South Cook News

Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board of Education met July 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Call to order

President Kristin Fitzgerald called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Board members present: Kristin Fitzgerald, Joe Kozminski, Paul Leong, Kristine Gericke, Janet Yang Rohr, Donna Wandke, and Charles Cush (joined at 6:51pm).

Administrators present were:

Dan Bridges, Superintendent

Bob Ross, Chief Human Resource Officer

Christine Igoe, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services

Chuck Freundt, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Jayne Willard, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Gretchen Gallois, Director of Human Resources

Closed Session

Donna Wandke moved, seconded by Kristine Gericke to go into Closed Session at 6:00 p.m. for consideration of:

1. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (21) Discussion of minutes lawfully closed under the Open Meetings Act, for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by Section 2.06. 06/15/2020, 06/25/2020.

2. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) Appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the District or legal counsel for the District.

3. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular District has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal.

Meeting Opening

Janet Yang Rohr made a motion, seconded by Joe Kozminski to return to Open Session at 7:04 pm. A roll call vote was taken. Those voting yes: Cush, Leong, Fitzgerald, Kozminski, Gericke, Wandke and Yang Rohr. No: None. The motion carried

Welcome and Mission

Kristin Fitzgerald welcomed all and read Naperville Community Unit School District 203’s Mission Statement.

Roll Call

Board members present: Kristin Fitzgerald, Charles Cush, Paul Leong, Joe Kozminski and Janet Yang Rohr. Absent: Donna Wandke and Kristine Gericke.

Student Ambassadors present: None.

Administrators present: Dan Bridges, Superintendent, Roger Brunelle, Chief Information Officer Chuck Freundt, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education, Jennifer Hester, Chief Academic Officer, Carol Hetman, Chief Human Resources Officer, Christine Igoe, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, Rakeda Leaks, Executive Director of Inclusion and Diversity, Sinikka Mondini, Executive Director for Communications, Patrick Nolten, Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability, Bob Ross, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Jayne Willard, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

PUBLIC HEARING

At 7:06 pm, Board President Fitzgerald called to order the Public Hearing for the 2020-2021 budget. According to state statutes, this budget has to be approved by September 30, 2020.On June 1, 2020, the Board of Education set July 13, 2020 as the date for this Public Hearing.

There have been several meetings reviewing the tentative budget prior to this evening’s meeting. Administrator Comments:

Superintendent Bridges reviewed the budget timeline:

June 1 the tentative budget was presented, and a date for the Public Hearing was set for July 13, 2020. June 2-Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee reviewed the tentative budget, and on June 13 the tentative Budget was put on display.

June 25-another workshop at the Board meeting was conducted responding to questions from the Board. Superintendent Bridges mentioned the Diversity and Equity Initiatives taking place in the district. The biggest investment we are making is in the Professional Development around Equity and the work at updating our Curriculum to support our ongoing work with Deep Equity.

Questions that Board members have asked are in BoardDocs. These questions have been updated and will continue to be as questions come in to us.

Michael Frances, Chief Financial Officer/CSBO reviewed the budget with the following highlights.

 Tonight is the last step in the process for the adoption of the FY21 budget. Presentation highlights minor changes made since the tentative budget was put on display.

 Included in BoardDocs is a copy of the final budget with more detail and a fund by fund analysis with comparisons to FY19 actuals and FY20 budget figures.

 This again is a review of the timeline. There was an additional budget workshop added to the June 25th meeting. The last two workshops gave the Board an opportunity to ask questions for which we have posted answers.

 There are a couple of minor changes from the Tentative budget :

 The first includes a reclassification of potential revenue though the E-rate program. These are dollars we are estimating to receive as reimbursement for some of the technology initiatives in the budget.

 We originally had budgeted it as a federal source of revenue, but after discussions with our auditors, they advised us to place it as a local revenue for budget purposes. There is no change to the overall total.

 The second is regarding the adoption of a new rule by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board dealing with Student Activity Funds. The State Board has made changes to the State Budget Form for the inclusion of student activity funds in it for the first time. These funds are still accounted for separately in the district and their inclusion on the state form does not affect the overall totals of the district budget. We have added some footnotes on the appropriate pages.

 When breaking down the revenue by major revenue source you can see that the vast majority of the revenue increase is coming from local sources.

 Total Revenue is projected at $293.8 million for the upcoming year.

 We see an overall revenue increase of just under $3 million or 1%. Every fund is projected to have less revenue next year except for the Education and IMRF Funds.

 When breaking down the expenditures by the major expenditure objects, salaries and benefits are planned to increase by 3.37% over the current budget.

 This incorporates known collective bargaining terms as well as all known and projected changes to staffing plans.

 Overall, this tentative budget shows expenses at $293.6 million. When comparing that to estimated FY21 revenues, the district has a balanced budget by approximately $200,000.

 The overall total change is $10.6 million or 3.76% over the current year budget. Extra expenses could include 1:1 devices for EC-1.

Public Comments:

Annette Arnold- How will the district monitor costs and manage the budget with so many complex back to school scenarios.

Board Comments:

The Board thanked Superintendent Bridges and the Administration particularly Michael Frances for the thorough answers to the questions and for the balanced approach to necessary funding for necessary improvements. The Board was also appreciative of the changes made that created a reduction in the overall budget. The Board also thanked Superintendent Bridges and the Administrative team for the transparency. Thank you for the slide that outlines all of our initiatives for Diversity and Equity that are in the budget. Thank you for highlighting the amended budget process.

Thank you for all the work. This is a difficult process especially during a pandemic when the focus is also on return to learn.

The budget gives what we need given the COVID situation, the budget helps us stay focused on previous goals we have put in place. The budget has been prepared for what we need in order to be prepared for and a way to move forward.

Questions and answers are posted in BoardDocs on the May 31, June 1 and June 25 meetings for the community.

Close Public Hearing:

The Public Hearing was closed at 7:22 by President Fitzgerald.

Good news

Superintendent Bridges noted that Commencement day will be held on Sunday July 19. Congratulations to all graduates. Under allowed guidance from the DuPage Department of Health, there will be opportunities for pictures.

Public Comment

Public Comments attached to Board Docs. All relating to the opening of schools.

There are comments on how the District should open schools and lot of specific questions that will be school based.

Monthly Reports

 Treasury Report- The Board received the May Treasurer’s Statement

 Investments- The Board received the May Investment Report

 Insurance-The Board received the May Insurance Report

 Budget-The Board Received the May Budget Report

Action by Consent:

1. Bills and Claims from Warrant #1026043 thru Warrant #1027679 totaling $18,853,634.00 for the period of June 16, 2020-July 13, 2020.

2. Adoption of Personnel Report

3. Minutes 06/15/2020, 06/25/2020

Donna Wandke made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented with exception of the June 25, 2020 minutes, seconded by Charles Cush. Those voting yes: Leong, Gericke, Fitzgerald, Wandke, Yang Rohr, Cush and Kozminski. No: None.

Donna Wandke made a motion to approve the June 25, 2020 minutes, seconded by Janet Yang Rohr. Those voting yes: Kozminski, Wandke, Gericke, Yang Rohr, Fitzgerald and Cush. Those abstaining: Leong. Those voted no: None.

Written Communications

Freedom of Information Requests: Tanner-Transportation Information

Smart Local-Buildings and Grounds Information Smart Local-Buildings and Grounds Information

Superintendent/Staff/School Report Return to Learn Plan:

 Superintendent Bridges introduced this is our plan as of 7:28pm. This is a very fluid situation and the guidance changes rapidly. There will be significant and ongoing communication to families regarding the return to learn. There are many individual questions that may not be answered tonight. Some may be school specific. There were 100 educators who got together to create the plan and to do what is right for all students and staff. This will be a fluid process and we need to be nimble in order to make quick changes.

 We have to be sure we have a safe return plan for all stakeholders. All teachers and staff were considered as well as students. We used the guidance from the ILDH and the DCHD as well as the state Board. Superintendent Bridges thanked Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Jayne Willard, Assistant superintendent for Student Services Dr. Christine Igoe, and Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Chuck Freundt.

 As educators, we recognize the great need for students to get back to in person learning, therefore, as a committee we set 2 goals for our work- the first was to develop a plan that can be responsive to changes in safety and health needs created by the pandemic but also focused on returning all students to in-person instruction

 Additionally, we focused on returning all students to in-person instruction and creating academic and social emotional conditions to promote continuing their education.

 The feedback we gathered from families and staff provided great insight into the needs of the district and was foundational in developing the plans we will discuss tonight.

 As we developed plans we had to keep our guiding principles at the forefront of our work. All plans must continue to align and support our district mission. We also know each plan needs to align across levels since many families have students in different buildings and at different levels across the district. All plans need to include academic and social emotional needs and promotes equity for all students. ISBE has also reinstated that all schools ensure students engage in five hours of instruction and/or learning each day.

 As mentioned, we have been working on plans for the next school year even before the 2019-2020 school year ended. What has remained is our need to flexible, nimble, and collaborative to ensure we are ready to meet any current or future challenges to our return to learn structures. We know the current added challenges placed on the education system also create stress and added expectations on our families. We are all living in times that are changing and uncertain so the impact that this has on our students is evident. We understand not every parent or guardian has the ability to support students on a regular basis and at the same capacity. We keep this challenge at the forefront of all our planning and considerations and work for ways to help mitigate this inequity.

 As we were building our plans, it was important that we created something that will allow us to move quickly and easily into e-learning should we need to return to phase 2 or 3 and one that would allow us to move towards full in-person instruction should the guidelines change. Our plan will allow us to quickly pivot into any of the 4 models we are going to present this evening.

 In order for us to provide any in-person instruction, we are required to meet the health and safety guidelines that have been established by IDPH and ISBE. These guidelines are designed to mitigate the spread of the virus and to keep students and staff safe and healthy.

 We know the virus primarily spreads from person to person when people are within close contact which is why social distancing to the extent possible, wearing face coverings at all times, and keeping gatherings to less than 50 people in one space is important. Additionally, we are required to have all students and staff certify that they are not experiencing any symptoms of the virus prior to boarding a school bus or entering any buildings and we will be increasing disinfecting and cleaning within all of our buildings.

 While all of these requirements will change the way we typically do business, social distancing creates the greatest challenges for us as it impacts:

● Instructional practices across all content areas

● Classroom capacity and configuration and

● Arrival and departure from schools

● In March, the Illinois State Board of Education mandated remote learning. Remote learning required us to move away from our e-Learning plan and make shifts to the total number of instructional minutes provided and to our grading practices.

● As we begin the start of the 2020-2021 school year, many of the practices implemented during remote learning have been lifted and the requirement of 5 hours of daily instruction has been reinstated. Each model we will discuss will be aligned to Illinois learning standards and D203 curriculum and grading and reporting practices.

● As always, we will comply with Illinois State Board mandates and school law as we develop and implement each model.

● Synchronous learning is when there is a scheduled time for the teacher and students to meet either virtually or in person and instruction is delivered in real time. In this structure, students have the opportunity to participate in discussions, ask questions, and work in small groups with their whole class and teacher being present.

● Asynchronous learning is when students are working independently at their own pace and time. Learning takes place by accessing information virtually, but does not require live or simultaneous interaction with a teacher or class.

● As we began to plan we recognized the need to be fluid and flexible and plan for multiple scenarios since we anticipate the possibility of implementing different models for learning as the status of the pandemic changes throughout the course of the upcoming school year. We are fortunate that each model of instruction is aligned to our district curriculum, supports students social and emotional wellbeing, and is taught by our highly qualified, innovative staff.

● In Person Learning is a model where students and educators attend school in a school building in a face to face setting with students and teachers. Teaching and learning is more synchronous in nature and follows our traditional school schedule and timeframes.

● We know that full, in person learning is preferred for the academic and social emotional development of all students. This model allows us to implement our full program of offerings with the most consistent structures. However, we also know that bringing in all students and educators at one time in the beginning would compromise our ability to implement the current health and safety guidelines.

● Our eLearning model is much different from the Remote Learning (COVID-19 Spring 2020) that we experienced this past spring. The primary purpose of remote learning was to provide social emotional support, continue instruction, and provide opportunities to improve a student’s academic standing. However, there were significant reductions in allowable instructional minutes and grading practices.

● In our revised eLearning model, students should expect to engage in approximately 5 hours of instruction and/or learning daily and maintain our district grading practices and policies. In the eLearning model, student engagement and the continuation of learning occurs mostly through online structures where students will have scheduled time for synchronous instruction delivered by their teachers, and asynchronous time to access information and work independently.

● In an eLearning model all students are on the same schedule, ensures 5 hours of instruction or learning, while significantly mitigating the risk for COVID-19 spread. However, prolonged periods of eLearning can impact instruction and learning for students due to limited collaboration with peers, limited experiential learning opportunities, and limited access to just in time necessary supports.

● We also know this model can create burden on our families and caregivers and does not allow for all the supports students may receive in an in person learning model. This model may be utilized throughout the school year based on Illinois phase changes, state mandates, and/or local COVID cases.

● The Hybrid Learning model has a “foot” in both In Person Learning and eLearning. A hybrid model uses a combination of in-person instruction and virtual learning, which includes synchronous and asynchronous structures. Hybrid learning is about finding the right mix of all the possibilities in learning, no matter if they are offline or online. Due to COVID-19, the expectation is that schools open in Fall 2020 with significant changes such as social distancing and face coverings.

● A hybrid learning model allows for approximately half of our student population to return to in-person instruction for portions of the week, allowing for a gradual transition back into a face-to-face learning environment. This allows for contact with a classroom teacher and peers in smaller populated spaces, which aligns to current health and safety guidelines. We will have to take a creative approach in designing lessons and may have to reduce the scope of our curriculum and assessments. Students would continue to participate in benchmark assessments, such as MAP, while in person. Students will have an increased level of responsibility in this model since a portion of their learning will be done in an asynchronous structure.

● An online academy is a program that is developed for EC-12 students who are not able to participate in any in person instruction. All instruction and content are delivered over the Internet. Students are expected to participate daily and attendance is taken. Students have some control over time and place of learning. Teachers provide instruction completely virtually. There is a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous instruction. An online academy is different from elearning since this model is implemented over the entire trimester, semester, or year. The online academy is something that a student/family elects to participate in for an extended time period where a student would not be moving between models for the duration of the term.

● Similar to an elearning model, an online academy provides students to receive their instruction 100% virtually, while also ensuring a minimum of 5 hours of daily instruction. This structure significantly mitigates the risk for COVID-19 spread. This academy is taught by district teachers and utilizes district curriculum. However, we are limited in the ability to offer the full menu of courses. Online teaching staff is pooled from all buildings based on the number of students enrolled in the academy. Fully online learning for students can create limitations for collaboration with peers, experiential learning opportunities, and limited access to just in time necessary supports. Teachers in an online academy continue to measure student progress using classroom and district created assessments. MAP testing is unavailable in the online academy setting due to the structure of the online assessment capabilities. The academy implements grading practices aligned to our other models. Teaching and learning focuses on the academic and social emotional well being of our students.

● When it is safe to do so, we know that in-person instruction is best for our students. However, we understand that it will not be best for all students based individual circumstances- we will provide two models for parents to choose from in the upcoming year.

● Our plan for the start of the 2020-2021 school year is to begin in a Hybrid Model with the hope of transitioning into a full in person learning model. The Hybrid model allows our buildings to run at 50% capacity daily. Students will be placed on an A/B rotation according to last names. On the day students are physically in school they will participate in a full day of learning that follows our traditional schedule at each level. On the day that students are at home, they will be participating in asynchronous learning designed by their teacher and should plan to engage in approximately five hours of learning. Additionally, more frequent face to face check ins allow for our staff to respond to the social emotional, academic, and well being needs of students on a more regular basis. As we transition back, we believe that at this time our plan is the best scenario to get students in school and to keep students safe at school.

● Following the abrupt interruption to learning that we experienced beginning in March, it is imperative that we plan for a transition back to full in person learning that will provide for a more personalized experience for our children. The hybrid model, by design, places fewer students in a classroom each day. This will allow for more individualized attention for each student and will give our educators an opportunity to better assess the academic, social, and emotional needs of their students.

● In addition to the hybrid model, we will provide a fully online option for our EC-12 students who are not able to participate in any in person instruction. The Online Academy provides students with the opportunity to continue their D203 education in a setting away from the brick and mortar school. Instruction combines activities with online lessons to engage students and create personalized learning experiences to meet student needs. Parents/Guardians collaborate with teachers to support student success and foster learning. Students who register for the online academy cannot be guaranteed that instruction will be provided by their home school staff. We will have various educators from the district teaching our online academy courses. In order to prepare for students and staff it will be imperative that we understand who is selecting this model of instruction for the semester, trimester, or school year.

● As we began to plan for in-person instruction, we formed a committee that has been reviewing all of the health and safety guidelines and determined what procedures and actions buildings will need. The committee has identified all areas of the school (classroom, hallways, lunchroom) and activities (arrival, dismissal, PE,) and identified all the hygiene practices, social distancing requirements, and how to reduce to limit sharing to the greatest extent possible.

● As mentioned previously, social distancing creates the greatest challenge for in-person instruction- especially in classrooms where we need to have 6 ft of distance between students and in the lunchroom where we need to limit the number of individuals to 50 or less. Currently there is some debate regarding how the virus spreads among young children and the possibility of decreasing the amount of social distancing from 6ft to 3ft. We are monitoring the information, and will be ready to make changes to our models should there be a change to the requirements.

● IDPH has mandated that all individuals will be required to wear a face covering at all times when they are within the school building. While we are aware that this is controversial issue, it will be a requirement under our dress code and exceptions will only be made for individuals with a medical exemption.

● In addition to the safety and health protocols, we have been working in partnership with DuPage County Health department to ensure that we have clear protocols in place on how to respond when a student/staff member tests positive or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. We are also working on clear communication protocols for when and how people will be notified if they have been exposed to the virus.

● The elementary schedule will continue to begin daily at 8:15 am as it has in past school years. Students will come to school for in-person instruction on an alternating basis.

● School administrators will work with families to ensure that students from the same household, regardless of last name, come to school on the same days. Monday’s schedule will be 8:15-1:30 to allow for professional collaboration on a weekly basis as staff prepares for ongoing in-person and eLearning instruction.

● The middle school daily schedule will mirror that of years past as students will start their school day at 8:00am and end their school day at 2:50pm. Middle school administrators will work with families to ensure students from the same household, regardless of last name, come to school on the same days. The middle school structure already allows for daily professional collaboration so there will be no early dismissal or late arrival for our students at this level.

● High school students will also experience the same start and end times for in-person instruction as they have in previous school years with a 7:45am start time and a dismissal time of 3:10. As mentioned on previous slides, the weekly schedule will align with elementary and middle school according to student last names. High schools will also work with families to ensure students from the same household attend school on the same days. The weekly late arrival schedule will continue as in previous school years for professional collaboration but will occur on Monday mornings rather than Wednesdays while this hybrid schedule is in place.

● Students who enroll in the Online Academy program will be expected to be available for learning throughout the typical school day hours. Educators will set and communicate weekly schedules for live video-conferencing lessons, class discussions and small group work. For the remainder of the school day, students will be able to determine the time and pace that they complete the learning activities developed by their classroom teacher. Early Childhood students in the Online Academy will engage in live morning meetings and recorded video lessons daily. At the Elementary level, students will be expected to participate in 3-4 live synchronous lessons per day in addition to asynchronous activities. Students enrolled in the middle school and high school Online Academy will be expected to participate in 2-3 live synchronous sessions for each course every week in addition to their asynchronous work. At all levels, additional time for individual teacher conferences or help sessions are available within the schedule structures as each educator will be available during published office hours.

● We have identified several fiscal impacts. We are looking to increase our 1:1 devices at EC-1. There are potential additional costs that we are not aware of now. We will keep the board apprised of any additional spending that may need to occur.

● As we mentioned previously, When it is safe to do so, we know that in-person instruction is best for our students. We will be constantly monitoring the current health conditions and the latest guidance from CDC and IDPH to help us determine when we can increase the amount of time our students are able to participate in-person learning. With that said, there are some students who experience significant barriers to accessing and benefiting from the e-Learning environment. ISBE has provided guidance that IEP, 504, EL and students under the age of 13 should be given be considered first for in- person instruction when it is not possible to bring all students back.

● As step one towards bringing all of our students back for in-person learning, we will prioritize our youngest learners and our students with IEPs that were most impacted by the lack of in-person instruction. All of our EC students, those enrolled in both our half- day and in our full day programs and students with IEPs who are enrolled in our specialized classes, such as structured learning, multi-needs, and Connections will attend in-person instruction 5 days per week. In order to meet all of the health and safety guidelines, we will need to limit the number of early childhood community students within all of our in-person classes, but especially within our full day classrooms and we will need to make some adjustments to the overall structure of the Connections program.

● At the start of the school year, we are planning to evaluate the academic and social- emotional needs of every student and based upon those needs we will identify individual students that may also require additional in-person instruction.

● As more information becomes available, parents will receive Talk 203 messages from both the District and their students’ school. It is important to note that parents interested in registering their students for the Online Academy must do so no later than July 22. It is very important that our families check their email regularly, as Return to Learn planning will be updated frequently.

● As stated in the beginning of this presentation our ultimate goal is for all students and staff to return to full, in person learning. We recognize that each model brings a set of challenges for all stakeholders. We believe that starting slow, by bringing in 1⁄2 our student at a time in a hybrid model, allows us to work through the many new processes that will have to be in place, manage the health of all, while connecting with students and providing the best academic experience possible. The ability for our staff to develop a positive classroom culture and relationships at the start of the school year can be done in this model. Our number one commitment is to keep all people in our organization safe and healthy while modeling and staying grounded in our district mission.

● We have a lot of work to do to make these plans a reality. They could change -thanks to the many educators and staff across all levels who helped in making this plan

Questions and/or comments:

President Fitzgerald said thank you to the Superintendent and his team and the teams of educators for your tireless work in putting together this plan. Thank you to the community for your thoughts, questions and partnership. We look forward to hearing the answers to your questions. We have received an extraordinary number of public comments. Thank you for advocating for your students, staff and community. Thank you for your partnership now more than ever. We look forward to hearing the answers to your questions helping you obtain the information you need to make the best decisions for your family.

Thank you to the community for your comments and to the Administration who has left no stone unturned. They have developed a balanced approach. Community to all ask questions and ask those that are individual to your family. Hope we can continue to work together to get everyone back to school.

We appreciate that we are giving families choices so they can do what is best for their situation. Pleased to see how the administration merged best practices in education with the science and what medical community are telling us. Appreciate all the effort to make this a little bit less anxious for all.

Thank you to all for this thoughtful plan. It is not lost how many interconnected pieces there are. This is a strong plan that will serve the community.

The A/B schedule is difficult for families. How will we support those families?

Mrs. Willard reminded that students will engage with learning every day. We will be utilizing support staff when students are asynchronous. With elementary there will be some synchronous learning each day. We will assess to see if there are students who need additional supports and can be brought in daily.

Can you talk about it from a childcare perspective for the younger kids?

Mr. Freundt noted that YMCA and Champions have been great to work with and we are working with them now. We do not have specific plans tonight but we are working to see what we can offer and it will be communicated to families.

Why July 22 for online academy?

Superintendent Bridges noted that this is an aggressive timeline.

Mrs. Willard stated that is it important that we know how many students and what students so we can make adjustments to onsite staff and to be sure we have enough certified staff for the Online Academy. Superintendent Bridges added that we have to be sure we have the right curriculum to support graduation.

Thanks to all. There is no way to answer every contingency. This is extremely complex. Appreciate the level of effort for Dan and team.

Any idea of order of magnitude of dollars for 1:1 devices for EC-1?

Superintendent Bridges stated that it would be about a 1.2 million purchase.

Will we have extra PPE for anyone who forgets?

Yes, we will have extras on the buses as well. We have a task force who has been looking at the purchase of PPE. We will be using some of the CARES Act funds for PPE.

Great that we will be able to provide that if someone forgets.

Face coverings will be a part of the dress code. Will we have to amend the code to include this? Superintendent Bridges noted that not necessarily that there are some parts that are implied, like a gentleman has to wear a shirt to school. Dr. Igoe said that we have not made any changes to the handbook as they have already gone to print. We will be working to educate our students on how to wear the masks and to wear them appropriately.

For Self certification, did we consider alternatives to that? If someone doesn’t do that and they are exhibiting symptoms, is there a process to handle that situation?

We are trying to keep students from entering busses and school buildings. We are trying to limit the exposure the best we can. We are still looking at how we handle anyone who doesn’t self certify, we are looking to see how to handle that.

Online Academy-need to know and understand the reasons for that. If we have a huge number for the Online Academy will it change the model and we will need to hire additional staff. Superintendent Bridges responded that if we have a large number like 90% then we will have to reevaluate the whole plan. In the current phase, we will be offering it no matter the numbers. We are asking for a trimester for Elementary and Middle School or High School semester commitment.

Mrs. Willard noted that if we have low low numbers in a course, we may purchase content for those classes.

There are no assessments for Online. Is there a way that students could opt in?

Mrs. Willard noted that there might be if the student was willing to come into a face to face setting. How are we going to deal with bigger times like hallways, lunch rooms and buses. Superintendent Bridges stated that this will be somewhat site specific. We will be following the guidelines for as great a social distancing as possible.

Dr. Igoe remarked that face coverings will be required at all times. There will be directional signs and 50 people maximums in rooms like lunchrooms.

What curriculum will be covered in online vs hybrid model

Mrs. Willard noted that the goal is that the curriculum mirrors each other. The difference will be in engagement and not the content. Teachers will implement all essential standards in all curriculum.

On days not at school in hybrid model, will students be directed by the same teacher as in person?

Mrs. Willard noted that there might be group work or independent work. There are a lot of online activities that will support the in person learning days.

Teachers may chose to zoom all students each day to help build community within the classroom even though they are not all together.

We are in the middle of pandemic so it is inevitable that there will be COVID cases. What will happen when that happens?

Dr. Igoe stated that we will have to find our who has had close contact, less than 6 feet for greater that 15 minutes. Those people will be notified. Higher risk people will have to quarantine and lower risk will need to closely monitor. Students on buses will be assigned seats. We will be making sure we know who students are in contact with once they leave the classroom and there will be deep cleaning.

How will you be identifying gaps in learning as students return to the classroom. Will this happen in the Online Academy? How will those gaps be identified and how will help offered.

Mrs. Willard stated that staff has met this summer to help identify what some gaps will be. They have developed some assessments to help further identify. We will have to look to see how that looks for online students.

MAP is what we use to see how we are closing gaps over time. How will we correlate this data this year with previous years to see how these gap closing methods are working? Will this be a wasted year for data collection?

Mrs. Willard stated that we have data but not at the end of last year. She asked Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability Dr. Patrick Nolten to comment.

Dr. Nolten commented that last year was the first year of implementation and we did not get the final spring data. We don’t know how to anticipate the impact of what happened last year. We want to assess as many students as possible to see where they are as soon as we can. We are also assessing some of the high risk populations at the High schools.

We are concerned at the skew in the data for those who chose online vs hybrid.

Dr. Nolten noted that we hope to assess as many as possible to see where we are.

Thank you to all as this is challenging and no one solution.

What about extracurricular activities?

Superintendent Bridges noted that we will need to get more guidance. Hope we get that soon so we can move to more sport specific activities. The IHSA plan has to create a plan that has to be approved by the ISBE and IDPH and then reviewed by the local health department.

Thank you. What about those course selections that were made in January. How will those be honored?

Mrs. Willard commented that for Online that will be hard. For online, all graduation requirements will be taught. We will look at students who have committed to online and see if there are several who have signed up for the same class, we can get a certified teacher to teach that. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to cover a student’s entire schedule. There are some courses that will not be able to be taught in an Online Academy.

Will there be some flexibility to change schedule?

Mrs. Willard responded, yes.

What about PI+ and Dual Language, how will that be handled?

Mrs. Willard commented that we will have to look to see who has signed up. For DL for example, we may have to purchase content to strengthen the English and Spanish. It depends with the number of students who sign up for those courses.

Online Academy will be made based on health and safety not necessarily that all classes will be available. Classes will be added as numbers allow.

If students are quarantined, students will have online learning, correct?

Dr. Igoe stated, yes for the most part. There could situations where that will not be the case.

Per ISBE guidelines, we can have 50 people on a bus. Can you speak to the precautions that are being taken to be sure we have the most air possible circulating throughout the bus?

Dr. Igoe noted that face coverings will be worn by all and all windows lowered when the weather permits. Mr. Freundt mentioned that buses will be disinfected between each route. Transportation is looking at routes to keep the numbers as low as possible. We are also asking if parents will be using transportation. Will be helpful to know as we plan routes. Working to keep numbers well below 50.

How do we relay that information to you?

That will be included in all the information that goes out to families following this meeting.

FAQ’s will be available on the website.

Listening mechanisms-do we have plans to get a pulse on how things are working for students and parents. To learn about needs that arise.

Superintendent Bridges stated that will be thru the Let’s Talk and at your specific school with your principal. We will make sure that we share the guidance that we are receiving with the community. What assessments or metrics to try to get a sense if what we are doing is working?

Mrs. Willard remarked that we will be working with Dr. Nolten to see what is the best way to assess at each model.

Concern with steps of self certification. What can we do to increase the amount of rigor to make sure that people are doing this? Would like to understand what are the heightened measures to make sure people are following thru.

Superintendent Bridges stated that we will continue to monitor and will make changes as necessary. How are we going to make sure that students are keeping the masks clean?

Superintendent Bridges stated that we have included PPE in the budget to make sure we have clean PPE. Dr. Igoe noted that we will have some training, modeling for students on how to wear and care for their masks.

Will we be issuing any traveling-self quarantines prior to the start of school?

Dr. Igoe stated that the guidance we have is for Chicago and we will have to revisit if those measures become statewide.

Thank you for the work. We can continue to ask questions both as a Board and the Community. We need to all work together to make this work and for our schools to be safe for all. Superintendent Bridges noted that the next meeting is August 3, 2020. If there is guidance that could change our plans, we could have a special board meeting.

What is the date that you need the bus information?

Mr. Freundt stated that July 22 is the same for bus information.

President’s Report:

None.

Board of Education Report:

Joe Kozminski attended a NACC-listening session to talk about race and racism. Well attended. Gave community members the opportunity to share stories and accounts of racism in Naperville. Gave some examples of businesses that do some diversity training. Some opportunities for business partnerships. Discussion without Action:

None

Discussion with Action:

2020-2021 Budget:

Superintendent Bridges reviewed what was said previously as well as the timeline.

The recommendation is that the Board approve the attached resolution.

Questions/Comments:

Thank you for supporting our work on gap closing and the new initiatives that will support that work.

We love our process of posting all questions that the Board has asked. This is important for transparency.

We have a fantastic budget process. Gives a sense of the rigor and the detail that is put into the creation of the budget.

This has been one of the most difficult years to anticipate and appreciate the foresight and look forward to keeping the communication open for any and all unanticipated expenses.

Charles Cush made a motion that the 2020-2021 budget be approved as presented, Kristine Gericke seconded. Those voting yes: Leong, Kozminski, Fitzgerald, Cush, Gericke, Yang Rohr and Wandke. Those voting no: None.

Old Business:

None

New Business:

None

Upcoming Events:

Superintendent Bridges noted that we have holds for Focus 203 holds-hosting and format will depend on what phase we are.

 August 19-will become a remote learning day

 August 20 will be first day of classes

 August 3 and August 17 and going forward, we plan to be in person dependent on guidance.

 Have we matched the calendar to see if A/B students have the same number of days off?

For right now we only have Labor Day off and everyone is off that day.

 Election Day to be added to schedule.

Adjournment:

Donna Wandke moved, seconded by Joe Kozminski to adjourn the meeting at 9:03 p.m. A roll call vote was taken. Those voting yes: Yang Rohr, Cush, Fitzgerald, Wandke, Kozminski, Leong and Gericke. Those voting no: None.

https://www.naperville203.org/cms/lib/IL01904881/Centricity/Domain/732/BOE%20July%2013%202020%20OPEN%20SESSION%20Minutes.pdf