Saturday, November 14, 2020

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem

Wind the clock back eight months. Friday the 13th. Of March. Bill de Blasio, bluster and fury but no conviction, insists that schools are staying open. It was the wrong decision (soon to be reversed). And, because it was last minute, with a last minute reversal, disruptive. The time for planning was harried and disorganized, and our schools suffered all spring as a result.

Today. Friday the 13th. He’s really still mayor? Parents and teachers and schools should “be prepared” to go remote for a short period of time.

We just finished, by the way parent-teacher conferences. Which came after “Fall Fest” activities (mostly remote) for our students. That was today. November 13. Friday.

Thinking back, our last parent-teacher conferences came after our last “Spring Fest” activities (in person). That was March 13. Friday.

I’m not complaining about moving to fully remote. I think it is necessary. I am complaining about last-minute decisions. I am complaining about the mayor’s lack of planning, and the negative effect that lack of planning has on schools, students, teachers.

I’m also repeating – none of this was necessary. Many of us, probably most of us, knew that the “blended learning” models were a mess. We knew that safety would be an issue. Some of us knew that the quarantining and spread around the Thanksgiving Holiday would be insurmountable.

Blended learning is disruptive. Shifting between in person and remote is disruptive. We need less disruption. We need careful planning. We need a mayor who plans.

And we need to move to remote – Monday sounds good. And we need to stay there until things are actually safe.

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

2020 Classified School Employees of the Year - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces

2020 California Classified School Employees of the Year,

National Award Nominee

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today honored six outstanding classified school employees for their dedication to California’s public-school students. He also nominated one of the six for the inaugural Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award, a national honor which will be announced by the U.S. Department of Education in spring 2021.

“This has been an extremely difficult year, and meeting students’ basic needs as well as their social and emotional needs has been more important than ever,” said Thurmond. “Thankfully our classified employees have made heroic efforts to step up and support California’s students so they can continue to learn. These dedicated employees make sure that kids have healthy meals, safe transportation on school buses, and have someone to talk to during difficult and unexpected changes—helping them stay safe and supported in their lives and in their education.”

The annual program honors six outstanding classified school employees from the following categories: Child Nutrition; Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities; Office and Technical Support; Para-Educator and Instructional Assistance; Support Services and Security; and Transportation. This year’s recipients were chosen from 66 nominations statewide.

The 2020 Classified School Employees of the Year are (information contained in the following biographical sketches was excerpted from their nomination forms):

Child Nutrition: Phillip Burns, Food Service Sous Chef, Anaheim Union High School District, Orange County. 6 years in current position.

Phillip’s responsibilities include recipe development, product testing, planning and production of special diets for special dietary accommodations for the district, and helping with the oversight of the district’s central kitchen. He brings in his culinary expertise to implement creative ideas to help improve the food served in the school district. What is most striking about Phillip is his willingness to support, help, offer solutions, and learn. He presents his ideas for taste panels and discussions so students and parents can get involved in the process of building healthy eating habits. He is always the first to remember the special dietary accommodations when there are menu changes or changes in production, so that all students can eat safe nutritious meals.

Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities: Joel Magallon, Tradesman ll, Monterey County Office of Education, Monterey County, 5 years in current position.

Joel can fix or repair anything. He has vast knowledge of the building trades. Joel’s strengths are problem-solving, honesty, integrity, and willingness to work collaboratively with others to get the job done. He donates his time, materials, and expertise to community building projects and to the Early Learning Program outside of normal business hours. His commitment to helping others is his top priority. He has a wealth of knowledge and loves to share with anyone that is looking to grow personally and professionally.

Office and Technical: Estella Ramirez, Office Clerk, San Lucas School, San Lucas Union School District, Monterey County. 46 years in current position.

In addition to being a California School Employee of the Year, Estella is also California’s nominee for the national Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award. Now in its inaugural year, the new award honors and promotes the excellence exhibited by classified school employees who provide exemplary service to students, and will be announced in spring 2021 by the U.S. Department of Education.

Estella is the first face you see upon entering the school office. She greets not only staff, but parents and students every morning with a smile and kind words. Estella is the one person her office knows they can go to for anything. If she doesn’t already know the answer, she knows where to go to find it. She is the heart of the school. She’s always willing to go the extra mile to help, and in a small district operating with a small staff, you can find her conducting assessments, translating documents, serving lunch, and supervising student behavior in the lunchroom.

Para-Educator and Instructional Assistance: Dario Gonzalez, Academic Intervention Specialist, Bilingual Sr., Twin Rivers Unified School District, Sacramento County. 9 years in current position.

Dario is known as the “go-to” person for anything and absolutely everything. In addition to being in charge of attendance, he also works on student behavior plans and intervention, student awards, and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). He’s present at all parent/community meetings and has built confidence and trust within the community and staff by always providing follow-through on school matters, building strong relationships, and delivering even the most difficult messages with tact and confidence. When observing Dario working with students with behavior problems, it is clear that he has a gift for communicating with students. He quickly builds trust and rapport with students and prepares them to return to class and be successful.

Support Services and Security: Jacqueline Simon, School Security Officer l, Frick Impact Academy, Oakland Unified School District, Alameda County. 23 years in current position.

Ms. Jackie is dedicated to students. She is very direct while being very calm, and when she walks off, students comply. She is a child whisperer. Ms. Jackie has an exceptionally calm demeanor that people are automatically drawn to. She is an incredible natural counselor. Ms. Jackie has words of wisdom for all of the students every day, little words to get them through and keep them on track. She is funny and has a great sense of humor, but you can tell it’s from the heart. She speaks with a huge amount of love in her voice. There is always a lesson to be learned from what she is saying.

Transportation: William Taylor Jr., Truck Driver l, Oakland Unified School District, Alameda County. 8 years in current position.

Mr. Taylor exemplifies capable professionalism and exhibits high standards for everything that he does. He delivers meals to school sites, acts as the lead driver handling an incredible amount of logistical challenges, performs truck repairs, does inventory of kitchen and truck supplies, and works with staff and vendors. He is a unique individual who is not only fully capable but extraordinarily willing to perform his job well at the highest standard. When a high school was closed in March and students had to move to three different sites, he worked weekends and overtime to make sure students had Chromebooks and desks at the temporary sites. He will always step up and do what needs to be done.

Please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Classified School Employees of the Year web page for more information. The program is co-sponsored by the CDE, the Classified School Employees Association, and our Presenting Sponsor, San Mateo-based California Casualty. California’s Classified School Employee Week, established as an official week of statewide recognition in 1986 through Senate Bill 1552, was celebrated from May 17 to May 23, 2020.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

2020 Classified School Employees of the Year - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Deadlines for in-person schooling, class size reporting, and questions about DOE’s protection of student data | Class Size Matters

Deadlines for in-person schooling, class size reporting, and questions about DOE’s protection of student data | Class Size Matters | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

Deadlines for in-person schooling, class size reporting, and questions about DOE’s protection of student data

Dear Friends,

1/ Today, Thursday Nov. 12 at 6:30 PM, I’ll be speaking at an online forum hosted by Brooklyn for Peace about how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the inequities that already exist within our public school system. You can find more information about this forum and sign up to attend here.

2/ The DOE deadline for parents to opt for in-person learning for their kids is Sunday Nov. 15; you can do that here. Meanwhile, the city’s infection rate is creeping up and was 2.5% yesterday. Even though the random testing shows the infection rate inside schools is only about .18%, the Mayor has said all schools will be closed when the citywide rate rises to 3%.

While de Blasio has insisted that this may will be your only chance to opt-into in person learning for your child, more recently the Chancellor said that there indeed may be more opportunities later this year. As I said in this article, it is highly unfair and irrational to close off the possibility of parents opting in later in the year, especially as there may be a vaccine available as soon as April.

3/ Nov. 15 is also the legal deadline for the DOE to report class sizes by school and grade level. Much thanks to CM Mark Treyger, who wrote a letter to the Chancellor urging him to make the deadline, and to report separately class sizes of in-person classes vs remote classes, especially as many parents and students have reported that the latter can be as large as sixty, eighty students or more. Chalkbeat wrote an article about the importance of disaggregated data, and I blogged about this issue here.

4/ We are also very concerned about the privacy of student data, especially as DOE has hurriedly acquired at least 100 ed tech programs and has told schools that they “must have a shared, inclusive and digital curriculum in all core subject areas”. And yet many of the publicly available privacy policies of these products do not comply with state law, as they allow for the commercialization or sale of student data, or do not sufficiently protect it from breaches. See the letter sent by Sen. Brad Hoylman to the Chancellor, asking that the DOE post all the contractual Parent Bill of Rights agreements with these vendors, to ensure that student privacy is rigorously protected. The DOE has failed to post any of them so far, even though this is also required by the state law. Chalkbeat reported on this non-compliance with the law on the part of the DOE, and I provided more detail about our concerns here.

If you haven’t already, please respond to our parent/teacher/student survey to let us know which online apps your children have been assigned; you can also check the privacy grades of some of the products that we know DOE is encouraging schools to use.

Thanks as always for your help,

Leonie

IS IT GOING TO TAKE GETTING BIT? – Dad Gone Wild

IS IT GOING TO TAKE GETTING BIT?

“Choose not to look, however, at your own peril. The owner of an old house knows that whatever you are ignoring will never go away. Whatever is lurking will fester whether you choose to look or not. Ignorance is no protection from the consequences of inaction. Whatever you are wishing away will gnaw at you until you gather the courage to face what you would rather not see.”
― Isabel Wilkerson,

I spent part of my youth growing up outside San Antonio. My father was a fisherman, so we spent a great deal of time at the local lakes. Frequently visiting places like Canyon Lake and Lake McQueeney.

Both had their attractions. Canyon Lake was home to bigger fish, but McQueeney had a juke joint near where we fished, and I have very fond memories of the sounds drifting across the parking lot while we tried to catch a bass or a catfish. That bar played both kinds of music, country and western.

Both lakes were also home to very healthy populations of Cottonmouths. These were the Texas version of Cottonmouths, not the kind that is rumored to reside in Tennessee. I’ve fished all over this state and I’ve never come across a snake that rivaled these south Texas serpents for meanness and nastiness. truly the stuff of nightmares.

At Canyon Lake, we’d fish off of a low dock at night for catfish. The light would draw the snakes and you would see them swimming towards it, only to duck underneath the dock at the last minutes. The proximity to these ornery creatures never failed to unnerve me. sending me home with fresh nightmares.

One spring, I must have been around 12 years old, we were visiting McQueeney. It was an exceptionally warm day and I wanted to get in the water something fierce. My parents weren’t CONTINUE READING: IS IT GOING TO TAKE GETTING BIT? – Dad Gone Wild