In a special meeting of the Chatfield School Board on August 12, 2020, the following board members were present: Amy Jeffers, Lanny Isensee, Katie Priebe, Matt McMahon and Rick Lowrey. Scott Backer was not present as he has resigned. Also present were Superintendent Harris, Principals Shane McBroom and Randy Paulson, and Administrative Assistant Lorri Lowrey.
The first of the two agenda items discussed was the renewal of the operating levy, which needs to be renewed no later than November 2021. Superintendent Harris has consulted with Sue Peterson of School Perception, who is the district’s consultant on these types of matters. Her recommendation was to wait until November 2021, to have voters decide about renewing the levy. In the meantime, the district will work on a survey and information to send to district patrons in the spring, detailing the need for renewal and what it entails. The board approved scheduling the levy renewal until November of 2021.
The second item on the agenda was what school would look like for students in the district for the 2020-21 school year. Shane McBroom, Elementary Principal, gave three scenarios with the three possibilities being in-person, hybrid or distance learning. His recommendation would be in-person learning with a normal day, five days a week. Students would have the choice of distance learning if parents did not want their child to attend in person. Distance learning students could return to in-person schooling at the quarter/semester break if they so desired. This plan would involve adding 1.0 FTE (Full-time Equivalent) for grades four-six for either a distance learning or a classroom teacher. It would also partially re-assign a Title I teacher and two ADSIS (Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instruction Services) teachers to distance learning. McBroom addressed the beginning of the year conferences with teachers, students and parents and suggested they take place for four days before school starts and increase the time from a half hour to a full hour. This would give teachers time to explain how to access the platforms students would be using for distance learning.
At the high school, Principal Paulson gave the same three scenario options but recommended the hybrid option for better consistency at the high school level. Class sizes are usually larger at the high school and classrooms tend to be smaller so this would be a safer alternative by splitting them into two groups. Student would be divided into two groups. Group A would attend Monday and Tuesday in person and Group B would attend Thursday and Friday in person. Wednesday would be a distance learning day for everyone and teachers would be able to conduct their PLC (Professional Learning Community) meetings on that day. Students would be able to choose distance learning if so desired but would need to commit to a quarter for high school students or a trimester for grades seven and eight. Standard grading procedures would be the same for both options.
Some of the questions from the board addressed transportation and how it could be done efficiently with the high school on the hybrid plan. Plans are to divide the groups alphabetically and by families and a few short loop routes might be necessary to meet the 50% capacity required. Mike Bernard of Bernard Bus said that it is doable. Another question raised was how these options will fulfill the needs of special education students. Paulson stated that they would look at this case by case to see how the student’s needs could be met. It may mean they would need additional time in school and that flexibility would be the key. The elementary has been working with HVED as to how they can accommodate students with special needs.
Since the Chatfield School District is in both Fillmore and Olmsted counties, the district committee had to decide which case numbers they would need to go by to determine the breakpoint as to when the learning plan may need to change to a different option. Looking at the numbers, there were more students living in Fillmore County so the district will affiliate with Fillmore County for case numbers.
The board approved the 2020-2021 Learning Plan as a resolution that the elementary would be using the in-person option and the high school would be implementing a hybrid model as proposed by Principal Paulson. Staffing changes were approved by the board that were necessary to provide additional support for distance learning. Those changes were to add a 1.0 FTE upper elementary teacher, a .25 FTE reassignment of a high school paraprofessional to a teacher and .5 FTE transfer of an existing staff member from Title I. This staffing would only be for the 2020-2021 school year.
Superintendent Harris stated that masks and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) have been ordered for the protection of staff and students. He added that the MDE (Minnesota Department of Education) may be helping with more funding to help schools with this additional expense. It is expected that all students and staff wear masks during the school day with some exceptions for health reasons.
Throughout the meeting, administrators and board members thanked all the staff, board members and parents who contributed to the development of the learning plan. It was a long and laborious project but in the end they were able to find a safe way to get students back to school in some fashion.
The meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting will be on September 9 at 7 p.m.
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