Allentown School District Virtual Board Meeting - October 8th, 2020

001e e e okay I believe all the board members are here for the meeting tonight um so we'll go ahead and get started we're going to start the meeting tonight with the policy committee follow it with education and then end with building so I'd like to call the meeting of the policy committee to order for today October Thursday October 8th 2020 there are seven policies that we will be going through um if the public has any comment on any of these policies now is the time to make that comment so this is for policies only um if there's anybody who would like to make comment you can raise your hand now and we'll let you into the meeting I don't see any going up Mr Parker did you have any comments to make on the

002policy no comments thank you very much then um Dr Brown if you would like to get us started we can go ahead and start going through the policies yes we'll move right into Miss Pollock's presentation on um an overview of where we're going with these policies and then the subsequent policies that are that we're asking for the board's permission to approve revisions Miss Pock hi good evening I need the ability to share my screen go ahead now thank you so good evening as a as a review um we engaged many of our stakeholders in a policy alignment process um in order to update the policies that are in our student and family handbook um in September we reviewed the tobacco and Vapor Products policy student searches substance abuse acceptable use of Internet computers and network

003resources and in October um we discussed and reviewed the gang policy suspension and expulsion electronic devices Transportation um the video audio recording and in November we will review student expression hazings the Student Assistance Plan and volun the volunteer policy as part of that stakeholder engagement process we engaged a number of stakeholders in September and October in order to gather feedback on the policies it went through the technology and operations Department also a staff working group that was developed parent and parent and family review committees student review committees the principles academic team the solicitor cabinet and also policy co-chairs as part of the engagement meetings there were 77 parents or family members that expressed an interest on being a part of the Committees 17 staff members that expressed interest and eight students out of the 77

004um parents we had four meetings in September and two in October and we had a total of 12 parents that attended in September we had one staff meeting and October we also had one staff meeting and we had a total of 16 staff members attend those two meetings in order to gather feedback and then in September for students we had a meeting we did not have any students attend that meeting we had a total of eight that were invited um I was hoping to have more students at the last meeting but we had we did have one student that attended from South Mountain and gave a lot of feedback um which I enjoyed um but we definitely want to look at how to further engage more students in this process Dr Dr Brown would you

005like we have policies tonight don't we we we do do you just want me to go into the policies yes ma'am please all of them so first we have policy 222 the tobacco and Vapor Products policy and this policy the title and terminology was revised to reflect um tobacco and vaping products in general not just tobacco so if you notice in that first paragraph there under purpose it includes language about en vaping products including the product marked as Jewel and other electronic cigarettes student possession use and purchase and sale of tobacco and vaping products including jewels and other electronic cigarettes under the definition section it was updated based on how state law defines the term tobacco to broadly include vaping products like jewels and other cigarettes so there's a note prohibiting the possession of um

006medical marijuana based on the guidance from the Department of Health and in the Authority Section it includes the purchase of the and vaping products as well including the product marked as Jewel and other ecigarettes regardless of whether such products contain tobacco or nicotine um it is prohibited on property owned or Le leased or controlled by the school district or at school sponsored activities that are held off school property it's included there that the board prohibits student possession or use of products marketed and sold as tobacco cessation products or for other therapeutic purposes except as authorized in the board's medication policy so it also prohibits student possession of any form of medical marijuana at any time in any school building on school buses or other vehicles that are owned leased or controlled by the school district

007on property owned leased or controlled by the school School District or at school sponsored activities that are held off school property it also notes that the board authorizes the confiscation and disposal of products prohibited by this policy and again under delegate the delegation section it includes vaping products and also in the reporting section the parent report to include the purchase or sale of a tobacco or vaping product including a jewel or other ecigarettes the office of safe schools report is noted there to also include the change with vaping products and the law enforcement incident report includes the vaping products which it specifically calls out the jewels and other ecigarettes under the guideline section a student who violates this policy shall be subject to prosecution initiated by the district and if convicted shall be required to

008pay a fine for the benefit of the district in lie of the imposition of a fine the court May admit this student to an adjudication alternative so tampering with devices installed to detect use of tobacco or vaporing products should be deemed a violation of this policy and subject to disciplinary action that is the end of the updates for the tobacco and Vapor Products policy are there any questions on this poliy I have a comment just for the record I just want to be clear to um I think we got 11 attend 12 attendees I don't know how much is is real public but at anyway rate that this is the policy and from policy comes regulations which is which is actually created by the administration um so I just want um the public to be

009clear on that this is the policy but then the regulations is actually the process and the steps that would be that would Express the way that certain things would actually be um addressed am I correct you're correct thank you thank you Miss Conover are there any other questions or comments I just have uh one point um I was asked to look at these policies earlier and it's a small one on this one but um uh it should be clear that that $5 fine is not something that we can impose that we have to actually take that to court to get that so I don't want there to be any miscon you know misunderstanding about that for that was a a Interruption I only heard part of what you said do you mind repeating it no

010no not at all a small Point here the way that policy was originally written it's you could misinterpret an administrator could misinterpret that uh the school had the ability to impose the $50 fine that's not that's not accurate you have to actually prosecute that that um that case in court and the court has to impose a fine so I just want to make that clear because if you just read it it would you could you could get the impression that the school had the authority to do that and that's that's not the case would you recommend an revision I did I did in fact I've recommended a number of revisions to these policies uh so you ought to be advised that just to be clear absolutely that is the process that the solicitor recommends the

011revisions however our board book is posted prior to the revisions that were received so the plan was to include those revisions after tonight and um Miss poock will be speaking to the revisions that she received on other policies I think inadvertently she may have forgotten to include that but we have every intention on including the solicitors um revisions because they're part of the engagement process terrific yeah some of them are minor some of them are more important thank you thank you and thank you um Mr F yes as well Dr Brown you're welcome the next policy is policy 226 searches policy the student searches that policy much of that policy there is is a lot of new language in this policy um the title of the policy to searches has been updated to broaden its

012application to various kinds of searches that have been the subject of litigation um and psba replaced most of the policy with language that's more current and comprehensive and it also provides more comprehensive guidance reflecting Court established standards applicable to searches for students persons and their belongings based on individualized Reasonable Suspicion so you can see the purpose was updated um to include to respect the rights of students to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures while fulfilling the district's interest in protecting and preserving the health safety and Welfare of the school population enforcing rules of conduct and maintaining an appropriate atmosphere conducive to learning Under The Authority Section school officials have the authority to lawfully search students or their belongings including lockers automobiles electronic devices purses backpacks clothing and other possessions without a warrant when in

013school on school ground or when otherwise under School supervision if there is a reasonable suspicion that the place or thing to be searched contains prohibited Contraband material that would possess that would pose a threat to the health safety and Weare of the school population or evidence that there has been a violation of the law board policy or school rulle the scope and extent of searches must be reasonable in relation to the nature of the suspected evidence Contraband are dangerous material into the grounds of suspecting that it may be found in the place or thing being searched so the district has a compelling interest in protecting and preserving the health safety and Welfare of the school population which under certain circumstances May warrant general or random searches of students and their lockers vehicles or other belongings

014without individualized suspicion for the purpose of finding or preventing entry onto school property of Controlled Substances weapons or other dangerous materials under the delegation of responsibility section it was included that searches um authorizes the administration to conduct searches of students for their belongings including lockers and now includes automobiles electronic devices purses backpacks clothing and other possessions in accordance with the standard set forth in this policy also added that in consultation with the district solicitor the policy shall develop guidelines so those are the administrative guidelines that Mrs Conover referenced um and procedures to implement this policy and shall ensure that school staff who are involved in carrying out searches or determining when searches will be conducted receive appropriate periodic training about such procedures and currently applicable legal standards under the guidelin section this entire section is

015is new um students or there or I should say the language is new in the section students or their belongings including lockers automobiles electronic devices backpacks clothing and other possessions may be searched without a warrant when in school on school grounds or when otherwise under School supervision if there is a reasonable suspicion that the place or thing to be searched contains prohibited Contraband material that would pose a threat to the health safety and Welfare of the school population or evidence that there has been a violation of the law board policy or school rules the scope and extent of searches must be reasonable in relation to the nature of the suspected evidence Contraband or dangerous material and to the grounds for suspecting that it may be found in the place or thing being searched so in

016determining whether Reasonable Suspicion exists the principal or design always should be able to articulate what's being looked for and why it's thought to be located in that particular place to be searched the scope of the search should be limited to the place or places the item sought is believed to be examination by School staff of text messages call logs files images or other data containing in a student's mobile telephone or other devices without the student's consent normally constitutes a search that must be justified by reasonable suspicion that material and violation of the law District policy or school rules or evidence of such a violation is contained in the particular files directories or other data locations being examined in the device so this next section also reflects a number of decisions from the PA Supreme Court

017so under certain circumstances random or general searches of students and their belongings including student lockers or Vehicles parked on school property may be conducted during the school day or upon entry into school buildings or school activities in the absence of Suspicion focused on a particular student or students for the purpose of finding or preventing entry onto school property or activities of of Controlled Substances weapons or other dangerous materials such searches normally will be conducted in a minimally intrusive manner using screening methods such as dogs or other animals trained to detect Controlled Substances explosives or other harmful materials by smell as well as metal detectors and other technology when such screening methods provide a reasonable suspicion that particular students items or places possess or contain Controlled Substances weapons or other dangerous materials screening may be followed

018by physical searches or those partic particular students items or places on an individualized basis random or general searches for weapons may be conducted when there are circumstances information or events tending to indicate increased likelihood that students may be armed or headed for physical confrontation because of community strip or tensions or as a continuation or escalation of a prior incident in or out of school which threatens to spill over into school into a school sponsored activity or into other times and places that students are under School supervision random or general searches for Controlled Substances may be conducted when there are circumstances events or information tending to indicate significant drug use possession or trafficking among students in school so Random General search is not based on individualized suspicion must be approved in advance by the superintendent or

019design in consultation with the district solicitor coordination with law enforcement officials will be accomp accomplished as provided in the memorandum of understanding with the applicable law enforcement agency so in the section searches upon consent searches may be conducted at any time with or without Reasonable Suspicion if the student has given knowing and voluntary consent specific to the place to be Serv searched so the administration May establish rules and procedures governing governing certain privileges enjoyed by students such as the privilege of parking a vehicle on school grounds that make the student's consent to random searches or inspections a condition of access to the privilege searches by or at the request of law enforcement officials the legal standards governing searches initiated by school officials are less strict than the standards applicable to law enforcement authorities in many

020situations when search of students student belongings vehicles or lockers are conducted by or at the request of law enforcement officials with or without the involvement of school staff the law enforcement officials are solely responsible for ensuring that a warrant has been issued or that the circumstances otherwise permit the search to be lawfully conducted in accordance with the standards applicable to law enforcement actions School staff will not interfere with or obstruct searches initiated by law enforcement but may assist when law enforcement officials have requested such assistance and I've represented that a warrant has been issued or that they otherwise have a proper Authority for a lawful search inspections was included to the section of locker searches so Locker inspections and searches lockers are assigned to an otherwise made available to students as a convenience was added

021um that school materials and limited personal property and to facilitate movement between classes and activities to and from school such lockers are and shall remain the property of the school district and to the extent students have any expectation of privacy of lockers at all it is very limited in this next paragraph no student may place or keep in a locker any substance or object that is prohibited by law board policy or school rules or that constitutes a threat to the health safety or welfare of the occupants of the school building or the building itself so students are required to ensure that their lockers do not contain spoiled food items or beverages or soiled clothing which may attract pests create odors or cause unhealthy conditions a student Locker may be opened and inspected for cleanliness with

022or without the consent of the student Whenever there are odors pests or other indications that a locker contains spoiled food soiled clothing in need of laundering or similarly unhealthy matter the next paragraph it was added that students would be exclusively responsible for locking their assigned lockers to ensure the security of their personal belongings and school property entrusted to them in the next paragraph in the word inspection was added um to the student to whom the locker is assigned and reasonable was added to opportunity and then at the end there student lockers may be searched without prior notice to the student so the principal or designated staff person shall be present whenever student Locker is inspected for cleanliness or is searched the principal or design shall shall maintain written records of all occasions when a locker

023is search or inspected such records shall include the reasons for the search persons present objects found and their disposition searches involving um removal of clothing or examination beneath clothing and this is one that um Mr forign gave feedback on so searches of students involving the removal of undergarments or examination beneath undergarments are subject to stricter standards than are required to justif other searches of a student's person or belongings such searches are permitted only when the basis for suspicion establishes either that the reasons for believing that the items being searched for are concealed specifically inside undergarments are stronger reasons than than grounds that would support only a more General reasonable suspicion that the student is in possession of the items or has them somewhere on the student's person or that the quantity or nature of the

024item being sought present a higher level of danger to the school population than other kinds of Contraband so searches involving the removal of or examination beneath any clothing of a student other than jackets coats or other outerwear shall be conducted only by a staff member of the same gender as the student with at least one other staff person of the same gender present as a witness and in location assuring privacy from observation by persons not involved in the search or of the opposite sex searches involving the removal of undergarments or examination beneath undergarments will be conducted only after consultation with the district solicitor handling and disposal of items found in the course of searches so any item or material found during a search or inspection the student's possession of which is in violation of law

025District policy or school rules or otherwise as evidence of such a violation may be confiscated and used um as evidence in student discipline proceedings or criminal investigation even if such items are material were not the original objective of the search or inspection so the principal would be responsible to ensure that confiscated items or material are property are properly inventoried and secured until the conclusion of disciplinary action if any and are then properly disposed of if not appropriate to be returned to the student items or materials that are evidence of a criminal offense or that are not lawful for ordinary citizens to possess will be promptly turned over to proper law enforcement authorities for custody or disposal I just need one second to pull up so for policy 226 again one of Frey's recommendations was just

026that we make sure that we're following through with our administrative regs um and that under random or general searches it provides that smell can constitute um a reasonable suspicion for search so we just need to to look at that it may be okay for school context but he would like to review that particular sentence and also in the last paragraph um the statement of the law and inappropriately um random and general statements he wanted to review and just um the section on strip searches off it offers a misleading description of the law and he thinks that we should review the wording there any questions or comments for that particular policy Johnson Watts I see your hand is up yes just on the points regarding Automobiles and vehicles um if it could just be really clear

027uh or clarified um I don't know why we we use vehicle in one situation and automobile in another and I'm not sure if this applies to a child who walks two blocks to the school within the 15 M hour Zone and parked somewhere in that vicinity and does that leave that car subject to this policy or not and just if this uh execution of the RS by Administration will it be consistent throughout all schools so that someone says well I go to so and so and we don't do this there but someone at another school same age range says well that's what we do here that's my I can help a little bit the the automobile must be on school property for this to apply so if it's parked on a street we really can't

028we don't have any authority over it okay and and then in terms of that inspection is once it's being um executed by the administration into the buildings will it be consistent across all buildings so that there isn't there isn't this kind of conversation of students this is what we do here well no one does that to us here you you hear where I'm coming from yes and if I may um that is the purpose of administrative regulations to standardize the behavior of our our our leaders and our staff in the buildings so as we move to develop those and communicate those out they inform and imple they inform practice and implementation and as I said before standardize the practice and behavior that we need to support the policy okay thank you Miss Vega I see

029that your hand is up yeah I have questions about the undergarments so can you please explain to me or clarify to me what that means because someone reading this can say you can tell me to remove my underwear is that what you mean yeah maybe I I can help here a little bit Miss Vega that's one of the things I picked out let me let me just say this that I I think that Dr Brown and his PO they've done a really Yan's job in uh putting together uh revisions to these policies uh one of the things that um you know is difficult here is that things in the law change constantly and uh there are two or three cases which some of which I were was was involved in others I was familiar with

030but the cases have just come down within the last few months that affect some of this one of those is a Wayne Highland case in which I was involved it's a federal case and that discusses this whole underwear situation so the way it's written now uh I was very concerned that someone administrator might be misled get themselves into trouble thinking that you know as long as it didn't remove a kid's underwear it was okay uh the law is not quite that definitive uh in fact in the Wayne Highland's case it was a that was that was one of the questions so the question is that you reach a higher standard of uh Reasonable Suspicion whoops it's a clock sorry about that I forgot about the clock yeah I try to turn that clock off the

031other day and I couldn't figure out how to do it uh but anyway so the test is when uh the um when the search would expose intimate parts that's the language that the cases use so it doesn't necessar and and there's also in in determining what that is uh other factors come into play like the age of the student the gender of the student that that kind of thing so we need to tweak up that language a little bit so no one is misled uh that uh you can say you can do anything as long as the underwear is in place does that help at all sorry about the sorry about the clock so I have more questions um thanks F so searches of students involving the removal of undergarments or examination between beneath undergarments

032I mean it are are you changing that whole complete sentence because that's telling me that you can remove the undergarments of my child we will be Chang yeah that whole that whole section is going to get changed I mean could you do that on depending on the circumstances that that whole that whole section needs to be tweaked a little bit Yeah so let me just jump in as a district we don't engage in those as I as far as I'm aware and um here's where we would need you to confirm Mr F we don't engage in those type of searches that it shouldn't be in here though if it if you don't engage in it shouldn't be in here because this is concerning if it's critical to that level then the police should be involved

033and the police should be doing whatever searches they need to do I I don't think that any school official is qualified to remove undergarments of any child agreed I I mean l that that would only be and that would only be an extraordinarily rare case where somebody had something hidden in underwear that posed an immediate danger like a gun or something like that I mean it would it would be very extreme and Dr Brown is right that is something that is um a very last resort and that's what I want to make clear here that it's not just a removal of underwear it's it's it's an exposure of of of intimate parts and what is intimate depends on the circumstances so we're going to tweak that language uh so that I think it' be more

034comfortable with it and it'll better reflect uh what the law is and give better protection to the administrators who have to um you know who have to implement these policies okay I'd be I'm I'm really curious to see how it's going to get tweaked because that one's a huge no um now did I misunderstand or earlier did you say that parents were part of a panel that that that voted on some of these uh things or or did I misunderstood no you were correct um Linda I had a number of parent meetings where they were able to I sent the policies to them via email I also sent them translated in Spanish and then we met um via Zoom to discuss their questions concerns and feedback to the policies and the families that couldn't attend

035some That Couldn't attend were able to provide feedback through email and how how many families um um provided feedback you said I know it was like a low number right it it was a low number um and I'd have to it was 12 12 okay so I'm I'm concerned about this this section I think the rest is is is great I mean you guys did a phenomenal job but this section is is really scary at at reading it I know that you guys are going to tweak it but if it's going to be like some kind of extreme type of situation where there's a shooting or or something like that then it it needs to be worded that way because any other if if it's not worded specifically this is saying that you you can

036because you want to conduct a search you can search under my kids on the garments Linda when when we're finished with this with work with um um Miss poock and Dr Brown and uh I think that you will be more comfortable when when you see um the final product thank you I I I appreciate you guys listening no you're absolutely right it's it's it's an Absolut Ely important concern any other questions or comments for that policy yes Miss conover's hand is up yes I agree with Mr f i i um just from listening I'm on the policy committee by the way just from listening um there are there are some changes that I think that we are aware of that it has to be changed but the reason why I initially raised my hand was

037because I had a question regards to in regards to the um a uh a policy that addresses fou play this is what Foul Play oh and I'm not sure you're right right so what would that would that be a separate policy or is that something that would actually be written in the regs AKA process I think we'd have to understand the use of the term Foul Play okay so I'mma give you an example and I'm not I'm not I'm not against anyone but we know in this world that we live in things happen um you doing car searches something's planted in the car you have a student um who um may be playing with another kid um and it's it's harmless but maybe a um teacher administrator person who has Authority sees it an as

038an opportunity to uh say that they see something that they didn't actually see I want to know what happens when it's when allegations are unfounded F play thank you for that um I guess once we have a chance to converse a bit deeper with um the solicitor on that he'll guide us on on whether that's a policy or a piece of the rake and we'll definitely Circle back to the committee and share um the changes and updates with the full board as well thank you okay so the next policy is policy 227 is the Controlled Substances policy so this policy has some minor content updates for better Clarity in the purpose section they added the word shall under under the definition section it was revised for Controlled Substances lookalike drugs and lookalike drugs in accordance

039with the law so down at the bottom there for number eight in the definition section nonprescription overthe counter medications was added and then for the purposes of this policy lookalike drug shall include any pill capsule tablet powder plant matter or other item or substance that is designed or intended to resemble a controlled substance prohibited by this policy or is used in manner in a manner likely to include others to believe the material is a controlled substance Under The Authority Section the last paragraph the disability information was updated and Court in accordance with the law as well so to include a student for whom an an evaluation is pending the the district shall take all steps required to comply with state and federal laws and regulations the procedures set forth in the memorandum of understanding with

040local law enforcement and board policies for off-campus activities it was updated to due to recent court cases so the policy shall also apply to student conduct that occurs off school property and would otherwise violate the code of conduct if any of the following circumstances exist and number one the conduct occurs during the time the student is traveling to and from school or traveling to and from school sponsored activities whether or not via School District furnace Transportation the word activity and such activities were added to number two student expression was added to number three and in number four for example a transaction conducted outside of school pursuant to an agreement made in school that would violate the code of conduct if conducted in school and number six there's otherwise a Nexus between the proximity or timing

041of the conduct in relation to the students attendance at school or School sponsored activities under delegation of responsibility the language of developing administrative regulations was added and in number one um establishing procedures to appropriately managed situations involving students suspected of using possessing being under the influence or Distributing controlled substances and in number two the administrative regulations language was added in number number four on the term convicted of so establish procedures for education and readmission to school of students convicted of offenses involved in Controlled Substances violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to an including expulsion and referral for prosecution if you go two paragraphs down there the beginning of that sentence was added in accordance with state law the superintendent shall annually by July 31st report all incidents of possession use or

042sale of controlled sub es to the office for safe schools the word shell was added there in the last sentence of that section and in the section for anabolic steroids in the second sentence bodybuilding materials and muscle enhancement increasing muscle bulk or strength um was added that is the end of the changes for policy 227 do you have any questions or comments any hands raised you said you don't okay thank you you can go on okay next Teisha sailor will present the acceptable use of Internet computers and network resources policy thank you the acceptable use of Internet computers and network resources policy um begins with um modifications to the language in the purpose section the board supports the use of the of the computers internet and other network resources in the district's instructional and operational

043programs in order to facilitate learning teaching and daily operations through interpersonal communic iations and access to information research and collaboration the next paragraph is updated to um to add the district provides students staff and other authorized individuals with access to the district's computers electronic communication systems and network which includes internet access whether wired or Wireless or by any other means the last paragraph in the purpose section um has language that states for instructional purposes the use of network facilities be consistent with the curriculum adopted by the district as well as the verified instructional needs learning styles abilities and developmental levels of students in the definition section uh language specific to child pornography where it says the term child pornography is defined under both federal and state law the word is is added um in reference

044to any Visual depictions and in the child pornography section C uh the word State and is is added in terms of its applicability to the law and um components such as books magazines pamphlets slides photograph film videotape computer depiction or other material depicting a child under the age of 18 um there's additional language that specifies U references to minors it says the term harmful to minors is defined under both federal and state law the word is added in reference to a picture anything harmful to minors in the harmful to minor section further down specific reference to state law is referenced here in accordance with any depiction or representation in whatever form of nudity sexual conduct sexual excitement or misogynistic abuse in the Authority Section um the language ad here says the availability of access to

045electronic information does not imply endorsement by the District of the content nor does the district guarantee the accuracy of information received the district shall not be responsible for any information that may be lost damaged or unavailable when using the network or for any information that is retrieved via the Internet the district shall not be responsible for any unauthorized CH charges or fees resulting from access to the internet or other network resources further in this paragraph language was added to include the district's computer and network resources are the property of the district um specifications on users that shall have no expectation of privacy in anything they create store send delete receive or display on or over the district's computer information systems including personal FL files or any use of the district CIS systems the district reserves

046the right to monitor track and log network access and use or monitor files server space utilization by District users the word shall and the word the were added in association with um the extent legally required with the internet service provider further down we have references that um for the requirements all users to fully comply with this policy and to immediately report any violations or suspicious activities to the superintendent or design the board establishes the following materials in addition to those stated in law and defined in this policy that are inappropriate for Access by minors they include anything that is defamatory uh lwd vulgar or profane anything that is threatening harassing or discriminatory bullying or terroristic the last paragraph here um adds language in association with the established board policy Andor the use of software Andor

047online server blocking um access to filters or specifically the district operates in and enforces a technology protection measure that blocks or filters access to inappropriate matter by miners on its computers used and accessible to adults and students the technology protection measure shall be enforced during use of computers and internet access upon requests by students and staff the superintendent or design shall expedite a review and may authorize the disabling of Internet blocking or filtering software to enable access to material that is blocked through technology protection measures but is not prohibited by this policy upon request by students Andor staff building administrators May authorize a temporary disabling of Internet blocking or filtering software to enable access for Bonafide research or other lawful purposes written permission from the parent or garden Guardian is required prior to disabling internet

048blocking filtering software for a student's use if a request for temporary disabling of Internet blocking or filing software is denied the requesting student or staff member May appeal the denial to the superintendent or design for expedited review under the delegation of responsibility section the addition uh language that states the district shall make every effort to ensure that this resource is used used responsibly by students and staff the district shall inform staff students parents Guardians and any other users about this policy through employee and student handbooks posted on the district website and by other appropriate methods a copy of this policy shall be provided to parents Guardians upon written request users of District networks or District owned equipment shall prior to being given access or being issued equipment sign user agreements acknowledging awareness of the provisions

049of this policy and awareness that the district uses monitoring systems to Monitor and detect inappropriate use student user agreements shall also be signed by a parent or Guardian administrators teachers and staff have a professional responsibility to work together to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discern among information sources to identify information appropriate to their age and development levels and to evaluate and use the information to meet their educational goals students staff and other authorized individuals have the responsibility to respect and protect the rights of every other user in the district and on the internet add building administrators shall make initial determinations of whether inappropriate use has occurred the superintendent or design shall be responsible for recommending technology and developing Pro procedures used to determine whether the district's computers are being used for purposes

050prohibited by law or for accessing sexually explicit materials the procedures shall include but not be limited to utilizing a technology protection measure that blocks or filters internet access for minors and adults to certain visual depictions that are obscene child pornography harmful to minors with respect to use by miners or determined inappropriate for use by miners by the board maintaining and securing a usage log monitoring online activities of miners the next a sentence includes language that says that the superintendent or design shall develop and Implement administrative regulations that ensure students are educated on network etiquette and other appropriate appropriate online Behavior including interaction with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms cyber bullying awareness and response in the guidelines section language uh now is now included which states that Network accounts shall be

051used only by the authorized owner of the account for its approved purpose Network users shall respect the privacy of other users on the system in the safety section it is the the district's goal to protect users of the network from harassment and unwanted or unsolicited electronic communications any network user who receives threatening or unwelcoming or unwelcome electronic communications or or inadvertently visits or accesses an inappropriate site shall report such immediately to a teacher or administrator Network users shall not reveal personal information to other users on the network including chat rooms emails social networking websites Etc Internet safety measures shall effectively address the following control of access by miners to in appropriate matter on the internet and worldwide web Safety and Security of miners when using electronic mail chat room and other forms of direct electronic

052communications prevention of unauthorized online access by miners including hacking and other unlawful activities unauthorized disclosure use and dissemination of personal information regarding miners restriction of minor access to materials harmful to them in the Pro prohibition section users are expected to act in a reasonable ethical and legal manner in accordance with District policy accepted rules of network etiquette and federal and state law specifically the following uses are prohibited facilitating illegal activity commercial or or for-profit purposes nonwork or non-school related work product advertisement or political lobbying bullying cyber bullying hate mail discriminatory remarks and offensive or inflammatory communication unauthorized or illegal installation distribution reproduction or use of copyrighted materials assessing accessing sending receiving transferring viewing sharing or downloading OB scene pornographic lud or other otherwise illegal materials images or photographs access by students and miners to material

053that is harmful to minors or is determined and appropriate for minors in accordance with the board policy inappropriate language or profanity transmission of material likely to be offensive or objectionable to recipients inten obtaining or modifying of files passwords and data belonging to other users impersonation of another user anonymity and pseudonyms fraudulent copying Communications or modification to materials in violation of copyright laws loading or using of unauthorized games programs files or other Electronic media disruption of the work of other users destruction modification abuse or unauthorized access to network Hardware software and files accessing the internet District computers or other network resources without resources without authorization disabling or bypassing the internet blocking filtering software without authorization accessing sending receiving transferring viewing sharing or downloading confidential in information without authorization in the security section we have language which

054states system security is protected through the use of passwords failure to adequately protect or update passwords could result in unauthorized access to personal or District files to protect the Integrity of the system these guidelines shall be followed employees and students shall not reveal their passwords to another individual users are not to use a computer that has been logged in under another students or employees name any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems May may be denied access to the network in the copyright section it states it's illegal the illegal use of copyrighted materials is prohibited any data uploaded or uploaded to or downloaded from the network shall be subject to fair use guide shall be subject to fair use guidelines and applicable laws and regulations pertaining

055to the district website we have language that says it shall establish um it shall develop all users publishing content on the we District website shall comply with this policy and other applicable District policies users shall not copy or download information from the district website and disseminate such information on unauthorized web pages without authorization from the building principle in the consequences for an appropriate use section we have language that states the network user shall be responsible for damages to the equipment systems and software resulting from deliberate or willful acts illegal use of the network intentional deletion or damage of files or data belonging to others copyright violations and theft of services shall be reported to the appropriate legal authorities for possible prosecution uh the next sentence includes language which references of the CIS systems in addition

056to the stipulations of this policy vandalism shall result in loss of access privileges discri disciplinary action Andor legal proceedings vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user internet or other networks this includes but is not limited to uploading or creating computer viruses failure to comply with this policy or inappropriate use of the internet District Network or computers shall result in usage restrictions loss of access privileges disciplinary action and or legal proceedings that concludes the modifications or updates to policy 815 are there any questions I don't see any hand ra okay thank you thank you so the next policy is policy 233 suspension and expulsion so this policy includes minor content updates for better Clarity in organization um psba deleted language on incidents with a student with a disability

057and imposing suspension and expulsion um with the recommendation that the topic would be more effectively addressed in draft policy3 which is discipline of students with disabilities um and Mr FY has also given some feedback in better defining the section on disability um the first section under purpose the board was added to that particular paragraph under guidelines in the second paragraph School population is threatened so the word population was added and a sentence was added at the end there to include informal hearings under this provision shall be conducted by the building principal under the exclusion from class section in school suspension the build principle was added under the expulsion section the board May permanently expel from the district roles any student whose misconduct or Disobedience warrants this s sanction and then that concludes the updates for

058policy 233 do you have any questions or comments okay next Teisha sailor will do policy 237 electronic devices thank you this section uh this policy contains updates right at the purpose section which states the board adopts this policy in order to maintain an educational environment that is safe and secure for district students and employees in the definition section electronic devices shall include all devices that can take photographs record audio or video data store transmit or receive messages or images or provide a wireless unfiltered connection to the internet examples of these electronic devices include but shall not be limited to radios Walkman CD players iPods MP3 players DVD players handheld game consoles personal digital assistant also known as pdas cellular tele telephones blackberries and laptop computers as well as any new technology developed with similar capabilities

059in the Authority Section uh the inclusion of the use of electronic use of electronic devices is added as well as language pertaining to on District property on District buses and vehicles during the time students are under the supervision of the district and in locker rooms bathrooms Health Suites and other changing areas at any time um the board prohibits possession of uh laser pointers and attachments references to telephone paging devices beepers by students in the district buildings or on District property and at school sponsored events in the electronic images and photograph section the board prohibits the taking storing disseminating transferring viewing or sharing of obscene pornographic LW or otherwise illegal images or photographs whether by electronic data transfer transfer or other means including but not limited to texting and emailing because such violations May constitute a

060crime under State Andor federal law the district May report such conduct to State Andor federal law enforcement agencies the off-campus uh activities section is now included um and it states that the policy shall also apply to student conduct that occurs off school property and would otherwise violate the code of of student conduct if any of the following circumstances exist the conduct occurs during the time the student is traveling to and from school or traveling to and from school sponsored activities whether or not via School District furnished Transportation the student is a member of an extracurricular activity and has been notified that particular off-campus conduct could result in exclusion from such Act activities the student is a member of an extra I'm sorry the student student expression or conduct mat materially and substantially disrupts the operation

061of the school or the administration if reasonably anticipates that the expression or conduct is likely to materially or substantially disrupt the operations of the school the conduct has a direct Nexus to attendance at school or a school sponsored activity for example a transaction conduct outside of school pursuant to an agreement made in school that would violate the code of student conduct if conducted in school the conduct involves the theft or vandalism of school property there is otherwise a Nexus between the proximity or timing of the conduct in relation to the students attendance at school or School sponsored activities in the delegation of responsibility section there's a reference to employees and language that specifies the board's electronic device proper policy reference um it also states that the superintendent or design shall develop administrative regulations to implement

062this policy in the guideline section uh violations of this policy by a student shall result in disciplinary action and shall result in confiscation of the electronic device uh exceptions and the exception section now includes the building administrator May Grant approval for possession and use of an electronic device by a student for the following reasons one health safety or emergency reasons um and individualized education program three the addition of language pertaining to classroom or instruction related activities as well as other reasons determined appropriate by the building principal the building administrator May Grant approval for possession and use of a telephone paging device beeper by a student for the following reasons one a student is a member of Volunteer Fire Company ambulance or Rescue Squad and here in number two we have reference to the medical condition

063of an immediate family member's needs and that concludes um the updates to policy 237 as I understand it the solicitor has uh provided us with some additional information um in accordance with it one point of reference was the def was the definition of electronic images um and photographs um he states that it's an over Brad and may apply to Outlaw constitutional protected speech or materials um we would potentially need a more carefully crafted definition um he references numbers 2 three and four and states that they may violate the First Amendment um as they are currently written based on the very recent third circuit decision in BL versus manoy um SD case I think that means South Dakota um which holds um that schools have little or no authority to discipline speech generated off campus even

064if it causes A disruption on campus and his third uh point of reference here in in relation to this policy is that under guidelines on page two3 the confiscation provision without accompanying due process um predicates uh may actually violate the 14th Amendment we'll get it fixed Johnson wats I see that your hand is up yes um this particular one it seems so Broad and thank you Mr Frey for uh the commentary that you provided on it I I I was trying to figure out what is an example of this so I can understand the purpose of such a policy I'll defer the administration Miss sailor are you able to respond um an example of an electronic device an example of when uh this policy would be violated such that it would warrant such a policy

065well I think it it references to um way manners in which electronic devices could be inappropriately used on District in District buildings um and when that inappropriate use may call to question the a need for the district to act the reason I'm asking is because I don't want to presume that I know why a policy like this exists so there's got to be a reason why this policy has been generated and I don't understand it so I need someone to help me understand the purpose of the policy maybe I go ahead Dr Brown go ahead so I'll jump in and perhaps you can give us the the legal perspective as we continue to acquire more and more devices more and more um um inventory that qualifies under this this uh policy is you heard the

066Litany of list of different devices that qualify and come under this policy we need to ensure that all of our devices that are purchased with District funds that are a part of the district are being used in the manner in which they are intended there are number of examples across the years of inappropriate use at both the staff level and student level and so this policy gives us the organizational not only protection but guidance if you will to ensure that everyone is on the same page when they are becoming stewards of our devices that we're funding through taxpayer dollars so this is about school district purchase devices not about student individual cell phone thought it was I thought it was broader than that the yeah I think it incorporates that's why I'm asking because you

067know if a parent sends a child to school and says call me when you want me to pick you up so they have a phone I'm just trying to understand the so it's broader than than District purchas devices then we need to be clear about that in the policy and so if it's not ready to move forward um from our it perspective then perhaps we should hold it Miss tayor Yeah well yeah we we we can address this but the way it reads and and um Mr Johnson wats most of the districts have policies that that do Encompass not only District own devices but also personal devices which are ubiquitous these days and certainly they can be used in inappropriate ways in the school setting one of the things that I pointed out and that

068you know the administrator of people that don't do this as a living are at a disadvantage I mean there's a case that came down in the third Circuit by the way that's SD is for school district it's very close it's not not far away from here actually um that that case really made a significant change in what school districts are able to do uh in terms of speech that's generated off campus uh there's tremendous confusion about this in the law before this in the third circuit which of course only one of 11 circuits so it could you know could be different different places but for our circuit the third circuit um we are now considerably constrained in what discipline we can apply when speech is generated through like social media or so forth if it's

069generated off campus or even if it causes A disruption on campus so that's one of the things that we have to tweak in this policy so we don't get ourselves uh in trouble or overstep uh the authority that the law gives us in this area uh the decision by the way is on such a such a um um you know a decision that really changes things in the law and it is currently on appeal of Supreme Court United States but the Supreme Court only takes 1% of the cases that uh it's requested to hear so we don't know whether or not they'll hear it or not but is a change in the law that we'll address in F language well I I I would definitely um look forward to more clarification uh simply because we

070have all kinds of expression amongst all kinds of students and I'm trying to understand where the violation comes in and you know because it is so Broad now if it is specific to District purchase devices then perhaps we should be saying that so if I could again I think it it is designed to cover broadly um the district devices as well as um additional devices that may be used even though it's a personal device that may be used on District policy so the policy is designed to Encompass all devices that will be used on District property on District property okay so then in terms of somebody's walking home and they decide that they want to say something or post something is that a problem this is what I'm trying to understand well under this under

071this most recent case it it may well be a problem um and I can you send us a copy of the case or at least send me a copy of the case I certain I certainly will it's a very interesting case and if you read the the policy there it does speak to um kind of explicitly the off-campus activity um so if a kid is going to or from school then that still kind of falls under the opes of of the school district to a to a certain degree um it's the old kind of porch to porch addage um where the school still has some level of responsibility um for kids from from porch to porch um so so there's the the the policy is significantly broad um to give the district the ability to

072manage on campus the the to and from campus as well as some of the things that could impact um the overall School environment so to me given what explanation I've been given so far it sounds like an overreach of authority um once the children gets past that 15 Mile Zone 15 m per hour Zone they're off school property so I I'm a little confused by why we would want to be so involved in what a child does child being anyone from age K through 12 what they do with their personal cell phone on their time once theyve left the building M Miss Johnson wats I'll make sure that I send around to the entire board um a little summary of this as as well as send the entire case if you want to read it

073but it does make a substantial dent in what what what Educators traditionally thought that they were able to do with regulating off-campus speech and yeah I I think I think what Mr Parker said it's kind of a gray area now under the case certainly if you were on a bus there'd be no question that we could do that um it's a brand new case it's really only about 60 days old so the Law changes changes all the time yeah and I and I really think we're in the business of supporting our children receiving a solid education rather than worrying about what they do or say on their cell phone when they're outside of the 15 m per hour Zone I I'll send this around and we'll work on the language and I think you'll be

074satisfied um when when you see thank you so much this Con over over if you have a question or comment you can go ahead yes I do have a comment so I I do have some concerns because I'm going back to um before uh we went virtual there was a there was a concern about bullying in our district and we know that you have we have kids who actually use their cell phones to orchestrate gang activity bullying activity so I don't I I on one hand I'm I'm hearing and I'm understanding okay so whatever they do on their phone if they're outside of a specific area it doesn't have anything to do with us but in some instances especially when there's uh sports games and stuff like that and kids are orchestrating then we should

075have some type of authority to actually move in and confiscate and if I may I'm not sure about the confiscation piece but I'll just make a parallel um um point with regards to sexual harassment and assault if something happens off campus we are very much still responsible and have an owness to um Remedy or find a remedy for the safe space the environment and to your point often times these things are coordinated or initiated through these devices so we'll absolutely have to go back and have some conversation but often times there is um there's there's some nuances in terms of where as Mr Parker mentioned porch to whatever the phrase was you were um you use um where we are liable for certain pieces and Mr F please jump in but well I can say

076to to give uh Miss Conover some soless the the case that I that I spoke of uh does mention two possible ex exceptions uh to this off-campus speech one is when that when that speech is direct is specifically directed uh at harassment of an individual or specific group of individuals or where it contains a threat of violence so those are two areas that the case suggests that the school maintains pretty good authority to discipline but you know other matters that it comments on you know maybe on the election or what have you or maybe you're taking a knee on the that kind of thing those kinds of controversial issues um court has basically said you know kids have the right to to do this off of school campus and um uh the school's ability to

077um to address them is now Limited at least in the third circuit yeah so so again for me to to underline it and that's the old high school principal in me I I learned it and I taught it to my staff as well the school has a level of accountability from porch to porch from the time that kid leaves porch in the morning to the time that kid gets back to porch in the evening there's some level of accountability legally that will always be part of the school district's respons ility and again that that begins to be mitigated depending on situation but if you look back at the policy it speaks about um travel to and from school it speaks about the time of travel to and from school so if little little John fre

078is a knucklehead and he skipped school today um even though he may be not on campus um if it's during the school time there's still going to be potentially some um some some School District ability to engage if there's a a concern with um technology or a violation of the district policy I think it really comes back down to whether or not the district has any level of autonomy to um enforce concerns related to a violation of policy during a time that a kid is in school or to or from school and then specifically and I'm going back down to um number two um where it speaks about extracurricular activities that's you know going to the game on Fridays um and then number three um and I think that's where Miss Conover is coming from

079if if it's an activity that kind of disrupts the operation of the school then there's still the opportunity for the school district to engage and and begin to mitigate any concerns well um my concern is about the use of the word speech because I find that very interesting and curious um and then in terms of the porch to porch concept at what time of day does that porch to porch concept uh expire so those are some of the things that I would be curious to know more about I don't need to really go into any further there's no convincing me at this moment without having seen that case but I do appreciate the attempts at this point to clarify at this point I need to learn a little bit more on my own I guess

080thanks I'll send it to you to everybody are there any other questions or comments on this policy I don't see any so we want to do the last one policy 81.2 and Mr Falco will present the updates for policy 810 point2 the transportation policy thank you Tiffany this uh this policy 88 10.2 is under operations Transportation video audio recording it replaces policy 81.2 um the purpose of which is the use of video and audio recording equipment that supports efforts to maintain discipline and to ensure Safety and Security of all students staff contractors and others being transported on District own operated or contracted school buses or School Vehicles definitions the school bus means a motor vehicle that is designed to carry 11 passengers or more including the driver and is used for the transportation of uh

081pre-primary primary or secondary school students to are from public private or parochial schools or events related to such schools or School related activities School vehicle means a motor vehicle except a motorcycle designed for carrying no more than 10 passengers including the driver and used for the transportation of pre-primary primary or secondary school students while registered by or under contract back to the school district the term includes Vehicles having chartered group or party rights under the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and used for the transportation of school children under Authority the board authorizes the use of video and audio recording on school buses and school vehicles for disciplinary and security purposes the board prohibits the use of audio recording on any school bus or School vehicle that is not being used for school related purpose for a

082delegation and responsibility the board directs the superintendent or designate to ensure that each school bus and school vehicle that is equipped with video and audio recording equipment contains a clearly posted notice informing drivers and passengers of the potential for video and audio recording this policy is posted on the district's uh publicly accessible website each school year the policy is included in the student handbook and in any other District publication that sets forth the comprehensive rules procedures and standards of conduct guidelines the district shall comply with the provisions of federal and state laws and regulations regarding student record requirements is applicable to the district's use and disclosure of recordings recordings considered part of a student's educational record shall be maintained in accord with established student record procedures governing access review and disclosure of student records and

083that is policy 81.2 anybody have any questions or comments on this policy seeing and hearing none um if we want we can just take a vote on all seven policies together there's no objection to that is this a first reading reading Miss um Mrs brce yes don't think you need to take a vote on the first reading but uh you can we usually oh no we've always voted to put them through to the next meeting oh okay sure so is there a motion to pass it items 1 through 7 through to the board meeting at the end of the month oh miss Vega your hand is up yes if we vote now to pass this to the next meeting this is with the changes that have been said will be made and then we'll vote

084then right correct yeah we will get the updated policies before the next meeting then thank you yep I have a motion for items one through seven I'll make the motion I'll second second was that Miss Conover yes okay any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor say I I I I any opposed okay the policies move forward to our board meeting on October 22nd and I will now turn the meeting over to miss Wilt thank you Mrs brace um at this time if there would would be any public comment on non-agenda items from the from the public I would ask that you raise your hand now and I will call on you at that time you'll have three minutes to provide comment seeing none I'll go on to um any

085old business seeing none go on to Oops I did that did I do that backwards nope new business sorry guys um any new business seeing no I'll uh entertain a motion to adjourn make the motion motion by Nicholas Miller do I have a second I'll second by Mrs brace all in favor to adjourn the policy committee hi hi thank you thank you Miss Wilt and I'd like to call to order the education Committee of the whole meeting for tonight Thursday October 8th 2020 tonight we have um three items to discuss Mr Parker do you have any comments to make no comments okay if anybody from the public has any comments to make on any of our agenda items now is the time to raise your hand again this is for the education committee seeing No

086Hands we can move on to our items um Dr Brown if you'd like to get started yes thank you Mrs brace our first item is a our uh title to non-public uh services and uh Melissa Smith will be speaking to the memo and the um scope of the initiative thank you Dr Brown good evening tonight we're requesting the board's approval of the contract between St John vien and step-by-step learning for a cost of $ 48,4 se2 St John vien is a non-public school which receives Federal fings through the Allentown School District stepbystep learning will provide professional de development to St John vien teachers in the form of ongoing coaching in the science of reading and assessment tools to determine instructional interventions needed the professional development will support teachers in providing very explicit quality literacy instruction

087in their core program teachers will also learn how to analyze assessment data and how to provide tier 2 intervention to students in need in their classrooms students will receive a strong instruction in Reading there will be less students in need of intervention services since students are receiving strong instruction in reading the cost again is $ 48,4 72 it is year 19 201920 Title One and title two funding um and the solicitor did review the agreement there any questions or comments on this item is this uh is stepbystep learning who St John VI CH or is that somebody that we suggested they use for their professional development St John V you select a step-by-step learning and do we have any say I don't about them but do we have any say in who they pick like

088are they a good a good use of these funds St John VI has been using stepbystep learning in the past and they have been seeing results yes um we are our responsibility is to ensure procurement is followed to ensure that everything is um through uh discussed through consultation but St John VI does have the say in this program that's or the company that selected thank you are there any other questions or comments seeing and hearing none um why don't we we'll just vote on that one now is there a motion to put through the non-public title say to the board meeting at the end of the month I'll move to move it forward Miss seconded by Miss Wilt yes okay um any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor I I any

089opposed okay so that will be moved forward to board meeting at the end of the month next up is the Communities In Schools contract this is an annual annual um contract that is awarded after um a public RFP process we shared with our co-chairs along the way the timeline for the RFP and the results of the RFP and as a result community and schools um had the most appropriate response to our our RFP um Missy Smith will walk through the elements of the partnership we also have Mr Tim Mulligan online and available to ask answer any um additional questions thank you again Dr Brown tonight we're here to request the board's approval to Ward the competitive propal proposal to communities and schools to support the work of restorative practices while providing integrated student supports to

090students at Allen deer of South Mountain William Penn and the re-engagement center at a cost of $549,450 cost per build program and building is as follows Allan and dear of high school the cost is $ 35,2 53 per building at William pen in the re-engagement center is $81,500 40 per program and at South Mountain Middle School it is $75,100 the purpose of the project is to build the capacity of the Allentown School District staff to implement restorative practices in their daily instructional and non-instructional routines additionally student level services including one:1 one student Counseling group counseling mentoring family conferences and Community meetings will be provided the scope of work includes in-person Group Training on restorative practices for teachers other instructional and non instructional staff facilitation of circles where appropriate based on individual roles and positions within

091the district evaluation of the training and implementation process as well as the expected measurable outcomes of all training and coaching at the staff student and family levels respectively integrated student supports is a school-based approach to promoting students academic success by developing and securing coordinating um students supports that Target academic and non-academic barriers to achievement at communities and schools this includes onetoone support in the form of case management for students with low academic behavior and attendance integrated student support directly aligns to the Strategic area one cultivate a culture where students feel safe valued and nurtured the desired outcome of this work is to have all ASD students families and staff regularly using restorative practice in their daily workflows which will include classroom teaching staffto staff relations as well as family and Community engagement services will include

092an evidence-based model of in integrated student support which has proven results to increased graduation rates and decreased Dropout rates services will be provided at designated schools determined by the administration which we have listed above coordination of services in the school and Community will be directed to meet the needs meet the students educational social and behavioral needs of identified students for the term of the agreement again the cost is $549,450 the source of funds is title four as well as um the continuity of education grant for our atsi schools which are Alan and deff and this was reviewed by the solicitor um if we may make one point of clarification before um any questions um this work speaks to communities in school staff so we'll go back and revise where it says allent toown School District

093staff because this is community and School staff that are working in our buildings just to clarify thank you U Miss Johnson wats see your hand is up yes I am looking to understand uh what type of collaboration might go on with all of the other programs that we have going on I think communities and schools is wonderful I love the work that they're doing I just want to get an understanding of the interface if any with some of the other initiatives that have been brought forward over the last six months sure um uh thank you um for that question U Miss wats um the answer to that is really the whole way that communities and schools works is a kind of collective impact approach um we are continually working with Partners I'd like to say

094that when you get communities and schools you also get our Rolodex uh because what we do is we we are a connector and our our folks are trained um both to work with those uh resources that are both within the school and also in the community um and making sure that we're making those vital connections um another thing that's always important to us is ensuring that what we're doing is not compartmentalized from the school but it's ingrained in the very fabric of of how the school is operating so um so I appreciate that question and uh I just want to say that that's that's very much about how we operate in the schools and in the district and if I if I can add to that a little bit Miss Johnson Watts um in in

095two ways I think you see a really significant alignment uh with the work CIS is doing and the the school district um Vision a um in in years past if you go back through three years ago four years ago um this this bucket of resources would have been focused on integrated student supports and I think that was the kind of the title and the um way that it was implemented now you see still some of the elements of the integrated student supports but you see um this being focused on restorative practices so we we made the statement um a year and a half ago that we were becoming a restorative District and that we were engaging all partners and moving away so this is back to that whole conversation about um leader and me and

096all the different programs right we wanted to singularly focus on one philosophy right additional resources additional outputs great but one single philosophy so this represents the district identifying a singular philosophy and communities and schools being an absolutely phenomenal partner in acknowledging the direction of the district and and really jumping on board and being two feet in with us on the implementation of our districtwide restorative practices approach um I'd say the second piece there is um and I'll talk about um um some of the the the the work with um the centy fund and the Middle School transformation and all of that work that we're pushing um out to create better outcomes for kids communities and schools is one of those Partners that's at the table with us with that Next Century allent toown um process

097so there's some individual and unilateral work that's happening between the district and communities and schools but CIS is also a partner in um the CSI work and the Middle School transformation so the the alignment of a Form and Function is is is really strong at this point exactly to what I believe you're you're you're you're you're you're hitting at is is this kind of oneof in what you all do or is this specifically aligned to what we need and and I would say it's absolutely the latter and and Tim and his team have been absolutely phenomenal about understanding that that's the district approach and and really jumping in and being a part of it thank you so much for for um clarifying because I wasn't sure if this was going to become Silo a silo

098B Silo C and everybody's doing their thing or is it is it really meshing and and creating a nice network of of support for every student so okay thank you thank you for alleviating my concerns are there any other questions or comments on this item okay seeing and hearing none um do I have a motion to pass this through to the board meeting move second Miss Johnson Watts seconded by Miss Conover any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor I I I any opposed all right that will be moved forward to our meeting on the 22nd and then the last thing we have is a virtual campus update yes thank you Mrs brace um if we could have our PowerPoint um displayed on the [Music] screen and we can advance

099the slides so this will serve as our October 8th update on our virtual campus um we'll cover and give them updates on the the topics highlighted here our community Co update along with any other health and safety discussions or items that we need to highlight um we'll give an overview of where we are with professional development um highlight some data on Communications and then our department um that will be featured this evening is uh student services and how they're supporting um K12 students in this virtual environment next slide please so with regard to health and safety um We are continuing to monitor next slide please continuing to monitor the local um covid rates through the pte covid-19 early warning dashboard and so what you have before you is the most recent update which is always

100looking back at the previous seven days and this covers the period from September 25th through October 1st the area that pte has identified as really critical in guiding the instructional model that an Lea is using is highlighted for you there in the red box so that's the the indicator of the incident uh rate per 100,000 and as you can see as you look at that data in that red box and other data displayed for you here you can see that we're experiencing a bit of an uptick if you will so between the previous uh seven days that was shared with you uh last month and this most recent 7-Day period we've seen a slight increase in the incident rate per 100,000 so 29.9 versus the 43.5 um and I won't read through the rest of

101them as you know um I defer to our health experts to really explain explicitly but the positivity rate is also um an indicator as well as we advance to the next slide here's where we look at pde's guidance for instructional models that are applicable for use during um covid-19 So based on the level of community trans Mission within the county which is those data that we uh shared on the previous slide you'll see um guidance categorized in low mediate or substantial levels right now based on the information that we just shared on the previous Slide the Allentown school district is falling within that moderate range with our cases and our positivity uh rate so this is um just sharing and being very transparent on the data that we're using to guide our discussions as we

102move forward next slide please um here I'll defer to Mr Parker to give um an overview of how we intend to use this data on some critical decisionmaking points going forward uh thank you Dr Brown um again as you may remember the board made the decision to um implement the virtual campus through the first quarter with the expectation that we would review um all levels of data and then make a decision prior to the first prior to the end of the first quarter um for what subsequent quarter and or year would be um many schools have already decided that were virtual have already decided or made that original decision for the first semester um we decided to take it by quarter to give us the opportunity to Pivot if the opportunity um arose um so

103you'll see here our next step so we're going to determine the direction for the next quarter um continually looking continuing to look at the covid data that that you just saw from Dr Brown um we're going to be reviewing our um virtual campus success data ultimately we want to make sure that this is working well for for our students and our families um a big part of this um if you haven't heard Allentown has some fairly old buildings maybe um news um but we need to make sure that we can assess our level of building Readiness to ensure from the um from the the the air handling and filtering systems to the um Water Systems in in our buildings were're able to provide a safe environment in addition to um kind of the basics right

104now which is social distancing in in in our classrooms um we need to ensure that we have some continued communication with our families and our staff I'm coming into this process I again I take my hat off to the team um I think they did a really good job of making sure that we continually met with our um with with our teaching and instructional staff we met with our principles we talked to our collective bargaining units as a as as a whole um we talk to our parents we talk to our students so we're going to continue that process and get some feedback on where we are um to help inform um the board in terms of what our um our constituency is saying about next steps and then we're targeting October 22nd which would

105be um the date of the uh board meeting this month for some communication of next steps so no decisions made as of yet um but we know that we need to manage and monitor the positivity rates and we need to look at some you know local success data to see where we are and make a recommendation for the next quarter thank you Mr Parker um so with regard um to opening of schools we'll Dive Right into professional development next slide please um what we've noticed and now we're we're almost four weeks in and we understand and we want to make sure that we reiterate we knew that this would be most challenging making this seismic shift from a brick and mortar uh in person face-to-face instructional model to a completely virtual model um and making

106it high quality and adhere to those five principles that Mr Parker introduced way back in June and so what we have for you here is this first area of professional development where we're looking to address some of our continued implementation goals but also being very realistic and transparent about some challenges and how we're going to address them through professional development so on the left hand side we have a PD that's mapped out to begin even as soon as this Friday and continue through our first district professional development day on October 12 we'll focus on um continued imple implementation for accelerate for our K5 buildings um uity we'll continue to expand our discussions um on zoom and how to use them to uh uh manage classrooms we have some specific titles that we're working with our

107Ed elements partner on for our teachers as well in terms of building relevancy and ownership in the classroom we have some targeted sessions for those are working directly with our English Learners and then we really want to highlight and Elevate um social tional learning as you'll hear later on in tonight's presentation however we also want to balance that we we've realized some challenges we're we're going fully virtual we're having to to integrate large data sets across many variables and so that has presented some challenges for the end user at the building and classroom level so we continue to um identify and address that and adapt our system whether it's the identification of additional supports Andor assigning different human resources to support in these challenging areas we're looking at the pacing of instruction for our students

108and making sure that um we're giving our teachers and principes opportunities to give us feedback because there may be some uh critical adjustment that needs to happen um we know that we're looking at our ele Elementary schedules because we want to make sure that we're able to accommodate the high rigor but at the same time not burn out our our students are our Smalls or our talls and their families we're looking to address any technical support challenges that are still emerging again this is all developing real time there's no uh uh Playbook and we're we're being transparent and remaining agile as we work through the challenges and then lastly continuing to scale up parental support and making sure that we create space for our families to let us know what that support is that they

109need if we could next slide please um just going a little deeper um sharing with you the vision and the ideal state that we're looking to move to but understanding where we are right now um in terms of professional development we're working with our teachers to maintain and and and to maintain access and make sure that we're getting the exposure that we need and understand often times that may be as simple as making sure our students have the device we're still in a distribution phase we can continue daily to reach out to those students that we're not seeing activity for in our data our team has been working very very hard to have attendance um conversations and enrollment conversations each and every day and identifying those students who are still missing um those requisite tools

110to participate in this virtual environment so while we understand that there's a desired or ideal state of Mastery and deep learning and we don't want to make any excuses here but we're just saying that we've we got to make sure that we can get we have um outfitted our students with what they need so if you think of Bloom's techn taxonomy we cannot jump to the highest ideal State without first dealing with the basics and right now we're still at the phase of identifying which families are still in need of devices and and and may have become uh new to the need in terms of didn't need a device or Wi-Fi during the summer or the long-term closure but now seeing the um socioeconomic status of their home changing but know that this is where

111we're going in support of our personalized learning and um the ideal state for our professional development next Fe next slide please um we continue to um update and maintain our learning management system for our teachers so while we're asking them and appreciate the um the active participation that they are uh exhibiting in our anytime anywhere learning we continue to make sure that we're we're refreshing um new topics and new opportunities for training outside of the traditional model so yes I mentioned our PD Day that's coming up but know that we record and we house webinars and anything that we can to support our instructional staff within our internal uh learning management system for staff not students next slide please um so here's where we're looking to go um beginning at the bottom of the arrow

112um in the first phase you heard Mr Parker mention wanting to um creating opportunities um initially for teachers to give us feedback we want to go back to that model um now that we're four weeks in and give our teachers opportunity and space to talk to us about what is needed we understand that this is a very critical um space and time and it's new but understand that it could become increasingly comp Lex as we contemplate our re-entry um phase and strategies so maintaining a virtual and a hybrid environment is going to take a lot of um coordination and scale up PD as well so we want to create that space to hear directly from them and let them know that we will be arm in-arm with them walking through this um secondly we want

113to make sure that as we mentioned Elementary schedules and secondary schedules we want to make sure that they're in alignment and they are developed to support where we are now and where we're going with our re-entry plan and our ultimate virt ultimate virtual campus goals um we always want to try to identify alternative options for a PD and not just to sit and get PD like we really want this to be interactive and we really need the uh teacher feedback to help the professional development develop organically if you will and then lastly have this culminate into robust continuous support for our instructional staff as we position ourselves to maintain a virtual environment and perhaps a hybrid environment depending on any forthcoming decisions that are made next slide please in terms of communications we'll move directly

114into the next slide where we're again presenting to you some of the data from the period of our last presentation to you uh September 24th I believe up until um today so what we see is our dialogues overall have decreased um by 52 um dialogues uh that's a good thing um we have a customer uh score of 8.3 out of 10 our positive experiences for those who responded because every um customer doesn't necessarily respond to the the post survey is out of five our dialogue age which is really important that speaks to our responsiveness the last time we were here before you it was a point4 it's now a 0.5 nonetheless we maintain zero pass du dialogues and we don't have any unresolved next slide please um here's just another graphic depiction of the age

115distribution so it's still taking us about two hours on average to um initially respond to our customers um and again you see the 0.5 um reference on average for the time it takes us to complete a resol olution which is great um it's in line exactly with the goals uh that we set next slide please so our customer um during this last period again you can see the longest bar there our customer continues to be um our parents primarily followed by our uh students and our uh General community members typically our parents are um generating dialogues of concern and or questions next slide please the top areas for those concerns and our questions are technical support and so we're using this data to make sure that we're continuing to be responsive and identify any gaps

116or areas that we need to shore up uh communication or support in that area um the last time we were here there were middle there was a middle school and high school identified this uh time we see that we have um a dialogue from Allan family and Community engagement high schools in general and then a few human resource dialogues or the Hot Topics or interest areas for this period um entry point this is interesting because we are doing what we set out to do most entry points are beginning on our district website landing page so we're able to drive traffic or increase traffic to our website which is exactly one of our goals and just to share some of of that website data you'll see below at the the bottom of this slide that um

117our website During the period of October 1st through the 7th was viewed 65,000 times with 121,000 unique users um now that's decreased a bit um from that first uh month of school opening September 1 through September 30th where we had a approximately 495,000 uh views and 43 uh you 43,000 unique users um that concludes our Communications update as mentioned at the top of this discussion student services is our our department of highlight uh this evening so I will not waste any time and I'll turn it over directly to miss Pock to give you um a view of how her department is working to support our students virtually great do you mind if I share my screen please I will bring up my PowerPoint thank you so tonight I have um Stacy Gil Martin a student

118services School climate coordinator and Julie shivel the student services coordinator to help with this presentation so like Dr Brown mentioned we will give you an overview of how student service how the student services department is supporting in this virtual environment by reviewing our staff roles and resp responsibilities how social emotional learning is embedded within our high quality instruction health and safety protocols student support attendance communication and Outreach and flexibility um Tiffany I don't know but I don't see your PowerPoint oh so I don't I'm I'm guessing no one else can see it but I let's try this again okay I think it's gonna work now okay yeah thank you you're welcome now it's not moving so student services roles and responsibilities um in critical support communication structure is important in supporting our families so as

119part of that the department is really organized in in three categories basically and they do they do cross over but just to give you an idea um the attendance and Outreach with the student services coordinator our home and school visitors Community School Aids our elect and Family Center staff our homeless liaison and our Outreach workers and then under student supports that includes our school climate coordinator our school counselors our Gear Up counselors Behavioral Health Specialists our behavior management Specialists and five clerical um staff that support the department and then within that health Health Services category we have a number of health services staff that includes our nurses and also our dental hygienists so many of the individual roles and responsibilities are unique to virtual campus um for example our health services staff they've been creating

120and delivering virtual Health lessons that will include how to properly wear a mask or how to wash your hands and providing those for teachers but also being able to deliver those within um periods of the day that Mak sense for their building um they're collaborating with other health services um staff to create those lessons they also have virtual Pages um within the Google Classroom where they post many um Health different links for families and for staff and for students to be able to to access our Outreach workers are specifically focused on attendance um they're attending our attendance team meetings assisting the district and building administrators in engaging students non-engaged students um seeking Advocates um for parent and family Partnerships they're maintaining documentation and also helping with translating our home and school visitors are also really

121focused on attendance which is important during this time making sure that our students are engaged in reaching out to families um that may be having a difficult time getting connected they're analyzing attendance data on a daily basis um also assisting with conducting home visits as needed um meeting with the building attendance team to be able to discuss interventions specific interventions for students and families that need additional support um and facilitating connections between um students and teachers our school counselors are virtually leading small group social skills groups um restorative circles they're communicating with outside agencies to provide virtual supports for students providing resources for students and families they've been helping with even Technology support and device support for families so they've attended many of the trainings that the teachers also attend so that they're are knowledgeable

122about the programs and logging in and and being able to support in that way they also many of the counselors have Google Classroom setup where they are providing resources for students in addition to like a calming room that students can use if if they're having a tough time our community AIDS are assisting with Outreach to families so they are visiting homes of students that are not engaged or minimally engaged um while they're in the homes they're helping with resour resources for famili showing Families how to access the parent University if they're needing forms for different things they're they're really out there doing a great job of of just helping to support the many needs that our families have and our homeless L aison has just been doing a great job with building relationships now with

123the shelters in the community and making sure that um all of our students have access and monitoring our daily attendance data for our homeless students as again as part of our commitment to providing support to families um when questions and concerns come through the student services department we attempt to handle them at the first level there um with the student services coordinator climate coordinator working papers office if that's support that a family needs or the records department if we're unable to address the concern at that level or question or or needed support we would then communicate with the building principal who would work together with either Outreach worker homeschool visitor health services staff or our school counselors to to find some resolve for whatever the concern is and our goal is always to solve those

124issues or provide that support depending on how critical within two hours or at the end of the day at the latest so in the area of health and safety in order to gain feedback um and be able to discuss all of the changes and I I should say I'm forever changing world that we're in right now we are meeting with our Health Partners from St Luke's Le Lehi Valley Health Network and the antown health Bureau anywhere from weekly to to every few weeks just depending on on what the need is um we discuss the conditions for reopening schools um the CDC guidelines and how that affects us and also critical items and documents related to covid-19 so the ASD departments that that are included in those in those meetings again obviously a student services our

125operations department where we've talked a lot around Athletics and and making decisions there and getting their guidance on that um facilities and also Human Resources so a number of our um protocols that I just mentioned on our health and safety protocols and guidelines they're all based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control the Department of Health um and pte we've created travel guidelines for students which obviously change depending on what the travel restrictions look like and that is all vetted through that Health partner meeting I just described also quarantine isolation of staff and students including symptoms which they have also given a lot of feedback with and we show those documents often just because of the um potential of them changing exclusion and return to school guidance symptom self-c screening tool signage that's used

126in the buildings and also a key terms bank that you would see on our it's also on our website under the parent University that just defines all of the terms that are associated with covid-19 so that um families and everyone we're we're using the same language another large part of of the work our nurses have been doing in health services staff is contacting families and assisting with scheduling um students for immunization appointments to ensure that they are up to date with their vaccines so as part of um Governor wood regulations he temporar temporarily suspended the immunization regulations for two months so not for all immunizations but just the immunizations that you need to be updated in seventh grade and 11th grade so as part of that all students still need to be vaccinated even in

127a hybrid I mean in a virtual setting so that is something that we've been communicating with families on an ongoing basis our Communications um department has been sending out on goinging communication and also at the building level so that families are aware of this um the number of students currently out of compliance right now is 841 so again as part of a meeting with our Health Partners they are all working diligently with us to we've had vaccination clinics um most recently at Allan de and Trexler our secondary schools is where we see our largest numbers of of non-compliance or the need to have those updated back vaccines and you can see there we had you know around 60 64 66 and 73% of of students vaccinated at those clinics the clinics included um St Luke's

128Allentown Health Bureau and Lehigh Valley Health Network and also our nurses were there helping with the clinic and also vaccinating we have two clinics coming up here on October 20th and 22nd that will be led by Lehi Valley Health Network um to also assists with helping students um get updated with their vaccines so we're also talking about potentially um scheduling some more clinics with the amount of students that we have there that still need their updated immunizations so in order to support um our high quality instruction our we created or developed a social emotional learning working group to adapt resources to the virtual setting so that group includes a number of Administrators and teacher Representatives um and they collaborate with the building stakeholders to develop ofal Resource Bank that includes lessons activities and restorative Circle

129prompts that are aligned with the five um social emotional competencies so it integrates that restorative practices piece and also our mindfulness programming and how those can work together um and again oh sorry that's repeated there just like I said the lessons and activities and prompts for teachers to be able to use in the virtual setting where social emotional learning should be embedded throughout the day good evening so when we consider synchronous learning in terms ofal teachers and counselors have the opportunity to embed core competencies into advisory time intervention and enrichment related arts and they can also integrate competence es into subject area lessons counselors are also offering uh FaceTime in small group settings for students that are identified or self-refer and they can work on them onal strategies and independent activities are also offered as

130a followup to counselor lessons slide please in regards to asynchronous offerings of social emotional learning resources and activities are posted on counselor create it sites and promote it through classroom teachers in terms of flexibility counselors are offering virtual hours throughout the day and virtual calm down rooms are available for students to use independently to exercise self-management skills slide please so Tiffany also mentioned that our counselors have been creating various virtual experiences for our students using um all kinds of different platforms either through Google Slides or Google sites and I just posted a couple examples on here one of them is a calming room they're getting created with their bit emojis there's Ms Cortez and M Larsson there and they're also adapting their guidance lessons to Virtual engaging activities slide please our student assistant teams are

131also continuing to meet that's really important so they can continue to serve the students um that are in need and they've also adapted their referrals and their forms so that they can still be accessed by by um staff by families by students and um to ensure that they can still reach out you can see here we have our I'm sorry go back for one second our sap our current sap referrals are are listed here on this slide and they include new referrals and also students that were um carried over from last year that still need Services slide please and these are some of our community supports that are providing resources at this time and most of them are providing either therapy or mentoring through individual or group counseling and some of these organizations are also

132offering our sap training uh for for us for free and virtually so that we can continue to have appropriate representation on our Student Assistance teams slide so we are continuing to serve our families and students that are experiencing homelessness even during this time um so we are ensuring that um their basic needs are met so whether whether that's or connecting them with Community Resources or through uh Distributing donations that we might have on hand um we're trying to get them um the support and resources that they need um Tiffany had mentioned earlier uh Mr Torres who is our new homeless liaison that began at the beginning of September has um certainly hit the ground running and making connections with um community members and um especially the shelter so one of the big tasks that he

133had upon coming on board was to make sure that all of the student um schoolage children that are in our shelters in Allentown um all had all were enrolled and had devices and Wi-Fi access um where they were in the shelter so that was a big task um that we're happy to report is um our kids the kids in the shelters are up and up and running and we're also as Tiffany mentioned monitoring their attendance very closely uh checking uh weekly on their attendance to make sure that nobody none of them are slipping um in terms of being connected to their schools next slide so our student services also continues to work on um supporting attendance especially in this challenging virtual environment so according to PD's guidance schools must account for students daily attendance um

134and when students are participating in virtual campus they're expected to follow their daily schedule for synchronous and asynchronous learning sessions so as part of that the family attendance expectations for students is attending school daily being prepared each day being ready to learn and engage in instruction completing assignments on time each day for each class and adhering to the student and family handbook while engaged in Virtual learning so again we're able to support in those areas where families may may be struggling with parents and Guardians having having students ready children ready to engage every day in digital learning supporting your child and logging into the system if necessary assisting with contacting support from teachers if your child is struggling so making sure that we're giving that information so families know where to go um send an

135email to the school attendance email which I'll explain in a minute here to to notify the teacher or call the school each time your child is unable to attend school and provide the reason and share with the teacher or school-based staff any barriers to their child's continuous attendance that could impact their educational achievement so that way through our support staff we can can help to support whatever it is that they may be challenged with each school um now has a dedicated attendance email to help with streamlining communication from families so it is the School name- attendance at Allentown sd.org so if a student does not attend a synchronous session and and complete and or attempt to complete on the course work they would be marked absent so in order to excuse an absence a parent

136excuse is required um with just the student name student ID um parent or Guardian name the date the student was absent and reason for absence so much like in the brick and mortar setting where most parents would write a note now they're able to send an email or even if the school is using a um platform like Class Dojo or remind and they send it to the teacher through there the teacher can easily screenshot it and forward it to that email address to allow for our attendance secretaries to um adjust the attendance so also if a parent requests a temporary absence permit they can do that through that attendance email and it's also been we also formatted into a fillable PDF that's on the website like many of our documents so that families are able

137to easily fill them out and hopefully either screenshot it or send it back to us and if students are absent for an extended period due to covid then a doctor's note would be required so our attendance team meetings continue to operate on a weekly or bi-weekly basis um even while we are um in a virtual setting so in those meetings there are various staff in in them including the homeschool visitors Outreach workers counselors administrators nurses and we have Community providers Community providers and Lehi County Office of children youth services um and we are reviewing data we are identifying barriers to attendance and this year obviously um the barriers look a little bit different in a virtual setting so identifying what those barriers are and um Making Connections either with staff in the in the schools

138or in the community or Partners in the community to help intervene next slide so with in terms of our tiered supports regarding attendance um on tier one at the bottom we're doing everything we can to reach families um you know by phone or by email or whoever however we we can and when that doesn't work then we we try to reach out in other in other ways including um home visits or you know contacting emergency contacts when we can um contact a parent or Guardian so working through that and the the three positions that are really working um exclusively in this area our homeschool visitors Outreach workers and our school Community AIDs that are work all working together to really um look at the attendance daily figure out what families need what support and um

139and working with them on that so um if you know our tier one Outreach doesn't work then you know we move up to to tier two and as attendance or as absences increase so we're also um connecting our students that are ESL or special education we're connecting with those departments to customize our um interventions and Outreach um to include include those staff members as well and obviously keeping in mind those families that might be experiencing homelessness and um and finally really coordinating with our Community Partners we have um a number of Community Partners that we worked work closely with that I'll talk about in a minute um in terms of home visits in terms of that's okay in terms of home visits um as of today our staff has completed 797 home visits um since

140the first day of school and these are families that either are non-engaged or are have limited engagement so we're finding that as our staff are going out to home homes and finding out what's going on they're really sitting down with families and trying to figure out what the connectivity issue is because that's a lot of the time what it is they have difficulty with the device the the Wi-Fi hotspot something like that that's um that they're having difficulty with so our staff are connecting with them finding out what they need if they need you know if it's it needs to get involved um we obviously make that connection but um we're getting a lot of um you know good connections with families uh by visiting visiting the homes and of course we're following all of

141the health and safety safety guidelines um that have been outlined uh with uh PPE and maintaining social distancing and Al and also providing other resources um and connections to community Community Resources um regarding basic needs next so as I mentioned we have um some Community Partners that we work really closely with and related to attendance um the first uh listed here communities and schools which we heard about earlier and the buildings that they are located in so connecting um families and staff at communities and schools um Justice Works Pinebrook and Valley youth house are our um Tru we call them truancy providers they are uh Community providers that have been identified um to uh support our families and students that have um barriers to attendance so they are assisting families especially during this time they're

142doing even a little bit more than just the attendance um you know they're helping to support that technology um in their homes they are um helping to meet basic needs so there's a lot of the agencies are working closely with providing food and other resources to to families that are experiencing um what so many people are during during this during this time and we work closely with Leigh County Office of Children and Youth as they are um a partner in terms of ensuring that children are in school across the across the city and the county next the student service continues to to be flexible to meet the needs of students by providing online resources again with our social emotional learning embedded throughout the day at all levels providing support to families depending on the unique

143needs that are associated with virtual learning um supporting virtually using Google Classroom coordinating various services for students um strategically scheduling lessons to align with the virtual schedule providing self-care resources for for all of our staff and also assisting family just with technology navigating the virtual schedule and connecting to the various platforms and any changes that happen during this time so that concludes our presentation if you have any questions Miss Johnson Watts hi uh thank you so much much for the update and I look forward to the continuation of of this this is really helpful um couple of questions has a lot to do with just clarification and then uh perhaps a suggestion um the attendance conversation I just want to be certain of what I'm hearing because I know that opening day or so we

144had 92% attendance across all the 96% no 92% across all the districts and 96% um at the uh secondary level no the high school level and so I'm wondering if the if the the people that were referred to as being still in the distribution stage are those coming out of the 92 96% wa was the attendance the 100% that the 92 and 96 came out of was that the 100% of people who had the equipment or is that 100% of meaning the 16,000 close to 177,000 students that are enrolled in ASD I'm sorry I'm not sure I understand the question yeah it's it's a little bit difficult for me to even articulate it because I I I I remember 92% and 96% as attendance rates on our on our first post start of school uh

145update and I'm being that I've heard I heard in this presentation that we're still in distribution stage I want to get clarity on the 92 and the 96 is that out of when you look at that that data set is it based on 100% representing all of the students enrolled in ASD or is that 100% all of the students that have had confirmed connectivity at the start of the school year oh no I was going to say I would I think Dr B would be able to help us with that but I'll defer to you yeah so so so I think I understand your your question when you say attendance percentage the attendance percentage is number of students present out of the number of students enrolled so present being enumerated enrolled being the denominator is

146that kind of where where where you're asking yes so then is it is it accurate for me to interpret that to mean that we're somewhere in the vicinity of 8% of all of our students in the Allentown School District still in need of distribution or attend this what I'm trying to get I'm trying to narrow down what our needs are basically yeah so so so I I I see where you're going I think it it's a little bit um so the we've actually been having this discussion um internally so I can I can feel people looking at me because I know what I'm about to say so there's enrollment active enrollment and then attendance right three different things um and I I think the numbers represent the number of kids that attended a class out

147of those who have kind of actively engaged and enrolled there's another number of folk who um either haven't engaged um haven't been active or may have engaged in a in a small number of of days and we need to get them you know back into the uh proverbial Loop of of attendance so some of those kids are the ones that that you're saying um may have some connectivity issues um and those are the kids that they're actually going out to visit kids that we haven't seen um either at all or sparingly and those are the kids that we believe may still have some level of connectivity issue and why they're not engaging consistently okay and also thank you for the report on homeless students in particular specifically because um there is some talk that that

148evictions may be on the rise I don't know prayerfully that is not the case um but I do I do want to continue to hear that specific group because I I do um I do get questioned as to what we're doing so it was wonderful and and I basically said to people listen we had someone just get started so we're looking forward to hearing from them and so I greatly appreciate this because all I have to do is refer them to the video um and and and it also helps uh as well uh here the other thing is the litz talk uh you mentioned 31 Communications received and as I'm out and about I'm hearing people say I didn't know about lit's talk and I find it hard to believe because I'm a a Facebook

149person but I I don't know um what else can be done um in terms of getting the word out about lit's talk I'm wondering is it possible to do a version that's called D deos or something like speak to us in Spanish um so that people even identify the words when they see it because you know it B my mind when when I'm talking to folks and they're like oh I didn't know and and maybe and maybe it slipped their mind or maybe they were embarrassed to tell me that they didn't pay attention the first time but whatever the case may be I I'm just hoping that we're doing whatever we can to to to funnel people through that because 31 to me sounds low you know um it it just sounds low um and

150then and I'm not saying that 31 is inaccurate I'm just saying it sounds low in comparison to people who say oh I don't know about this I don't know about that and maybe they just want personal human touch from from the first second um and then the other thing is um in terms of teachers who may need let's talk like is there a way that not in the big professional development meeting but in the small this is what my students are saying to me uh context is there a way for them to get that word pushed out to Administration or do they go through their their building leader how does that work so so they they would go through their their building leader all of the principles meet with their teachers um consistently so if

151there's any concern um from a kid perspective or even if that's something that they're hearing from multiple parents then they shoot it right directly up to their principal okay so I mean those are pretty much uh uh the questions that I have but you know I I appreciate all that all of you are doing thank you so much for the targeted information uh related to certain groups and and attendance so uh you know can't say it enough uh you know there is no rule book there is no Playbook you guys are just you know getting this together and making it happen so you're greatly appreciate for doing that thank you thank you thank you question go ahead so um I did hear um what um Miss Johnson wat was talking about in terms of questioning

152about the uh the attendant the you know the the percentage the eight that 8% my question is my question would be is it shouldn't shouldn't parents by now have their devices are they not just just not responding and coming in and getting their devices and how are they being held accountable for not picking up their devices because I know I understand so I'm not minimizing um the things that many parents have to go through in our district or in any other District but we have an obligation as parents to educate our children so what what is that what does that look like in terms of accountability on their part because if you give me a hot spot and you giving me a device even if I don't have anywhere to live and I'm not minimizing

153it I'm just saying I'm talking about me I would be trying to make some kind of arrangements to ensure that there's a space somewhere because at least we we might not have a whole Lo but we have a half to ensure that my kids are be getting educated so what does that accountability look like um yeah so so that that begins to be a really tough conversation when you talk about accountability um for for for parents and just to be you know really really transparent there's not necessarily a mechanism from a a school district standpoint for us to um to to to leverage there I think our approach has been much more focused on providing as much support as possible and removing um all barriers and and presupposing the best of intention on those who

154are um you know at home care at home caretakers of of our students um but the um the the only mechanism that really exists in terms of accountability is um the one connected to attendance so if we do have have attendance issues and kids are not engaging there are mechanisms that um that kick in in terms of accountability for for parents for attendance that's the and how many I forget was it 700 and some odd uh visits um Julie that yeah almost 800 yeah almost 800 visits that um staff has made to the homes of parents so so that would be the the mechanism is is attendance but beyond that um school districts just aren't equipped with um the mechanisms to do that so we focus much more on support and removing barriers and and

155then I'll say I think for the most part um we're we're able to capture most of our parents through that approach so I'm receiving that but we I'm also um I also cannot negate the fact that treny actually you know you have some you have some parents real Al that just say hey this is hard I'm not going to do it we those kids still are entitled to an education and those parents still have to be held accountable you know what I mean I mean we're taking we're we're carrying our load and we're we're providing every resource uh that we can that we can and we're doing we're going jumping through hoops so I'm I'm interested because we have social workers that are that's in the state of Pennsylvania there's all kinds of um there's

156nonprofit organizations that are out there that's helping so I'm concerned when you you say that here we are in October and there's still families who haven't picked up devices and I think that's what I'm hearing you say I have a problem with it do can I chime in a little bit I I was just gonna say part of the the home visits and the outreach are really trying to figure out what the barriers are and what the circumstances are so typically in a during a typical school year when we're in brick and mortar buildings we would you know be enforcing our compulsory School attendance law which we still will be doing this year but we're giving everybody a little bit of a grace period I think um to make sure that we understand the circumstances

157and whether things are um within their control or beyond their control and how we can best support them and if there still is um no engagement then we will start to move forward with our compulsory School attendance law enforcement so I'm going to I'm going to after this I'm not going to say anything else and I I appreciate what you're saying to me but I I do I cannot say this enough parents us parents we have to take responsibility and to to say Okay I want to find out what your needs are they should be running to us just as well as we're running to them and I feel very strong about that October school has started we have an obligation to ensure that our kids get an education and I'm not listen we'll take

158responsibility for what we're doing in District but I'm also um of the mindset to hold us parents responsible for making sure our kids get what because I hear a lot and I'm and I'm all for I mean if you you need you need this you need that let's go get it whatever you need but to be again this is October okay to say that you know we're giving your little grace period there is no grace period these kids been out of school since March you understand so we have to we have to step up to the plate too as parents and it's time I don't know who needs to start having that conversation but that conversation needs to be had you know because I don't think any of us have been born with a silver

159spoon in our mouths but we have an obligation to make sure that our kids are in place so that they can get education and that's just my thoughts that's how I feel and um you know thank you guys for what you're doing but I just want that be hit you know I'm an advocate for families and kids but I wanted to be heard loud and clear parents have a responsibility as well we're listening and we're doing everything in our power we need parents we need I'm and when I say parents I'm including myself as well we have to step up to the plate Allentown School Board I mean Allentown school district has a website whether it's in English or Spanish if you want to know what it what it says and I'm not minimizing but

160I'm just saying because there's some stuff out there that's written in Spanish and I don't understand finish at all but I'll knock on my neighbor's door and I'll say you got to read this to me you understand or I'll find a way so we need to start thinking that way in order for our kids to get the best education in our school district especially if you guys are staying up all night working day in and day in a day out to make it happen I mean even me myself look we we're here it's nine o'clock we still on the call so we're trying to do something so we need parents to step up to the plate as well so I'm done I just wanted to say that thanks Lisa thank you I I have a

161question about the home visits um I know I know our teachers are in our in in with their kids all day but if a teacher were to want to visit a child you know either on a professional development day or after school hours because they have a kid who just is not getting anything are our teachers allowed to go do socially distant PPE home visit so as as it stands we have not supported or or directed teaching staff to do so I I would I would I would I would I don't think we can prohibit like we can't jail them for for going to a kid's house to provide them some support uh um I I think that's kind of similar to what teachers would do in the in the normal um educational world if

162they had a kid that was having an issue they could contact the parent and you know have a an opportunity to provide support for them in that way so we wouldn't necessarily um prohibit it but we wouldn't condone it based on the the the virus okay if that's non answer enough that's great n answer thank you Miss will you have your hand up yes thank you I I would like to actually go back to the beginning of the presentation where lcia Dr Brown was presenting and if I remember correctly the one slide talked about data um um and progress um and success for our virtual learning and I just wanted to to see when we're monitoring that are we soliciting student and family feedback on that as well um I've heard from families on various

163age groups of you know Mom and Dad feel like they're back in kindergarten because they have to sit with the child so they don't turn the computer off and walk away um all the way through to the case load for some of our secondary kids it's hard to actually um keep up with the amount of work that the asynchronous is providing in in conjunction with the Google classroom and I'm just wondering if if um we are having those dialogues with our students um to to Benchmark what they feel is success as well y so so I'll take that and then Dr Brown you can jump in as you as you as you will so part of the the review process now that we're we're a few weeks in is exactly to do that um we

164talked about making sure that we have the opportunity to loop back to um that focus group format where we can bring together some groups of um parents and kids I want to be part of the focus group myself because I'm I'm dying trying to help Maki it with this like I get it from from both perspectives um but we also are going to do some surveys so that we can get some wider response and the feedback on that is going to help us with making that decision for the next quarter so right now we have more anecdotal feedback um but we're going to have more um defined um structural feedback as we prepare for next steps great thank you um I have my hand up I'm just gonna venture to say something um on the

165home okay on the home visits um I have an example I don't know if it applies to all um but I understand the home visit visits of the uh home visit team uh but in terms of teachers and the student that may have difficulty uh one of my neighbors invited me to sit in with their child on a couple of their class sessions and in both cases the teachers made very clear that they were available at certain times for Google classrooms and that the the students were able to make appointments to be with them in a one-on-one Google setting and in some cases uh they offered up a uh um a time frame where a certain aspect would go into further detail if the student uh if students wanted to join them at that time

166so I think in those you know can't get it I think I can't speak for all teachers I've only you know sat it on three sessions uh but I heard it mentioned each time about this you know I don't know whether it was the Google classroom or some other place where they were all going to meet up uh just just in just to just not saying that's for everybody I'm just saying that's what I've heard or witnessed on myself thank you Miss Johnson wats are there any uh other questions or comments on this see and hearing none I I do I do have a question I don't know how to um I I don't know how to uh raise my hand I TR okay go ahead so um are is is there anyone from um

167is there anyone I should say sitting in on any of the um classrooms to actually monitor and see how how things are going along like to see what a class is like I heard Miss Johnson Watts talk about she went next door and she um well she sat in on the neighbor and um I have had the chance to sit in because I have a student but I'm wondering if Administration principles have they had chance to sit in on um the Ingenuity and or Google Classroom sessions to see how that's working I know you guys are probably getting um some feedback from parents because it's new and you know it's hard you know we were part of the digital divide prior to um covid um but is anybody sitting in or is that something that's

168to come in terms of giving us some feedback in terms of if it's working um or not I'm just curious to know is that something that we we can ask our EDS to chime in on Mr saying with the Middle School level is happening and it continues to evolve and build as we look to um Implement virtual observations and those technical aspects of um of monitoring but it is happening um Mr s can you chime in yeah no problem um yeah that that's a good question and that is something that's already underway um in a typical school year you'd almost call this a visit where it's like you know as the administrator you're checking in on on the class you're saying hello you're seeing the kids those are the same things that are happening at

169the building levels now as far as the different Google classrooms those are shared with all administrators so the administers have access to all the Google classrooms the assignments um the you know different postings that the teachers have and then our schools also have like Master Google Sheets if you will where every uh individual teacher's Zoom link is located there so in a moment our administrators can pop from one room to another um you know I give a shout out to Rob I know that they have um some contests going on where different administrators or staff will pop into different zooms and do a raffle drawing for students that are present as a way to encourage attendance um we are still building out our processes for our virtual walkthroughs and virtual observations to make sure that

170we're getting you know information from you know our staff our Administration but also best practices elsewhere um so that we're still aligned with the pde Danielson framework thank you so much um for explaining that to me to giving me that feedback I want to say I said it before I'm GNA say it again I know some people there's many people that may not want to hear it but I am extremely proud of what the district is doing I'm going to continuously remind the district I mean the public that this District prior to co was not a one toone school district there were yes there were laptops and classrooms some classrooms maybe they were working maybe they weren't maybe they were being used maybe they weren't but prior to co this board was um then uh

171giv the understanding that we were part of the digital divide we were not a one toone school district so I'm going to continuously um push and support our district um in terms of um the the wonderful job that you guys are doing um you know some people say you know what I don't even need to you know you don't have to uh to give me accolades because you know this is what we do but I'm going to give you accolades I um I appreciate all that you're doing and um I ask these questions because I want the public I know it's hard I'm not again here's that word I'm not minimizing the fact that it's not hard for families you know we're used to dropping our kids off and going you know some of us

172or having hardships don't have jobs so I'm not minimizing that at all but our our first concern is to keep our kids safe and that's what we're doing by being virtual but at the same time our kids are becoming a part of um the technology community and they're learning um and I just you know I just can't say it enough I'm proud of what we're doing and um and if we continue to pull together reach out to the district for those families who are listening or ever is going to jump on Facebook or Twitter after this reach out to the district we're all we're all in the same team we're not saying it's easy but we're getting it done so I just want to thank everybody um tonight that is actually pushing forward and building

173our district thank you Miss Conover and I'll Echo that as well it's this is this was a big push and a big big mountain for our district to climb over and you know I I'm a parent as well so I'm in it every day with my child and I'm in it every day at work in multiple classrooms and every single teacher that I have seen is putting 110% into their day I've already gotten on class Zoom calls and tried to help parents screen share and figure out how to get their kids things submitted so we are in this together and and thank you to the parents and thank you to Administration and thank you to all of our staff who are are getting our kids through this time that that's the end of the education

174items so I will turn this over to miss Wilt to finish out this meeting thank you Mrs brace I Echo all of those sentiments as well thank you everyone um at this time if there are any comments from the public on non-agenda items please raise your hand so we can call on you seeing none go up I will ask if there is any old business to come before the board seeing none any new business seeing none um take a motion to adjourn the education committee meeting I make a motion first motion by Mrs Conover do we have a second I'll second second by Mrs brace all in favor hi hi hi meeting adjourned thank you all right I would like to call to order the building Committee of a whole meeting uh purpose of this

175meeting is to review the approval of a PA co-source contract uh Mr Parker any comments no comments uh any comments from the public on agenda items seeing no hands I will pass it over to uh Jen for the presentation of the co-star's contract thank you Mr Miller I'm not actually going to present the co-star's contract Mr Smith will but um we have had an emergency issue at Rob Middle School dealing with our water pipes and so Mr Smith yet again is dealing with another um repair uh in a rather old building so Mr Smith it's all yours yes good evening thank you m Ramos tonight I'm requesting board approval of a PA co-star State contract with J ribnick Mechanical contractor Incorporated of 1087 State Route 2035 Nicholson PA 18446 for the domestic water piping emergency

176repairs at Rob Middle School for the amount of $ 26,100 this will be funded from the 2020 2021 facilities budget the agree ment and insurance Provisions have been reviewed and approved by the district solicitor and our insurance advisers and was discussed at the October 1st building co-chair meeting I recommend this item be considered as an action item at the regular board meeting on October 22nd 2020 any questions uh from my fellow board members seeing none do I have a motion to move this forward to the monthly board meeting uh moved by Audrey and do I have a second second lisova and second by Miss Johnson Watts all right any discussion hearing none all in favor to move this forward hi I I any opposed all right all right um are there any comments from the

177public on non-agenda items being no hands is there any old business to come before the building committee any new business or grass catcher do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting so moved Miss wil is our second Miss Johnson Watts all those in favor I by all right and that ends our meeting and all of our meetings for the evening thank you everybody thank you everybody thank you have a good night e