Summary: 8/12/21 SB Meeting
This meeting can be viewed here.
(1) Kanninen and Goldstein were out of town and did not attend.
(2) APS made 8 administrative appointments; (i) Lisa Pellegrino (Asst. Director of assessments); (ii) Amy Jackson (Supervisor of Ed. Technology and Programs - Interest in merging curriculum and instruction with educational technology -- committed to changing view of digital technology and practices); (iii) Sharon Santill (Student Climate Coordinator in Dept. of Admin services); (iv) Sara Cruz (supervisor Eng. Lang. Arts in Dept. of Academics); and four Asst principals (Rebekah Ward- Fleet; Crystal Moore - Drew; Suzanne Paul - Hoffman Boston; Francis Lee - Key Elem;
(3) Duran presentation:
(i) Reiterates opening 5-days per week;
(ii) Discusses Priorities for 2021-22: (a) accelerating learning by "making sure that grade level work is accessible through combination of extensive help and modification" (not sure what that means); (b) Full support for every student -- taking time to assess where they are academically, and providing targeted individual interventions (1st month will be assessments); (c) mental health and well-being - SEL learning; (d) Health and safety.
(iii) Vaccine mandate for all APS employees (or weekly testing);
(iv) Layered approach for health and safety: Vaccine; mask mandate; distancing; handwashing; COVID testing; contact tracing; quarantine.
(v) Important to note that enrollment continues to change based on many registrations taking place now.
(vi) Class sizes: Duran says this is an issue they have heard raised a lot (including in questions at town hall) -- health and safety of students and staff continue to be a priority; APS is reviewing enrollment in each school to make sure APS can provide distancing as much as possible. Though class sizes are set in the budget, APS knows that they have to adjust in some cases for social distancing; may require movement of teachers within a school or across schools. "We have already been able to (HR) has been able to provide some additional staffing to some schools, and we continue to monitor. But that is all the more reason why we need more families to register and enroll so it can be clear where we need that help."
(vii) W-L IB students earned worldwide recognition for their IB program. Surpassed worldwide peers in diploma pass rate, average score pass rate, and average points earned by diploma candidates; Pass rate was highest in 25-year history of IB at W-L. (This should be taken with grain of salt -- the IB program lowered its standards this year to account for COVID; also allowed grades to be determined by teacher estimates of how a student would do on a test, rather than requiring the end of year test).
(4) Board member questions were mundane.
