Canton Public School Shares Information From School Committee Meeting

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

January 27, 2021

CANTON — Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller would like to share with the school community updates and information provided at the Jan. 21 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 Superintendent’s Report is available here.

Elementary Schools Learning Model Update

With the increase in COVID-19 cases and the necessary quarantining procedures, the District made the following changes to learning models for the three elementary schools. These decisions were made after careful consideration and with safety as the number one priority.

• JFK – Beginning Thursday, Jan. 21
  • One grade 4 classroom, both Cohorts A and B – was remote through Jan. 22 and has resumed in the Hybrid Model as of Monday, Jan. 25.
  • Three grade 5 classrooms, both Cohorts A and B – were remote through Jan. 22 and have resumed in the Hybrid Model as of Monday, Jan. 25.
  • One grade 5 classroom, both Cohorts A and B – remote through Jan. 29. Hybrid Model resumes on Feb. 1.
• Hansen – Beginning Thursday, Jan. 21
  • Grade 5, all four classrooms, both Cohorts A and B – remote through Jan. 27. Hybrid Model resumes on Jan. 28.
• Luce – Beginning Thursday, Jan. 21
  • One grade 5 classroom, both Cohorts A and B – remote through Jan. 27. Hybrid Model resumes on Jan. 28.

COVID Update

COVID-19 Pool Testing

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) have introduced COVID-19 screening testing using a pooled strategy in the school setting. Pooled testing involves mixing 10-25 test samples together in a “batch” or “pool” and then testing the pooled sample with a PCR test. This approach increases the number of individuals that can be tested using the same amount of resources as a single PCR test. If a pooled test result is negative, then all individuals within that pool are presumed negative and may continue to remain in school. If a pooled test result is positive, each test in the pool is given an individual diagnostic test to identify the positive sample(s) and all individuals in the pool must quarantine until the samples are retested individually.

CPS has expressed interest in participating in this testing initiative. The test is performed at least once per week via a nasal swab for students and staff members. Results are delivered within approximately 24-48 hours. The Abbott BinaxNOW rapid point-of-care antigen test will be the primary source of the individual follow-up testing. While the expenses of the first six weeks of the program are funded by the state, districts choosing to continue the testing beyond six weeks would need to cover the expenses associated with the test, its administration and record keeping. The District is also exploring other possible COVID testing options and additional information will be provided in the coming weeks.

COVID-19 Vaccinations

The state has outlined a three-phase vaccine distribution plan. Phase one includes groups such as healthcare workers, long-term care facilities and first responders. Phase two includes groups such as those with certain medical conditions, education professionals and other public-facing essential workers, and seniors. The vaccine will be available to the general public in phase three, which is anticipated to begin in April.

The District is hopeful that, with support from the state, the Town of Canton and the school department will collaborate to provide vaccinations to school employees sometime in mid-late February through March. The timing is dependent on completing vaccinations of phase one groups and receiving vaccine doses from the state. The Canton Health Department is currently awaiting approval from the state in order to receive vaccines and provide clinics for anyone in the categories outlined in phase one.

Everyone is encouraged to stay informed regarding the COVID-19 vaccination process. The following resources are recommended for the most up-to-date information:

• Town website: www.town.canton.ma.us/
• Massachusetts COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Timeline Phase Overview: click here
• Latest vaccine update in Massachusetts: click here
• Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions: click here

COVID-19 Dashboard

A new COVID-19 dashboard has been created to show confirmed positive case numbers and total quarantined students/staff in the District for a specific timeframe. The dashboard shows the positive cases at each school building and also tracks how many students or staff reported positive cases or were required to begin quarantine on each specific day within the dashboard’s date range. Finally, the dashboard shows the cumulative number of positive cases among students or staff since Sept. 1, 2020.

The dashboard will provide additional transparency regarding the status of COVID-19 within the school community. The link to the dashboard will be available on the District website and the District news blog soon.

Massachusetts Flu Vaccine Requirement

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health removed the requirement for flu vaccinations for attendance in childcare/preschool, primary, secondary and postsecondary education due to this flu season being described as “mild” thus far and the desire to continue focusing on COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Flu vaccinations are still strongly recommended, and with consideration of CDC health recommendations, the District has one additional clinic scheduled. The clinic will be held in the Rodman building gymnasium and will have no pre-registration.

• Monday, Feb. 8 from 4:00-7:00 pm

The Town of Canton is in the Commonwealth’s “Red,” “high risk” designation for COVID-19, where it has remained since Dec. 31, 2020. There continues to be no evidence of COVID-19 transmission within the schools. As always, 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

CHS Water Testing

As part of the ongoing Town of Canton water testing and analysis program, it was recently confirmed that one water bubbler in the Canton High School has a lead level slightly above the Massachusetts Action Level for lead in drinking water at schools. The Massachusetts Action Level for lead in drinking water is 0.015 milligrams per liter (also known as parts per million). One Canton High School water bubbler tested at 0.02 milligrams per liter.

Prior to the start of the school year, all water bubblers in the District were turned off as a COVID-19 safety measure. Additionally, the District is participating in a Massachusetts School Water Improvement grant, which provides funds to replace water bubblers with water bottle filling stations. The water bubbler in question was already scheduled to be replaced by a water filling station. Test results showed that all other water samples taken from all public access and management areas (coolers, kitchen sinks, etc.) across the school district are within normal limits.

Canton High School Schedule Update

The current CHS schedule was focused on promoting health and safety, fostering connections and social-emotional health, maintaining the depth and breadth of CHS courses, creating equitable experiences for Continuum and Remote Learning Pathway (RLP) students, and managing staffing challenges.

Feedback from parents/families regarding the current CHS schedule showed that those with students in the Continuum wanted to see a move toward more in-person learning, and many parents/guardians with students in the RLP believe that their student is receiving the same level of education learning remotely as they would attending school in-person. Feedback from staff showed that many staff members do not believe in-person learning time should be increased because of current COVID-19 community case counts, however many staff members also felt that the safety procedures in school have worked based on there being no evidence of transmission in school. Staff also noted that it’s difficult to support kids in both the Hybrid and remote models at the same time.

Student responses showed that approximately 74% of students in the Continuum believe they learn best when learning in person and approximately 26% believe they learn best when they attend classes remotely. Approximately 35% of Continuum students also reported that they will sometimes stay home to work remotely when they are scheduled to attend class, which is an occurrence teachers reported noticing in their classes as well. Of all students who responded, including RLP students, 56.6% of students responded that they would like to see an increase in in-person learning time. When asked how the CHS schedule could be changed to better improve their experiences as students, themes in student feedback included that they would like more in-person learning, that the transition period between lunch and afternoon remote classes is often difficult and feels rushed, and that they would prefer more classes in the morning rather than the afternoon.

Currently, students are going to school for three in-person periods of 50 minutes each before grab-and-go lunchtime and returning home for remote classes. The newly proposed CHS schedule has four in-person periods of 50 minutes each in the morning, before a grab-and-go lunchtime and three remote classes in the afternoon. The new schedule increases the amount of in-person learning time. It also may reduce the number of Continuum students who choose to study remotely on any certain day and has the potential to improve social-emotional wellness by increasing face-to-face interactions among students. Potential challenges of the new schedule include increasing the number of students mixing in the building and more time spent in the Hybrid instructional model that teachers reported to be challenging. In addition, to mitigate staffing coverage issues, multiple classes being taught by remote teachers will likely be combined in the library in order to have the proper in-person teacher supervision. The new schedule may also increase the number of Continuum students who choose to enter the RLP.

The new schedule was created by a working group of parents, teachers, department heads, principals, an educational assistant, nurses and students.

To see the CHS proposed schedule presentation, click here.

Conditions for Learning Staff Survey #2

The District shared the results from the second Conditions for Learning survey, completed by staff in December 2020. Staff members were asked to rate their experiences thus far regarding safety, teaching and learning, social-emotional learning and wellness, structural supports, 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 school year to present.

The second survey showed that most staff members still felt positively about the District’s safety measures, their comfort and capability in providing effective instruction and feedback to students, and their access to the necessary resources. Feedback regarding teachers’ thoughts on their students’ ability to access the remote learning environment was also significantly more positive than October’s survey.

Similar to the parent/guardian survey responses, many staff members reported that they did not feel well-connected to their colleagues, though feedback regarding teachers’ connections with students was slightly more positive than the October survey results. Staff members also shared concerns about being able to maintain 6 feet of social distancing during the day, screen time, and student engagement. Staff noted challenges regarding planning and effectively implementing instructional design in the Hybrid model with students both in-person and remote, and the need to assess and preserve staff collaboration time.

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 staff 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 75% of staff survey respondents indicated that they would not feel safe working in the school if the District transitions to 4.5-foot distancing. Approximately 40% of respondents believed that students would be best served in an “all in” model, even if it meant less social distancing. Approximately 74% of respondents indicated that even if students would be best-served learning in-person in school, they did not feel it would be safe with less than 6 feet of distance.

The District will now evaluate the Conditions for Learning data by building. In addition, a third Conditions for Learning survey will be sent out in March. In response to trends and patterns shown within the survey results, the District will be reviewing all safety protocols, developing new mechanisms to share COVID data, and continuing discussions regarding instructional design in the coming weeks.

The summary of the survey results can be found here.

Additional Updates

FY22 Operating Budget Proposal

The FY22 Operating Budget was presented to the school committee at the Dec. 17 meeting. The original proposal request was $2,283,544, which called 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 met on Jan. 12 following the school committee’s second review to consider additional requests or adjustments to the budget proposal, including the addition of a PACE (Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment) educator at the GMS. The new proposal request presented during the third review on Jan. 21 now includes the addition of an educator position at GMS to support challenge and enrichment and results in a total request of $2,358,576 and a 5.11% budget increase.

The new proposal request was voted on and approved by the school committee as the preliminary budget request and it will now be submitted to the town.

The full budget package can be viewed here.

Canton Alliance Against Substance Abuse Drug Free Communities Grant Update

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded the Drug Free Communities Grant to the Canton Alliance Against Substance Abuse (CAASA). The grant will provide $125,000 per year for 5 years to CAASA to address substance use and prevention in Canton.

Project H.O.P.E

GMS eighth-grader Ishita Jaiswal presented her community service project, Project H.O.P.E (Helping Out People on Edge). Jaiswal started the project to help kids in the community connect with each other during the pandemic after noticing that, due to social distancing guidelines, kids haven’t been able to connect with one another as often as usual. Kids have also experienced changes in their routines, breaks in the continuity of learning and missing significant life events. To address this, Project HOPE has been hosting a variety of events, such as biking, playing games on Zoom, book clubs and organizing virtual parties for kids with their friends.

The next Canton School Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb. 4 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.