Canton Public School Shares Information From January 7 School Committee Meeting

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

January 11, 2021

CANTON — Assistant Superintendent Derek Folan would like to share with the school community updates and information provided at the Jan. 7 Canton School Committee meeting.

A recording of the full meeting can be viewed here.

Additional meeting materials, including all documents shared at the meeting and the full Interim’s Superintendent’s report is available here.

COVID Update

The Town of Canton moved into the Commonwealth’s “Red,” “high risk” designation on Dec. 31, 2020. Canton remained within the high risk designation according to the Jan. 7 state data. After speaking with public health officials and taking into account the strong safety protocols in place and that there is no evidence of transmission in the schools, CPS will continue learning in the hybrid model. However, the district will continue to monitor the rise in cases across the region and state, and how this rise in cases affects staffing through both positive cases and quarantining procedures. The District will continue to work with the Canton Health Department and School Committee to monitor and evaluate the local data and consider if or how District learning plans may change based on this shift in guidance.

Parents/guardians are also invited to view the latest town-wide COVID webinar to hear additional information related to the schools and learning models from health officials. The webinar can be found here.

Parents/guardians and students are urged to follow public health guidance. Students and staff are asked to follow testing guidelines, and are reminded of the importance of filling out and submitting the daily symptom screener.

• Student COVID-19 Screening form
• Staff COVID-19 Screening form

Massachusetts Flu Vaccine Requirement

The state announced an extension to the deadline to receive the flu vaccine, establishing the new date as Feb. 28. The Canton Public Schools Nursing Team will be working with CVS over the next month to schedule additional flu clinics at the Rodman Building. More information will be shared when it is available.

Conditions for Learning Survey #2

The District shared the results from the second Conditions for Learning Parent/Guardian survey, completed by parents/guardians in December 2020. Parents/guardians were asked to rate their experiences thus far regarding safety, teaching and learning, social-emotional learning and wellness, structural supports for students, and technology and digital learning. Many of the questions were the same as the first Conditions for Learning survey completed in October 2020 to allow for the District to compare responses from earlier in the year to present.

Overall, much of the response and feedback remained consistent. Most families felt positively about the District’s safety measures, educational support for students, the structure of learning days, and access to technology resources. The survey responses showed a growth in positive feedback about the structure of students’ days and the feedback students receive from teachers.

Some families noted that, on a new Teaching and Learning question regarding whether students are being challenged academically, students could be challenged more. Screen time also remained a concern. Additionally, a new question regarding social-emotional learning and connectedness showed that there is concern among families about their students feeling disconnected with the school community.

As part of the December survey, and to allow the District to evaluate the feasibility of a fuller return to in-person learning, questions were included for parents/guardians to indicate their level of comfort with a 4.5-foot social distancing protocol and a four-days-per-week in-person learning model. Approximately 72% of survey respondents indicated that they would send their child to school for in-person learning, and 13% of respondents indicated that they would request a change for their student to be moved to the Remote Learning Pathway. Parent/guardian respondents also noted through the survey that though they may be comfortable with a 4.5-foot distance protocol, they would not be comfortable with implementing that change in the near future considering current COVID-19 case counts. The District will continue to follow the recommendations of medical experts, as well as the capacity of classrooms, impact on transportation, and the capacity of the Remote Learning Pathway when evaluating any possible future changes to spacing protocols in the schools.

The summary of the survey results can be found in the meeting materials here. Results from the second Conditions for Learning Staff survey will be shared at the next School Committee Meeting.

Additional Updates

CHS National Honor Society Inductions

CHS recently held several virtual Honor Society inductions. The National Honor Society Induction was held on Dec. 7, the World Language Honor Society was held on Dec. 10 and the National English Honor Society will be held in the upcoming weeks.

CHS inducted 53 well deserving students into the Robert W. Tighe Chapter of the National Honor Society this year. Additionally, there were 12 French Honor Society inductees, 18 Spanish Honor Society inductees, 2 German Honor Society inductees, and 3 American Sign Language inductees. Lastly, 48 students will be inducted into the Green Light Chapter National English Honor Society.

Remote Learning Pathway (RLP) Update

K-5 RLP: There are approximately 270 students in the K-5 RLP. The RLP conducts regular materials distribution to ensure that students have the hands-on learning experiences appropriate to their grade level. The RLP also holds virtual assemblies and monthly spirit weeks to continue to support a sense of community, and is collaborating with Mass Audubon and other community resources to plan virtual field trips.

The K-5 RLP continues to work through the challenges of navigating the appropriate amount of screen time for students and finding ways to help them feel connected socially. Recent parent/guardian survey data revealed that at the forefront of concerns is the social-emotional growth of children, the amount of screen time, and class sizes. It also revealed that the majority of families agree that the teaching and learning and technology in the RLP are a success and many parents/guardians stressed that they are having an outstanding experience and are impressed by teachers’ planning and communication.

GMS RLP: The GMS aims for RLP students’ experiences to be aligned to that of students on the Hybrid continuum. To facilitate this, teachers on the RLP attend grade-level meetings with their content area colleagues. They coordinate curriculum and plans so that at the conclusion of the school year all students have had a similar experience no matter what team or pathway they were on. This also allows for seamless transitions between pathways as necessary.

Some of the strengths of the remote pathway experience are:

• A consistent experience with that of students on the learning continuum
• A consistent daily experience overall
• Strong classroom community
• Similar opportunities: Bake for Good, Spirit Week/Days, GMS Clubs, GMS PAWS Awards

Team website areas of growth:

• Communication with families needs to be more consistent and to limit issues of miscommunication
• Continue to find new ways to engage and connect with students virtually
• Find ways to help students on the “Remote Ravens” team connect with one another as well as with students in school.

Structured Learning Time Update

On Dec. 31, 2020, DESE published the Structured Learning Time for each district, based on a data survey conducted by the department. Based on recently approved requirements, schools in the Hybrid model need to have at least 35 hours of live synchronous instruction over the course of two weeks. Canton Public Schools exceeded the requirement with 47 hours of live synchronous instruction over two weeks.

MCAS Update

The District received notification this week that DESE has postponed the MCAS make-up testing window for current seniors who were scheduled to take the exam between Jan. 14 and Feb. 5.

Current seniors will have a modified Competency Determination process that includes passing an approved course and demonstrating competency in that subject area in lieu of a qualifying MCAS score for ELA and/or Math. Seniors would still have the option of taking the traditional MCAS exam in the spring.

DESE is also adjusting the testing requirements for students in grades 3-8. The Department will significantly reduce testing time for students in grades 3-8 through a “session sampling” approach, in which each student will take only a portion of each MCAS assessment in each subject. The timeframe and additional specifics are still to be determined.

FY22 Operating Budget Proposal Presentation

The FY22 Operating Budget was presented to the school committee at the last committee meeting on Dec. 17. The total proposal request is $2,283,544, which calls for a 4.94% budget increase. It’s important to note that 3.31% of the increase covers contractual obligations. The School Committee reviewed the operating budget proposal for a second time on Jan. 7.

The Finance Subcommittee will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 12 to consider additional requests or adjustments to the budget proposal, including the possible addition of a PACE (Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment) educator at the GMS. The FY22 Operating Budget will then be reviewed for a third time and voted on by the School Committee at the Jan. 21 meeting before it will be submitted to the Town.

Public Comment Policy

A third read of the Public Comment Policy was completed, and the policy was approved by the School Committee. The policy includes changes regarding topics for public comment, time limits for approved speakers and for the public comment portion in total, as well as when the School Committee Chair is able to terminate a citizen’s comment period. The policy also notes that the public comment period is not a time for debate or response by the School Committee to comments. The revised Public Comment Policy can be found here.

The next Canton School Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Each meeting is available to watch via Zoom and upcoming meetings are listed on the District website.

This press release was produced by Canton Public Schools. The views expressed are the author's own.