Johnston County
Board
of Education report from July 14 meeting |
 |
All board members were present:
Chairman Todd Sutton, Teresa Grant, Ronald Johnson, Terri Sessoms,
Peggy Smith, Mike Wooten, Tracie Zukowski
Logistics of re-opening schools is putting
together a jigsaw puzzle with moving parts
 Eric Bracy at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Education, his first as Johnston County's new Superintendent of Schools. (Photo is a "screen capture" from live-streaming of the meeting.) |
School board members discussed options at length on Tuesday with leaders of various departments. Walking them through the basics of what could be done was Assistant Superintendent David Pearce.
Governor Roy Cooper's latest order, issued earlier Tuesday afternoon, allows schools to re-open with on-campus attendance so long as students are kept six feet apart and limited to a single rider per bus seat (except for members of the same family who may sit together).
That means spaces on Johnston County's school buses will be reduced from 20,836 to 6,954, Dr. Pearce reported. And if attendance is limited to 50% of a school building's "design capacity," many of Johnston's schools couldn't house even half their students at one time because they're over capacity, he noted.
The 50%-guideline appears to have gone away under the Governor's latest order, however, providing some leeway in how many students may attend at one time.
Another factor freeing up more classroom space is the number of parents who prefer keeping their children at home all the time to learn remotely via the Internet.
The school board got results of a survey answered by 26,910 of Johnston's parents that found 30% --- 8,168 --- would prefer at-home learning to school attendance under present coronavirus circumstances. The other 70% said they would prefer face-to-face classroom instruction.
A survey of school staff found 42.3% favor face-to-face learning at school, 28.9% favor a blend of in-person and remote learning, and 19.4% favor all instruction online. A survey of parents produced a similar breakdown on those options.
Board members made it clear on Tuesday that they're not ready to decide on a final re-opening plan until they get more feedback from "stakeholders" --- parents, students, and staff --- about which way to proceed.
CONCERNS ABOUT STUDENT TEMPERATURE CHECKS
Board members expressed concerns about plans to check students' temperatures as they arrive at school instead of when they board school buses.
Assistant Superintendent Pearce said staff is worried about buses "sitting in the road that long" as each student's temperature is taken.
Even so, board member Teresa Grant said it's "imperative" to do those checks at bus pick-up points. Board Chairman Todd Sutton said other counties are planning to do those checks at bus boardings.
Board member Ronald Johnson suggested sending "advance vehicles" to stops ahead of the buses to do the checks.
Superintendent Eric Bracy countered with a concern that students refused admission to a bus because of a high temperature reading could be left at home without parents.
That issue was unresolved at Tuesday's session.
CONCERNS ABOUT KEEPING SCHOOLS SANITIZED
Mr. Johnson asked if the schools are "well stocked" to do intensive cleaning and sanitizing as required by the Governor's re-opening rules.
Chief of Operations Dolores Gill said "we're feeling very comfortable in that regard," noting that each school will be provided a mechanical fogger that sprays disinfectant to sanitize all indoor spaces at the end of each school day.
Mr. Johnson asked if the schools have sufficient staff to handle the increased cleaning load. Employing more help for that is "a continuous struggle," Ms. Gill admitted, adding that the system is looking at hiring "temps" (temporary workers) to fill in the gaps.
In approving the consent agenda earlier in Tuesday's meeting, the board awarded a $201,936 contract to Buckeye Cleaning Center Raleigh-Durham for 2,100 cases of hand-sanitizer wall units for all classrooms.
Funding for all those materials is coming from the federal CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security legislation enacted by Congress).
PREPARATIONS FOR REMOTE LEARNING
Ms. Grant asked about availability of laptop computers and other Internet devices for students to do remote learning. "How close are we to getting every student a Chromebook" she queried.
Ms. Gill replied that "we do feel we have the capacity" to make that happen.
Approved as part of Tuesday's consent agenda were two contracts addressing that need: one for 3,241 Chromebooks to be purchased through a state-awarded contract using $1 million of Johnston's CARES Act money; the other for 2,176 Chromebooks to be bought on state contract with $671,563 in coronavirus-relief funds provided by the N.C. General Assembly.
The board also approved a contract with Apex Learning of Seattle, Washington for digital curriculum materials for grades 6-12. Deputy Superintendent Paula Coates recommended approval of the $229,995 one-year contract because the product is closely aligned to the N.C. Standard Course of Study.
She said the product translates into 29 languages, both print and audio, and "allows every teacher access to every course."
Mr. Johnson asked what Johnston's schools are doing to provide online curriculums for grades K-5.
Presently, that's up to the teachers, Ms. Gill said. "But we are looking at other ideas," she added. That includes reaching out to similar-sized school districts across the state to see what they're doing, she said.
Funding for the Apex Learning contract will be covered by federal CARES Act money, Ms. Gill noted.
Near the close of Tuesday's discussion about re-opening plans, the board asked newly employed Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt how much federal money has Johnston County's school system received from the CARES Act so far. His reply: $7.4 million.
DRIVE-THRU HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATION JULY 30
Board Chairman Sutton announced modified plans for postponed high-school graduation ceremonies. Initially, schools had hoped delay of graduation till later in the summer would allow traditional ceremonies at football stadiums. Because of the recent upsurge in coronavirus cases, however, the Johnston County Health Department has advised against it, Mr. Sutton said.
Instead, each high school will be allowed to plan its own drive-thru type of ceremony --- "whatever our principals come up with," said the chairman.
Smithfield-Selma High announced this week that its ceremony will be conducted all day long on Thursday, July 30. Students with last names beginning A-K will be awarded diplomas from 9 a.m. to noon, those with last names L-Z from 2 to 5 p.m.
Only one vehicle per graduate will be allowed, to be directed to an area in front of the school for a diploma presentation where a professional photographer will take pictures available for purchase.
NEW CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT RAISES A CONCERN
The board adopted a revised Code of Student Conduct in keeping with provisions recommended by the N.C. School Boards Association, even though Peggy Smith, chair of the board's Policy Review Committee, expressed reservations about punishments that start with suspensions from school rather than warnings and other in-school disciplinary measures. "Teaching first, discipline second, punish third rather than going straight to the out-of-school suspension," she suggested, adding that she hopes the committee will review the policy a year from now with punishment changes in mind. (Dr. Smith will be leaving the board in November as she is not seeking re-election this year to a fourth four-year term in office.)
NUMEROUS PUBLIC COMMENTS POSTED ONLINE
Meeting with restricted public access since mid-March, the school board has been posting on the school system's website public comments normally presented in person during its monthly sessions. This month's submissions total 83 --- most of them briefly stated --- that may be viewed online with this link>
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