Piedmont Ahead>>>
Piedmont Unified School District Newsletter - October 2021
THANK YOU!!
Piedmont Students Named 2022 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
Construction Continues on New Performing Arts Center
Piedmont Middle School Presents ‘Annie Jr.’
News & Notes
Student Vaccination Requirement Update - At its September 22nd meeting, the PUSD Board of Education approved a revised Immunizations Policy requiring families of all eligible students (age 12+) to provide proof of COVID vaccination no later than Wednesday, November 17th. Students who do not provide proof of vaccination will be referred to an Independent Study program. Students with medical exemptions will be allowed on campus and will be COVID tested on a weekly basis. Students turning 12 during the school year will have eight weeks from their 12th-birthday to provide proof of vaccination. Read full background here.
Halloween & Holiday Travel Safety Guidelines - District administration and nurses have recommendations for families celebrating Halloween and/or making travel plans for the Holidays.
Instructional Technology Update - IT has launched a modernization project for the District website. Stay tuned for ways to participate and give feedback! IT has completed an RFP bidding process for a Wi-Fi refresh throughout the District to be completed during the winter. District Wi-Fi is under more use than ever before and current access points have fallen out of support and are a few generations behind. We will be replacing units across the district hopefully during Winter Break or the week of President's Day (ski week).
Human Resources Update - PUSD is accepting applications for substitute teachers. The pay rate for substitutes was recently raised to $200 per full day. Visit the District’s EdJoin page for more information and to apply.
Special Education Update - The North Region SELPA Community Advisory Committee invites the community to its monthly planning meeting on Monday, October 25th.
Follow PUSD on Social Media - Keep up to date on everything happening around the District on PUSD’s social media outlets. The District Facebook (@piedmontunified), Twitter (@piedmontunified) and Instagram (@piedmontusd) pages are active with multiple posts daily. Watch PUSD video content on the District's YouTube page.
Board Meeting Summaries - Summaries of all Piedmont Unified Board of Education meetings will now be provided on the District website and social media. Read summaries of recent meetings below:
Daily Health Screener - Students and families are reminded to fill out the District’s Daily Health Screener every day before coming to school. The information provided is important in assessing student health and is vital for contact tracing in the event of a positive COVID case. The screener is sent to all families every morning via email and text.
ACOE COVID-19 School Guidance - The recently-updated Alameda County Office of Education COVID-19 School Guidance and is a great resource for families and is incorporated into the District’s COVID FAQ.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Update - At the School Board meeting on September 22, 2021, the Board approved the contract between Piedmont USD and Gitanjali Morris of Extracurricular Consulting. Extracurricular (EXC) is a consulting firm that specializes in cultivating belonging. They build and support inclusive and expansive communities. With over a decade of experience in the private and non-profit sectors, Gitanjali Morris started EXC because she believes the work each of us does on the side must be at the center.
Extracurricular will work with the Piedmont Unified School District to conduct outreach to all six of our school sites, facilitate focus groups, develop a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB) Action Plan and associated schedule, and provide group coaching services. The goals of this project are to 1) gain a deeper understanding of areas of focus for PUSD, 2) work with the DEI Lead Team, Principals, and the existing DEI Council to develop clear action plans and timelines, and 3) coach groups through implementation processes.
The Extracurricular team has developed an approach to address the needs of each school site while offering consistency and clarity across the District. Extracurricular will complete the following scope of work based on the District's priorities as outlined in the Racial Equity Board Policy/Administrative Regulation and the Educational Equity Board Policy.
- Task 1. Project Management Meetings - Extracurricular will kick off the engagement with a meeting with the Lead Team and continue to meet twice per month throughout the project to track progress per site, review relevant updates, and make adjustments to the work. The District will share its values and any existing background information with EXC at project kick off. EXC will hold weekly project meetings with teams and will attend monthly meetings of the DEI Council.
- Task 2. Focus Group Facilitation and Reporting - The EXC team will facilitate a total of twenty-three (23) focus groups over a three-month period in order to collect qualitative data about the experience of students, teachers, parents, and staff members across PUSD. EXC will use Racial Equity BP/AR 0415.1 and Educational Equity BP 0415 to guide the process of inviting individuals to participate in this task. In addition, EXC will work with the Principal at each site in order to tailor the approach to focus groups as needed, send transparent communications about the process and approach, schedule the meeting dates and times, and facilitate the group discussions. The qualitative data gathered from these focus groups will be analyzed and shared with the DEI Lead Team and DEI Council in a summary report. The findings will directly inform the Action Plan and Schedule.
- Task 3: DEIB Action Plan + Schedule - EXC will work with the DEI Lead Team and DEI Council to develop a clear Action Plan that is inclusive, comprehensive, and consistent with the goals outlined in Racial Equity BP/AR 0415.1 and Educational Equity BP 0415. The Action Plan will define high-level areas of focus and distinct tasks. The implementation schedule will correspond to the Action Plan with recommended timelines and suggestions for prioritization. EXC will advise on a version of the adopted strategy and schedule that can be shared publicly for the PUSD community to access and discuss best practices for communicating how the District is holding themselves accountable with this work.
- Task 4: Coaching Sessions - EXC and a team of coaches will provide a total of twenty (20) group coaching sessions with each group coaching session having 8-12 participants. Group coaching could be one stand-alone session in which participants have access to 1-2 coaches with whom they can ask questions and learn. Group coaching also could consist of several cohorts who have more than one session. EXC will make recommendations for the specific approach for the 20 sessions as more information is uncovered during the initial phase of the work. In summary, the contract between PUSD and EXC includes:
Twelve (12) Project Management meetings with the Lead Team
Twenty-four (24) Weekly Meetings with specific site teams/Principals
Six (6) Monthly DEI Council Meetings
Twenty-three (23) Focus Groups
DEIB Action Plan + Schedule
Twenty (20) coaching sessions
PUSD is excited to be working with Ms. Gitanjali Morris and looks forward to hearing the important perspectives shared by members of the focus groups. Qualitative data gathered from these focus groups and suggested action steps will be shared in future Piedmont Ahead articles.
Upcoming Events
- October 18-23 - PHS Homecoming Week
- October 27th - PUSD Board Meeting
- November 2nd - Education Speaker Series
- November 5-7 - PMS Fall Play - Annie Jr.
- November 10 - PUSD Board Meeting
Piedmont Unified School District
Email: communications@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Website: www.piedmont.k12.ca.us
Location: 760 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA, USA
Phone: 510-594-2600
Facebook: facebook.com/piedmontunified
Twitter: @Piedmontunified