Canton Public School Shares Information From School Committee Meeting

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

March 2, 2021

CANTON — Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller would like to share with the school community updates and information provided at the Feb. 25 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.

Vaccine Resolution

The School Committee presented and passed a resolution to prioritize the class of 2021 for the COVID-19 vaccination. The resolution requests that Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, and the Massachusetts COVID-19 Vaccination Advisory Group take steps to make vaccines available to educators immediately and to prioritize all Class of 2021 seniors for the COVID-19 vaccine when additional doses become available beyond the current Phase II plan.

The resolution recognizes the prioritization of in-person learning and the plans being made to reopen school buildings for as many days as possible for the rest of the 2020-21 school year as reasons to prioritize seniors for vaccination. The resolution also notes how the Class of 2021 has experienced a unique school year and missed out on many traditional experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To view the full resolution, click here.

“All-in” Back to School Process

As state and community health metrics continue to improve, and in recognition of the profound importance of students attending school in-person, the District is proposing a plan to shift to the All-in Model in the Learning Continuum through a phased-in approach. An All-in Steering Committee has been created to support the implementation of the All-in Model and enhance the communication needed across all stakeholder groups.

The phase-in approach will start with the youngest levels as they require the greatest in-person support developmentally and face the greatest challenge with remote learning. However, the District approaches the All-in shift with urgency and importance for all grade levels and intends for all grade levels to transition to the All-in Model by the end of the school year.

Timeline

The District is proposing returning students in grades K, 1 and 2 to school fully in-person on Tuesday, March 23. Wednesday, March 24 would be a regular Wednesday Remote Early Release, and Thursday, March 25 and on would be an All-in schedule for K-2 students.

Grades 3, 4 and 5 would be scheduled to return to fully in-person learning on Tuesday, April 6. Wednesday, April 7 would be a regular Wednesday Remote Early Release, and Thursday, April 8 and on would be an All-in schedule for grade 3-5 students.

Wednesday, April 14 would be the first non-remote Wednesday early release in the All-in Model for grades K-5. Wednesdays will remain early release days in the All-in Model to allow for enhanced cleaning and educator collaboration time.

As has been noted at previous School Committee meetings, the District still has two professional development days that may be built into this year’s calendar for transition between learning models. With these available days, Friday, March 19 and Monday, March 22 are proposed to be staff prep days and there would be no school for K-2 students. Thursday, April 1 and Monday, April 5 are proposed to be staff prep days with no school for grade 3-5 students.

The proposed timeline provides the context and target dates for the All-in shift, while also honoring Governor Baker and Commissioner Riley’s recent announcement and goal to have elementary students return in April. These dates are subject to change, but they will serve as guideposts for the school administration and the All-in Steering Committee to work through the many logistical, educational, and safety-related considerations to promote a successful transition to All-in for elementary school students.

Conditions for Learning

The District began this planning as part of the development of the Canton Public Schools Reopening Plan in the summer of 2020. The Conditions for Learning and family/staff survey responses regarding the Conditions for Learning served as a key structure to examine what is best for the school community. The Conditions for Learning once again are providing the framework to guide the District’s work as it plans for a transition between learning models.

Conditions for Learning: Safety

The health and safety of students, faculty and staff remain the top priority. By establishing and adhering to COVID-19 protocols around quarantining, identification of close contacts, mask wearing, social distancing, hand hygiene, daily screening, and enhanced cleaning, the District successfully mitigated in-school transmission and created a safe learning environment for staff and students. Air purifiers are in every classroom and office space, and the District conducts regular air quality tests. The District continues to collaborate with local health and safety officials who provide important guidance for school-based activities, and the CPS COVID-19 Dashboard regularly conveys current health data to the school community. All of these safety measures will remain in place.

Furthermore, as the District prepares to transition to an All-in Model, additional safety measures will be implemented to enhance the current mitigation strategies. These measures include:

• Pooled testing, which will provide important health data for decision making
• Encouraging double-masking
• Adding a Parent/Guardian Self Attestation Form for the Daily Screener
• Expanding the Daily Screener questions to consider other symptomatic elements that may be present in the household
• Using outdoor spaces as weather continues to improve
• Ongoing vaccinations as the state continues through its distribution plan

Conditions for Learning: Teaching and Learning

The Hybrid Model has presented many instructional challenges as teachers and students engaged in teaching and learning at home and at school. The All-in Model will focus on in-person instruction, with the removal of the “window” into the classroom for elementary grades. Staff and student devices will still be utilized to support student learning, but learning experiences will require a re-imagining for in-person learning. Educators will consider the best instructional strategies to maximize student engagement and small groups, while maintaining safe social distancing and limiting the sharing of materials. The design of lessons, the preparation of materials, and staff collaboration will continue to be the focus of Wednesday afternoons in the All-in Model. Student schedules may also be adjusted to prioritize instruction while also allowing for additional mask and movement breaks which may be needed with more students in attendance in each classroom space.

Conditions for Learning: Social-Emotional Supports

The All-in Model provides the strongest social-emotional support for students because school is a place where students feel safe to learn and where the District can provide direct support. Many structures and personnel are in place and are able to work with students. Home-school interventionists have had an increase in home visits to support families in need this school year and have been providing a monthly evening parent/guardian group session. As the year has progressed, the District has received more requests to bring in students four days per week due to emotional concerns being observed by educators and reported by parents/guardians. Bringing back students to school four days a week has assisted in the District’s ability to provide direct social/emotional supports for students, and this support will be able to be expanded to the full school community in the All-in Model.

The student services team has already begun to generate ideas for providing additional supports to elementary students as they return to school All-in, some of which include, but are not limited to:

• A Caregiver Support Program centered on helping parents/guardians support students as they return to school
• In-class meetings/mini lessons by school psychologists to address specific student/class concerns identified by educators
• Beginning- and end-of-day check-ins with students
• Developing small group lunch bunches to support students transitioning back into school
• Collaboration between school nurses and the team of mental health providers to monitor student visits to the nurse for suspected social/emotional concerns

Conditions for Learning: Structural Supports for Students, and Operations

During the summer of 2020, the Learning Continuum’s All-in Model was determined to not be feasible at that time due to many health-related and logistical unknowns, transportation guidance, and safety protocols. As the District plans for a transition to the All-in Model, it is now able to build on the success of the safety protocols, additional mitigation strategies, evolving health guidance and improving health data, and new transportation guidelines.

Remote Option and Change of Model Enrollment

Students currently enrolled in the Remote Learning Pathway will continue to have this learning experience through the end of the school year. Most of the RLP classes are currently filled, and new students will only be accepted if space opens up. Any family who would like to change from the Learning Continuum to fully remote or vice versa will be asked to complete a Model Enrollment Change form. Any Model shift at this point will be final for the remainder of the year. A Model change will also involve a teacher change. Currently, the Model Change is a 3-week process, and the timing of a Model shift at the time of the District’s transition to the All-in Model remains to be determined.

Social Distancing in the Classroom

DESE continues to recommend a minimum of 3 feet of distance when all other precautionary measures — including masks, hand hygiene, cleaning and contact tracing — are in place and districts should aim for 6 feet when feasible. This guidance is supported by public health experts and organizations. The CPS Hybrid Model called for 6 feet of social distancing, while the All-in Model in August had used 4.5 feet as a parameter. As the District enters the All-in Model, students will be seated 3 to 6 feet apart, based on the classroom size and class enrollment. This proposed structure is aligned with the DESE and CDC guidance given the use of multiple other mitigation strategies.

Transportation

DESE updated its transportation guidance on February 11. The guidance lifts capacity limitations and physical distancing requirements for students on elementary buses. Though the District continues to plan for the eventual return of middle and high school students, guidance for middle and high school bus operations have also been updated. Capacity limitations and physical distancing requirements are lifted for middle and high schools except for schools in districts with high community prevalence. See the new guidance here.

The safe transportation of students to and from school is a critical part of achieving the goal of bringing more students back to school, and this shift in guidance allows more students to ride the bus to and from school. In developing this transportation guidance, the health and safety of students and transportation staff remain the top priority. All staff and students on the bus, regardless of age, are required to wear masks at all times. Windows will be kept open at least two inches all times during bus operation. In adverse weather conditions, every other window can be opened.

Food Service

The goal of the District is to maintain a minimum of 6 feet of distancing while students are eating meals. This is the recommendation of both local and state health officials. Masks are removed at meal time and separating students and staff as much as possible will reduce the probability of spreading the virus.

Meals will be consumed in all available spaces, including in outdoor tents, as weather permits. Each school’s mealtime operations may differ slightly, based on available space. Lunch will continue to be served in containers, making it easy to move to an assigned space.

Elementary school lunch distribution will follow the current GMS model, which has been a successful model since September 2020. This model consists of all students passing through the lunch line in the cafeteria and eating in an assigned location after picking up their meals. Meal delivery to classrooms will be discontinued.

Conditions for Learning: Technology and Digital Learning

Since September 2020, the District has made great strides in the area of technology and digital learning. The District built a 1:1 program for students in grades K-9, created consistency in Learning Management Systems (Seesaw K-2 and Google Classroom 3-12), provided two instructional devices (Acer laptops and iPads) in each classroom setting for educators, and created a digital toolbox of resources, applications, and instructional tools to enhance and support teaching and learning. Staff and student devices will continue to be used to enhance student learning in the All-in Model.

The Technology and Digital Learning teams will be focusing on building upon a 3-prong approach to supporting classrooms:

• Teachers have digital resources, tools and devices to provide the enhanced and effective blended instruction
• Students have 1:1 devices and have developed routines and grown significantly in their skill level and confidence learning within a digital environment
• The Digital Learning Team, with which educators in each building have a dedicated faculty member to support their continued learning of blended instruction, their expansion of their own digital instructional toolbox and strategies, and their lesson development and continued professional collaboration

Next Steps

The District will continue to communicate with elementary staff and families, and the Learning Model Change Request form will be sent to elementary parents/guardians. A Steering Committee will also be utilized for stakeholder feedback and communications. The District will continue to collaborate with the Canton Teachers’ Association and will evaluate building-based details regarding furniture inventory, class size and staffing. The School Committee’s Policy Sub-Committee will also review and evaluate COVID-related policies and protocols to assist in facilitating a safe return for students and staff.

At the next School Committee meeting on March 18, the District will provide an update on the elementary All-in Model and plans for GMS and CHS students to return to in-person learning.

View the full presentation here.

COVID Update

The Town of Canton has moved into the Commonwealth’s “Yellow,” “medium risk” designation for COVID-19 as of Feb. 11. As always, parents/guardians and students are urged to follow public health guidance. Students and staff are asked to follow COVID-19 Protocols, and are reminded of the importance of filling out and submitting the daily screener.

• Student COVID-19 Screening form

• Staff COVID-19 Screening form

Parents/guardians are also reminded to view the Canton Public Schools COVID-19 Dashboard to see data regarding positive cases and quarantining within the District. The Dashboard is updated on Wednesday nights and Sunday nights. The CPS COVID-19 Dashboard can be viewed here.

COVID-19 Pooled Testing

Details regarding the District’s Pooled Testing program were shared with families last week. The letter and explanation of the initiative can be found here. This pooled approach is an efficient and cost-effective way for the District to provide regular COVID-19 testing for students, staff, and faculty, and the information this testing will provide will be valuable as the District continues to plan to safely bring students back to school to the greatest extent possible. Any parents/guardians with questions about the program are encouraged to contact CPS Interim Nurse Leader Lauren Pushard at 781-821-5050 ext. 1113 or pushardl@cantonma.org.

Preschool Tuition Adjustments

The Rodman Early Childhood Program presented the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Preschool tuition. The current 2020-21 tuition reflected a decrease in hours as the Preschool program shifted to a 9-1 school day from a 9-2 schedule.

A 2% tuition increase was approved by the School Committee. The increase is as follows:

• Two-Day tuition increases from $2,203 (current) to $2,247 (2% increase)
• Three-Day tuition increases from $3,306 (current) to $3,372 (2% increase)
• Four-Day tuition increases from $4,407 (current) to $4,495 (2% increase)
• Five-Day tuition increases from $5,507 (current) to $5,617 (2% increase)

See the full Rodman Early Childhood Program tuition proposal here.

2021-2022 Draft School Calendar

Dr. Fischer-Mueller presented the draft 2021-22 School Year Calendar. The calendar is a draft and will change as the District continues to evaluate plans and collaborate with the Canton Teachers’ Association. February Vacation is currently scheduled for Feb. 21-25, 2022 and April vacation is currently scheduled for April 18-22, 2022. The first and last days of school have yet to be determined. The District will continue to share updates regarding the 2021-22 calendar as they become available.

Additional Updates

School Choice Vote

Each year the School Committee must vote on whether or not to enroll school choice students. The School Committee voted to not be a school choice district, which is in-line with previous years’ votes.

Kindergarten Registration

The District is currently enrolling Kindergarten and new first grade students for the 2021-22 school year online. All Kindergarten and new first grade registrations are due by March 5, 2021. Additional details can be found on the registration website and on this enrollment flyer.

Black History Month

A virtual Black History Month celebration took place on Tuesday, February 23. It can be viewed here. The event was held by the Canton Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (CDEI), a town committee whose mission is to celebrate and embrace the traditions and values of the groups within the community and advocate for the human and civil rights of all individuals in the Town of Canton through education, promoting community awareness and understanding of cultural differences, and eradicating barriers to equity and inclusion.

Additional information on meetings, programming and future events can be found on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CantonDiversityEquityandInclusion.

Winter Athletics

The District recently completed its winter athletics season. Over 240 students competed in hockey, swimming, gymnastics and basketball, and both hockey teams won championships. The District began the Fall II wedge season last week and has almost 200 students participating in football, volleyball, indoor track and non-competitive cheerleading. The wedge season will run through August 25.

Additionally, Canton Athletics will be rolling out the Unified Sports Program in early April, and will hold a spring season with cheerleading and wrestling, in addition to its normal spring sports, in early April. The athletic department will continue to monitor and follow state and local guidelines and protocols regarding athletics.

Galvin Middle School & Project Lead the Way

Principal Shannon and her team received the Project Lead the Way Grant in the amount of $19,794. GMS will re-engineer their computer, technology and engineering courses. The GMS vision as a school is to be a deeper learning school by utilizing project, problem, and inquiry-based learning. This vision is directly aligned to the District Strategic Framework which clearly states that “Public education exists not only within the context of our local Canton community but also within the larger context of our global society.” PLTW offers curriculum for both computers and technology and engineering that is project/problem-based and is grounded in real-world experience.

GMS intends to offer a PLTW experience in each grade level at the end of a three year roll-out. This will begin with the sixth grade students with an introduction to PLTW and the design process through the Design and Modeling course. The seventh grade students will then take a Computer Science for Innovators and Makers course. Finally, eighth grade students would wrap up their middle school experience with the Green Architecture course.

Minding Your Mind

The Canton Wellness Department is partnering with KyleCares, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting open and honest communication about mental health. KyleCares helps connect schools with vetted service providers, facilitate sustainable mental health school-wide initiatives, and fund school based mental health programming. Through KyleCares the District has connected with Minding Your Mind, who will be providing a young adult speaker series to all freshmen and sophomore health classes and students. A list of speakers can be found here: https://mindingyourmind.org/our-speakers/

The District hopes to use Minding Your Mind as a launching platform to discuss the importance of mental health, and remove the stigmas around those discussions. As a result, students who express significant interest in the topic will be offered the opportunity to start a Student Wellness Advisory Group (SWAG), which will serve as a partner with the CPS Wellness Department as a student voice at the table. SWAG’s first priority will be to open up a chapter of Active Minds later this spring, which is the second phase of the partnership with KyleCares.

School Report Cards

Each year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) publishes District and School Report cards. The Report Cards, which highlight several pieces of school-based data, were sent to families last Friday. Due to COVID-19, school closures, and the cancelation of MCAS, DESE did not issue school, district, or state accountability determinations.

Traditionally, MCAS data is the centerpiece of the District and School Report Card; however, the 2020 MCAS was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so only the 2018 and 2019 MCAS data is included in the report. In addition, DESE included the 2019 Accountability determination. Several other pieces of data are included: student demographics, attendance and discipline, educator certification, and per-pupil expenditure. For the high school, the report features post-secondary enrollment, graduation rates, drop-out rates and the percentage of students taking higher level courses.

Click here to see the Canton Public Schools District Report Card.

The next Canton School Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, March 18 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.