7-13-20 BOE Special Meeting

001Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Got you. Next time I have Mr. Steman, put on >> I saw him earlier today. >> Okay, it's 7:21. So, I will call the meeting to order. >> Mr. Davis, could we have a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Zik >> here. >> Dr. Hooker >> here. >> Mrs. Johnston >> here. >> Mrs. Lewis >> here. Mrs. S >> here. >> Okay. Could I have a motion to adopt the agenda, please? >> Do a second. >> Second. Roll call. >> Uh, let's see. Dr. Hooker. >> I. >> Mrs. Sing. >> I. Mrs. Johnson. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Lewis. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Eicholtz. >> Hi. >> Um, okay. So, tonight is actually a work session, um, versus a regular board member. So, you'll notice that the format's a little bit

002different. U, but before we start, I wanted to talk a little bit about a really exciting opportunity that I had a week ago that you may have heard about. Um, I was actually invited to participate in the summit on the safe reopening of schools at the White House and it was a half-day summit and um I spent the day hearing from all kinds of nonpartisan experts, scientists, health officials, education officials um that included Dr. Michael Redfield from the CDC, Dr. Deborah Burks, um Dr. Dr. Sally Gos from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Um it was fascinating and just a really really great day. Um but first and foremost um I just want to make it abundantly clear uh that the health and safety and welfare of our students, our staff and our members of our

003community are my primary and utmost concern always no matter what decision we're making. and uh myself and my colleagues here in the room and in um Canada over there um are working really diligently with the administration to do our best to ensure a safe return to school. All of us would like to see um back to normal in some fashion. Um however uh myself and this board are keenly aware that we must pay attention to science and continuously consult with medical and health professionals to determine the best practices and course of action to go back to school. This could include a variety of methods to deliver quality instruction to our students. And secondly, I just want to be clear. Um, I participated in that summit as an individual and not as an Indian Hill board

004member. Um, I was invited by a former colleague uh that I worked with about 10 years ago because he knows that I'm a lifelong advocate for children and for public schools and public school education. So, I wanted my own time at my own expense and I was not representing the board in any capacity. Um, but I will say it was an awesome experience and if the White House calls any of you say yes because it was just a terrific day. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Mrs. Eiffel. So, I appreciate um the clarification of your attendance at the education summit um in Washington DC last week and it does sound like an amazing experience to to be among all of those professionals. Um on behalf of the board, I want to reiterate that Mrs. Eigolds

005was attending the summit as private citizen. She was not attending as a representative of the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District. The comments and discussions that Mrs. cycles made in Washington throughout the day uh were her individual viewpoints and not the viewpoints of the board. Um the board is made up of five members and only speaks as a board at board meetings in official business of the board through votes of the board. The board has not made any decision about the back to school plan for the upcoming school year. We as a board will make all decisions about the reopening based on the primary goal of the health and well-being of our students and their families and our administrators, staff, teachers, bus drivers, and their families. And we will make our decision based on science

006and facts. We will look at CDC guidance, guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Ohio Department of Health, the Hamilton County Department of Health, the Ohio Department of Education, as well as mandates and laws from the state and local authorities. We want to thank those of you who provided feedback by email or or on the questionnaire. Um, we appreciate that many of you didn't want to commit to a choice until you understood the whole plan. We have asked our families and our staff for information in the questionnaire and that information we ask for to assist us in planning how many students and teachers and bus drivers we will have the onset of the school year. We have a lot of work to do as a board and as an administrative team in collaboration with

007our teachers and staff and our student families to prepare for the upcoming school year. But I know we as a board and administrative team and our teachers and staff will do it and we'll do it in the best interest and concerning the health and safety of our students and their families and our staff and their families first. >> Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Okay, we need to get on business because we have a lot to do. So, I would like to turn it over to Mr. Kcki to start us off. >> Thank you uh ladies. I appreciate your comments and I would just like to follow up by saying again we thank all of our parents and community members who have given us feedback in so many different ways over the last few months. When we

008reach out, we're reaching out so that we can hear your input, your feedback, and we truly appreciate it in every form that we receive it. Again, I I just want to reiterate that the safety and health of our students, staff, families, and community member are priority number one for me as a superintendent. Uh as a father, a grandfather, a husband, and a son, I take this charge very seriously. My team has been charged with taking this seriously. uh the team that is before you tonight that's going to present on our planning has all taken this very seriously and I am very impressed with the detail in all three plans we've been charged with developing by the board of education again the board has asked us to come up with three plans we will continually modify

009and evaluate those plans based on the best health guidance that we receive and the best advice we get from our educational partners and our health medical field partners along along the way. And many people asked the question when we sent this the questionnaire out last week. Is your plan finalized? Is plan A plan? Is plan C done? All of those questions are valid. And my response is no plan is done yet. We're going to continue to evaluate and modify those plans and we're going to listen to feedback. And listening is something that everybody on our team does intentionally. So I appreciate your comments. I also appreciate the work of this team keeping safety at the center of our decision-making. There are several things I just want to reiterate before we get into a presentation of

010our three plans tonight. And I want to start again, we've had many questions about what we use as resources in our decision making for our plans. And as Mrs. Lewis stated, we have received as of July 2nd two seinal documents. One is from the Ohio Department of Health and one is from the Ohio Department of Education. These are not the only two documents that we use to make our decisions, but they help to inform our plans. We are also looking at research from the American Association of Pediatricians as well as CDC guidelines and we have been charged with implementing five key strategies. First, health check strategies. Second, hygiene and hand sanitizing, washing strategies, cleanliness strategies for students and staff on campus. Third, deep cleaning routines for uh touch surfaces, high contact surfaces, hight traffic areas

011on campus, uh exited entry points, that deep cleaning we've all heard about. Fourth, the practice of social distancing and the layering of other health measures on top of social distancing to mitigate spread. And fifth, face covering policies or guidelines. This is something again, those five key things we reviewed last week are a part of every plan you're going to see tonight. And we're using those seminal documents to to follow that health advice to come up with our procedures and processes. Some of which again are not finalized, but we are working through as a team and we will take questions and answers on those from all of you this evening. We've had a question from many people about a face covering policy. The board is reviewing a draft policy. that language is something we need to

012continue to refine and I I anticipate that the board will want to continue that discussion as well. Some people were concerned about making a statement on their questionnaire until they knew there might be a policy in effect. That makes sense. So, we're going to continue working through that face covering policy as well as our other testing and health check strategies moving forward. We've developed a flowchart that you will see tonight in a document. Board members, there's one in your packet. It's a single sheet at either the front or back of your folder depending on how it got loaded. The copy itself may look a little dark. Um but the slide that we can put up later during the meeting and which we can share with people once it's uh finalized by you does explain how

013we would look at our suspected cases on campus or notification of suspected cases off campus and what protocols we would use for contact tracing and and what steps we would follow based on suspected cases. That was another area where we received a lot of questions. People rightly so want to know how do we deal with a situation in any of our plans when we suspect there might be a case among us. So whether it's on a bus or in a classroom that flowchart and that protocol has been developed and we can talk through some of that when you're ready. And then finally um I just want people to understand that when we talk about social distancing you're going to hear from our team about plans tonight and see very specific feedback. want to reiterate that

014under our plan A, a return to school, six feet of social distancing does not happen 100% of the time on campus from the time a student gets on a bus to the time they come on campus to the time they leave. Going through their daily uh routine with plan A, we cannot maintain 6 ft of social distancing under the current plan 100% of the time. That is one of the cons of plan A. Under our other plans, you will see the specific footage and tonight you'll get some of that detail from the team. But u we've had a lot of questions about do we are we required to have six feet under plan A. We are not required by law to have six feet at all times. We are asked to implement and practice it

015wherever and whenever possible to with our best efforts. and when we can't have six feet to layer in other health measures and guidelines to help us mitigate spread. And so that's just a point of clarity I'd like to make about the social distancing before we get into the planning. Um if you have any general questions about the health and safety aspects of our planning before we get started with the slide presentation, I'd be glad to try to answer them or anybody on on the team. Okay. So, we will come back to some of that as we go through and I'm going to kind of turn it over Dr. Stewart and her team and we have some uh presentation points we'd like to go through with you this evening. Um, and we will also share the

016screen so that you can see that when we're ready and we'll go ahead and get that set up at this point. Do you want to share the That'd be great. Do you mind doing that so that I'm not touching your computer? >> Y. >> Thanks. Okay, you should have control now, Dr. Stewart. There we are. Okay. Thanks for letting me present some information to you again. I appreciate it. Um, I just want to reiterate that in this time and age, it feels like things are changing so quickly and we want to be really good models for our students and be the best learners that we can. So though a week ago we did present some information about the potential plans, things have changed. We've gotten some new guidance. We've tried to be um good stewards

017of understanding as much medical information as we can. So we kind of have an update that we'd like to share with you as a starting point for the conversation. Um so you'll see that right away. We want to talk a little bit about the foundational assumptions of what we're considering when we consider our three plans. This hasn't changed really since the last one. I will just say that there's there are two foundations and one of them is we know we need to be very flexible that uh before when we presented some of the different plans there was some rigidity that did not allow us to move from plan to plan smoothly and we realized that that is something that we needed to take into consideration. So that was one of the changes that we made.

018We also wanted to make sure that we had safe environments that that crossed all borders. So, it's just as important that we consider safety for what happens on the bus as we do in our classrooms. So, that was something else and we have had lots of conversation with the director of transportation and people like that as well. So, that's all kind of combined in here rather than read each of these points because they haven't changed. If it's okay with you, I'll just move on. Sure. So this just gives you an idea. We actually started this back in April when we started to work on these plans. We've learned so much from that time period. But we started and there were groups of teachers who were involved in establishing our plans in all four of the

019buildings that consisted of staff members and administrators and educational aids and administrative assistants. There were lots of voices around the table. That's what started that work. We also really listened to the parents and the two parent surveys we did about distance learning. We had one student survey and one staff survey as well. Right away, we received some feedback from our parents that said, "Hey, you guys, great job on distance learning. We know that you had to make that change fast, but we'd like to see an increase in the rigor and the accountability and the engagement strategies if we were to do this again." So, we were able to hear that right away and we developed an online course that allowed all of our teachers from their home to participate in professional learning. They did 15

020hours of that in May and then they're also using 15 hours of their own time over the summer to continue with that learning. So, that we know our online program needs to be even more rigorous than what we've had in the past. And we're up for the challenge. We also know that we've received some of the updates that Mr. Kcki shared and that's influenced some of our work as well. And I will say like we're just going to stick at it as we learn more information. Today there was another committee meeting to look at our plans that was I don't know maybe 9 hours long because we want to be as flexible and responsive as we can as we continue to get new information. So looking at the three plans, um just to kind of

021reiterate what we've talked about before is plan A is a face-to-face model that not only allows our students to come back to school, but it also allows for a online model as well. That's what we call plan A that has social distancing of 3 to four feet. And we're going to show lots of information about that, but I at least wanted to summarize it quickly. Plan B would be a hybrid model where 50% of our students would be on campus at one time and that would mean that students could have six feet of social distancing. Again, I have a lot more information about plan B to share with you. For those families who did not feel comfortable being within our school setting, just like in plan A, we will offer an online option to any

022family that needs it. And then lastly would be plan C and that would be if for the entire district if we had to look at having a complete remote setting just as we did in the spring. So to bring you up to speed we asked a questionnaire of our family and at this point we have 42% of our families who've completed that and I wanted to share the results. So looking at plan A which is that model of bringing students back into the school setting in a face-to-face manner five days a week having three to four feet of distance 87% of the families are saying that they will return with 13% saying they'll be online. Plan B is the hybrid or blended model and at this point we have 90% of our families saying that

023they would like to come back within the school setting and 10% saying they would choose the online option. We know that 42% does not represent where our families are and we we've also heard from our families loud and clear they might need a little bit more time and more information before they can complete that questionnaire that question. >> Yes. Um so I'm assuming because of the 87 and the 90% that they're they could choose more than one option. So the question there was just asking was just trying to gather information from us about if the school district had to start the school year out in plan A, how many students could we expect on campus versus online? Okay. >> Or if the school district had to start in plan B, how many students could we

024expect on campus versus being online? And let me just say that I apologize in advance if that was confusing to people. I think some people opened that questionnaire and they really thought it was a survey like they were voting do I want plan A, plan B or plan C at the start of the school year and we were just trying to gather numbers so that as a staff we could plan. We need to see approximately how many of our teachers need to be assigned to work with students who are online versus how many of our teachers need to be assigned to work with our students face to face. Um and I understand that there's some concern about a commitment that parents have made. So, we can certainly open all of that up for conversation. Okay.

025>> You know, there was clearly confusion. I got contacted by a number of parents and I actually would have liked and I didn't realize we didn't do I really think we should have asked them how many of you would like plan A, how many of you would like Monday. If you look at the guidance from CDC and everybody else, it's like you ought to involve parents in this final decision. I feel bad that we didn't, but uh you know I did get some feedback a number of you know again I'm getting a small sample you know like listen I I don't really like plan B but if you going to make me use it yeah I'm coming for anything you'll give me but I didn't really like it so I I don't think we got

026that information which would is sad I would have liked to have gotten that. >> Thanks I appreciate that feedback. The one thing I will say is that as we are preparing for the start of the school year, sometimes it's hard to know exactly what we think will happen. Like so much seems to be changing week for week that at some point it might be nice to enter a conversation to say at what point does a family have to share with us what they plan on doing so that we can be ready for the first day of school. and knowing how quickly things are changing with the health status within Hamilton County, maybe it's not the right time to even make that kind of decision. >> Well, I think that part of our decision might be

027that we look at various different plans and say if the county is in green and yellow, we're going to do this. If it's in red, we do that. If it's in purple, we do that. So, I mean, I don't think at this point we've made a decision, but certainly if that's, you know, something, you know, we may make a decision that that's the route we want to go. Um, and so I mean, I think that, you know, more clarity around that for our families might give them a better decision point when they actually have to make the binding decision. >> Well, and I I think it's very uh to reiterate your point, I think it's really important for people to understand that that's why we have three plans. We hope that we don't have to

028implement all of the three at any one time throughout the school year, but we are preparing so that we're ready. We may declare an anticipated plan to open the school year and have to change that and we would have to communicate that and again that's why we have three and that's why they can be they can evolve. um we will have to watch the news around us to make those decisions and while people want to plan ahead that's where we also need their patience and flexibility um as we move forward. >> Yeah, I I do think that just my view and this is a work session so we can express our views and then we can modify them based on other people's views but uh to me plan C makes no sense. That's like pulling

029the plug and saying don't do anything and we'll just throw everybody online. So, I think we're really talking about plan A versus plan B. And then plan B, to my personal opinion, makes zero sense. You're not gaining any more safety. You're still got all the risk and yet you've got this nightmare of a of a administrative. >> Didn't you do a revised plan B? >> We did. Yeah. So, the plan, >> but it that's I mean, once we revise it, you still might feel that way, Dr. Mc. I think I will. If you're bringing kids two days a week and two days a week, I I can promise you you can revise till you blew it in the face. >> Well, I think Dr. Hooker, you're right, though. There are pros and cons to all

030three plans. And obviously, the least ideal plan for anybody in a public school setting is online only. However, um based again on what's going on around us, we still have to stand up the best online program forward. But I think A and B both allow you to transition to online based on what Kim was saying with the with the trip wires. You know, when you say, "Hey, listen. We're in purple in Hamilton County. We're we're, you know, we've gone to online. We don't have any trust." And that's part of what we've got inside, >> right? And and so I wanted to make sure that I clarified what you said because you said that we would never consider plan C. And I think that some of us would >> That's a high. That was a high.

031>> Okay. Right. And I think that maybe some of us would consider that if we were in purple in Hamilton County. Um, >> but that's part of plan B, A, and B. That's what I'm saying. You can just >> I think I think it's semantics because here's how I look at it is we have a plan A that really just gets everybody back on campus 5 days a week and has an option for distance learning for people who want it and for classes that end up getting quarantined. Plan B um gives us more space in the day, creates other challenges, but gives us more space in the day um and also has the online option for people who choose that. plan again for one week quarantine. Plan C to me is is only there for

032when either we're in purple, which we'll discuss if that's what we want to do or if we've had so many quarantine situations that it just makes sense for everybody to go home and learn. >> Yeah, I think we're talking semantics. That's the only reason. I'm just saying that >> I think within plan A, you can have a 100% goal online when you have a trip hit. That's the only reason I would look at it today. >> Yeah. >> Or >> All right. Okay. To move on. >> Yes. >> Okay. Super. So, I think at this point, I think Mrs. Campbell's going to spend a little bit of time talking about plan A. >> Yeah. So before I start, I wanted to thank all of you for your comments regarding uh the health and safety of

033the students and staff. As a representative of the educators organization, the health and safety of our students and our staff is my number one priority. So I appreciate the comments that you made to open our meeting. Secondly, I want um it known that because I am a representative of the educators in this district, I am here to present as part of the leadership team, but I am not endorsing any of the programs. I am simply here to answer questions and give you the information that I have. So, I'm going to present um plan A, which is the um the >> I feel like I'm screaming. So, I will >> this is good practice, right? I need to practice projecting my voice. Um so, plan A is the 5day return um to school with safety precautions.

034Um, at the primary school, the first chart that you see, the the primary school, the class sizes would be between 19 and 24. And in each of those, at each of our buildings, the primary school, the elementary school, and the middle school, we have between 3 and 4 ft of social distancing. At the high school, the class sizes would be um closer to 20 to 30 students. And um it social distancing could be up to 6 ft. You can >> Can I ask a question about that? >> Um so some of the the literature I've read is that um that with social distancing that it's not only social distancing, but that it's also whether or not the desk are are back to back as opposed to like in a circle or facing each other. So

035in getting the distance of 3 to four feet or the six feet, are we doing it, you know, back to back or are we doing it in a circle or >> So can I want to jump in there too just from the high school perspective and if you'd like to see it later tonight, I actually have set up two classrooms down the hall. One which is at six feet and it's similar to what you've seen in other places whether it's a restaurant, something like a ceremony. It is considering Kim 6 ft in all four directions per student. So if I'm a student, there's the next desk is 6 ft this way, 6 ft that way, and 6 ft this way or behind me. And so based on the size of each classroom and space within

036this particular building and others, that allows us some flexibility of what is the max capacity of those rooms. So when you see a number like 20 to 30, that's about a sept of kids enrolled. That's saying that in a typical high school classroom at six feet we actually can put about 20 desks maintaining six feet of social distancing in those spaces. There are other rooms like um a quiet room or our science labs that or height or the MP room which actually can hold almost as twice as many. So you'll see some of those numbers higher than than 20. um at 3 ft that number actually goes up at each one of those classrooms anywhere from 6 to 11 additional desks and that's considering the typical desk but also 6 feet in all four directions.

037So I show the classroom set up if you'd like to see it um later it's at 6 feet and I'll show you what one looks at 3 feet and you can see just the difference that that number itself allows in terms of as Dr. Stuart said, "Great flexibility in terms of social distancing and safety for kids based on the plan we choose." >> And we did that in all four buildings. So, everybody's got different class rooms. So, at the elementary school, we can get 13 desks in a room with six feet in a typical room. 18 kids or desks 4 feet and then 24 with 3 ft. So, everybody, every principal has done that in their building. >> But on the four feet, are they back to back? It's my question. >> Four feet is

038there's a desk in front of you that's four feet away. A desk over here that's four feet away. It's all from the edge of the desk. All facing the same direction. >> All facing the same way. >> Yeah. Like a traditional classroom. >> Yeah. And I think that's an important point that you bring up and I really appreciate that. And at some point Amy wants to talk about that a little bit. Sometimes people refer to plan A as going back to normal. And I think that Mrs. Campa have some really strong language about that today and that we need to paint a clearer picture that it's not going to feel normal. It's not going to look like what typically our classrooms look like at Indian Hill. >> Right? So just this uh first slide kind

039of gives you a general overview um of things that might be different. Some of those things at the primary school, our um pullout programs like discovery will not um occur in the traditional way that they have always occurred um because students will not have the mobility to go around the classroom or around the building. Kindergarten through fifth grade will be self-contained um meaning that at the elementary school, students will no longer switch between classes. they will stay in one room all day. At the middle school, students will be traveling in cohorts and that means that they will be um with the same group of students all day, which is different than >> what they experience. Now, >> which building? >> The middle school. >> Middle school. Okay. Thank you. Um, at the high school, the

040plan A includes all of the current course load. So, all of the offerings that we currently have at the high school will continue to be offered in plan A. Now, I I apologize for my mask. I wore this all day and I had no issues and now it's deciding to slide. So, I apologize. Um, some pros of this plan are that it gets our students in school. It gets the the relationships between teachers and students face to face get to continue and that's a huge benefit of this plan. Some of the cons are that we are limited in the amount of social distance that we can provide for students in most buildings and also it won't be normal. The experiences that kids have enjoyed at Indian Hill Schools up to this point will not be

041the same. However, I do know that the teachers that I work with will do their best to make sure that the experience, no matter what plan is decided upon, will be the best for the students of our district. Um, the other con is just the mobility at the middle school and the high school. I know that um the principles are working on the plans for how um children will transition from class to class. Um we're working on how students will come into the building and out of the building because all of those things will be much different than what they've been previous. The next few slides are going to take you through um the numbers and uh there this first slide is the primary school and you can see that the table has each grade

042level and then the current number of students enrolled in that grade level, the number of teachers and then the class size as well as the social distance. So that top table is exactly what it would look like if every single child decided to return for plan A. The second bottom table, we estimated um what would happen if approximately 10% of the students at each grade level did not return. And those are the numbers that you see in the bottom table. The social distancing and class size um remain the same. And you'll see that the number of teachers in um the second table goes down. And that's because in K12 there will be one teacher who will be assigned um as a remote learning teacher. So that teacher will be assigned to prepare the lessons for

043those families that opt to just do online learning. I I really like that idea of having one teacher being the online expert instead of a teacher having to teach all day and now try to figure out how to take care of the online kid for tomorrow asynchronously. I I really think that is very a smarter way of approaching it. And as a district um since the spring, we have all been working very hard on how to improve our craft when it comes to teaching online. The next slide is the elementary school and you Yes. Can I ask a question about um >> so this isn't the perfect scenario come back to school there's the online teacher and then and in any of well the grade level K one through two a teacher gets sick or

044kid gets sick and there's a quarantine um or you know a kid gets quarantine and the teacher still has to in any scenario still teach the students in the class but there's also quarantine kids in the class. So there might be kind of online teaching as well as teaching in the classroom if they have a child who has COVID or quarantine children. Is that correct? >> Correct. So my understanding and and someone please correct me if I'm wrong. If I am in my classroom and I have to quarantine or my class has to quarantine because of contact, I would continue to teach my class remotely from home. If I'm able, if I'm not sick, if a child in my class is sick and cannot come to school or is quarantined, um they would then be

045a part of the online class um of those students who have um opted not to come to school that are participating in the remote learning for that time period that they would not be in school. uh the online instructors, educators as well as the classroom teachers at every grade level will be working closely to make sure that curriculum is aligned and that we are moving and pacing in the right way. >> But would the and I think I know the answer but I would rather ask this that way. So scenario is that we go purple and we say everybody's now online. All of the teachers that are in in here are ready to move and shift and pivot. >> Correct. Okay. I thought I knew the answer to that, but I just wanted that we

046could pivot in a day to fully online if that became necessary. >> Correct. Now, we would not I don't believe that anyone would be able to have the entire year's worth of things ready to go, but we would have things available so that we would be able to have a seamless transition into online learning should that be the case. >> Thank you. >> I think it's important to say that since you brought it up too, Dr. Hooker, um, and Amy is making a great point here. Um, we'll talk more about the online program as we get through this, but what it takes to stand that up and our our teachers and leaders who are going to help manage and run that program uh are doing a lot of work and a lot of time and

047investment. And you would you would probably imagine that at the secondary level, there's a lot more kind of set resources and software available and things like that out there. It's very difficult K through 8 and our teachers are putting a lot of time and effort in to do that research and get those things ready and it's going to be an ongoing process. Thank you. Are there any questions about the numbers at the elementary school? So the next slide is um the middle school and you can see grades six, seven and eight they have um seven teachers and if 10 the class sizes shift slightly if 10% of the students opt to be online but again the social distance distancing parameters don't change for plan A even if we consider students who may choose to do

048remote learning and not come to school for the year. >> Who teaches the remote kids? >> We made a typo, Dr. Harper. I'm so sorry. Under plan A at the middle school, the top chart, the number of teachers in grades six, seven, and eight should actually be eight. And then it's the same exact process when we look at 6, seven, and 8 for those students who are online. I apologize. >> No problem. I thought that was a typo. I was like, what? And in regards to who teaches the students online, it >> totally makes sense. Like >> okay, >> so when we mentioned in middle school that they stay in the same cohorts, um I recall that at middle school, you know, you break out for different reading groups or math groups, etc. >> So

049how does that work with them staying in the same cohorts at the middle school? Well, students would have to be grouped based on their ability. And although we know that that is not what's best for students in this situation, it is the only way that we can safely provide instruction to students in in school. >> Yeah. And I think that follows the CDC or the AAP. I don't remember which one of them was talking about if possible, it's better to have a teacher move than the kids to move. In the high school, it's not possible. >> No, I agree. I just wanted to make sure it was clear that we might be, you know, we might be putting kids in different classrooms differently than we previously did >> because in order to maintain the cohort,

050it sounds like we're going to do something different than what we normally do. So, I think it's important for us to talk about the difference. >> Yes. So it would be different than what we've done in the past. >> The only thing that I can add, if this is okay, Mrs. Campa, is that if the students at the middle school have a seven bell schedule, five of those classes, they're going to be in the same cohort, which is like you said, I really appreciate what you said. It's really different for a middle school student. They're used to a bell ringing and then they have a whole new group of friends in their next class and a whole new group of friends. And it won't feel that way. If we rely heavily on safety precautions, we're

051going to have them be in a group of about 22 students for five out of the seven bells. The only ones we can't control like that are world language and music. And it's because in world language, students divide into three different tracks. They can either choose French, Spanish or Latin. And the same happens in music. They can choose band, orchestra or choir. Thank you, Nikki. And so we tried to run the numbers to say like, "Oh, I wonder, do we have enough students who chose choir and Spanish and can be in the same home room?" We even ran those numbers to see if we could create cohorts and it just didn't work out that way. There was too much variance in what the students have chose. We we are very interested in hearing feedback from

052people, especially the board of education members. We feel like it's important to continue to offer world language and to continue to offer music classes. We think it's part of what makes Indian Hill special and we just couldn't do that and do so within cohorts um without having students leave that group of 22 to go have some of those classes. >> I guess the only way you could do that is for the language to be done online >> online, >> right? And um with respect to you know the music um you know that's different and obviously I want to hear about that because in music I mean I guess in band and chorus you need more than 6 ft. Um I mean I know we're going to be wearing masks but that's going to be a

053very different kind of ex experience. So >> yes >> um you know that's one that I think we need >> we'll we'll speak a little more about performing arts and extracurriculars at the end. >> Okay. Sorry didn't mean to jump. This is a very good point. So, the last um slide that I'm going to share as part of the plan is high school by the numbers. And you can see that the high school doesn't look like anybody else. >> So, so yeah, I'll jump in. >> Yeah, go ahead. >> There's so many things that the group is has talked about. You know, Dr. I hope that you just talked about one of the things we thought about is is it possible to have a similar setting as the middle school where teachers travel and with

054each individual student with seven individual classes when none of them are really grouped they're all individualized it makes it very difficult in terms of that idea which as Amy articulated one of the big cons is it requires mobility high school requires mobility through the building as Mr. said that's one of the things that we have to consider when we think about social distancing and what can we do from that six feet. How do we make sure we can absolutely guarantee it at times and in times where we cannot and that's part of it. So again, what you see here is very different because um one of the things that we did over the last couple of weeks is we listed every single class that we offer, the amount of kids in terms of average of

055those classes, the largest section enrolled and smallest. And then we measured the dimensions of every single space in this building to figure out from a six feet perspective, what is the max number of students? again the classic desk sense which again we go back to that experience you know so much of students and learning here in Indian Hill is collaborative and flexible and movement that's going to look different so when you see that number of 20 that is 20 straight old school desk that you see in still some classrooms and at 6 feet in the smallest space we have which is about a 24 by 32 room you can get 20 desks but as I said before we have a a variety different sized rooms. So when you see 20 plus, that's why the plus

056is there. Certain rooms I could put 22 at 6 feet. Certain rooms I could put 28 at 6 feet. Once that number goes to 3 feet, if that's the contingency, then the class sizes and how many students can fit within those spaces at 3 feet is actually beyond the highest enrolled class across the board. So for a high school student, they wouldn't lose an election. they wouldn't lose a class offering. We would have to maybe we could shift some that are large classes to different spaces. So, let's say I have a an English class that is 25 and I'm in that room that only fits 20. I have the ability to do several things. One, I can just use an alternative space that fits 25. So, the class can still run and six feet and

057still do that. Or we can add additional sections to come accommodate those large sections. But to do that something has to give and that will often result in a loss of an elective in that particular area which again is not the ideal setting. So that's why looking at the number of teachers it's not up there as a criteria because it really comes classroom space and the number of courses that we're we're offering. So I again I can answer any questions on on that work. I had a team go around and we measured a lot of rooms. I would think then um to the extent that there were a positive case in the high school that there would be a higher number of students and teachers that would have to be quarantined. >> Absolutely right. >>

058So um >> there was more intermingling of those cohorts at both the middle school and high school based on their master schedules. Um and those things are unavoidable in order to offer the courses we want to offer. I mean, I guess the, you know, one of the things that that's that's clear from what you guys are saying about the different schools is it's possible based on whatever the facts come out to be that that we could have one building that we would have to temporarily, you know, go into online learning because there's too many kids in quarantine or too many teachers in quarantine and another building we might not be doing that. I I guess that's possible in that type of scenario. >> Yeah. The way that our campus is set up physically allows for

059that kind of thinking. And as we develop our own trip wires for our our closures by space, by classroom, by wing, by building, by district, I mean, there are different layers there that we could employ. And and again, based on the contact tracing, when and where really matters. And you could have an exponential problem at the high school um but you could also have a smaller problem in some spaces. So, we need to be able to adapt uh to those scenarios. And will we be talking a little bit later on about the contact tracing and how that will work? Yeah, because it's Yeah, I can wrap my mind around it in a kindergarten class. >> We'll put up the flowchart after we go over the instructional models and talk through that. >> Yeah, I have

060a little more trouble picturing it in the high school. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Campa. Unless anybody has any other questions about plan A, we'd like to start to talk about plan B a little bit. >> Thank you. Sure. >> All right. So, Mrs. Bu, do you want to share some information about plan B? >> Sure. So, we've changed plan B um a little bit and um we decided that we would like to be able to move from if we needed to and we heard that at the last board meeting um possibly from plan A to a plan B scenario then to a plan C, you know, if we had to and and at least keep the kids at school 50% of the time if we could like you were saying, Miss Lewis, you

061know, maybe based on the colors that the state has came out with and and so forth. So, our plan B um it includes K to 12 um because we heard that loud and clear. The first one only included K to 8. Um so K to 12 on Canvas for full day of um inerson instruction two days. Um I know that's not popular. um >> it'd be popular something that I think is ridiculous but >> um two and then we would have a half day of synchronous learning um where it would be online learning um in the morning and then two and a half days of asynchronous learning and I'll walk you through the schedule that's on the next slide um but some of the pros of this are that you have two days of inperson

062so it's not all online every day um you have the another half day of synchronous learning where the kids will be meeting live um with their teachers um through the computer. We have the maximum social distance which is 6 ft in all buildings. Um and then the cons are that we have two and a half days of asynchronous learning. Um child care for families, we know that's huge. Um and it's it's not going to be a consistent day-to-day schedule. Are we going to assign kids a specific day of the week or days of the week? Yes. So, that won't change, but it's not the same every day of the week, which is important for kids, and we know that. Um, some considerations after the last board meeting as well. Um, we're going to divide students

063into two teams. So, you'll be on the red team or the white team and all four buildings. Um, all students within the same family, no matter what building you're on, will be on the same team. So, if you're on the red team and you come Monday, your siblings all throughout the district, you're going to be on that same team. Um, and then Wednesdays would be remote learning for all to allow for deep cleanings of the buildings and and so forth. Um, again, that doesn't include discovery um for second to 8th grade and elementary school would change to self-contained and any of these plans. That's what we're going to do all all year no matter what. Um, and then the cohort grouping would um remain. So, if you um turn to the next page, you'll see

064um a week at a glance. So, on Monday and Tuesday, the red team, if you're on that as a student, you would report to school for face-toface instruction with your teacher all day long. If you're on the white team, you would participate in some asynchronous learning um activities that your teacher had planned for you to do. So, that would be Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, teachers will report to buildings at the AM. They'll do live lessons. um and meet with small groups of students or individuals if they need to um virtually. And then in the PM we they would have some asynchronous learning that had been planned by their teachers uh possibly some UA classes although they would have those in person on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday as well when they are in the building. Um,

065and then teachers, that would allow teachers some plan time to prepare those online lessons when they're going to be teaching another group of students um, in person because for two of the days, like if you're on if you're on the red team and you go to school on Monday and Tuesday, your teacher's not going to be available on Thursday and Friday to answer your questions because that teacher's going to be teaching their half the class. So, it's got to be stuff that the kids can do on their own at home. So the teachers are really going to like project based learning and different things like that that the kids can do at home um on their own and then on Thursday the opposite teams would come >> and all those teachers and staff meetings are

066safely spaced. >> Yes. >> So we would have you know I mean we have the multi-purpose rooms where we and we would just you know it would be one grade level teacher. So at my building there's eight on a team. So you could space eight out in the room to plan together. And we really want to do that with both plans because like Amy said before, you want the online teacher to be, you know, doing what the in-person teaching teacher is doing. Um, so that everybody's on the same pace and of course those are going to change from time to time. But it's also important because like you said earlier too, if you have a kid that has to quarantine and that's the only kid from this class and they're going to join the online

067teacher, that has to be a smooth transition. And so we really want their pacing to be on par with each other. So that's it's so important for the teachers to collaborate with any of these plans. >> Um I'm the negative Nelly on this plan. Let's let you know, full disclosure, but I don't see how in the heck this works. um you've got half the kids at home. They are going to be totally asynchronous, right? Uh so a teacher is going to have to prepare all of that work somehow make it meaningful, deliver it, grade it, interact with it, and they still got to teach four days a week solid. It ain't going to work. It's going to blow up. And you I don't see how you in this plan you even get an online teacher

068cuz everybody's work working themselves to death in the classroom teaching half the kids. >> Well, we have the numbers like the last plan on the next slides to show you. I mean we do have the minus 10%. >> Okay. Um so if you look at the first one the primary school that would be all the teachers you know coming um 6 feet apart their class sizes one day like for example kindergarten would have 10 kids in the classroom Monday Tuesday and then on Thursday Friday 10 kids in the classroom um that same kindergarten teacher um if you took out 10% of the class they would go up to 11 but we still have a full-time online teacher. So we've done that for this model as well and it does work. >> So that helps with

069that one group that's for permanently online. But I still don't think you I think we're asking way too much of the teachers and I don't think it can be done. >> Two two points I would make about this also while we're talking through it to keep in mind is under this model when you look at the class size what our teachers can do with that cohort size when they are on campus. And what we're doing over the original plan B model in this model is we're increasing some of that facetime opportunity for students and teachers in what you believe is an not an ideal model. Right? There's lots of pros and cons to this model. But unlike the first plan B, we're maximizing more facetime with smaller cohorts. And that's a good thing when our

070teachers are working with smaller cohorts of our children. And we're hopeful that too it could be a transition from if we can't be at a possibly we could get some facetime with kids and be because I think we all believe that if you get one day with a teacher in person is better than no days with a teacher in person. Um and so you know we want them back in school. um we want to do it safely and so we're hoping all the teachers would have the same assignment. So if you're the online teacher in plan A, you're still going to be the online teacher in plan B and plan C. So hopefully that you know if we move from model to model throughout the year that it's not ideal. We you know everybody wants

071the kids back full-time but this is following the six feet guideline. My understanding though is the teacher in this model has half her students Monday, Tuesday, half her students Thursday, Friday. The off days that the students aren't there, they have an online learning where there's not the teacher is not going to be interacting with them online. On those off days, the student is going to be doing what they did in March and April, which is, you know, the parent and the student, you know, depending on what age group is going to be doing the online learning. So, the teacher is not going to be interacting with the f, you know, the red group when she's teaching the white group. >> Yeah. >> But just like in March, April, and May when we did this, there

072were a lot of teachers that recorded themselves, right? um and that's how they presented their information. So, it could be lessons like that, too. Um like Amy said, the teachers and and we have learned so much since March about all of this and the week that we had um where we released early and we had that CD was so helpful for teachers and like Melissa said, they're doing 15 more hours this summer, too. So, we're hoping to really strengthen that. We're providing the opportunity for teachers to have time within the school day on that Wednesday to collaborate and create those things that students would be doing while they were at home. So there is some time provided for the creation of those things. >> It also allows the teacher that's going to be that remote

073teacher and that the teacher that's going to do this remotely is going to be planning ahead in a remote fashion. And so when you think if we have to flip a switch, that teacher is going to help the team if it's a Wednesday and then we have to flip the switch to remote to plan B where they can say, "Listen, I've already prepared things for Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday. So you don't have to come home on Tuesday and figure it all out by Wednesday night. I This is why the collaboration Wednesday is so important. Together, let me show you what I've been do working on and together we're just going to continue that work." So it's still possible. Not ideal, but very very possible. >> Yeah. Can I ask a question? and Mrs. Bule. So

074I know that the two days that the students will be there, let's say it's Monday, Tuesday, they'll be in a small group >> where they will be getting um obviously a lot of personal interaction with the teacher, but then additionally there'll be some opportunity for interaction as well on Wednesday morning. >> Yes. >> Um while they're setting up live sessions with their classes. Correct. >> Yes. So every Wednesday in the morning at every building there will be live sessions for those kids. So you'll you probably will bring together your group that comes to school on Monday, Tuesday and your Thursday, Friday and have a live session with everybody and then if there are kids that need small group work, one-on-one help with things, then you will have that time. There's three hours dedicated in the

075morning for those things and then the afternoon after lunch is dedicated to let's get planning for those for the the weekend. >> The other thing I'm wondering about is um I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind, Mrs. feel like engaging just in some conversation. Um, and Mrs. Gambo, feel free to jump in on this. Um, it I just want to be as transparent as possible and whenever we start talking about this type of scenario. Um, it is a really common suggestion and I appreciate all the great suggestions we're getting from parents to say, "Hey, I have a better option. Buy a camera for every classroom for those students who are at home. they could just watch what's happening in the classroom and that way we don't have to worry about them missing instruction or the fact

076that it would be asynchronous. It would just be synchronous. And we did consider that at length and we came up with some pros and cons. So, here's a pro of that is that it keeps the student on the same schedule that they're in if when on the days that they are in face toface and it allows that student to hear the instruction from the same exact teacher all year long. But we also have a pretty big list of cons that we think is really important to be transparent about. So, we started to people have referred to um some of the pediatric reports and we're looking at that as well. We're really trying to be cognizant of how much screen time is appropriate, especially at the younger levels. We're also spending a great deal of time

077thinking about how important it is for us that stumer students are producers as much as a consumer. So a lot of times if you're just watching online, you're listening, but you can't participate in the same way. So try to picture especially with younger students they're talking out loud they're giving hand signals even their body expressions express like what they're thinking to a teacher and when they're online it's hard to do that. Additionally for the classroom teacher I think Dr. Hook and I and I are going to agree upon this part. Ready Dr. Hooker is that it would be really difficult for a teacher to manage. Okay, I have these 10 students that are in front of me and these 10 students are over on the camera on Zoom and I'm trying to keep track of

078that. Remembering that you're lucky to get 15 to 20 minutes of attention span out of a child at a primary level. >> Five to 10. Okay. So I just want to say that's something that we have considered and I want to acknowledge the families who are saying that that that's really the model that they'd like to have and I can appreciate the fact that it takes the parent less out of the role of the teacher and because it's not asynchronous and it's synchronous and I think we really do want to consider the role of the parent and what's happening. We also took into account that we have some families who we know if we ever did this model will be in a daycare situation and if they're in a daycare situation they might not be

079able to participate in synchronous session where they just log in at that time and and throughout this we're working really hard to keep equity in our minds. We feel like all children deserve the highest quality education and we're going to talk about that a whole bunch when we get to the high school and the online learning program. So, Mrs. Buell, and those were some of the conversations we've had. Am I forgetting anything? >> No, I think you hit it right on. Do you think then there, and we may get to this later. I'm sorry. Um, I think the transition back to school obviously is going to be challenging. It's challenging in a good year, right, to get everybody back on track. And and we talked about all this time they've been out of school and

080how that this is like the eternal summer. and then trying to get them back um organized and and and then add everything else in here that we have to do. I wonder if there's a way to use plan B as the transition back for a couple of weeks so that you don't have all the kids at one time. >> We're going to show you a proposal for how we would uh maybe think about starting school as a part of this and then we can come back to that I think if that's okay. >> Yeah, that's fine. Okay, I just have a question. So with the original plan B that we took before that was giving more instructional time versus this one. Don't you feel that >> like there was more face toface time like even

081if we take Wednesday out so Monday, Tuesday and then Thursday, Friday still and this model works I think best for KA but I don't think it really works for high school. And I'm curious to know that how high school is planning on doing it. >> Well, I think a lot. So, we had 2 and 1/2 hours aotted um in the first plan B model. Um when you think realistically um transitioning off the bus and out of cars uh to the classrooms, that's probably going to take with social distancing and everything, I don't know, 20 to 30 minutes in the morning. So, there's 30 minutes of that. and then to get them back out of the building on time so that the buses could run in the afternoon and then get the next group of kids,

082that's probably going to take another 20 to 30 minutes. So, you're cutting out some time there, too. Um, and I I think you know with a teacher if you look if we're going the same hours and I I don't know um you know say that's the case but um if you're going the same hours and you have a 50-minute plan time so you take 50 minutes out and a 30-minut lunch um you have the rest of that day you know with a teacher you also have the rest of that day with only 10 kids or 11 kids and a teacher. that's really maximizing some time there. Um because like Melissa said, you can get you can pay a lot more personal attention with 10 to 11 kids in a classroom. So I think there is

083some maximizing time there that you have over a longer span of time. The other part of about that you asked a really good question though and I'm sorry that we forgot to say this at the outset. The other part is that when we started to work with transportation, we started to get really nervous that the AM and the PM would not allow for deep cleaning between the students. >> And so we really said we got to go back to the drawing board. I mean, we really liked AM and PM, but there were two big problems with it. One is could we really conduct the deep cleaning that we needed to between the students? And there would be like four different routes and I'm not sure that we could have done that. Number one. Number two,

084we really heard loud and clear from many parents that they weren't thrilled with the high school portion of plan B, which is having students visit only on office hours. And they felt like it wasn't structured enough. And we had many parents respond to us to say, even if my student could only be there for partial time, I like the idea of there being assigned classes and bells and they got to go during that time. This plan also allows for transportation K through 12. And in the previous AM PM, it did not. It only allowed it K through 8. So hopefully we went back to the drawing board to >> fix some of that feedback that we heard from people. We should have said that on the outset. I'm sorry we didn't say that to start.

085Well, and one other thing too with the cleaning of the building, um, with plan B and the morning and afternoon, there were two hours in between, an hour for plan time for teachers, 30 minute lunch break, and then teachers, you have to clean your own room. >> Oh, >> and wipe it down because we don't have the custodial staff to do all that in that amount of time either with every building. Um, and so a deep clean on Wednesday with all four buildings is better than a short chunk of time in the middle of the day. So for safety reasons, too, that was >> I'll just jump in jump in from a high school perspective and and Mickey, you kind of hit the nail on the head. This is a massively different idea from a

086high school lens because of some of those other restrictions and ideas beyond transportation and cleaning. that kind of led us to where we were at is maybe this is what could work at the high school. I think um our hope is that seeing and hearing this plan particularly from a high school lens because it's fundamentally different is more preferable by all because now it it feels more normal. You have greater access. It's consistent. There is an enormous amount of time to get back with your teachers and your and your peers that the original plan >> was not going to create. So yeah, we spent a lot of time kind of hitting the erasing it and hitting the reset button. So hopefully this is something that allows us to move in a more positive direction for

087all of our high school parents if in fact we have to convert to plan B. Before we move on past the elementary school and middle school, I do have one question which I'm sure that you guys think about um but you know we've talked about having a mask policy and I I think it's you know we have not made a decision as a board but um I mean it's something that we have clearly talked about as something that there's going to be some type of mass policy and we have to talk about whether it's going to be mandatory for all etc. But thinking about the primary school in particular and then elementary school secondary obviously um it's really hard I think for a 5-year-old or a six-year-old or a seven-year-old to keep a mask on

088for how many hours? Eight hours. >> Um cuz they got to wear it on the bus. >> Y >> they got to wear it when they get to school while they're at school. So, um I'm sure those are conversations that you guys are thinking about on, you know, how the teachers are going to be able to reinforce it and how um you know, how that is because that's a difference between 2 and 1 half hours at the primary school and middle school versus I'm not middle school, primary school and elementary school versus uh the 8 hour day. And we've talked about mask breaks and you know um at the elementary school the recess typically takes place with lunch but that would no longer the teacher would take them out and on a designated area because

089we have plenty of outdoor space at the back of the building and the front of the building fields right there so teachers could be assigned different place um places to take their kids out in the morning and in the afternoon to give them a break from the mask. Um, our PE teachers are also working on some activities that they could do outside, socially distance and those kind of things. So, we are working on those because we know at the primary and at the elementary you have to have movement breaks, you have to have play, you have to incorporate those things. So, how are we going to do that for the kids? So, we are >> thinking about that because we're going to have to think about that with plan A, too. If they're with us

090absolutely all day long, we have to build those things up. >> Yeah, I think that's really important. Uh but I do really strongly believe and again you I've got some elementary primary people here but um I think the kids are actually more adaptable than the adults. I think the kids if you give them a set of rules and that's why whatever we decide it can't be too much choice because what'll happen is the kid that wants to wear the mask that's you know says I want to do this I'm trying to protect everybody myself will be made fun of by the kid who doesn't want to wear the mask and who's been given a freedom to not wear that mask. So we got to be careful there. But again it sounds like y'all are doing

091a lot of work on that. Um, to the point of the masks, we wanted to try to be proactive and if no matter what the board of education members decide to do, we want to be quick in our reaction to that. So, we've already started to work on some guidelines about how parents can help us at home starting now if the board of education does decide that masks are mandatory. Um, so that we can get everybody ready for that. We're also talking about like using video to model that and having like, you know, serious and funny videos of the staff wearing masks and so that they can kind of see and um the things that we can do with that. But to your point, there's a silver lining to everything. And for years, people have

092been debating the benefit of having two recesses instead of one. Now, it's going to happen. >> I like that. >> But just just a quick question though. Um, I mean, Hamilton County has mandated masks in public places. So, I mean, I we obviously will have our own policy, but it's it's already mandated. So, I I think we need to be planning accordingly. >> And if you guys don't mind a few minutes, um, I I will have the pleasure of talking about all the safety guidelines that we've been kind of discussing. The first one is >> Sorry, we're jumping ahead. So, it's okay. >> We're just so excited. >> So, we are so as well. So, we're we're hopefully going to address all of that. And you're right. It's recommendations and guidelines we're taking from all

093different organizations. We're going to present tonight and also to do our very best of what we think as a collective group are the best safety measures we can put in play um to make our kids as safe as possible. So yeah, we'll we'll be back. And I think that as educators um we have the ability and the influence to help students understand the importance of the math and make it an acceptable thing to be doing. >> Yeah, modeling will be really >> a way that doesn't feel scary or um make them nervous in any way. So the next couple sites um are just like the ones from plan A where it just goes through the numbers um for every building. Um so elementary school similar to primary and then middle school. Um, of course, like,

094uh, Nikki said, um, high school numbers are a little different, but they will, um, be going, you know, at 50% capacity as well, but that makes it so that we can have all teachers and, um, all students in the buildings at some point during the week. just just some thoughts on the high school piece and this is where I kind of alluded earlier of you know do we really have to have the same plan for every school >> because in the high school you know we there is a little bit more ability like you were talking about to have the distance we certainly have some rooms that we can use that we don't typically use home of the braves we have the auditorium we have gyms whatever and my concern about this plan for the

095high school and this is from some feedback I got from some parents and also just having recently had high schoolers. Um it concerns me to have our high schoolers who drive um out and about driving around 2 days a week. Um I think that they are likely to um socialize when they're not in school um which they're below your social distancing and um and everything. And I think too just um this high school is such a special time for them to be with their whole class that if we're dividing up the class like this then there's they lose that same element of um the whole class and I realize that this is somewhat temporary but I think this is going to be with us for quite a while. I mean, I think at least, you

096know, fully through the school year and possibly into the beginning of the next just given, you know, all the unknowns. So, I just kind of want to give that some serious thought about our high schoolers and their experience and their safety outside of school because I know we talk a lot about safety as a as it pertains to co and that's critical, but we really need to think about their overall safety and the things that they might be doing instead of um online learning when they're home and potentially not having supervision. My two cents on that. >> Yeah, that's a good point. I do think just to I do think one thing we talked about though um is too that high schooler might help with child care for that primary schooler and if that primary

097schooler is not in school you know not that's the end all beall for a decision but that is one reason we made it a district >> one I also think it goes to your point Jeff um earlier where at the high school level there's far more risk of greater infection because you're you aren't in the same you're not with the same kids in each and every class. And so the number of kids in plan B that are going to be quarantined or potentially infected is much lower than in plan A. >> I think it goes back to some of the the comments that were made. I think they're all true. It's not an ideal scenario, but having that 50/50 split does allow us for increased safety protocols and considerations. Um, and I agree with you,

098Nancy. Obviously, you know, all the conversations we had in terms of end of year celebrations for our kids and graduation being able to do what what it is that we were able to do, which I feel so fortunate we were able to make that work. >> You did a great job, by the way. >> That was magnificent. >> Yeah. Well, thank you. >> You knocked a lot of hours. So, uh, the team the team did I couldn't have done it alone. And and one of the things I'll say with that is, you know, in talking to our kids, they wanted something where they can be together. And even though we weren't able to have them all together, even though they were together with 48 to 44, that was still special. Not the same, but still

099special. And so, I I completely agree with you. Even if it's 50/50, it's not ideal. But the previous plan was not going to do that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not I'm not arguing the current plan B versus the whole plan. I'm just wondering if >> the high school can't have its own plan. >> Yeah. >> Like I guess that's my question. Do do we >> But your point is true. >> If the kid if the grand high school is here and we do have a lot of multigenerational or not generational, multi-building families. >> Yeah. >> And I think that's one thing we got feedback from from the last meeting is that parents want their kids on the same schedule. No, that's like I said, it's not the end all be all, but we do want to

100take that into consideration. >> Yeah. U before we just move on to talk about plan C a little bit to your point though, like we're very open to the feedback and suggestions. When we came up with plan B, we tried to look at it in two different ways. One is how do we have the increased amount of social distancing that we can have with the goal of six feet? And number two, how do we have less students in the building at once in case we do have an issue with spread? So at the high school level, we keep trying to put it in storytelling in our minds to try to wrap our heads around it. So we say if a child calls us at 5:00 at night and says, uh, hey, I'm leaving you a

101voicemail. I've got 101 degree fever. I can hardly move out of my bed and I have a cough. We're going to be like, uhoh. And so then knowing that, and I know I'm stepping all over Superintendent Kcki's toes because he's going to talk about this in a minute, but potentially that's if Mr. Damado is running a block schedule, which I think he's very open to doing, we're still talking about four teachers who've been exposed to that and up to 80 students that might have to be quarantined starting that next day. So thinking about what that means like if we're in a high spread time as a district or a county that plan B just gives us a little bit more room to say it's less teachers and it's less students especially that we're trying to

102contact the next day to say >> come pick up your child. There's been an exposure and so we just wanted an option that allowed us to have a little bit more of a safety protocol. But as a district, we might choose to say that maybe that's not the direction we want to go. So, just food for thought. Okay, good. Okay, on to plan C if that's okay with everybody. I can't see behind me. Are we plan C? Okay. Um, so plan C is about a time period if we were to have all of our students have to go online. um whether that is because we have it associated with a color coding method that is also issued for Hamilton County or for zip codes which people have mentioned or it even could be because we

103have so many staff members in quarantine that we don't have enough people here physically that can supervise the students. Um, of course, plan C is is our least favorite out of everything we've talked about that we would like to be able to offer face-to-face instruction as much as possible to the students. I want to say that this is not my first rodeo. So, in this school district, there are three reasons that this school district is so special. Um, number one is our students. I Everybody askked me why I love it here so much. And every day that you come here, our students inspire us every day. They're just so incredible. Number two, I have never worked with a better group of staff members. Um, and I'm talking about every single employee who's willing to do

104whatever they need to do for students. And then lastly, it's the parents. The parents are so exceptional in their partnership with us. And I just want to give an overall thank you to everybody that was involved. I want to mention again when we gave surveys to our parents and asked about how it went in March through June when we were doing distance learning, people were so kind in their responses and usually said something along this. Thank you so much. You're the best. Be safe. I hope you get a break this summer. But hey, could you make that a little bit better in the future? Like they they were so kind. And again, like I want to just recognize how lucky we are to work with partners like that. So, we've heard that loud and clear

105and we've been really, really trying our best to learn so that we can be the best online teachers that we can be. And when this all happened in March, we weren't ready to make that pivot. Like, we did the best that we could with the information, but we know we needed to do it better. So when we talk about plan C, we know it needs to have increased rigor like it needs to be more challenging for our students. There needs to be a lot more engagement opportunities filled with live sessions for the students and that also includes accountability for the students. So as an example of that, we are going to be bringing back the ABC grading system in grades 3 through 12 and K through two will remain on the system that they've always

106had, which is a standardsbased report card system. and we now feel like we can do that and we can talk with students about the grades that they've earned and how we're helping with them that we feel is fair. Like we didn't feel like that would be fair when we didn't 100% know what we're doing, but now we feel like we're ready for some changes like that. So when we look at plan C, I also want to just talk a little bit about like what that exactly means for our students. So, we know that there is going to be a great emphasis on live instruction and that's going to take place both in whole class and in small group and there will be times that it is mandated for students to log on. It might be

107for an entire hour that they're expected to log on where the chemistry teacher will say, I'm going to give this this information to you and everybody needs to log on or this class needs to log in on this time. It could be small group where the teacher decides I'm going to work with small groups of students, but there'll be an emphasis on live interaction. We also want our curriculum for online. And this is especially true for our students who choose the online portion, no matter which plan we're in, to feel like they're getting a high quality experience. So, our Indian Hill teachers are actually designing those courses K through 8 and they're working on that now and they will continue to work on that. I will be honest with you, it would have been easier

108for us to buy a program, but we didn't want to do that because we felt like we couldn't find a program that had the level of achievement that we expect of our students. So, we decided to start to build it ourselves. For those students who are in K through eight, as we've explained in the previous slides, we've removed a teacher from their face-to-face duties that will be responsible for teaching that student. So those students who are online, we want them to have like a teacher like all of like this is my teacher for the year just like it feels like for everybody else that they have somebody that is their teacher that is going to be working with them. K through five is going to be generalist. It looks a little bit different 6 through

1098 because it's based on the content. So we have some people who are science experts and they're actually going to be teaching science in sixth, 7th and 8th. We have some people who are English experts and we want them to be teaching English in sixth, seventh and 8th. So it looks a little bit different but still it will be Indian Hill teachers who are teaching the students. Now in high school it gets a little bit different. As of right now, our suggestion is that we try to keep our course catalog as robust as possible. We're trying to not eliminate any courses from our schedule. And that would be especially true of any courses that help distinguish the rigorous activities that our students are choosing to take while they're in school. We think it's an important

110part of building like their resume for their post-secary world. So, we don't want to drop any of our AP classes or classes that differentiate us like the leadership class or if anybody's aware of um Doc Watson's class, the film class is wildly popular. We don't want to get rid of any courses like that. So, we want to try to keep all of those. So, at the high school level, it will be very very individualized. We are going to be pulling teachers from the schedule just like the others. But, it's impossible for us to pull a teacher for every course that we teach. we would not have any teachers left in the building because we have a lot of teachers, they just they're the only ones who teach that specific course. So instead, what we're going

111to do is for any student who chooses to be online, we're going to set up a meeting and we're going to have that student come in and we're going to look at the classes that they want to take and from there we're going to build what that will look like for them. In some cases, it will be the only way that I can think to give you this rigorous information is that we're going to have you participate with those students who are online or face to face at that time through some type of Zoom. In other cases, we have been able to find an online program that we think the students can participate in that's similar to what we're teaching, but they will still have instruction and interaction regularly through an Indian Hill teacher. So

112I I think this is really important to emphasize. We've heard a lot of feedback that a lot of other schools and their models, right, are looking at things like adaptive software and platforms and tech tools. We're designing adaptive teachers and we're going to put our investment into the professional learning they need and then we will support them with those those adaptive platforms and tools that that help them. But what we're really trying to do is take an approach and I I give Dr. Stewart and her whole team a lot of credit for this and the principles and our teachers. We're trying to get our teachers to learn to be adaptive with these platforms and doing their their pedigogy differently and having our teachers do it is really important. There is not a lot of good

113curated work out there K through 8. we're creating it and that's going to be an ongoing investment that is significant of our teachers time and effort and I think it's going to produce something that again speaks to the quality of an Indian hill education and and that continues to make it uniquely Indian health and I want to emphasize it speaks to the quality of the teachers here are amazing. We have purposely and intentionally hired the best. We have no apologies for that. And right now, you're seeing why we did it cuz we've got people that can do this. And I'm just so proud of our teachers and I know that y'all are working so hard. But we hired the best and it shows. Thank you. >> So, continuing with online learning, uh this is just

114some information about kind of the different type of interaction that can be expected. So for example, there needs to be some type of direct instruction where the teacher is actually teaching the content to the student. We call that phase one direct instruction. There also needs to be other interaction that's small group or can be whole group. That's interacting with the content and that interaction is both teacher to to student and student to student is what you see in the classroom when students are having dialogue and conversation about it that they're making meaning of what's happening. We want that to happen in live sessions as well. We also want our students to have some choice. We want them to be able to engage in a way that they can explore the content. They can explain the

115content and they can elaborate within the content. And again, some of that might be asynchronous and it might be some choice for those students about how they want to engage in the learning. And then lastly is phase four is evaluation. And that's really where the students need to demonstrate their knowledge. In a lot of cases, that is going to be a summit of assessment that we have available to the students. In some cases, it might be a project or a presentation. I want to acknowledge that there's been some emails to me that says, "How are you going to make sure that the students at home are basically not cheating?" Like in school, we can look over their shoulder and see if they're googling the answer. How are we going to do that when we're at

116home? And I will say that some of that is on how you write the questions. And we want our students to be able to answer questions that are not googleable. Is that a word? Like I want students to demonstrate a deeper level of knowledge rather than telling me the date of when a battle took place on the battlefield. I want students to explain to me how that impacts and and how we can see the impact of that later. And those types of answers within a time limit. You can't just Google. You got you've got to be able to deeply understand the content to answer those. I I think if there's one thing we've learned watching online learning as well is that performance-based assessment can work anywhere and can be captured on video and our students

117will have opportunities to do that and perform in many ways with this program. You know this is something we've moved to at the college level is that you know the the test where you have to put down the date of Waterloo is been shown by experts teachers that that ain't the right thing to test. you need to explain it, you need to do it. So, if you move to higher levels of testing, you avoid the whole cheatability problem. I don't know if that's a word either. Um, but we that it's I think we're I'm having to raise my game at the college level. And I think the all the teachers here will raise their game to meet the need here for that level of testing. So, you're right. We're going to have to change the

118way we test. >> That'll be great for for college. >> We hope so. The last thing I will say is that we also looked at other plans that you don't see in front of you that we ended up not putting in front of the board of education as members because they were cost prohibitive. So we asked ourselves questions like how many new teachers would we have to hire per grade level in order to get our students here 6 feet apart 5 days a week. And it ended up that it was cost prohibitive. we would almost have to double the number of teachers that we had or in some cases we like ran out of spaces for them and things that are similar to that. Um or it meant that we were going to have to

119order a an extreme amount of supplies for students to be at a different location like let's say maybe a community center or church. So we did look at some out of the box thinking but we tried to be um responsible fiscal agents so that we weren't asking to break the bank in order to meet a goal related to safety. One of the things that you'll see on a slide which we will come back to is h is in all of the plans though and especially in looking at plan A uh and possibly plan B is looking at the use of our space differently including outdoor spaces and we'll come back to that in a in a moment. Can I ask one question? And maybe this is something you're going to cover, Jeff, or someone else

120is, but um are we going to talk about the transportation as it relates to plan A and plan B >> tonight and distancing and >> I I can definitely talk on that later, Kim. >> Okay. I think I think you'll see that plan the transportation um plan B will lower those numbers obviously. Um, you know, as we look at plan A, transportation, just to start out with that one, um, a school bus is designed as a very confined area to safely carry as many students as possible without, you know, a pandemic that's going on. It was never thought of to design a school bus in that manner. Um we've always kind of looked at the lynch pin of all of these plans is how as how are we going to get the children to school

121um and the safe in a safe manner for both the children and the staff. Um knowing that our bus drivers u many of are in ris risk groups right now. Um we do fully understand that and we also fully understand that substitutes are at a bare minimum for bus drivers. Um, so there has been a lot of consideration for that. Um, Mrs. Spurlock has done a wonderful job coming up with some different plans. Uh, just last week, uh, the two of us sat in my office and discussed the how do you load a bus? How do you unload a bus? How do you load a bus when you're loading from the school, taking the kids from the primary to the elementary school? Some of those things we haven't figured out yet. Um, some of the

122things we have, we've really done some outside the box thinking, for example, on loading the bus. um starting with the back corner of the bus, putting students against the the wall side, and then the next two students are two seats up, two seats up, and then we start loading that seat in between. So, we limit the amount of time that the children are in close proximity as much as we possibly can. So, those are the kinds of things we're thinking about with transportation. Um, another idea we came up with is potentially having some uh staff members such as myself, such as the maintenance crew that may potentially look at how to get a CDL license and be a substitute bus driver in case of an emergency. You know, if we should run out of substitutes

123at any time, we may be able to pivot and do other things. you know, knowing those staff those staff members have other responsibilities, but we know that the the main responsibility is getting our students to school so they can be educated. >> Thanks. I mean, I think that's going to be a big issue in consideration and you know, obviously some parents are going to choose to bring their own students to school and so I know at some point there's likely to be a questionnaire that goes out in order for us to determine how far apart can we be on the buses because obviously optimally it would be every other seat, one person in a seat except for siblings and you know you know we pro we probably can't even do that in being >> with

124our Yeah. But that's a great point. With our current ridership, under a plan a return to school, um we cannot have 3 ft of social distancing on a bench, on a bus, unless we get help with some transportation from parents. And they have signaled to us in prior surveys and questionnaires some flexibility in in that respect. And we may have to get more specific about that. If we were to declare a plan A as an anticipated opening, plan B, it's easier and smaller cohorts and we can transport everybody who would need a ride. Uh but again, the more transportation that parents and students take care of, the more social distancing that occurs on buses, >> right? Because you just mentioned the word cohort. So, for example, we're really focusing in cohorts at the the middle

125other than the high school, all the other schools, but there's also going to be cohorts on the bus. So that'll be additional people >> and and that's going to involve some additional planning as well, Kim. If we go to a plan B scenario, we're going to want to figure out how to write to divide that bus ridership in half. And then that kind of goes back to the buildings on these are kind the kids that we're looking at to participate in the red group and the white group as far as transportation to sort of even out those numbers and then both are going to have to work together in order to coordinate those schedules. >> Thanks. I didn't mean to jump in Friday. >> Nope. That's >> so So we did ask I thought I

126thought we did ask on the last questionnaire we did ask that question. um did you feel like you got legitimate data back to kind of start getting an understanding of? >> So looking again looking at that survey we don't have 50% of our families yet to complete it. But if you looked at it in the form of a sampling of that for the people who have completed it 45% of them said that they will not be using our transportation that they will be transporting their own child. And that fits the previous survey where we had almost a thousand families and 41% of them said, "I'm not going to use the bus." So, I think that number is probably accurate. >> And I I think we can get a more accurate count as we get closer

127to August 19th. I don't think on, you know, on July 13th, we're going to be able to accurately do those numbers. >> No, no question. >> Yeah. But I think as we get closer to July to August 19th, you know, our our our transportation departments may may have to get on the phone with parents who haven't answered the survey, we may have to put it in final forms, you know, come up with another idea on how to get those exact numbers in a fashion that if we do go with plan A, here's how we figure out that transportation piece. >> So, how will we manage that kids not moving from their place? Is it just a bus driver who's going to be monitoring that? Because you know once kids are in and bus is moving

128how do we monitor that kids are not moving and moving around because a lot of time that's a social place for them where they are you know that's a place where they can talk to their friends and >> that's a great question. I'm sure we're going to get that question again. And every year, our bus drivers, uh, and I got to witness it firsthand last fall, do an excellent job of teaching the students and training and drilling with them. And I think you could imagine with all social distancing and safety practices moving forward, we are going to be requiring it. The principles are going to be reviewing it with students, teachers are going to be reviewing it. All of those procedures, getting on and off the bus and how we behave on the bus, these

129are all going to become parts of our lessons and and again, we're going to have to work with students of all ages and developmental needs to make sure they understand the why and that we practice these things together. >> And we we do also have cameras on the bus that can potentially be used as a training tool for the bus drivers um to help them understand how to manage that that those spaces. But I think this is also where a mask, >> you know, and all the stuff from CDC, AAP, it's you cannot manage. You can never 100% guarantee social distancing. That's why 100% of people have to be in a mask. >> And so I I you're right. They're going to move around. So you have to assume that's going to happen, but you

130make sure they got a mask on. I would think that on our buses that thinking of um loading from back to front is as a protection for the bus driver who we as you mentioned we have older bus drivers and also I don't know if we're thinking about plexiglass or anything like that um between the bus driver and the students especially if they're in every seat and they're that close to the bus driver >> there there are the OD has given us some options to include plexiglass um another idea Mrs. Spurlock had was potentially eliminating those seats closest to the bus driver. So we can't even potentially put students in there. We might tape them off during the day. So we know that those it's really going to depend on what the average bus load

131of students is going to be really on how we can configure the best way to keep them safe. >> And going back, we'll talk about contact tracing again before the end, but we'll use a bus as an example. loading the bus and unloading in a certain way can help mitigate spread. >> So, this still leads me back to still trying to wrap my head around how you're going to get back to school um and do all this stuff. Um and I know that August 19th is, you know, a month away, but that's only a month away. >> That's why I said August 19th, right? >> That's the first. >> Yeah. August 19th. >> August 20th was the first day. >> 20th Thursday 20th. Yeah. >> Okay. It's close. >> That was my I thought it

132was the 19th. >> Yeah, that's that's my thought. But anyway, it's still a month away. But that's only a month. >> Yes. >> Do you feel like you need another week to plan and prep? Do you feel like you presentation? >> We can we can skip my part. I'll hand it back. >> Let's keep moving forward because of time and and we'll come back to the questions as you >> I just want to ask you one quick question. So because a lot of parents will be bringing the students to school. So now the traffic is going to be a a problem. All right. So is there a plan that how we will manage that? And the second question is will students be party for reaching late because they were stuck in the traffic? >> Yeah.

133>> I think we're going to be really flexible. I think it's going to be one of those things that we're going to kind of see what that looks like as we get closer. We're going to see the percentage of parents. We're going to see the percentage of students that are going to carpool. So, let's not even worry like talking about social distancing in that carpool with our own kids, but you have a day of time management's never been a problem for drivers to high school. >> No, absolutely. I mean, our kids were never late. So, I think all of those things we're going to have to see more in real time of what does it look like on those first few days. It's also the reason why tonight you are going to hear a little

134bit of how we've been thinking about how we will transition differently in those first days that will also give us maybe a little bit of a um kind of a foundational mark of like this is what it looked like on this day than what we look like here and that allows us to engage that. But we're going to be extremely flexible with our families particularly in the beginning as they also navigate Drake Road and traffic and the increased traffic and quality that may be a result of this. So, why don't I jump into safety because it's a obviously and I want to say this, >> you know, we've said it before, we've said it in different times under different crises. Safety, no matter what role you play in this district, is the number one priority

135of all of us who call our home. It's education second. It is the safety of your babies first. And so again, every decision that's being made both in this team and in the guidelines that we're going to kind of offer tonight, we can't say thank you enough that this is what you're allowing us to think about knowing that this is the number one task and priority of a transition plan back to school. And so as so many of us have talked about tonight, the guidelines that you see up there are a collaboration of not just the team but guidelines from the CDC, ODH, OD, AAP. Um so we so from the group this is what we think we'd like to present in terms of recommendations for safety for going forward. And number one is teachers

136and students all wear masks. Um it's a simple thing. It's um as uh the American um AAP has shown it's the easiest thing to do to help everybody and so we do think it is important that all teachers and students wear masks. Now will there be times where they're going to have breaks? Yes, I think that's very very important. Uh one is cleaning supplies within the classrooms making sure that we are in fact stocked with everything that we're going to need um in a small space and in a large space within our own rooms. So that can include hand sanitizing motions in the room, but also as you see up there, it also is increased hand sanitizing stations throughout the entire building. Um the nightly deep clean that you've seen and heard about uh throughout

137kind of the course of this journey is something that we're going to prioritize and make sure that our buildings are ready to go, whatever plan that we end up implementing or whatever conditions uh force us to move into. One of the things we've talked a lot about is just how do you move through the barriers? Mobility is a big issue. And so one of the things we talked about is how do we help communicate through signage and other designated tools to improve walking patterns in the hallway. So in this building, one of the things we talked about is we have two main major stairwells. One of those is going to be designated as down and one's going to be designated as up. And that's going to eliminate cross traffic flow or kids trying to jam

138themselves all in those spaces. They'll know if this is the flow to the school. If that means that we have to add an additional minute between classes, then we'll do that. But we're going to come to create whatever we can to maintain social distance and keep them as spread as we possibly can. Um we're not going to allow the use of lockers collectively. Not until not until you know we think it's safe to to have that lunch in small groups. Uh designated isolation spaces in the buildings. What happens when a kid feels like they're not feeling well and where do we put them that puts them in the safest place but also puts everybody around them in the safest place. So every building will have a designated space for students that don't feel >> that

139also follows CDC's guidelines. But one of the things that has to that's critical the nurse would be in charge of that space. That's correct. She has to be supplied with N95 full mass shield. >> It's critical that she is not exposed when she's in that space. >> Yeah. And we're going to have that space is actually going to be here. It'll be next to the office and the main office. It actually also leads to an additional exit. So when the district nurse has to walk that student out of the building, they're also going to move them in a way that they're going to make contact with less students. And so all those things have been thought about in each building. >> Can I just add a thank you to the board of education um for

140my tenure here, we have always been able to hire RNs as our nurses and when we're talking to colleagues at other places, we recognize that that's really not the norm. and we are so thankful that we've been able to call on health professionals to help us during this time. So, thank you so much for establishing that practice for us. >> Yeah, without a doubt. Uh, daily temperature checks for staff. Um, we've been doing it throughout the course of the spring for the very few times we've had individuals here. It's a quick check. I think it's something as an adult we can control and I think it's a small step we can make to make sure that we ourselves are doing our part in making sure that we're safe as we walk in. Um and also

141no visitors or volunteers will be admitted into the buildings until further notice. Again, just to ensure that those that do not need to come in, don't create another additional X factor as they enter. >> I just want to go back to something that uh Jeff just said and uh Dr. Hooker, we've talked about this in general before again that last bullet points is a big deal. >> Um visitors and volunteers are something we are so used to naturally in our school settings. these things are not going to look the same moving forward and we're going to need everybody's flexibility and patience to understand it. Um, in order again to be safe and mitigate spread, we have to be able to operate differently and and that's something we have to talk through. Continue to educate the

142community. You might want to put a star on that one though and say that unless approved by the superintendent, I just think you have to give something. there could be a reason. It could be a special needs kid. And we feel that it is in the best interest of that child and of the school district for them to have this person. >> And we we have the best partners in the world. And I know some of them are listening probably tonight and they're thinking, "What?" But again, we're going to work with them and there's going to be cases obviously where there's exceptions, but this is going to be a change in normal operation. Absolutely. >> I just also want to note you might I don't want you to think that we forgot about temperature taking

143for students. We're only talking about staff. Just hold on to that that because Mr. Connect is going to address that in just a few minutes. We haven't forgotten about it. >> I was actually going to ask just to follow on staff. Were you done with the staff's stuff? >> Uh I'm done with this the safety piece of that component. So yes, >> Kim, one more thing I'd like to add before we change the subject from this slide. Um Mr. Kiani and I have uh engaged some some district partners outside of the district to help us with some of these things um to look at our to help our our our principles get the feel of their building and to do these things from a third party view. Um PPE um how to figure out how

144to get around the building, things like that. Um we've also looked into engaging the health partner that the board asked us to last time. So, some of those things we started to put in place and we'll have those hopefully by, you know, within a week or so. >> My my question with on staff uh is just one of the things that I saw recommended is that all staff get um flu influenza shots um vaccinations and I don't know whether we've considered that or not, but that's something that that I've seen recommended. Um, and then obviously whatever policy we would put out to our staff, which I'm sure they all know, would be if they're in contact with somebody who is CO outside of the school that they're required to report it. So, I'm sure there's

145additional protocols on safety for staff, but but those are some that I I've heard. >> Well, and I think like anything else, the recommendations that we receive, the more feedback and ideas we receive, the better of a position we're going to be in to to successfully open schools. So, I appreciate that. And one of the things that came that you just talked about and that is what do you do as a staff member when you potentially come in contact with somebody that's also kind of switch gears to the next slide which is what can we do as adults both who work here as employees but also what can parents do to help all of us create a safe and work environment and one of those things one of those ideas are addressed towards the bottom

146and that is you know we have to be um we have to model the lack and so we also have to be open and honest that if I have been contacting I I've been in contact with close proximity with someone who may be sick. I have to do my due diligence as a professional and look at the safety of others and say, you know what, I don't want to miss work and I don't want to be away. I need to be away and I don't want to, but I'm going to I know that I'm doing this for others. And so, we're also going to ask our staff to take that approach and we're also going to ask our parents to help us in that approach to make sure that if your student is at home

147or doesn't feel well, don't send them to school. See your primary physician. Make sure you get properly checked out and find out what exactly is going on. And if you are in fact sick or it is COVID 19 to let us know because it's something Nancy you said that's going to make us go into that contact tracing mode of all right who was the student where were they yesterday which bells were they in which teachers do we do need to talk to and again from different buildings that circle of influence if you will is bigger and almost and scarier. So again we're going to ask parents to help us create that safe environment. We can't do it alone. Um, we're going to ask them as well to monitor their child's health before they come to

148school and take temperatures of their children before they shower. And if they're 100° or higher, again, we want them here. They want to be here. It's But you have to keep them home. We have to do what's right for everybody. >> That's got to be, as I said the last time, that's got to be widened a little bit. If the parent thinks the child has a fever, I don't care what the thermometer says. The child has a fever. Keep them home. Don't use a number because as soon as you do that one kid with 99.9 that the mom goes boy he feels hot and that thermometer is wrong as can be the kid actually has a 106 temperature 102 temperature that child needs to stay home if mom says that child is feed and I

149want to say something related to teachers and staff we we are presentism is not acceptable anymore the showing up sick because you're afraid that you're going to lose your job or whatever, you don't have any sick days, we will respect the teacher that says, "I can't come to school today." And we will never there will be no negative penalties towards that teacher. Okay? We've got to make that clear that there is no negative. Then we're going to have a bunch of absences this year more than our normal and we're just not there's not going to be any negative I won't tolerate it as a board member any negative impact on a teacher. Okay? If we've got a problem teacher, we'll figure it out two years from now. Okay? I'm just not interested in it. I

150want teachers to feel good about staying home. Okay. And I want parents to feel good about keeping the kids home. >> Well, I think it's important because that's the climate we have to create so people are open and honest and happy. Absolutely. >> And and that's part of the family that we want here. That's the family feeling we want here at Indian Hill. And so I'm sure that those words uh Dr. Hooker, what people either watching or not, that will resonate and that's going to put a lot of folks at ease where they realize I need to just I need to take a break. I need to take a day or several days, but I have to do that even if I don't want to. And not everything is coded. Okay. And so if you

151are sick, I think we need to encourage people to seek medical evaluation. And if the physician evaluates says, I don't think we need to test for CO. There's no indication of COVID. You were sick. If you had something else and I don't think you need, then that's fine. That that would require a letter coming back just like we required letters before that. So we just got to watch it. It's not everything is going to be co. One of the questions we've received over and over from parents is how do we identify symptoms as a district? What are we looking at? We're using at the same guidelines the CDC developed which ODH has used in all of their graphics. Uh OD and ODH have put them out over and over again. We have a list as

152well. People need to also become more aware as you're saying of their own symptoms and how they express their own symptoms as individuals. And there's a lot of education, personal education that goes on with that over time. Families know best and can learn how to recognize things in their own families and of their children and siblings of expressing symptoms. And then we also have to do a better job as a staff to continue to learn those things moving forward. There are still going to be children who come to school who have an upset stomach or who get a cold and it's not co. However, when we suspect we're going to have to go into a different mode right now until we really learn that better and that's where contact tracing becomes very important also. >>

153So, one of the other things that we we considered is also entrance and exit plans for the buildings and if you take a look students from all schools are going to enter buildings in a study format socially distancing themselves based on markings on the ground. We're both making sure we use multiple entrances and exits. Um, for example, if at the end of you see one of the bullets down below, uh, for example, at the end of the day, dismissal, that could be a gradual release of kids in a variety of different strategies. That could be done by bus number, that could be done by have a hallway in a different room. So, so you don't have that bell doesn't ring the entire school population coming out. And we'll put those things in play to stagger

154that release to again minimize contact. Uh, another thing we talked about is hallways and stairwells throughout this building will be marked. So students will have a better idea of how I'm supposed to navigate the building as David said. We're going to use a I'm going to consult on that so that we actually create the best individual plans for our buildings. Um we're going to minimize even individual trips around the building like taking notes to the office. I didn't really think about it until early today when we we said that. But I my my own children love to be the calendar kid. That calendar kid gets to go to the office. Those types of things we we shouldn't do. Not yet. Uh so those are the types of things that have to be um thought about.

155And the last is something Kirk you just said and that is it says students at younger grades will have staff always during arrival and dismissal to help remind them but it's not younger grades. It's all grades. All of us have to continuously remind ourselves what's best practice and educate our kids because a an 11th grader needs to be reminded sometimes just as much as in fifth grade. And so we have to make sure that we're good stewards and out of the way, not just for younger grades, but for all of our kids to do this well, to do this right. Um, to go to the next one, one of the things we talked about is also maximizing our campuses and thinking differently about classroom space or breaks. And so one of the things we talked

156about is how do we maximize some of the outdoor spaces that we have in each campus? We're very blessed with some of the most beautiful facilities around. So why not be able to maximize those in different ways? And as you see in the chart, each building has a variety of different places and spaces that we can use. We can use them for class, small group exercises. Um things like even things like bridges or raves, those types of things can utilize those spaces. We're going to have some large tents set up and students can and classrooms can schedule their time in those tents to again bring them outdoors, allow them to have some space. It's also good for their mental wellness to be outside and have some sunlight in the day and also maybe be able

157to get a break from the mask for throughout the course of the day. So really excited to think differently about what sometimes their mobility is, but also what is the positive like something positive about increased mobility and utilizing some of our great spaces. Um and lastly is lunch. Um throughout the course of these plans, lunch has continued been a really important topic. What does it look like? So, some of the considerations we want to make sure we do is that students are going to be able to eat in a variety of different spaces moving forward. They may be able to eat in cafeteria, the gymnasium, outdoor areas or classrooms. Within those spaces, it would be smart for us to start to assign seating, um, assign locations, make sure that things are marked for social distancing

158so kids know exactly where it is that I'm supposed to be. Um, additional one sections can be made to allow us to have maximize the capacity of the spaces but minimize the number. And that's something also we can do. And also in terms of partnership and engagement with our food provider to plan for safety precautions during those times, but also really important is the bottom is food safety items in a partnership with our families to make sure that families where their kids have um individual needs such as allergies that we are making sure that we do right by them and that they're safe throughout and that they're also part of that that collaboration and that collegiality with their peers. So those are all things that we'll continue to consider as we go forward into the

159the plan that we one question on safety issues and this would be in classes as well as in classrooms is I assume we're going to encourage and anytime we can open the windows that we open the windows. So whether that be all the windows on the bus are open and all the you know if it's you know obviously if it's zero degrees outside you can't do that but you know that all the windows in a classroom if they can be open would be open that type of thing. >> Yeah. I mean I I know for the high school when it's nice out they have to go outside and and sit on the courtyard and eat. And we even had a group of boys um Mr. Campus boy was one of those that were determined to

160eat outside every day despite the weather. I'd love to say they succeeded 100%. They did not, but they tried really really hard to maximize our spaces. And so again, when you give them that space, our kids are are appreciative and they'll take those spaces and safety will be still of utmost concern within all those spaces. >> Not that I mean to call anybody out, but I do believe that he was one of the group that insisted on wearing shorts every day in fifth grade all year long as well. >> That was not him because I would like >> Yeah, I think it was three eyeles. You okay if I took your seat one more time for the next part of the presentation? >> Since we are Can I ask this question? So during the lunch

161time with plan A where we are not able to provide 6 ft distancing and now during the lunch time they won't be wearing the mask because they're eating. >> Mhm. >> How will we manage to keep them safe? Are we using uh the gym and can we use the outdoor space so that you know and during at least during the lunch time they are 6 ft apart? >> Yeah. So I think the answer is it depends and it depends on one of the things is is weather. Weather would dictate whether or not we can utilize those additional spaces. If we want to put if we're thinking about minimizing mobility and minimizing contact with others then the classroom has just a scenario. it becomes the safest spot because the least amount of students at one time

162are in those spaces so they can eat there. If we have to move them, then it's another additional movement throughout the building. >> That is true. >> So, it's something that we'd have to consider as well. So, that's why when you think about where can they meet, if we're very flexible with a variety of different locations, then we can make sure that that they are safe and as socially distant as possible. And of course, the greening process afterwards is going to be important, too. Can I ask a question related to cleaning? Um, this is not something that Can we engage a consultant, okay, on HVAC and see if there's anything we can do to our current HVAC systems that would improve the quality of air of the inside air? >> It's a great question. >>

163So, there are things like you can put UV UV light, by the way, doesn't work to clean hospital rooms or any rooms. That's worth kills garbage. But it does work to kill viruses inside of an air handling system. So could we add something like that? Or could we get an individual they make mobile HEPA filters that their only job is to suck air into them, filter it and blow it back out. >> You do you and I think we ought to look and see is there anything we can do to improve the quality of the indoor air in these buildings. Okay. Kim's idea was great, but that's not going to work year round and we need to I just think we ought to engage the consult and see if there's anything we can do that

164we can even purchase. >> So, a couple of things we've already done, Eddie, is we've already purchased better air filters, okay, >> for our system. So, that was one easy change we can make. Um, the second is part of that energy program. Those companies suggested we go with ultraviolet and use that money that we're that we're sort of procuring through that system to put those in place as well. Um, I can, you know, we could easily, we partner with the most group a lot for, um, our HVAC. They've been with our district for years. Um, I think they would, they would be happy to do an assessment on how to do some of those those other changes that could. >> Anything we could try to do as soon as possible, I think would be great.

165>> That would be great. >> We have a consulting group coming in with us tomorrow, actually, uh, that's going to help us to look at some other environmental concerns and, um, again, those are things we can do with the safety team. >> Super. Thanks guys. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Um so as Mrs. Michaels uh asked earlier, would it help if we delay the start of school? So we have proposed a change to the calendar. The rationale for that change is because teachers and staff are going to need time not only to set up the physical space of their classroom and the materials that they typically use in a different way, they're also going to need to learn the new systems that we're going to have in place for our students and their safety in

166the coming school year. So pushing back the start date allows our staff the time to get into their classroom and do those things as well as have more time together to set up their Google classroom or their canvas pages so that if we have to make a shift it will be ready to go. Um it also provides the opportunity um for teachers to conduct online virtual parent teacher conferences in the fall versus the face toface um and provides a buffer of time for the supplies and things that we're going to need to order to arrive. It's always hard um when thinking about changing the calendar because of the amount of instructional time that teachers are given in the year. Instructional time is precious to us and we use every minute to help prepare our students

167for the things that they're going to need to know to be successful. Um, we tried very hard to in this proposal think about the instructional time to cover the material that would be needed to cover over the first semester. So, this proposal would only be for the first semester of the school year. >> I don't think it's going to be very popular with parents. I'm not a parent in the district, but I just don't think that's going to get a win an award for popularity. >> So, one one thing I would say again about that and I I I think we will hear both uh feedback um some of which you're referring to Eddie and I also think what we've heard and we've received in a lot of questions from parents is I if I

168want to make a declaration or decision about sending my child back to school, the more time I have to see what's going on with community spread around us, the better. And if I feel more informed about the plans, then I can make a decision. And I think all that time from today to the start of school will matter. And we're going to obviously keep evaluating these models. Some parents may not like hearing this. And and I also think if we want to do the best job we can do instructionally, we owe it to our teachers to make sure they feel prepared also. And um many of them of course have to make some serious decisions moving forward. and we've heard that feedback also. So, I think those are some things we just have to consider.

169We think we're going to have wide flexibility under the law. Um, we always meet our instructional hours at Indian Hill. I'm not worried about that part professionally speaking, instructionally speaking. But I am concerned about this um preparedness and a feeling of confidence in the return to school both for staff and for families. And I I did notice I believe in first um I think >> Forest Till's plan had a later start date or at least there was one or two school districts already in Cincinnati that that have done this. And I actually think it's a very good idea to make sure that our staff are prepared to safely um teach your students and make sure that they understand, you know, how they're going to be taking their students around the school and to make sure

170that they enforce those rules. So I I do think it's important >> to be clear in this in this teachers report to work from the day they were supposed to report to work. It's not like it's push back for teachers, too. August 18th is the day teachers are supposed to start >> and they would be required to be here August 18th >> so that we can get everything ready to go and they can understand the safety protocol >> so that so they can properly follow those model them for the students teach the students because those are all going to have to be new lessons that are taught to the kids. So, >> so as Sydney said, teachers would be expected to report on our usual day, contracted day, which is August 18th. That week, um

171teachers would participate in professional development and um departmental or grade level meetings and staff meetings to learn the new procedures and the processes and to discuss how the beginning of the school year would start. students for the following week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday students would or teachers would be continuing that education in that setup. Students first day um would be August 27th and we are proposing that we have a staggered start. Um this comes from our littlest learners. The kindergarteners have had a staggered start for many many years. And so we are proposing that half of the students would come if we are in plan A. Well, if we are in plan A or plan B, regardless of what plan we're in, half of the students would come that first day of school. On

172Friday, August 28th, the second half would come. So that there are smaller groups of students so that the teachers have the ability to introduce those changes to them and there's a little bit more flexibility and how they can move about the classroom um to learn those things. And then on Monday, August or I'm sorry, is it 31st? August 31st, the following Monday, whatever date that is, would be the first day on campus for all students together. >> If we went plan A. >> Yeah, correct. If we went plan A. >> And that also allows us, Nikki, to kind of answer your question, that's going to give all of us a gauge of what does the morning look like? What does release look like? Are we getting this right with 50% of our kids? because if

173not, we have tomorrow to make sure we did it right because Monday it would be all of the >> and that allows us like as you were saying to kind of just >> kind of dip our toes in in these unique waters of the the beginning of the school year and the conversations we're going to have with students. It has to be different. There's a learning curve that we also have to teach them in terms of what school looks like, navigating to the buildings look like, class safety protocols. That's going to require time. And so it also is going to be a great time for us just to reconnect with our kids. We haven't seen some of our four kids since March 13th. And so thinking about their anticipation and apprehension for returning. Seeing half

174your kids just allows you to connect in more in way for those couple of days. And then I don't know just kind of gets you I think just kind of allows us to start on a really positive note. >> I agree. focusing on relationships, focusing on safety, and also allowing us to see what it would look like in that iteration, make adjustments as needed. And and as you said, as a side, if it's something we had to extend, then we could, >> but the plan would be Monday the 31st in planet. >> All of the scheduled um breaks and professional learning days would stay intact. Uh the end of the quarter would continue to be October 23rd and there would be 86 days of student attendance in the first semester. >> How many do we

175typically have? >> 91. Um, and I know that this probably is a very popular question, but with all with all of the other things, all the time that we haven't been in the classroom, etc., are all of these professional learning days necessary, required? Do we have any flexibility? I think that there could be flexibility in those days. Uh, the only concern I have um would be the October 8th and 9th. Um, typically that's our fall break and families travel that weekend. So, um, that would be the only one that I might be concerned about changing, but I would I would guess that there is flexibility within the other days. >> That's just just a thought that if you would like to get some of that time back in the classroom, that might be where we

176can find it. >> And what would be the last day of the quarter? >> October 23rd. And that's a scheduled conference day. So, um, students would not be in school. >> What's the last day of the semester? >> I believe January 15th. >> Friday, January 15th. >> Oh, so we're still playing this game of going into January. >> This is the one year. 2020 21 school year looks like that. So, yeah, the first semester we're in middle of January. Can we can we not So again, this is just a thought that we have a fall break and then we come back and we have another week or so there. Can we not flip it so that because you know during the fall kids would go out the families are traveling chances of getting more positive

177cases becomes more. So, >> so instead of having the fall break October 12th, maybe we push it back. >> Maybe make our Thanksgiving break longer. >> Yes. So that you know we don't miss out students time and then the Thanksgiving break becomes longer where we are uh they're estimating that we may have a second if at all we have. So that you know and then as I said during the fall break when kids are traveling, parents are traveling, chances are that we will have you know >> this this is something again I think we need to hear feedback from all of you on and I think we can also take it back to staff and administrators and talk through before our next meeting. I I don't think we have to have a decision tonight but

178I think it's important because you brought that up also as we do talk about things like contact tracing and spread. One of the things we got a lot of questions about was travel. And I think it goes back to something we talked about before with safety. We we we cannot control everything that happens around our school operations. And one of the things that everybody has to take into account around those school operations is how they decide travel. We have to continue to follow CDC guidance, Hamilton County guidance, state and federal guidance on travel. And we have a lot of families that can uh go lots of places that attend the school district. And when they do travel and come back, those things could trigger a self quarantine or a mandated quarantine um or possible contact

179tracing depending on what's going on. And some of that would be out of our control as a district, but we would have to react to it. So, when you do look at the school calendar and people are thinking about breaks this year and travel and how it impacts their child attending school, it's just something we can all help each other with to continue to really think through these things. Um, and I have concerns about that also, uh, knowing that we have a lot of families traveling this summer before the opening of school. There are lots of models around the country where many schools have looked at either pushing up or pushing back past Labor Day. And there are lots of reasons around it. And one of them is travel concerns. >> I would ask um

180that we at least keep one of the professional learning days somewhere in that you know around October just because I think we are going to have to reflect on our practice as principles as teachers and have a day to just continuously improve them. >> Wait, I I don't think we should get rid of any of them. I think there's going to be so much changing so many things that we need you all to as you said reflect and oh my god we're I'm off the rails we can have best practices on those days we got lectures of boy this has really worked well on my class gosh I never thought about that and I really think that it would be I think we would want to keep those can you all look at all this

181and bring it back to us on Thursday it seems like in general if I'm reading the tea leaves I can't see uh Elizabeth but I think people are supportive of the concept. Uh I mean I don't want to have something come to us Thursday unless we are sort of I I have the concern but I am supportive of the concept. Are we in general as a board supportive of this and we would want them to bring back this suggestion on Thursday? >> I mean I I personally am that I mean I I think it's I think we need this time. I think you all need this time and I I feel like let's let's get all our ducks in a row and do this right and then we're more likely to be able to stay

182in school. >> Okay, that's fine. I just was I wanted to kind of give them some affirmation since I kind of went oh I don't know but I just think if we're if we're kind of Nikki I see him shaking head. So I think this plan needs to come back to us on Thursday vote on it. >> Yeah, that is something to think about because I was just looking at the numbers. Uh so typically we would have days of instruction time. Now with this we will have 86 and then we are losing a week at the beginning if we move it. >> That's where this >> that's our days come from if we if we take away the fall break we will get those days back in. Right. Yeah. So instead of this a week

183of fall break, >> we will we will examine it. Nik something for your you can think about >> as a point of process. May I could ask Mr. Deers while he's here um put him on the spot. If we make a change, my understanding is we would need to bring this back and talk about it Thursday because we do need to notice out a calendar change ahead by 30 days and and that that is something that we would have to think about in a timely manner. >> Correct. Both by law and obviously by practicality reasons. >> So if we notice it Thursday, we are still we'll be fine. We'll be more than 30 days before the change. >> Correct. >> Okay. It just feels to me like it will help alleviate at least a few

184fits and starts. >> I feel like there's so little that we can control >> in this. So, let's control what we can >> and just make it um you know more sane for everyone. And I I I'm assuming our parents are very reasonable that if one more week of this eternal summer means that we can stay in school and not have not have a lot of chaos. I have to believe and well, you know, we'll ask them and we'll see what they say, but I have to believe that they would be accepting of that. And there's just so many new procedures that we're going to have in place we've never done before. So when we started to try to list some of those out for example we have to think about how we're going to

185get supplies to all of our students who are at home like they will read the same novel and if we provide those novels to our students here we will provide them at home. Same with Chromebooks like all of those things and we don't want people to come in mass to pick those things up. We want that to be very scheduled and systematic and safe. >> That's true. Melissa, there's probably even things that as much as you're trying to game plan that you're not even thinking of yet that when you bring that staff in, they're going to say, "What about this or what about that?" as well. So, >> absolutely right. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Can I just make one comment as we're transitioning seats, I just want to say thank you to

186some people who like on the fly gave up their entire day just to say, "Yeah, we'll come in and we'll help you think this through and plan it out." And again, it's what everybody has said. We're just so lucky to work with such incredible people. So, um, thank you to all of those people who are listed on that slide who gave up about nine hours of their intense work to help us think it through. So thankful. So this this is really terrific work and I think this really helps us a lot. Um, obviously in a work session we don't make any decisions. Um, it's for discussion and it's for information really from you all. Um, so I guess just from a process standpoint, from everyone else, it's 9:40. Do you feel the need for more

187discussion this evening? Do you feel like you have your questions basically answered? Because of course, we'll also discuss on Thursday when we're back. >> Um, I think they're not done presenting yet. >> No, I I just have one other item I think we should touch on because of the volume of questions we've gotten and this is kind of a review from last week. that speaks to the idea of implementing testing strategies and uh contact tracing. So, we've worked on developing kind of a a flowchart and this this is being put into a district design that we can share. You all have kind of a dark copy uh in front of you, but again, people have asked uh what happens if there's a suspected case that you have to deal with. And so whenever there's a

188suspected case of COVID that we have to deal with based on the guidance we've received, anybody who comes in contact with the student or staff member uh for a duration of 10 minutes or more within 6 ft of that person has to then isolate and leave our campus. And they they immediately we immediately begin contact tracing when something like that happens. And those people do go into quarantine for 14 days. That's something that's hard for a lot of people to wrap their minds around and how that will affect our operations. And believe me, we're all thinking about it, too. >> But when that you've said previously, it's just not there. It within 48 hours. >> Yes. So within six feet, within the last 48 hours of a suspected case. And so to Eddie's point, when

189and where this happens really matters. Um, if you could imagine a young student getting on the bus first thing in the morning, loading back to front and maybe being one of the last students on the bus, maybe that rider and a driver um if one of them fell ill in the morning on their way to school would have to isolate and quarantine and we would be begin contact tracing with a smaller group. That may not lead to some of the trip wires or triggers of closure beyond that bus. But if if that same student came to school to Dr. Stewart point earlier and went through most of their day and then fell ill, we could have an exponential problem requiring an exponential number of contact tracing uh cases that would begin. What we would have

190to do as a district is obviously isolate and notify. So if it was a student, we would notify their parents and we would immediately contact the Hamilton County Health Commission. The Hamilton County Health Commission would then get that family in touch with their epidemiology department and they would begin contact tracing. Those people would not return to campus for a minimum of 14 days. That's what we're being told. We are being told that the county has a um already strained number of tracers and they expect their job to become more difficult once schools reopen. If a staff member were the suspected case, they would isolate and then they would have to obviously leave campus and go home. >> Can I ask you a followup question on your last point? >> So, um, in this in the

191situation of a student that that you mentioned um and we have to report it and Hamilton County begins their contact tracing. Do we also because we obviously could notify this the people within the classroom and so so I don't know if there's an additional >> yeah there's there's going to be an internal layer communication that's happening where we're kind of investigating and making sure everybody's aware of who might be involved. >> Yes. >> We're going to share all that information and report it all to the county. Also, they are then going to contact all those same individuals and begin contact tracing with them and anyone else who came within 6 ft within the last 48 hours of them. And that is a minimum 2 to 5 day process, we're being told right now. And while

192that's happening, they are assumed to be quarantined for 14 days. Um the the thing that Kim's getting at that I'm concerned about is and you mentioned already Hamilton County is going to fall apart. They're they're not going to be able to handle this. It's going to be a complete mayhem. We have to have an internal which I think you're planning to do, but let's just make sure it's clear that we're going to have to have a completely set up internal process. The the nurse is going to have to decide who's going to not be here for the next 14 days because it could be 5 days. It might be 10 days. it may never happen from this from the health department. So >> So what the form in front of you shows as a draft

193document is how the flow of those decisions happen once we start to have a suspected case. And again, I know it's not very clear on your copy. We'll clean that up and lighten it up for you and for the the public um with our own template once we've decided to employ it. But there is a process for that decision-m and then the notification and then where we would isolate the students how we would remove people from campus and then of course there'll be communication about their learning plan that has to take place or their work plan if they're a staff member and we are constantly in contact with the Hamilton County Health Commission and we will continue to be sharing information and what happens is if somebody goes home of course and they're testing and

194they're they're they're not sick. Uh they have to go through some testing protocols and what we're being told is the Hamilton County Health Commissioner will literally give them a clearance form. That form would become a part of our process upon re-entry for anyone to know that they have cleared their protocols and that also it was communicated to us that they were safe to return with being fever-free for over 72 hours without the use of any fever reducing medications and negative tests. So there's a testing protocol that that people have to go through if they're suspected and they're not ill. And there's also testing they go through if they are ill and they recover and the health commissioner will also provide a clearance form for people at that time that they could return and that's something

195we would follow. >> So the question is I'm sorry go ahead. >> So let let me give two scenarios a question. So let's say um Johnny um gets sick. like he's got a fever and he's and he's coughing and he doesn't feel good and it's it's 1 1:00 in the afternoon and Johnny goes down to the nurse. So Johnny clearly we contact the parents, we contact the health department, but what do we do with Johnny's class? Do we send them home right then? Do we what do we do immediately with the people that we know are clearly in in touch with them? Every single case within six feet who was in uh in proximity of Johnny within 10 minutes or more or for 10 minutes or more gets isolated and sent home. >> So I

196think the question is Kirk, you're going to do that even beforehand with the county. >> Oh yeah, we going to have to do that before we report. We're going to have to isolate, communicate, and and have them picked up by parents and sent home. The nurse would literally walk the student to their car to the parent. If it was a staff member, we would ask them to leave the campus and go home if they weren't so ill that they couldn't transport themselves. And that would that would entail that whole start of the process before we ever had Hamilton County staff get involved. >> So, what's going to happen is a lot of these kids are going to go home. They're going to get a test. The test is going to be negative. And if I'm

197reading here, you're telling them they're going to have two negatives. Have any of y'all had a COVID test? When you have your first one, it will be your last one. >> It is feels like someone's doing a brain biopsy on you. Uh it is a thing that long that we shove all the way up your nose to the back of your nose where it goes backwards posterly. I'm You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. It is not going to be a popular test. You're going to have a hard time doing the second one. But let's assume that this kid's first test is negative. I don't think they need a second negative test because a lot of this isn't going to be CO. So this kid goes, he gets a negative test. It takes two days

198to get it back. Okay, he's negative. It's day three. He's been a febral. He had he had a stomach flu. He had a nothing. He's fine. We're going to keep all of these kids out for 14 days. That's garbage. That's not That's not based on science. Well, here's what we've been told. >> Yeah, Dr. That's what that's what the countyy's telling us right now commission. though where what we're being told again and I think this is important 72 hours without the use of any fever reducing medications and that that is important also for anybody before a return to school and then of course the 3 days temperature and symptom free after a negative case or or illness and suspected symptoms have been um dealt with with testing and medication and clearance and then you still

199have to have the clearance form from Hamilton Hamilton County, which I've not seen yet. I don't know if you've seen it, Bill, but we haven't seen the form, but what we've been told is there'll be a clearance form that would come from their epidemiology department say this person is now clear to return. And so, those are the things we've been told to date about how we would then think about re-entry for someone. The frustrating part is going to be there's kids that are not that quarantined because they were within that zone, >> right? >> They're not showing any symptoms. >> Um, index patient's negative >> and they get and they get a negative test, but they're still going to have to sit out for this appreciable period of time, whether it's 72 hours or whatever

200it is. So, that's going to be the difficult part. >> We will follow those guidelines, whatever they are. >> Well, yeah, we have to follow the guidelines even if they're not science-based and are stupid. But, uh, what I'm saying is, have we pushed back? Is anybody pushing back? I mean, I'm sorry there when you're wrong, you're wrong. That's not based on the science. >> Again, I'm not a doctor. You are. And I am going to um you know take the advice of the health professionals we have including you and and I think I to your point Dr. Hooker, there are people asking questions about these things. So uh let me just speak again about contact tracing where testing is concerned. The CDC put out a report recently. Many people have looked at it. There was

201one out at the end of June. They also put out an amended report just about 5 days ago. The CDC does not currently recommend universal testing of all students and staff prior to the reopening of schools. That does not mean we could not require testing of someone if we deemed it necessary to clear them for re-entry or if we had concerns based on something that happened, let's say with an extracurricular activity off campus that led to someone feeling ill, for example. But the dialogue we had last week is that we would look at not requiring testing of students or staff prior to the reopening plan that we choose. And that's something again we need to we need to kind of finalize moving forward. And again, we're relying on the current guidance we have from ODH

202and CDC. And so that's something we need feedback from all of you about also in terms of that prior to reopening. What do we want to see with testing? But to your point about the health care consultant working with them for referrals and for the possibility of testing, that's another reason why that partner is going to be very important. And then of course if we ever have scenarios upon re-entry where we have concerns, that will really come in handy and be valuable. So I think we just need you all to think about that to try to finalize that point as well. Um on the the testing and then finally just to remind everybody on the daily health check side, what do we want to do? And I think the dialogue we've had is that we

203would not require staff to do daily checks of students upon entry to campus or buses. Um, and we would continue to ask staff to do their own daily health checks and want to make sure that we're clear on that language as we finalize our plans, whichever plans they are, all three plans. We still want to know those protocols. So, those are things we have to finalize. >> I I have two questions. Um, as we're talking about the Hamilton County guidelines. So, one thing you were talking about is in order for them to return, they have to get that release form from Hamilton County, but Hamilton County is going to be way backed up. So, they may not get their form until a week or two weeks or 10 days, whatever later than the normal quarantine

204time. >> And I think it's going to be a form that your physician can sign. So, I don't know. Okay. So, it doesn't have to be vetted through the county. I think it's a form that a licensed physician has to sign. >> Okay. Okay. >> I think I don't know for certain, but that would be good. >> That would be really good. >> Then the second question is um I'm assuming that when they're saying that, you know, that a suspected case needs a COVID test that they're talking about the brain biopsy. They're not talking about the quick rapid nasal swap. Correct. >> This is a nasal swab. That is the nasal swab. It has to be shoved all the way into the back of your nose. That's how it's done. >> Well, I just have

205one like that at all. >> There's some kind of test where they can get like immediate results. What is that? >> So, there is an oral one that I don't think is FDA approved yet. Uh, and that's the only one I'm aware of. So, I don't know. >> That one. >> Have they stuck it in your nose? >> They didn't do it right. >> It has to go to the back of the nose. Is that >> Well, and I think to your point, that's something I can ask for more clarity on. And when we have our regular weekly call with the health commissioner, I can ask for more detail. >> Clarify, maybe there's a new test that I'm unaware of. Should you know this stuff's changing at a lightning speed? >> I'm not aware of

206any nasal test that is done on the anterior nose. I know there is a nonapproved, non FDA approved oral test that's being tested right now nationwide, but I don't think it's ready for prime time yet. >> So, we we will look at that. The last thing I would just say members is we know that there's some confusion out there and the questionnaire probably did not help some people to make decisions. So some of the information we're going to finalize and share will. Um and I think when people were making a commitment and there was language in the questionnaire that asked them to declare under a hypothetical plan A or B which they would take for an entire quarter. We understand that that created some confusion for parents and I can imagine us asking some more

207specific questions again in the future as people learn more and as we see more about what's going on around us with the spread as we get into August. And while we have to again declare at some point an anticipated school reopening plan, we all know that we may have to adapt to one of our other two plans based on what we see going on around us because we're going to focus on health and safety. I just want to repeat that one more time for everybody listening and um thank everybody for the input and feedback we've received in the last week. It's been very valuable. Board members, any other points of discussion for this evening? I just want to say because I I did receive a lot of email. Uh I just want to say that

208I just wrote a few things in that you know we really appreciate all your questions and concerns that you have sent us through email or uh through phone calls or through social media. And I'm sorry that you know we cannot respond to each and every one of your individual questions or your emails. So I just want to tell you all that your kids safety a staff a staff safety their family safety is the most important thing in anybody in this room and so if the safety and the mental health was not this important I don't think none of us would be sitting here in this room so please make sure that you know just understand that it is not easy for us for any of your administrative team who's working on these plans or anyone

209to decide how the August is going to look like. So whatever plans we are making it is based on all the guidelines that we all have been following. The only thing I can say is as Dr. was said that the school reopening plans that we are learning that we have learned recently were not made yesterday. There has been lot of research gone which you all have not seen as I'm sure today you would have heard from this meeting that these plans started in April and there were so many important experts who were part of this plan and this plan has been uh has been modified based on all the health guidance that we had been getting from either ODH which is OM Haven County Health Commission and the state of Ohio recommendation. So there's a

210lot of research time consideration closed door conversation happened before it came out to you all. So there's a lot of work that has gone in. So we all must remember that no matter what plan we select, school is going to look not is not going to look normal as it used to be because of the unfortunate situation that we are in. Risk of falling sick will remain there no matter how many precautions we take. We must have patience and trust our administrators and teachers to take care of our kids in the best way possible they can. Our administrators who should be on vacation right now, which is the only month that they get off in the year, are still sitting here working on this plan over and over and over. So, please have patience, support

211them, and just work with them. Just we all have to do our part, and we will get through this. Thank you, Nikki. That was very helpful. I do want to clarify here just because of um open records, etc. And I I know what you meant, but we did not have closed door meetings. The administr the administrators met with each other, not us. >> No, it wasn't us. Yes, >> I know that's what you meant. So, I just wanted to be >> No, the administrators have like as Dr. said that they had a 9-hour meeting which parents did not get to see like we were not part of it. So we as a board member don't make these plans. There's a team that works on these plans and they are your building administrators. They are your

212teachers. So they are all part of it. Your teachers are part of it. So just hang on there. >> Wait for them and trust them. Most importantly just trust them. and we will get we will get there. >> Um I just wanted to say two things just to think about between now and Thursday for the board members. Um two things. One uh the CDC uh in their guidelines have mentioned six feet a lot. Um I just want to make it perfectly clear that was a unscientific based thing that was based on no mask. Absolutely no mask. And if you look at what the American Academy of Pediatrics says, they they say evidence two things. One, the CDC says when feasible, but unfortunately it's not feasible, okay, to do that and bring everybody back to school,

213which is very important for students mental health as well as many other reasons. But evidence suggests that spacing close as 3 feet approaches approaches the benefit of being 6 feet apart. That's scientifically based. I have an article that I will share with Kirk and he can send it out to all the board members. It's a long read, but it was just published this year on f physical distancing, face mask, and eye protection. And it showed there was a difference if you were less than a meter away from the person of getting the disease from if you were more than a meter. That's the evidence. The 2meter thing is barely got any studies that have ever been done and there's really almost no evidence that it increases any protection. But it does decrease our ability to

214do our job. So I will certainly share that with everybody. Um and I think that we need to realize that we need to follow the science here. Uh not follow innuendo. And the final thing that I will send to Kirk and you can share looking at how far droplets are spread. They did an excellent study with mask >> and it showed that less than 3 m is about as far as it goes. even with the simple mask that made out of a bandana. Okay. So, I think that we are very safe and backed by science to return to school with 3 to four feet of social distancing. And so, I just wanted to put that in there and I'll send it all the way so all the board members have it. Um just a followup

215point that I'd like the board members to think about uh between now and Thursday is um you know what I I probably look at every day and probably a lot of you do which is the yellow, orange, red and purple levels and um read what the hospitalization rates are and um a lot of Hamilton County guidance is out there um with health guidance and um I I think that there might be things that we need to think about on depending on which of those levels we're in. Um what um how we might want to see school opening so that parents and teachers uh could be prepared that if we were in this then that. So, um, it's just one of those things that I think we need to think about between now and Thursday that

216we might have a different opening depending on what the health situation in, uh, in Helen County is. >> Yeah, I'd actually like building on that. If you could create some trip wires and a document that we could look at and maybe modify or go, "Wow, that's perfect." >> We'll share a draft model with you on Thursday. That'd be awesome. So, do you know if if a county hits purple, is there a requirement to shut down? >> I haven't heard anything yet, Nancy, regarding that about that. Um, but to go back to the tripwire thing and you guys have been saying, and I one of the things that I think that's going to be important for you is to to make sure that your public understands what those trip wires are and your public also understands

217what will happen when you have a positive case or an exposure because we've talked about this in other meetings. you're going to have to act very quickly, right? You're not going to have the opportunity to think about what's going to happen. And so, so if all of a sudden a parent gets a call that says, "You have to come pick little Billy up and this is why." And they they're going to think, "Well, he's not he has any symptoms, nothing has happened," like they're going to need to understand that this is why it's happening and you're not. And so getting that information out too could be helpful in a way that they can understand it to say. I >> think Elizabeth also has a comment she wanted to make. What I wanted to tell you

218is it's more important than looking at Hamilton County CO is looking at the neighborhoods because I think I sent you all a map of the neighborhood COVID cases for Hamilton County and there are none in uh Indian Hill and I think that's important to consider because fortunately we've been fairly well isolated and we have to think outside of the box. We're rather unique in in that that there have been no COVID cases. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> But I think that um that gives us a different insight than looking at how >> I appreciate what you're saying, Elizabeth, but I do want to be really clear that most of our staff and teachers do not live in Indian Health. And I also think a huge a huge thing that is put out on Hamilton County

219website and the reason why the county moves is not only the the transmission among the the county as a whole but it's al also the healthcare resources. And so you know even though maybe in Indian Hill won't have a significant amount of cases when there's a case they need to go to the hospital and they need to go to the ICU. So, I think that that's important that we're making sure that there's adequate healthcare as well. But, uh, I I understand what you're saying and that's something we can discuss Thursday that are do you limit it to zip codes or do you limit it to Hamilton County? And I I think that there are two um two viewpoints on that. >> Good question. >> Okay. Any other points for discussion this evening? >> Okay. Uh

220then we will see each other again. >> Yeah, I'm going to talk about what's coming next. Um we will see each other at 6:00 on Thursday for um executive session. We will open regular meeting at 700 p.m. and we'll see how far we can how far we can get. Um so because not an easy thing. Um so is there a motion to adjurnn? So >> second all in favor >> I >> thank you everyone for all your hard work and everyone who's Thank you. >> Bill