parents about how we can [2:50:02] uh potentially support those learning communities out and about in the neighborhoods that's awesome [2:50:09] thank you i'm not surprised i just wanted to voice those two things i know you're already attending to it [2:50:15] money okay so a number of the questions i had have already been answered and others [2:50:22] actually i think have to wait until we hear back from the parents about what their preference is in terms [2:50:28] of virtual versus hybrid because that makeup will determine [2:50:34] whether we could have more days for first grade or second grade whatever it might be [2:50:40] um but it does obviously make sense this kind of roll out in a fashion that we [2:50:45] can better control so i don't have any current questions that have not been answered [2:50:51] [Music] okay i think paul um oh i'm sorry [2:50:59] [Music] i just wanted to see jamie um or owen if [2:51:04] they had any felt anymore i've got two quick observations [2:51:10] the first is um karen you had mentioned that you may need to have the flexibility to change the cohort size [2:51:17] based off of the randomness of where last names fall in the [2:51:23] alphabetical selection i i think that's a great idea there's always the law of unintended [2:51:29] consequences which because in the in the fifth grade model that you used that might [2:51:34] uh there may be a family of l's that in one instance would be placed [2:51:41] into the um aa cohort and then a third grader might end up [2:51:47] being in the bb cohort and uh families trying to [2:51:52] schedule child care and so for that might ran into some complexity so anyway i don't even need a comment [2:51:58] about that but that just underscores some of the complexity that you're facing with this um the other question i have and i don't [2:52:04] know if we've brought this up but i'm kind of getting the impression you would not welcome this but [2:52:10] is there going to be any ability to be fluid in the group that you're committed [2:52:15] to if you initially end up for hybrid three weeks down the [2:52:20] line could the family move to virtual or could you go back again but just quick thoughts about that we do [2:52:27] need to move on we actually have talked about this uh in a couple of meetings today [2:52:33] just trying to provide some clarity around that and uh the initial uh thinking [2:52:39] is that it would be much easier for us to consider a family moving or making a choice or a [2:52:46] request to move from the in person or the hybrid model to [2:52:52] a little bit more restrictive due to a family need maybe an illness or or something along [2:52:58] those lines uh and so we've got a group of administrators who will be [2:53:05] putting some language to that so that we can be consistent in how we approach those requests as they come our [2:53:12] way [Music] thank you um i believe we're going to [2:53:18] early childhood decks is that right john thank you elementary school principals i [2:53:25] know you guys are working lots and lots of hours on this and i really appreciate it [2:53:31] okay um let's shift to uh early childhood but everybody should [2:53:37] look at randy schmazel right now he looks like he could be a uh commentator for a golf tournament [2:53:42] doesn't he you stole my joke i'm outside for the [2:53:48] first time today [Music] [2:53:55] that was my opening um good evening superintendent schultz and chair um alan allenberg and the rest of the [2:54:02] school board members i'm going to be pretty brief because i know that you still need to talk about all of the high school and [2:54:08] the middle school as well and so i know you've read the board report and um can shoot me an email or [2:54:13] a call if you have any detailed questions we're really excited in early childhood that we think we're going to [2:54:18] be able to do some face-to-face learning for our little three-year-olds and our four-year-olds [2:54:24] we are going to do really tight safety protocols so think small groups [2:54:31] stringent cleaning we're really going to use the cleaning protocols that our counterparts [2:54:38] in kids club use this summer and very successfully at that so we're really looking into doing that [2:54:43] we will continue our inclusion model with ecsc although i'm going to take lisa in a minute because she will be [2:54:49] sure to speak a little bit more about that and the the biggest um question that we still have on our [2:54:55] plate and like every other administrator has said here tonight this is all sort of a moving target right we're just [2:55:02] constantly reevaluating and replanting and so we're really looking at our young young kids and our families [2:55:09] that come to school with those young kids that creates a little bit of a concern [2:55:15] because we have a lot more people in the building and then there's that piece about controlling the environment so [2:55:20] that's kind of what we're thinking about but in our parent education because i know some of you have taken parent education [2:55:27] we're really um excited that we had quite a bit of success with that online in the spring and so we will [2:55:35] start our year with that and then see again like everybody else where do we need to make tweaks [2:55:40] what changes do we need to make and lisa do you want to say anything more just about the ecse kiddos or that [2:55:47] program yeah we just have an obligation to make sure that we're servicing our youngest [2:55:52] learners birth to three in natural environments so we'll be working with parents to determine whether that will be um in [2:56:00] center appointment type therapy services outside therapy services and we actually were [2:56:05] doing some really strong virtual parent coaching this past spring that we had a lot of positive feedback on so we'll work um [2:56:12] with individual families to determine what's the best option for that family and then we'll be collaborating with [2:56:18] preschools and daycares in the edina community as well as the early learning center but that will be further into the fall [2:56:26] as those protocols come out to ensure safety if we're sending um our special educators into those [2:56:31] environments so we'll follow all of the safety protocols and the guidelines from the minnesota department of health and [2:56:37] the mde guidelines to do that we're also looking at some smaller cohorts of students coming in [2:56:43] that won't collaborate necessarily with our typical preschool classes but we'll we'll be doing services [2:56:50] working with a special education teacher maybe a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist in small pods on those aabb [2:56:57] days as well and once again it will be very individualized to family needs we work through the iep process to [2:57:03] determine how those services will look so okay we have to take a five minute