Dr. Fehrman's Friday Follow-Up
December 3, 2021
From the Superintendent’s Desk
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! There has been a great deal of press coverage regarding other school districts in the metro area providing retention bonuses for staff. Subsequently, I have received several inquiries to ask if CSD will be providing similar bonuses for our staff. Unfortunately, CSD is not in a position to provide bonuses across the board to our staff. Districts are using their ESSER Funds or CARES money to provide these one-time bonuses. Below I have provided two graphs showing the ESSER dollars awarded to the major metro-area school districts and twenty-two districts with comparable enrollment to CSD. The first graph shows the total ESSER funds received, and the second graph shows those funds awarded per pupil. The metro-area districts bars are green. The other comparable districts have a blue bar for county-based districts and orange bars for city districts. CSD is shown in red. The first graph shows that CSD earned significantly fewer dollars from ESSER than any other metro-area district and about $3.5 million less than the next comparable district. The per-pupil graph shows that CSD earned about $400 less per student than our neighboring district, DeKalb County. ESSER funds were allocated to school districts based on the percent of students who qualify for Free or Reduced Meals and enrollment. The percent of students in CSD who qualify for Free or Reduced Meals is 8.6%. The next lowest district is Oconee County at 12.84%, followed by Forsyth County at 13.68%. You can see that other districts received significantly more federal dollars than CSD, which is why they can provide salary supplements to their current staff.
The majority of CSD’s ESSER funds were allocated to pay for additional staff to provide interventions to address learning loss and to pay salaries for qualifying staff so we could minimize the millage rate increase in our FY 22 budget. Ms. Broome shared additional details regarding ESSER-CARES Funds with the Board this past Tuesday during the Work Session. You can review the recording here. The slide showing our ESSER-CARES funds starts at 33:16.
I wish CSD could provide our staff with additional pay. I have seen how dedicated our staff is to ensuring our students are successful every day. Unfortunately, we are just not in a financial position to provide that benefit. Additionally, I would like to recognize that CSD did provide all staff with a $2,000 pay raise in the 2020-2021 school year after the Governor promised a pay raise for teachers but ultimately pulled that raise from the FY 21 state budget.
Stronger Together Shout Out
CSD is proud to share that 92% of our staff are currently fully vaccinated! We applaud our employees for stepping up to do their part in continuing to make our schools a safe place to learn and work.
Job(s) Well Done
Baton Foundation Essay Winners
Congratulations to Gabrielle Domengeaux and Anushruti Ram for their winning essays in The Baton Foundation’s newly created essay contest, Ground Crew: Honoring Unknown Civil Rights Activists. This contest challenges Atlanta youth in grades 8-12 to research and write about those unknown or lesser-known Black Americans.
A program scheduled on Sunday, December 5, will be acknowledging the CSD winners and is open to everyone. https://thebatonfoundation.org/event/ground-crew-honoring-unknown-civil-rights-activists/
DHS Football Players Honored
Seventeen of our DHS football players recently earned Region 5 - 5A All-Region recognition, led by 11th grader Kenric Lanier - Offensive Player of the Year and 12th grader Cameron Wingo - Defensive Player of the Year. Way to go Bulldogs! I can’t wait for next season.
COVID-19 Updates
Vaccine Opportunity
The City Schools of Decatur will be partnering with the Dekalb Board Of Health to provide the pediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11-year-olds. This is free to anyone in the community,6:30 am 5 to 11 years old only. An appointment is necessary. Vaccines will be available from 2:30 pm - 5 pm, December 10, 2021 inside the Board Room at 125 Wilson Center, Decatur GA 30035. Follow the link to schedule your appointment COVID-19 Vaccination Registration (powerappsportals.us) Please contact Shonda Moore at smoore1@csdecatur.net with questions.
Meet Oakhurst Owl, Morgan!
COVID-19 Testing
CSD is partnering with Mako Medical to offer COVID-19 testing. The tentative start date is Wednesday, December 8th. Testing will take place 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 CSD staff or students 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 student(s) 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)
Who should test:
Unvaccinated staff
Students/staff identified as close contacts
Students referred by the School Health Clinic
Symptomatic students or staff
We are continuing to evaluate the possibility of a test-to-stay option for students identified as close contacts. We will provide an update when we are ready to begin this option.
Updates
Wilson Center Department Advisory Committees
MTSS Department Announcements
Parents, have you ever wondered about how the MTSS process works? Have you ever wondered, “What are Federal Programs?” or “What supports are offered by the Student Support department?” Well, your questions are about to be answered! You are cordially invited to attend CSD Roundtable 101: Everything You Always Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask! This virtual Zoom event hosted by multiple CSD departments will be held on Thursday, January 27, 2022, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Mark your calendars now! More information will be upcoming soon!
City School of Decatur Transportation
The weather is changing, and if your transportation plans include riding a school bus, you must register. All CSD riders must register to ride the bus through the Transportation Portal Bus Planner https://csd.mybusplanner.com/. This will let us know who is riding and how we communicate with parents. If you are interested in tracking the bus, please sign up for Here Come The Bus.
ESOL & Federal Programs Coat Drive
Our ESOL and Federal Programs Department is sponsoring a coat drive from November 15th to December 10th during regular business hours. Your family can drop off NEW coats in the lobby of any CSD school or the Wilson Center. Please contact Paris Hardnett at phardnett@csdecatur.net for more information.
Community Information
Decatur Parent Network
The Decatur Parent Network is hosting a virtual parent chat on December 7 at 7 pm. Connect with other parents to discuss challenges and lessons learned. Register at https://bit.ly/ParentsHowAmIDoing.
Special Education PTA (SEPTA)
December 3 is International Persons with Disabilities Day! This day was designated by the UN “to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.” For more information on this day, see https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities-3-december.html