Update From Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Flores - April 17

Press release from the Gilroy Unified School District:

April 17 2020

Dear GUSD staff and families:

What a week it has been! I want to congratulate all of you for the effort you put forth during this first week of distance learning. It has been incredible to review the data to see how our teachers and students are working together to tackle this new normal. For example, on Monday, April 13, our staff hosted almost 1,700 WebEx meetings totaling over 51,000 minutes with 29,148 participants! Our communications team asked you to share some photos with us so we could see how students were participating in distance learning, and we put together a little slideshow. You can view it here: https://bit.ly/GUSDLearns. As we move forward with distance learning, there will inevitably be some questions that arise. I encourage you to visit the Distance Learning Parent Resource page on our website to answer some of your questions. Information on this webpage can help answer questions about WebEx meetings, Google Classroom, technology support, Chromebooks, and grading expectations for elementary and secondary students.

We are still distributing Chromebooks to families who have indicated they have a need for technology. If you need a Chromebook, and haven’t already, please complete this Technology Needs survey to be added to the list for distribution: https://forms.gle/apwaepfi9Wywda2TA. This survey can also be used to indicate that you don’t have internet access home and require hard copy packets to be mailed to you. It is our goal to have 100% of the families in GUSD complete this survey so we can best serve you. If you have already completed this survey and haven’t yet been contacted for Chromebook distribution, please don’t fill out another one. Instead, please check the junk/ spam folders in your email queue as sometimes appointment confirmations have been sent there. You can also download the WebEx app and Google Classroom app to a smartphone or tablet so your students can participate in distance learning using an alternative device. Please continue to be patient as you are waiting for a Chromebook. We are working as quickly as we can to fill all the requests that continue to come in while honoring social distancing protocols in order to keep you and our staff members safe.

To date, we have distributed over 2,733 Chromebooks and mailed out over 1,000 hard copy packets to families who have indicated they don’t have internet access at home. I anticipate that those numbers will continue to increase.

Here are some additional updates for you:

Food distribution continues at seven school sites: Solorsano Middle, South Valley Middle, Antonio Del Buono Elementary, Eliot Elementary, Glen View Elementary, Rod Kelley Elementary and Rucker Elementary Schools, weekdays from 10 am-1 pm, for children 18 and under. As a reminder, adults can pick up as many meals as needed, and children do not need to be present for adults to receive food. Our incredible food services team are providing a hot lunch for the day and bagged breakfast for the following day, and safety precautions are strictly followed during hours of operation. We have provided over 47,300 meals to children just in the month of April.

Next Thursday, April 23, beginning at 7:00 pm the regular GUSD Board Meeting will be livestreamed on the District’s Facebook page. This will be our second livestream event, and I expectit will go just as well as our debut livestreamed board meeting on April 3. You can watch the board meeting online using this link: https://www.facebook.com/Gilroyunifiedschooldistrict/live/ and you don’t need a Facebook account to do so. If you’d like to submit public comment prior to the Board Meeting, please do so using this form: https://forms.gle/aWLjnJhaZq6wtwzg9. All public comment must be submitted by 6:50 pm on Thursday, April 23. Recordings of all of our board meetings can be found on our YouTube channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUnIA8mld7GmveIGQKv49w.

Following the April 23 Board Meeting, our District will be making detailed announcements about high school graduations, the community service requirement for the Class of 2020, summer learning, and registration for the 2020-21 school year. I know that some of you have been waiting for more information about some or all of these topics, and I appreciate your patience as we finalize some details. I’m looking forward to sharing this information with you next Friday.

News from throughout our city, county and country continues to inspire me, and this week, there were many things to be excited about. In our district, we launched an employee recognition program highlighting some of our “GUSD Behind the Scenes All-Stars.” Our first two honorees are very deserving of this recognition, and have been instrumental in the success we’ve had distributing Chromebooks to students prior to the beginning of distance learning. Many thanks to GUSD Assessment Specialist, Dorien Koene, and Las Animas Office Coordinator, Isabela Telles for all of their hard work. Read more about them here: https://www.facebook.com/236268986966663/posts/586677975259094/.

Secondly, the California Department of Education gave our district a “shout-out” on their Facebook page and Twitter feed, highlighting the work that our staff is doing to provide support and community building for our families while schools are closed. I know that we have the best staff in the State of California, and I’m grateful for the recognition of their hard work, because it is so well-deserved. If you aren’t following GUSD on your social media platforms, I encourage you to do so. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. You’ll be inspired by all the good that happens in our district every day, and you’ll find answers to your questions as well. As a reminder, we continue to provide hotline service via email and phone. Send your questions about anything GUSD-related to questions@gilroyunified.org or call 669-205-5590 and our staff will reply within 48 hours.

I continue to be inspired by each of you as you positively impact our community in small ways and with grand gestures.

Take care of each other,

Dr. Deborah A. Flores, Ph.D.

Superintendent, Gilroy Unified School District

This press release was produced by the Gilroy Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.