Superintendent's Newsletter
July 13th, 2021
Dear FUSD Community,
We are just over a month away from the start of our 2021-2022 school year! I am so excited to welcome our staff, students, and community back to our school sites for the first day of school on August 18th. As our staff continues to prepare for the new year, there are some important updates I wanted to provide you with as a midsummer check in.
New CDC/CDPH Recommendations and FUSD Campus Preparedness - Read the latest on preparations for return to in-person instruction.
New Laws/Changes in Education Code - How will new legislation impact students in the classroom?
Measure E and General Construction Updates - See the progress of all FUSD construction projects.
Great Job Opportunities - Join FUSD!
Staying Connected - The best places to stay informed about all things FUSD.
New CDC/CDPH Recommendations and FUSD Campus Preparedness
As you’ve likely seen in recent days, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has released new guidance for TK-12 school operations. If you’d like to review those directly, they can be found here (Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools). However, as has been communicated in the past, FUSD will be looking to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) for its guidance on this subject as the CDPH and Alameda County Public Health (ACPH) will have the direct authority on these matters for FUSD. CDPH just recently released its guidance earlier this week. You can review that guidance here (CDPH Updated Guidance). Although these were just released yesterday, the CDPH already stated it will provide further clarification on these guidance areas. It is anticipated that ACPH will follow in direct alignment with CDPH. The brief summary points include:
Face covering/masks for all students and staff at school sites, regardless of vaccination status.
No further recommendations for physical distancing, due to face covering mandates. The CDPH states, “recent evidence indicates that in-person instruction can occur safely without minimum physical distancing requirements when other mitigation strategies (e.g., masking) are implemented.”
Effective contact tracing and case investigation.
Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in fall 2021 is a priority.
Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.
As the new CDPH guidance is revised and/or further clarified, we will ensure our staff and community are provided timely communication on these important matters. It is very possible that the CDPH may provide some more local flexibility and FUSD will be working closely with ACPH to review their local guidance for our schools as well. As we’ve seen with many things the last 12-16 months, changes should be expected. I am currently consulting with a local team of Pediatricians and Health Professionals to review our FUSD COVID-19 Mitigation Measures to ensure FUSD actions are aligned with proper practice and inclusive of recommendations from medical professionals. We will keep the community and staff informed of all related developments as we approach the beginning of August.
The safety of our staff and students remains our top priority. As part of those increased safety efforts, FUSD recently purchased an additional 1600 air purification units for students and staff. These are in addition to the units that have already been installed in every FUSD classroom. Additionally, FUSD has purchased and is installing touchless water filling stations at all school sites.
New Laws/Changes in Education Code
Over the past few weeks there have been changes in the Education Code that may impact you and/or your student(s). The two areas of greatest focus include changes specific to COVID-19 as they relate to impacts on instruction and the upcoming school year. Additional information will be provided to members of our community, staff, and students, as part of our July 21, 2021, Board of Education meeting, scheduled to start at 6:30 PM.
If you are unable to attend that meeting or watch it online (Board Meeting Live Stream), the information presented will be a summary of the following laws and how FUSD will adjust related policies/practices to ensure we are aligned with Education Code guidelines and meeting the needs of our students and families.
SB 130 is being reviewed at the state level and is expected to pass in the coming days. The bill stipulates criteria of FUSD’s virtual learning programs (for those who are medically vulnerable, or students with exceptional circumstances, or those seeking a virtual option based on parent/guardian request). The new laws, in most cases, outline conditions FUSD already has in place for 2021-2022 virtual programs. Areas that need to be modified in FUSD’s program based on the passage of this new law will be adjusted. Highlights of this bill include:
Instructional minutes equivalent to what is offered in-person.
Access to technology and Wi-Fi must be made available for all students.
Plans to monitor and keep a record of daily participation, which could include online activities, live instruction, or completing assignments without teacher supervision.
Plans to support English learners, students in foster care or other high-needs groups.
Plans to transition students who wish to return to in-person instruction in no less than five instructional days.
Strategies to re-engage students who are absent for several days.
Regular communication between caregivers, teachers and students regarding a student’s academic progress.
For high schools, access to all courses offered for graduation and approved by the University of California or the California State University.
There was an additional law passed recently that may impact students across FUSD. AB 104 will also be part of our Board of Education Meeting on July 21, 2021. Highlights of this new law include:
Changes in retention policy (when a student repeats a prior grade level)
High School - student access to prior semester courses (summer school credit recovery program), or some other form of credit recovery, for any course in which they received a D or F letter grade.
The parents/guardians, or students 18 years and older who were enrolled in a high school course during the 2020–21 school year, may apply to FUSD to change the letter grade for that course (described in the bullet point above) to a Pass or No Pass grade on the student’s transcript. Further information will come in the near future on how/where to make such a request to FUSD.
All students who, during the 2020–21 school year, were in their junior or senior year of high school and not on track to graduate in four years, could be held to a lower graduation requirement than provided by FUSD, and only held to the requirements mandated from California Department of Education, and/or a 5th-year option to continue their coursework toward graduation.
As FUSD implemented practices and policies related to the provisions outlined above, we will keep our staff and community informed of all relevant information and updates.
Measure E and General Construction Updates
This summer, FUSD has been full of exciting improvements on our facilities throughout the district. This significant work can only be accomplished by your wonderful support and partnership in the Measure E Bond Program. If you’d like to check out some of the progress pictures recently taken, there are some great progress pictures here!
Check Out These Great Job Opportunities in FUSD
FUSD is a great place to work and we have some awesome options for people who may be looking for full-time or part-time employment opportunities. Check out some of our options in the following areas:
Classroom Teacher
Nursing
Counseling
Paraprofessional
Clerical
Custodial
Operations
Substitute
You can search further for any specific position by reviewing our posting on EdJoin. We’d love to see you join our team in FUSD!
Staying Connected
Do you want to stay connected with what is happening and what is current in FUSD? If so, check out some of the ways you can follow along with what’s taking place in FUSD!
If you are interested in following along with some of the places I am visiting each week and some of the work happening FUSD you can also follow along with me on Instagram (@supt.fusd) and Twitter (@CJCammack).
CJ Cammack
Superintendent
District Events, Information, and Committees
Fremont Unified School District
Website: https://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/
Location: 4210 Technology Drive, Fremont, CA, USA
Phone: 510-657-2350
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USDFremont/
Twitter: @USDFremont