Dear
Northwestern Family,
I
wanted to share an update with you all.
A lot happening very quickly – some good and some concerning. Regardless of the topic I am confident that
we will continue to work collaboratively to provide our students with the best
possible experience given the circumstances for the remainder of this school
year and next year.
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Congrats to Randall Hafner,
selected as our 2020-2021 HS Principal and Anita Jorney-Gifford, selected as
our 2020-2021 HS Asst. principal/ Athletic Director!
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We are extremely saddened by Mike
Burkholder having to leave his role as our Northwestern HS Principal.
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Congrats to Sarah Seidel for
joining our Northwestern family! She
will be our new School Psychologist!
Since
Ohio’s K-12 schools will stay closed for the remainder of the current school
year per Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement, I wanted to share some additional related
information. First of all, with that
announcement we needed to complete our grading guidelines, which the Board developed
and adopted this past Monday evening and we recently posted on our facebook
account and should be posted on our district website Thursday.
Northwestern
is working to develop procedures for collecting district-owned books, devices,
and other items. We will also be sharing
procedures of how we will organize students retrieving personal items from
their lockers. This information will
come out over the next few weeks from your building principals.
The
state task force on which I serve has been discussing so many elements
regarding school needs and plans. Here
is what I can share that we have been discussing in our weekly and special
meetings since mid-March:
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Flexibility:
Despite making an announcement about the current school year, the state
has not decided when schools will reopen in the fall. Local flexibility
seems to be the feeling as decisions continue to evolve regarding how this
might look. The governor decides when. By flexibility I mean that schools may begin
in Aug., just after Labor Day, or possibly later. That likely will not be decided for some
time. Conversations about keeping social
distancing with students on buses and in schools is daunting. Blended learning and attendance to reduced
numbers, alternating day or alternating weeks have been discussed as
possibilities, along with other ideas.
Also, of course, hand sanitizer, masks, temperature checks, etc. has
been discussed. We have a lot of time
between now and then and a lot of discussions to take place state-wide and
locally. Our staff and parents will be
part of many of these conversations before decisions are made locally.
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Graduation & Prom:
High School Graduation Ceremony.
I have been a proponent of making graduation and Prom happen. Even if we need to do both in June. As of this time out graduation ceremony
remains as originally scheduled. I have
been pushing a graduation ceremony with safety guidelines and being held
outdoors. I have personally discussed
this with Governor DeWine and he listened.
The Governor is expected to make a decision on this in the next couple
of days. As far as Prom, this may be a
local decision and be very unique as far as social distancing, safety protocols,
and likely no couples dancing – or it may be cancelled. We will share information as we know.
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Recovery Framework Development:
Our task force is developing a framework with The Ohio Dept. of
Education and the Governor’s office to support the recovery effort of Ohio’s
education community in the wake of the school-building closures of Spring
2020. This will likely serve as the
foundation for a district - or school-level “discussion/planning” guide to come
later, which will be a framework and include important considerations for
schools and districts to use, as appropriate, to guide them in restoring educational
achievement of each of Ohio’s students.
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The new “normal” for a long while: Ohio is not out of the woods yet
with regard to the coronavirus. It is still among us. Complete normalcy likely
will not return until there is a vaccine. Safety protocols to control the spread of the
virus will continue, although surely evolve.
- Finances: At least for some period of time,
our school system will be under tremendous financial stress. Not only is the economy impacting state
revenues - and thus school funding - but it will also impact local revenues. We
can likely expect some limited and short-term help from the federal government,
but demand for funds will be coming from many public sectors, and will be
shared with higher education – and we all know how public schools rank in the
scheme of things. Also, the federal
government will want to recoup the stimulus monies and they are now seriously
deficit spending. Add to this that DeVos
remains in charge of the Federal Dept. of Education and promotes charter
Schools and money being siphoned away to those entities. We are bracing for 20% in department budget
cuts for the remainder of this year and for next year. In addition, our local income tax revenue will
also suffer. We have already been
dealing locally with 3 consecutive years of deficit spending and a dwindling
carry-over balance. The district is
working to further reduce costs beyond the previous measures taken including
the position reductions we have made the past three summers.
Guiding
Principles that have been discussed:
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Principles
for what we need to do:
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Ensure
the Physical and Mental Health and Safety of Students & Staff
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Assess
Students to determine where they are starting from (in the context of State
Standards)
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Support
Literacy, Content Literacy & Numeracy by Providing Intervention
Opportunities
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Ensure
Teacher Support and Training to Support Children and Families
o
Support
Social and Emotional Health
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Prioritize
the needs of the most vulnerable students including students with disabilities,
low income students
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Principles
for the way in which we will work:
o
Promote
collaboration (administrators,
teachers, student services personnel, families, communities, community
partners, etc.)
o
Continue
to embrace the use of Multi-Tiered
Systems of student supports
Challenges
and Opportunities listed below:
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Health
Safety Measures (physical distancing, handwashing, sanitizing, masks, etc.): We will need to collaborate with
the Ohio Department of Health, our Wayne County Health Dept. and other experts
to provide clear guidance as to how schools will need to operate in all aspects
– transportation, instruction, food service, athletics, etc. This should
include guidance on social distancing, temperature checks, personal protective
equipment use, etc. The sooner that guidance is received, the sooner districts
can start planning for those logistical concerns and then turn their focus to
curriculum.
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Assessment
of Student Educational Levels:
Districts and schools will need to determine where students are in their
acquisition and retention of knowledge. This understanding will then help
inform their approach to instruction.
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Curriculum
(essential rather than the past broad AND essential standards): An essential curriculum might be
most practical. There are literacy and math concerns.
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Personalized
learning: The
delivery of instruction may need to become much more personalized. This is a
good long term practice to promote regardless and we have been doing to some
degree, but now this will be essential - especially given the variability that
will likely exist among students.
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Instructional
Support and Pedagogical Practices:
Some students actually prospered with distance learning from the ODE perspective.
How can or should distance learning fit
into the overall instructional approach moving forward? More than ever before we as educators need to
focus on making learning practical and engaging. I believe our teachers are doing an
incredible job with this, but we will need to do more.
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4th
Quarter/1st Quarter Transition: This involves ideas like summer school, or early
start (Jump Start) approaches. This
summer seems impractical, but in future summers possible, although this would
be at a significant cost.
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Professional
Development of Educators:
Focused professional development that relates to the whole range of issues will
be fundamental. One interesting observation from the school-building closure is
that from the ODE perspective there is an increased opportunity to take time to
interact with colleagues and try new strategies, and then refine those
strategies in very real time. Lots of collegial collaboration around supporting
learning. We have to find ways to move
this forward this spring, summer, and fall.
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Family
Engagement: It has
been observed that in many cases families have been more engaged in their
students’ education during the school closure. There have also been indications
that the teacher/family partnerships have become even stronger because of more
frequent engagement between teachers and parents/guardians. How do we sustain
this family engagement piece and the connections so families will universally reinforce
and help extend learning from school to home and schools can support families
and student well-being in other areas?
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Social
& Emotional Supports:
What do these supports look like in a time of uncertainty and heightened
anxiety? In addition to the other challenges students face, they may be scared
that they might get sick if they even go to school, or get close to other
people.
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Derivative
(Longer Term) Impacts of the 2020 Disruption: A number of state (and possibly federal) policies
will need to be closely examined, and perhaps changed, in recognition of the
disruption that took place in 2020. This might include the following:
o
Assessments
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Accountability/Report
Cards
o
Graduation
Requirements: Need to revisit graduation requirements
o
Third
grade reading guarantee
Challenges
and Opportunities – Logistical:
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Communication: The
importance of effective communication with everyone – staff, parents, students,
communities, partners, etc. – cannot be overemphasized.
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Professional
Development Training to Address Health Safety Measures and Instruction - Staff will need face-to-face
time to prepare for return to in-person settings. These meetings should occur
before students return to the buildings.
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Transportation
(health concerns):
What protocols/routines need to be used in buses? What will this require in
terms of time, supplies, etc.?
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Remote
Learning Opportunities:
To the extent that a district decides to continue some blended remote learning
– or has to continue some remote learning - they will need to continue
to address the need for internet access, as well as access to computers for
students, as well as options for non-digital remote learning where internet and
computers will not be available. This will also require appropriate training
and technical support
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Professional
Development Training regarding Remote Learning – Many educators have learned a
great deal very quickly during the school building closure; if districts intend
to continue blended learning or remote opportunities educators will need ongoing
professional development.
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Course
& Student Scheduling:
School will look different. Will we need new models of course and student
scheduling? How do we rethink the way we use time? How will course structures change?
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Extra-Curricular
Activities (athletics, music, student groups): This has been one of the biggest unfortunate
impacts of the closure. These activities are so important to students and
communities – and yet, in some ways can be the most challenging from a health
perspective. Being attentive to health considerations will be paramount. OHSAA
will play a key role on the athletic side.
This
is a lot – overwhelming for schools, families, and communities. Yet, we will persevere together. I appreciate the exceptional job our
teachers, staff, and administrators have all been doing through this school
building closure and the online education, food distribution, and shared
supports for members of our community. I
also feel that our families have made this work through your efforts! We are now also entering the long-term phase
of preparing for next school year in many respects.
We
have the right people for the job here – I am convinced and have all the faith
in our collective abilities. Keep up the
great work. And “thank you”.
Northwestern
Superintendent
Jeff
Layton