Ashland School District
Inspiring Learning for Life
Superintendent's Update 4/2/2021
Ashland School District
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Email: Catherine.Carne@ashland.k12.or.us
Website: ashland.k12.or.us
Location: 885 Siskiyou Boulevard, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: (541) 482-2811
Facebook: facebook.com/ashlandpublicschools/
Superintendent's Update: Quick Facts
- Changes in School Safety Requirements
- Update on Re-Opening
- Elementary classrooms prepare shift to 3 feet as early as Thursday, April 8
- Ashland School Board: State-Assessment "Opt In" This Year Only
- Ashland School Board in State News
April 2, 2021
Dear Ashland Families, Students and Community Members,
I hope each of you had the opportunity to enjoy spring break. It has been great to see our middle and high school students back on campus in a hybrid this week. I had the opportunity to visit AMS classes on their first day and see the level of excitement and engagement of students. For most, it was the first day on campus this school year. For the sixth grade, it was their first day ever on the AMS campus. Their introduction to the AMS campus is unique as demolition is complete and Bond construction of new learning spaces has already begun. Students will be able to watch as the campus takes shape for learning now and in the future.
Significant Changes in School Requirements and Re-Opening Campuses
Things have been changing quickly and in positive ways.
On March 15, the state published version 6.0 of the Ready Schools Safe Learners. This guidance removed the 100 student cohort size limit, allowing students to interact with more peers each week. This is an important step in allowing schools to serve more students on-site, particularly at the secondary level. Under the March 15 guidance, schools were still required to keep 6 feet of distance between students at all times and levels, limiting how many students could be served in the standard classroom. This has now changed.
On March 19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued new recommendations for physical distance in schools when other safety measures are in place, including screening, masks and sanitizing. The new guidance changed the physical distancing recommendations to three feet in most cases.
On March 22, the Oregon Department of Education which establishes safety requirements for Oregon schools, adopted the new CDC recommendations on three foot physical distancing in version 6.3.1 of Ready Schools Safe Learners. This is great news and has paved the way for much broader access to classrooms.
Key updates to Ready Schools, Safe Learners include:
- Elementary schools must maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students to the maximum extent possible.
- Middle and High School must maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students to the maximum extent possible, when the county case rate is <200 (green level on the metrics chart in Section 0).
- Middle and High School must maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance between students to the maximum extent possible, when the county case rate is ≥200 (yellow and red levels on the metrics chart in Section 0).
- All schools must maintain 6 feet between staff at all times and 6 feet between staff and students to the maximum extent possible.
- Removal of the 35 sq ft per person requirement and other physical distancing changes are documented in the RSSL guidance.
ODE shared this information on Research Informing Changes in K-12 COVID-19 Guidance.
Is Ashland going to bring students back full time?
The changes with cohort size and physical distancing allow much greater opportunity to return to campus but there is still some work ahead before we know all of what is possible.
This week, in addition to welcoming back our middle and high students, we have been working on the next step in our hybrid models to bring students interested in hybrid back on campus for additional days and times as quickly as feasible. We will be sharing specifics soon.
There are challenges.
A primary concern for all ASD educators is ensuring a quality educational experience for all students including the 25% of students who have opted to continue the year in comprehensive distance learning only (CDL only). For our younger learners, it is not always feasible or best practice to provide classroom instruction and distance learning concurrently. We are working to resolve some logistical and staffing challenges in order to assure we can continue to meet the needs of CDL only students if we extend time on campus for others. We will be able to offer more specifics of how CDL will be addressed by the end of next week.
Other resource and logistical challenges remain even with this new guidance.
- Additional custodial staff is being hired to accommodate additional sanitation requirements with increased days/times on campus.
- Some staff members are not able to return to campus because of health conditions. We are working to match them to CDL only assignments.
- To accommodate 6 feet between students, many of the normal classroom items (desks, chairs, tables) were moved from classrooms and distributed across buildings and are in use. Items must be re-arranged to fit more students in classrooms across sites.
- Gyms, libraries and cafeterias that have been used for classrooms must be returned to their original purpose.
- Bus routes and nutrition services need to be adjusted to meet the needs of a new model.
- Schedules must be re-designed for staggered lunches and other unmasked activities such as music that require students to remain at 6-foot distances.
Our administrators, supervisors, teachers and staff are working diligently to reshape opportunities for the remaining weeks of the school year because they know what it means for our students. I anticipate we will resolve the challenges above and move towards greater access to campus soon.
Thank you for making our schools great places for kids and the community. To building better times now.
Samuel
Samuel Bogdanove
Superintendent
Ashland Public Schools
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Elementary Classrooms Begin Shift To 3 Feet
Some elementary classrooms begin the shift to 3 feet physical distance between students as early as Thursday, April 8.
This shift will allow current hybrid students to see each other all in the same room.
STATE ASSESSMENT OPT IN BY SCHOOL BOARD RESOLUTION
Ashland students will not participate in state testing this year unless their parents/guardians “opt-in.”
On Monday, March 15, the Ashland School Board passed a resolution making a one-year change of practice in mandatory state SBAC (Smarter Balance) assessment administration. For the full text of the resolution click here.
- By default, students will not participate in state assessments this year.
- If a family wants their student to participate in the state assessment, they must contact the school in writing no later than April 14 and an opportunity will be provided.
The resolution is in keeping with the state of Oregon’s request to the US Department of Education seeking a waiver for state assessments this year due to the impact of the pandemic and the limited opportunity for students to experience school on-site during the pandemic. The waiver was denied by the US Department of Education.
In a typical year, Oregon law requires students to participate in state testing unless a parent specifically chooses to “opt-out”. Educators encourage all students to take the state SBAC assessment because the annual assessments provide valuable feedback on student progress as well as program efficacy and deficits. School Board Chair Eva Skuratowicz notes, “This year is different. Kids are just now returning to school and now testing is required? They should be reconnecting and experiencing school in person. We already have growth data through local assessments that provide teachers with important information on supporting learners – the state assessment doesn’t do anything for kids this year.”
The Oregon state Board of Education is expected to vote April 2021 to waive the essential skills graduation requirement for current Juniors in the class of 2022. Last year, the state Board of Education waived the state assessment requirement for the classes of 2020 and 2021.
Ashland School Board in the News
Ashland School Board's decision on state assessments during COVID has garnered state-wide attention and is being followed by an increasing number of school boards across Oregon who want to do what makes sense for kids.
OPB published this article on the recent Ashland School Board resolution: click here.