Dr. Fehrman's Friday Follow-Up
January 7, 2022
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Stronger Together Shout Out
In the midst of an unprecedented COVID wave, our community has come together in such a beautiful way to ensure our students receive the best possible education. Operating schools in the COVID era changes continuously and at a rapid pace. School and district leaders worked tirelessly over the holiday break to shore up our plans for in-person learning and enhance our DVA program offering. As we communicated our plans with parents, I was overwhelmed with the number of parents who have stepped up to volunteer their time to supervise lunch, and many have even signed up to be substitute teachers (see the end of today’s newsletter for information on joining our substitute corps)! As we opened our doors to students on Tuesday, we anticipated that covering classes may be challenging, but our teachers and district leaders stepped in to ensure every class had a teacher to facilitate learning! Finally, I would like to give a huge shout-out to both the Parent and Expert COVID Advisory Teams. CSD could not have developed such an exemplary mitigation plan without their input and expertise. I am forever grateful for their continued guidance and support. I am truly blessed to lead in such a wonderful district.
CSD is #STRONGERTOGETHER!!!
Top Dog Awards (Previously “Job(s) Well Done”)
I have been mulling over a different way to recognize the amazing staff in our system for a while now, and over the break, I finally landed on "Dr. Fehrman's Top Dog Award." I selected this for two reasons. First, in CSD, we are all members of the same Bulldog Pack, and we know that as a pack, we are #strongertogether. It's also a shameless plug for me being a dog-lover! Speaking of dogs, I hope you can join me on January 29th for the 18th Annual Run with the Dog 5K benefiting the Bulldog Booster club! I'll be there with my running partner, Caesar!
So, each week I will announce Dr. Fehrman's Top Dogs of the Week! I would also like everyone in our community to nominate CSD staff for this award! Staff, parents, students, and community members can submit the names of staff who have demonstrated true leadership and dedication to the CSD Pack by going above and beyond the call of duty through this form, and I will share your Top Dog Nominees each week as well.
This week I am awarding School Nurses Dawn Durham, Lolo Poindexter, and Nancy Garrison, and School Health Coordinator Shonda Moore for jumping in on Monday to assist with COVID testing at Wilson Center. When only one of the three swabbers showed up Monday, these four fabulous nurses came to help! We could not have tested as many individuals as we did without their help.
I am also awarding a Top Dog award to Sergio Perez, our Chief Operating Officer. He has been working on additional certifications and just passed the final assessment for Sustainability Facility Professional Certification! Well done, Sergio!
Lastly, congratulations to Jason Wade and Kiet Le in the Information Services department for renewing and updating their industry certifications as Google Workspace administrators. Their certification attests to their knowledge and skill at configuring and implementing our Google Workspace environment in accordance with educational best practices. Jason and Kiet manage the day-to-day health and operation of this core communication and collaboration suite used by 7,000 staff and students every day.
COVID Updates
We know that this first week back to school has been a bit more turbulent than usual, and CSD thanks all our families and staff for your patience and support. We have been tracking our numbers of unfilled absences and the numbers continue to fluctuate daily. One of the hardest things to predict is how many staff have to take off on short notice due to becoming COVID symptomatic overnight. The daily testing has been immensely helpful in allowing these staff to get tested and then be able to report to work if their test is negative.
CSD will continue to use our Crisis Staffing Plan to guide our decision for when it may become necessary to transition a class or school to full virtual learning. We continue to ask parents to start planning ahead and line up child care options if your child(ren)’s school or class must transition to full virtual learning.
COVID Testing Update
We have partnered with a new company, Mako Medical, to offer testing at one district location. We have worked closely with the company to make sure the issues we had this week will not continue. Testing is available to students and staff Monday through Friday from 6:30 am to 8:30 am at the Wilson Center (Board Room entrance), 125 Electric Avenue. Both rapid antigen and PCR tests will be available. If any CSD students or staff have a positive rapid test, they will be required to take a PCR test and not report to school or work.
Registration, consent, and result notification will be managed by the lab. Register yourself (CSD staff) or your student here. Please register online for faster service. Limited onsite registration will be available. Note: Patient ID# is not a required field on the registration form.
Please note, registering does not secure an appointment for testing. Testing is first come, first served. Registering ahead of time will help you spend less time at the testing site. CSD will prioritize staff who need to be tested each morning. This prioritization will allow staff to get to their buildings or allow school leadership to find coverage if they must go home.
Decatur High School students may participate in the testing without a parent present as long as the parent has filled out the registration form before the student tests.
Additional Resources/Information
Updated Isolation and Quarantine Guidelines
Wilson Center Updates
Wilson Center Department Advisory Committees
We are still looking for members of the CSD community to serve on advisory committees for the various departments at the Wilson School Support Center. If you are interested in serving on one of these committees, please fill out this form. Thank you in advance for your willingness to serve!
Affordable Connectivity Program
The FCC has transitioned its temporary Emergency Broadband Benefit program into the more permanent Affordable Connectivity Program. Eligible households can apply for up to a $30/month discount on home broadband and a one-time $100 discount on a computer or tablet. Families must apply to the program directly. Although CSD is happy to be able to provide hotspots to families who need connectivity assistance, a broadband connection provides greater reliability to support online learning.
Sign Up to be a Substitute Teacher!
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the CSD team as a substitute, click here to apply. Please reach out to Britney Terrell in HR at 404-371-3601 Ext 1014 or bterrell@csdecatur.net if you have any questions.
Wellness Moment
As we begin a new year, it’s important to revisit resources that help us navigate the ever-changing challenges we are facing in the midst of the pandemic. This video was created for our Wellness Wednesday sessions by Grounded Yoga. Families can practice together to relieve stress and increase positive activity.
Reach out to your school counselor if your child needs support. In addition, the Decatur Student Center accepts referrals from anyone using these links.
Decatur High School Referral Link https://forms.gle/1qNFp3GmDv63nv9C7
Renfroe Middle School Referral Link https://forms.gle/1SzTt8JT7FNFukfb6
Elementary Referral Link https://forms.gle/P4QzH2fx3ZhanbaB9