PKM HIGHLIGHTS
June 22-26, 2020
Dear Bill, Darin, Michelle, Todd & Pat
Special Thanks to Michelle Barnes-Russell for Her Leadership
On behalf of Berkeley County Schools, I want to thank Michelle Barnes-Russell for her leadership, service, advocacy and care for the Berkeley County School community. Michelle has served on the school board for the last 4 years and brought her experiences and ideas to the forefront that have benefited others in Berkeley County Schools. I want to thank her for her commitment and dedication to the children, families and staff in our school community. We wish you continued success in your new adventures and know we will continue to see you as a strong leader in our community – thank you for taking on such an important role and responsibility in “making a difference” for all of us!
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security(CARES) Grant Update and Planning
Berkeley County Schools received approximately 3.8 million dollars in funding for the next two year as part of the CARES Grant program. We are currently looking at identifying needs, how best to deploy these funds over the course of the next two years and strategically making these funds available. Right now, we are looking at these grant funds along with all grant funds that the school district receives to map a plan for leveraging the resources that best serve our students. Based on the needs identified in areas such as technology access, after school programs, materials and supplies needed during the current pandemic, we will map a plan, prepare for potential emergencies, and ensure all funds are expended well in advance of the grant funding period. I am also scheduling meetings with all grant funding holders to do a similar scheduled planning process that will best support how resources are used and directed to students.
Service and Professional Staff Weekly Conference Calls - June 24th
A meeting of service and professional representatives was held on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 via Zoom that included - Jana Woofter, Jessica Salfia, Mallory Painter, Georgiana Lang, Debbie Sloat, and Mark Weisenburg along with the Human Resources and Communications teams of Dr. Justin Schooley, Karen Hensell, Lewis Mullenax, Elaine Bobo and Tabitha Porterfield. The goal of this meeting is to update membership on the status of the re-entry plan for next school year as well as hear any questions/concerns from their members. Dr. Murphy attended several meetings and shared the latest information on including meeting with the superintendents of the neighboring WV counties. However, due to the resignation of the state’s Chief Health Officer all re-entry guidance has been placed on hold.
The district has plans to survey staff similar to parent’s survey that was released earlier in the week. Much of the focus of the meeting centered around questions/areas of concern that staff had in regard to the reopening of school. The association representative agreed to seek input from their memberships to help shape the survey questions.
Dr. Schooley highlighted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and extended sick leave and extended Medical Family Leave Act. He emphasis the need for associations to let members know if they have a issues that would prevent them from returning to work in the fall to reach out to the HR Department to begin the process to determine leave options. Mr. Weisenburg spoke to the need for additional training regarding cleaning products and PPE for using those products. Dr. Schooley will be working with Mrs. Tracy Heck, supervisory of the warehouse, to seek guidance from the supplier Weiss Brothers to provide necessary guidance.
Sr. Staff Plus Pandemic Meeting - June 24th
Evaluation Wrap-Up
This week Don Dellinger, Dave Banks and I wrapped up end of year principal evaluation conferences that have proven to be very helpful in hearing first-hand from principals regarding success this year along with challenges we need to tackle as we prepare for school to start in August. We want to thank all of our principals and school leaders for their efforts and work this year in light of the impact Covid-19 played in the final quarter. Our conversations centered on how we move forward, prepare for the start of the year, evaluate students’ current academic standing, and create the best learning environments for our students to close academic gaps and allow for progress in their educational experiences and career. These conversations are foundational for the fall when we will start the cycle again and look at the goal’s principals are now developing for themselves and their schools. In the big picture, this is tied directly to our strategic planning process and the overarching goals of the school district that we set annually.
Finally, congratulations to Kim Agee and Jim Holland who are both launching to new adventures in their lives. I want to thank them for their service, dedication and commitment to the children and families in our community. We will miss you both and hope to see you back with us after a short R&R hiatus. Continued success and thank you!
District Strategic Planning – Department Plans
The district strategic planning process is in full motion at the school level and this week departments met to talk about their goals for the coming school year. A group of approximately 25 school leaders across departments joined the planning discussion. The conversation was facilitated by Dr. Tara Nattrass, with Dell Technologies Company who asked us to review some recent key district documents (e.g., Hanover Benchmarking, Entry Plan Summary, Year in Review booklet, BCS Literacy Framework, Special Education Review) and think about some of the common threads that exist within and across departments. The objective of the planning process is to have us look at these documents in relationto how we work within and across departmentsto accomplish our goals. This collaborative and integrated approach gets individuals talking, focused, and setting priorities that can connect to strengthen and improve our work in serving and supporting schools, students and families. Departments and their teams lead by either their assistant superintendents or executive directors are going to generate two or more goals for next year along with strategies and an action plan for each goal. The goals will be reviewed and then submitted to WVDE by mid-July as required.
Coupled with this work we are also going to be looking at creating a new vision, mission and core value statement (VMCV) for the school district. This process will involve multiple stakeholder groups to create buy-in, understanding and also connectedness across the district. This work has started through the superintendent entry plan and will be a starting place for us to use that information in shaping the VMCV plan.
Finally, goals, strategies and action plans will be reviewed on a quarterly basis to monitor, evaluate and make adjustments as needed. Thank you to Robyn Lopez and Betty Anne Powell for helping to coordinate and plan this work and all of the participants who took part in the work.
Martinsburg Facility Meeting
Trent Sherman hosted the Martinsburg High School Facility group meeting with members of his staff, student body and former students for an update on progress and planning. Last week Randle Reid Smith visited with Mr. Sherman and Katie Schram to discuss possible sources of funding through the Cultural Facility Grant and ADA Emergency Grant. Both of these grant opportunities along with the pursuit of a historic building designation are continuing to be investigated. Mr. Sherman also provided an update on the progress being made in cleaning the building and investigation of terrazzo flooring under the current floor covering. The good news is that the terrazzo flooring is in good shape under the sample area that was pulled up and reconditioning that sample area will continue with consideration to expand the area on the main floor. The group also discussed developing a concept design for the fine arts area of the building to provide more adequate space and facilities with the growing student population and program needs. This is aligned with the CEFP process that is currently in progress with the possibility of providing bond funds in the future for any additions and/or renovation projects that are considered. Finally, Mr. Sherman is going to be pushing out a communique to the school groups and communities about the progress being made as we prepare for students and staff to return to school in August.
New School Board Member Michael Martin meeting
Join me in welcoming our new school board Michael Martin! Michael stopped in on Thursday to begin the onboard process with Human Resources and begin to collect documents and materials to begin becoming more knowledgeable about Berkeley County Schools. Michael and Dr. Bill Queen were also sworn in as board members effective July 1. The purpose of them taking their oath is so that a full board is in place with the start of the new school year. On July 6, the first meeting of the Board of Education for this year, we will have a ceremonial swearing in by Judge Bridgett Cohee starting at 6:30 pm. This will be an in-person meeting held in the Board Room with social distancing guidelines and protocols in place. In person attendance will be limited to board members and select staff members. The public can continue participation via zoom and access via our website. Finally, Michael will be meeting individually with each of the assistant superintendents, their staff and executive directors who lead departments over the course of the next two months to answer his questions and have him learn more about the total operations of Berkeley County Schools. Welcome about Michael Martin and congratulations to you and Dr. Bill Queen!
Advance Team Planning for Next Year
The BCS Advance Planning Team met on Thursday afternoon for over 2.5 hours to continuing working through possible scenarios for starting school in August. While we are waiting for final direction from WVDE with the West Virginia Re-entry Toolkit the Advance Team is playing out potential courses of action. The Family and Community Team pushed out two surveys this week – one to families and one to staff and are looking to get students involved as well for their input on the start of school. The Mental Health Team is moving forward with their initial draft of “Restored, Resilient and Ready” plans for students, staff, family and community. They are pulling together supporting documents to be ready to share a complete draft resource guide with schools. The Operations Team is looking at scenarios and options for transporting students to and from school along with training for all personnel for cleaning buildings. The Teaching and Learning Team continues to examine at least three possible options of returning to school 5 days a week, an alternating schedule and remote learning. At this point in time, based on our conversations and looking at preliminary survey data (which is still coming in) it appears there is a desire for students to return to school five days a week. Recognizing that some families may elect for remote learning options this action team is looking at how we could possibly manage those two options while sidelining the alternating schedule option at this point. It is a fluid, dynamic and evolving process as it has been since March 2020. The Technology Team reported the professional development is going very well and participation has been great – thank you to our staff for jumping in with both feet. This team also just received data about internet access and report that approximately 3000 families indicate less than adequate internet access with approximately 1500 families reporting no access. The team is going to disaggregate the information further to see about a menu of possible solutions from working with local vendors, providing personal devices and creating neighborhood hotspots. Dr. Schooley also provided an update on current policies and practices to ensure the safety and well-being of staff as we prepare to return to school and how it aligns to the current Covid-19 federal requirements. Look for more information on this topic to be forthcoming through FAQ documents. Finally, the team is looking at ways to continue to providing updates to the school community, the status of planning to this point, and how we are thinking about moving forward. The next Advance Team Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 2 in hopes that we will have clarification and more direction from WVDE to help us with our planning and preparation.
SPECIAL NOTE: Friday Letter will be on Vacation Next Week to celebrate the July 4th Holiday and will return ready, refresh and set to go on July 10th.
Annual Report, Entry Plan Findings & Board Snapshot Added to Website
Entry plan findings and Annual Report:
https://www.berkeleycountyschools.org/domain/6321
https://www.berkeleycountyschools.org/Page/14689
Board Snapshot:
PKM Calendar for upcoming week: June 29-July 3, 2020
Mon.June 29th
Sr. Staff Meeting
Routine Mtgs
Tues., June 30th
Routine Mtgs
Wed., July 1st
Pandemic Mtg
Routine Mtgs
Thurs., July 2nd
Advance Team Mtg
Routine Mtgs
Fri., July 3rd
Independence Day Observed - Schools & Offices Closed
Summer Meal Program Continues
June 1: 15,670 (One location)
June 8: 16,930 (4 locations)
June 15: 19,620
June 22: 19,300
MEALS PROVIDED SINCE MARCH 16, 2020 = 293,520
Please view the following attachments and Pat's Picks:
UPDATED Hanover Benchmarking Report
Board of Governors Program for Service Personnel
Patrick K. Murphy, Ed.D., Superintendent
Email: patrick.murphy@k12.wv.us
Phone: 304-582-0880
Twitter: @PKMSupt