Weekly Briefing 10.30.20

 Lewis County Metrics

Case numbers remain lower than they have been, but still not trending in the right direction. Remember, we're working to get below 25 cases per 100,000 so that we can return all of our students to the buildings and have high risk sporting activities (like basketball games). In Kansas, they've found that counties with mask mandates have reduced their case rates while counties without them have not. While most of the cases in our county are currently in Centralia and Chehalis, most of us find ourselves in those communities on a fairly regular basis and could potentially bring the virus home. Additionally, when we get together with family and friends from other areas, there is the potential to become infected. One of the best ways to virtually eliminate your risk is by wearing a mask and staying 6' away from others.

Reopening Update

Beginning Monday, all TES grades will return to TES on an AM/PM schedule (half of the class in the morning and half in the afternoon). On-campus instruction will continue Monday through Thursday with Friday remaining a remote learning day for all. This allows teachers to prepare online lessons and also allows our custodial team to deep clean the building for the following week. We run a skeleton crew on Fridays so that we're not in the way of our custodial team.

TMS continues to serve students with specific needs on campus and is putting together plans to serve students on campus and remotely beginning on Dec. 1. This will be the start of the new trimester and is consistent with the recommendations of Lewis County Public Health. 

THS is planning to return seniors to the building on Dec. 1 for at least half-time instruction. We're concerned with the number of seniors who are not engaging in their work and worry that they may jeopardize their graduation in the spring. Ventilation at THS was poor to begin with and has been taxed by dust from construction. We have decided to wait until mid-January when the new classrooms are complete to return grades 9-11 to the building. 

Athletic teams are practicing but won't be able to play games until case rates get down into the moderate range (<75/100,000) for volleyball and low range (<25/100,000) for basketball. These levels are according to WIAA return to play regulations. This is one of the reasons that I stress using the tools we have to reduce the spread of the disease. We want our kids to be able to play ball and we know our community does too.

Attestations

Students who are learning on-campus are asked to bring a special "coupon" with them each day filled out by a parent. This coupon says that the child has no symptoms and hasn't been in contact with anyone who has tested positive. When this is completed and given to our staff on arrival, the student goes right to getting their temperature checked and off to class. Students without this have to stop and answer questions. Your child should have brought a booklet of these coupons home to you. If you run low or didn't receive them, call your child's school or drop by to pick up a booklet. Having these filled out makes the arrival process smoother and more efficient.

Weekly Briefing 10.23.20

 

Lewis County Metrics

The two-week average of cases declined this week and is expected to continue. We still remain one of the most active counties in Washington and well above the 75 threshold for moderate activity. 

Return to School Buildings

Our Kindergarteners have been at school successfully since Oct. 5. We plan to build on that success by returning 2nd and 3rd graders to the building on Oct. 26. All grades will be in the building half-day and remote learning half-day on Monday through Thursday. Everyone will remote learn on Fridays so that teachers can prepare lessons for those who have opted for remote learning only and our staff can deep clean the building. It is important that everyone understand that this is not "half-day school". Students are expected to learn at home when school is in session during their half-day away from the building. 

On November 2, we'll welcome our 1st, 4th and 5th grades back to the building on the same schedule. Doing it this way allows us to be sure that our safety measures are working well and we're prepared for additional people in the building. 

On behalf of all of us at TES and the district, we thank parents for observing our new safety protocols and helping us at drop off and pick up times. Transitions are difficult under the best of circumstances and changes to well-established routines create additional stress. We understand and are grateful for the grace that our parents have shown us as we reopen.

TMS/THS

TMS and THS will continue to serve students with special needs on campus as resources allow. We intend to return students to TMS on 12/1 in hybrid fashion. Specifics are still being worked out so that we can incorporate what we're learning from other schools into our plans. THS plans to bring Seniors back to the building on 12/1 as well. Grades 9-11 will return as soon as the new classrooms are ready for occupancy. Current timeline indicates we'll be able to move in during Winter holiday and be ready for students in January. The new Commons and admin offices will not be ready until February, so meals will be grab and go to be eaten in classrooms at THS.

Food for Thought

I have seasonal allergies. Other than grass, I'm not sure what makes me sneeze, but Friday morning I woke up sneezing repeatedly. I took my Allegra and waited for it to kick in. I went to work (sneezing) and worked through the morning (sneezing). I began to think that it wasn't polite for me to be at work and my Allegra wasn't doing the job, so I grabbed my stuff and decided to work from home.

As I drove home, I began thinking, what if my sneezing, coughing and body aches turned out to be COVID. (I DON'T HAVE COVID.)  I started thinking about the two previous days and trying to list in my mind all of the people that I had been around for more than 15 minutes in the whole day.

I lost count. 

I've followed my own advice of wearing a mask, washing my hands and staying 6' away from others. However, even at that, I lost count of the people that I had spent more than 15 minutes with. I imagined those people getting a call from the contact tracers. I imagined how they would take the news that they needed to isolate themselves for 14 days.

While the disease is survivable and most do, a few cases in our community will cause additional chaos and inconvenience for a lot of people. Two or three exposures related to school could have everyone returning to remote learning. It is so important that all of us help one another by washing our hands, wearing a mask and making space so that when there are infections, the spread is reduced.

I invite you to take a few minutes to ponder: who have you been with inside of 6' for more than 15 minutes in a full day (with or without a mask) during the last two days? Those are the people who would get a phone call and need to isolate for 14 days if you tested positive today. If you're associated with our schools, we would be one of the phone calls. Hands. Face. Space.

Weekly Briefing 10.16.20

Lewis County Metrics

Reopening Schools

The Board of Directors approved a return to school buildings plan at their meeting on Oct. 15. Lewis County Public Health and Social Services recommended returning elementary students to the buildings no earlier than October 19, middle school no earlier than November 16 and high school no earlier than December 14. 

Toledo Elementary will return 2nd and 3rd grade students to the building on October 26. Grades 1, 4 and 5 will return on November 2. All grades will operate on a half-day/ half-class schedule in order to be able to maintain physical distancing between students. Food service will be grab and go to be eaten at home. We're not able to maintain social distance for all in the cafeteria and we want the classrooms to be mask on at all times. For detailed information regarding return to TES, watch for communications from the school. 

Some have asked why we aren't returning all to TES on October 19. We are still working out how to maintain cohorts of students when we have so many programs that mix students (Special Education, interventions, and specialists). We also want to be sure that our screening protocols are routine as we increase the number of students in the building. Finally, we want to be prepared to return to remote instruction quickly if we're required to do that.

Toledo Middle School has been working with students with disabilities on campus since the beginning of the school year. This is because many of those students do not benefit from remote instruction and their specific disabilities can't be addressed remotely. We have identified an additional group of students who need special supports and will be bringing them to the building in cohorts of 5 beginning on Oct. 26. On December 1, the new trimester will begin and we'll transition to our full hybrid model at TMS. For specifics on that plan, watch for communications from the school that will detail days and times as well as food service and other details.

We've become concerned that members of the Class of 2021 (Seniors) are disengaging from their studies. This places their diploma at risk. Beginning December 1, we'll begin bringing seniors back to the building for instruction and supervision. 

Ventilation at THS has never been good and is one of the reasons we needed to build the new school. Construction has added dust to the mix of air quality issues and, in spite of air purifiers, bringing all students to the building right now would not be safe or healthy. For this reason, we plan to bring grades 9-11 to THS in mid-January when the new classrooms, gym and locker rooms are completed. In February, all of the new addition should be complete and students will benefit from the improved ventilation.

As we bring students back to our buildings for in-person instruction, I'm asking everyone in our community to support our efforts. With 140 cases per 100,000 population, Lewis County is the most active county in Western Washington right now. Schools that have brought students back to the buildings have had to return to remote learning. Thurston County with 61 cases per 100,000 has chosen to pause their return to school plans for two weeks to be sure that their case rates stay below 75. We haven't been below 75 cases since July. Toledo is remote enough that, if we are diligent, we can pull this off. If we are not, we will experience significant difficulties. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay 6' distant from others. 

Weekly Briefing 10.9.20

Lewis County Metrics

You'll note that this week, cases have again increased to the highest level since the onset of the pandemic. Only 7 counties in Washington have higher case loads. 

Return to School

Our Kindergarteners (THS Class of 2032) began on-campus instruction this week. Mrs. Bacon reports that they "own the school". They know how to ride the bus, get their screening and temperature checks, sit in the right spot in the cafeteria and go to class on time. They wear their masks without any difficulties or reminders all day- including recess. Mrs. Bacon says they are one of the most self-reliant groups she's had in recent memory. Parents- you've done a great job getting your kids ready for this adventure.

TES staff and faculty will meet today to develop consensus on the next steps in bringing students back to the building. I've told them that we need to do one or two grades at a time and give some space in between each new group. We'll continue with half-days on campus and half-days remote in order to accommodate all students on campus. The board will be considering our recommendations at their meeting on 10/15.

I am recommending to the board that we bring our TMS students to the building on Dec. 1. This is the first day of the new trimester. I'm also recommending that the Class of 2021 return to the building in some fashion the same day. We're becoming concerned that our seniors are disengaging and may have difficulties graduating this year unless we intervene. 

Food Service

Remember that two meals each day are available to all children ages 0-18 through the end of December. There is no charge for these meals. You do not have to qualify and they are available Monday-Friday. Order online using the order form on our website. You can pick up meals at TES or one of the 3 delivery sites in the district. Many families reported that this helped with their grocery bills last spring. We're concerned because we aren't getting as many requests for meals now as we did before.

New Requirements

We received more new guidance from Labor and Industries, the Governor's office and WIAA this week. L&I provided us with new regulations related to PPE while the Governor and WIAA revised requirements for athletics. We're in the process of aligning our practices to these new rules.

Weekly Briefing 10.2.20

 

Current Lewis County COVID-19 Statistics

You'll note that while case rates are down for this two-week rolling average, the case rate is expected to increase in the next weeks based on current cases that will contribute to future averages. Again, the rate continues to climb. LC PHSS reported this week that many of the cases are coming from congregate living and treatment facilities in the county. This is troubling for us as schools are a "congregate facility". Remember too, that as Fall deepens into Winter, we'll all be spending more time indoors. Cold and flu season is upon us and a third wave of COVID is predicted worldwide. Can't stress it often enough that we need everyone's help in reducing the rate of infection in our county so that we don't have to retreat from on-campus instruction.

Kindergarten

Our thanks to the volunteer "students" who came to help us test our system. We received many compliments on our preparedness and also some great ideas on how we can improve. We'll be bringing our Kinders to school on Monday as planned and we're looking forward to getting back to regular order soon.

Lewis County Public Health Recommendations

Just after I posted last week's update, LC PHSS issued a new recommendation. Dr. Wood advises we should consider bringing the rest of elementary students back to the building no earlier than October 19. She goes on to recommend a return of grades 6-8 no earlier than November 16 and grades 9-12 after Dec. 14. I'll be requesting authority to follow those recommendations at our Oct. 15 board meeting. 

Even though we can bring students back quickly, it is our plan to continue to "dial up" our return. What this means is that we would bring a couple of grades back to TES after Oct. 19 and then wait a week or so before bringing the rest back. This gives everyone time to settle in to new procedures and allows us to make sure that we can maintain distance, masks and hand washing with an increased number of people in the building.

For TMS, November 16 is just 8 instructional days before the end of the trimester. We think it may be best if students finish the trimester and start the new one in the building with a new schedule. 

One of the reasons we needed a new high school was that the ventilation in the building and the fresh air exchange was not good. This becomes even more important now with the virus. While we still think it is wisest to wait to return THS students to the building after the new classroom areas are finished, we're becoming worried about our seniors and their grades and engagement. We're thinking about bringing those students back to the building at the beginning of the new trimester.

You'll no doubt notice that other districts are returning to their buildings more rapidly than I recommend. Given our current case rates and in comparison to other districts in the state with similar case rates, I think that our return to the buildings is quite aggressive. While we're prepared to switch quickly from on-campus to remote learning, we don't think that is good for students or families to have such schedule changes. That's why we want to "dial up" our return.

Athletics and Facilities

Athletic practices have begun again in modified form and with screening, temperature checks and sanitation between cohort workouts. All of these are necessary for us to provide athletic programming for our athletes. All sports are able to do these workouts. In a week or two, we'll begin allowing extracurricular clubs to meet in similar groupings with the same precautions.

This means that our facilities are again available to public groups who have completed facility use forms and provided required insurance documentation. We will give priority to our school programs of course, but youth athletics, community and religious organizations are invited to submit their requests. All groups, including our athletes, are responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the space following their use. With the exception of religious organizations, groups are limited to 10 at a time with distance, masks and hand washing. We require groups to observe these restrictions and may revoke permissions if it is determined that they are not being observed. Our first responsibility is to the children and staff of our schools who will be working in the environment. It is critical that we maintain the health of our interior spaces.

What's Next?

No one can predict where this will go from day to day, but our team is following the metrics in our county and the ever-changing recommendations from our public health, regulatory and scientific leadership as well as listening to our parents, students and community when it comes to making decisions. We  are continuing to work to accommodate the specific needs of children and families and are having quite a bit of success in doing so.

We're still attempting to contact some families who either can't or won't respond to our calls, letters, emails and visits. If you know someone who is struggling, please help us contact them so we can help their situation.

Don't forget that I do "Tuesday Talk" on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on zoom Click here I don't do any presenting. Typically, I just ask what is on people's minds. Sometimes, they want to know about school reopening. Sometimes we talk about construction at THS and I've even done some tech support about Google Classroom. In addition, if you'd like to see what Google Classroom is all about, email me and I'll get you signed up for my "Parent Partners" class online. 

As you navigate the upcoming week, I hope you'll look for the things that we can all be thankful for in Toledo: a supportive community, a scenic place to call home, a place with resourceful and caring neighbors and a "can do" spirit. Remember to support our local businesses and as always, spread kindness like butter.

Weekly Briefing 9.25.20

 Current Lewis County COVID conditions

Cases in Lewis County increased during this two-week rolling average to the highest since the onset of this record. For comparison, Cowlitz County is 33, Pierce County is 56.1, Thurston County is 22.7, Pacific County is 78.6, Gray's Harbor is 169.9 and Yakima County is 87.5. Only six counties have higher case rates than Lewis. 

As I mentioned in last week's blog, Lewis County Public Health is recommending that schools in the county consider allowing Kindergarteners to attend school on campus. This recommendation is intended to balance the risk of infection with the impact of not being in school for our youngest students.

Kindergarten

On Monday, Sept. 28, we will use volunteer adults as "Kindergarten students" to test our school opening protocols. Their "parents" will complete a morning attestation that the kids have no COVID symptoms and are clear to come to school. They'll be greeted at the bus or parent drop zone by staff who will take their temps and make sure they've completed the attestation. Those whose parents didn't attest by phone will be screened by staff. Students will go to breakfast to test our distancing in the cafeteria and then travel to classrooms by cohort. We'll do recess, hand washing, and briefly do everything including dismissal in a two-hour period. Our goal is to surface things that we didn't consider so that we can address those during the next week. 

On Monday, October 5, we'll welcome our Kindergarten students to school. We'll be teaching each cohort on campus for half-day. This will keep cohorts to 10 or less students. The a.m. group will learn on campus and the p.m. group will learn at home in the morning. In the afternoon, the p.m. group will learn on campus and the a.m. group will learn at home. On Fridays, all cohorts will learn at home all day. Friday is the day that teachers will use to prepare the at-home lessons.

We are watching to see how this configuration works and using lessons we learn from this to guide our return to school planning for the remaining TES grades. When it is safe to do so, we want to be able to move quickly to return students to on-campus instruction.

Athletics

We will end WIAA's mandated no-coach period on Monday and be able to host modified practices for all athletics in the ramp up to Winter season. We plan to begin athletic practices in keeping with all of the Dept. of Health and WIAA guidelines on Tuesday Sept. 29. Athletes will work in cohorts of 10 or less. We weighed the value to students of being able to have some physical outlet with the risk of infection and determined that if we hold to the guidelines, the physical activity will boost the morale of our students and community. 

Extracurricular activities such as clubs and groups will begin meeting outside of the school day in groups of 10 or less as soon as we're confident that we're doing a good job with our athletic teams. 

Your Role

Lewis County has one of the most aggressive return-to-school recommendations of any county in Washington. As you can see from the current data, we're also one of the most active counties in the state for cases. In order to continue on this aggressive return-to-school plan, we all need to work together to reduce cases. The only weapons we have to fight the virus are masks, hand washing and social distancing. We all need to use all of these weapons in the fight against this virus.

Large indoor gatherings without masks and close proximity to others repeatedly end up increasing cases. In our county, we see this in congregate living (convalescent centers, correctional facilities). Schools are congregate settings. In order to reduce the likelihood of a spread of the disease in school, we need to reduce the spread of the disease in our community at large so that it doesn't come to school.

This virus has created the fourth largest mass casualty event in U.S. history. Only the Civil War, WWII and the 1918 Pandemic have killed more Americans. This virus has done it's damage in less than a quarter of the time that we experienced in the two wars mentioned.

The Path Forward

It is our desire to safely return to campus as soon as possible. Research on the effectiveness of distance education demonstrates that it is less effective than in-person instruction. While our teachers are using techniques to increase the effectiveness, the research is clear (Hattie, 2009)* 

In WWII, families did without things like butter, gasoline, and coffee in order to support the troops fighting overseas. There were blackout curtains and towns would turn off all lights at night in order to protect against enemy bombers. Americans endured years of self-deprivation in order to prevail against a common enemy. We are currently in a similar fight and what we're being asked to do is minimal in comparison to our ancestors. I have been encouraged this week to see people who I know hate wearing masks, question whether they are necessary and feel uncomfortable wearing their mask in spite of the discomfort. I interpret this as good citizenship and care for their neighbors. On behalf of all of us at TSD who are working hard to serve children remotely and also bring them back to school, we thank you for your efforts.

*An effect size of .4 means that for one year's effort, a student will make one year's growth. We look for strategies that have greater than .4. Distance Education has a .14 effect size based on an analysis of 1,143 studies.

Weekly Briefing 9.18.20

 In the interest of keeping our community informed, I plan to provide a weekly briefing on developments related to our COVID response and a return to school. In addition, I'm converting my Tuesday night Parent Partners Office Hours to a general Q&A related to our school district. Patrons are invited to log on to that meeting on Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. for a time to chat about issues related to the school district and our work to bring students back to the classroom.

Tuesday Office Hours 6-7 p.m. (click here to access the meeting)

Lewis County COVID metrics today

Following a recommendation from Lewis County Public Health and Social Services, TSD has begun considering bringing Kindergarteners to school in-person. We currently have 57 students enrolled in this grade and anticipate 54 will attend. The Response Team comprised of principals, transportation, maintenance and operations, School Nurse, counselor, Athletic Director, District Office secretary and me will meet with the Kindergarten faculty on Monday to review our plans and make adjustments to meet current conditions. These plans begin with the student and family prior to the bus or parent transporting and end with the child's return to their home at the end of the day. These plans include health screening, temperature checks, confirmation of all parent contact information, masking, social distancing, cleaning and disinfection, hand washing, recess protocols, food service and toileting. We're working to "pressure test" our plans to see where the weaknesses are prior to students being on campus. 

This work now is crucial to the return of other students. By preparing with a smaller group of students, we learn how to best prepare for a larger group. In addition, we become confident and practiced in our protocols at school and will be in a better position to keep our kids and families safe.

Regardless of our best efforts, you need to know that there will be cases of COVID. Part of our planning includes being able to respond to those cases in a way that is appropriate and respects the individual's privacy. We have letters prepared to inform those who need to know when there is a positive case. We also will be cooperating with contact tracing efforts by Lewis County Public Health. It is important to note that a single case does not mean that we're closing school or even the classroom. We will follow public health directives in all cases.

Athletics

Yesterday, Public Health rescinded their order regarding professional and youth athletics and deferred to the directions of the Washington State Dept. of Health and the Governor's Safe Start initiative. This has nothing to do with interscholastic athletics programs in schools. This only relates to youth sports (like Little League and Youth Soccer) and pro athletics (like the Seahawks and the Mariners). 

TSD's connection to youth sports is through our venues. TSD venues will remain closed to public use until students are able to return to school and our students can use the venues.

Board Meetings

The board is currently conducting their meetings via videoconferencing. The Dept. of Health limits gatherings to 10 people. The Governor confirmed this in his proclamation that reduced Phase 3 gatherings to 10 (from 50). By the time we collect 5 board members, the superintendent, secretary and the people who are reporting to the board, we have 10 in the room. Any public members interested in the meeting would need to be in a room down the hall watching on a video feed. We felt that since we'd be doing video for the public, it was safer to do video for all. 

I've had questions about public comments and why  we only accept written comments at video meetings. Connections on the internet are troublesome. There is often delays and sometimes, connections fail in the middle of a presentation. The meeting either has to wait for the person to return (not always possible) or go ahead and circle back later. It was felt last spring that taking written public comment only allowed for more and better input to the board than was possible with video. Since this has been our practice in the past, it would be unfair to those who wanted to speak but were denied in past months to allow people to present verbally now. Public comment and a more conversational interaction is expected when we're able to return to regular order.

Talk to Us

Every time a parent or student has had a problem this year and has asked for an accommodation for that problem (short of returning to the building), our team has been able to find a way to resolve the issue. However, we have had no luck solving problems that we don't know about or that are shared on social media. If your child is struggling, contact their teacher and their principal. Think about what you'd like to see done differently and what's causing the problem and ask for help. You'll be glad you did.

I haven't heard a single person say, "I'm sure glad we're doing school this way now. It's so much better. We should have been doing it like this all along." If you don't like what's happening right now, you're in good company and you need to know that we're all working for the day that we can stop doing school this way. In the meantime, we're all committed to serving you and supporting you to the best of our ability. And that is considerable.

Best for good health,

Chris Rust

Superintendent