Canton Public Schools Share Information From November 12 School Committee Meeting

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

November 17, 2020

CANTON — Interim Superintendent Derek Folan would like to share with the school community updates and information provided at the Nov. 12 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 Superintendent’s report is available here.

COVID-19 Metrics Update

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) updated how COVID-19 community risk designations are calculated to better reflect caseload in relation to population. Prior to the updated metric considerations, Canton had been designated as a high risk or “red” community for several weeks. With the new metrics, Canton moved to a “yellow” designation on Nov. 6 and to a “green” or low risk designation last week. Thursday’s “green” designation indicates less than 10 average COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents with at least 10 total cases in Canton. Canton’s average daily incidence rate also decreased to 7.1 per 100,000 residents, down from 10.8 on Nov. 6.

Along with the update to risk level calculations, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released new guidance for schools. The new guidance states that districts who are in communities designated as gray, green or yellow are expected to have students learning fully in-person if it is feasible and if there is no evidence of COVID-19 transmission within the District. The guidance additionally states that districts in communities designated as “red” should learn within a hybrid model, and that fully remote learning should now only be implemented as a last resort in schools where there is evidence of in-school transmission or a significant outbreak within the community.

The District will remain in the hybrid learning model at this point in time and will continue to communicate with families regarding any updates or changes.

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. There are several factors the District will take into account when considering the new guidance. First, there is good evidence to show that schools are safe and the health protocols in place are working to limit any transmission of COVID-19 in schools. In addition, the hybrid model has been an excellent service to students and staff both in relation to safety and quality of learning. Full in-person learning requires consideration of available space in school buildings given the appropriate social distancing guidelines, considerations regarding transportation and busing, and the input of staff and families. Each of these factors weighs into any decision regarding changes in Learning Models for the District.

Thanksgiving and COVID-19

Canton residents are encouraged to continue to follow the health guidance to limit the spread of COVID-19 as the holiday season approaches. Wearing a mask, practicing proper hand hygiene, social distancing and limiting travel remain important precautionary measures. Students and staff are asked to follow testing guidelines if they travel over the holiday, and are reminded of the importance of filling out and submitting the daily symptom screener when they return to school following the holiday.

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

For more information on Thanksgiving safety, visit the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

Information regarding the state’s COVID-19 Travel Order can be found here.

Inclement Weather/Snow Day Protocols

DESE guidance for this year states that snow days and inclement weather days may be remote learning days. Remote learning is an option for CPS on inclement weather days, but the decision to learn remote that day remains at the discretion of each district. The District will handle snow days on a case-by-case basis, placing great consideration on the conditions for teaching and learning for both staff and students. Power outages, availability of educational materials and overall readiness of students and staff are factors that will be considered.

GMS Family Update and Fundraiser

As many people in town are aware, Brady Gibbons, an 8th grade student at the Galvin, and his father Kevin were in an accident earlier this month. Sadly, Kevin passed away from his injuries and Brady remains in the hospital. A Go-Fund-Me page has been created to support Brady and his mother, Julie. GMS will be doing a fundraiser this week to raise money in support of Brady and Julie. Principal Shannon will be sharing more information about Brady and the Go-Fund-Me via her newsletter should families outside of Galvin like to participate.

Educational and Activities Updates

CHS Girls Soccer

The CHS girls soccer team won the regular season Hockomock League Championship for the first time since 2012. They were prepared to enter the Hock Cup as the top-seeded team. However, they needed to quarantine due to exposure to a positive COVID-19 case, as determined by the Massachusetts DPH. The inability to bring closure to a superb year and the abrupt end to the season brought on great sadness and frustration for the team. The team captains advocated for the team with the Hockomock League, and Athletic Director Mr. Erickson and CHS Principal Dave Turcotte made a motion to the League to consider modifying the tournament timeline. Through the collaborative, supportive and creative work of the Hockomock League Athletic Directors, the League created an avenue for Canton and Foxboro to play a singular bracket on Thursday, Nov. 19 with an opportunity to play the winner of the Hock Cup. See the Hockomock League press release here.

Winter Athletics

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental & Energy Affairs recently released its guidelines for winter sports. MIAA sport committees will now examine and approve modifications to play. Those modifications will be reviewed by the Sports Medicine Committee and the MIAA Covid-19 Task Force before final approval by the Board of Directors. The District anticipates that final guidance and determinations will be shared with the league and school levels around the week of Thanksgiving.

Lucy Calkins Literacy

There are five essential skill areas in which students need to make progress as they develop reading proficiency: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. As a part of the early adopter work last year, the District identified that in the early grades both phonemic awareness and phonics needed more attention. The District has brought in the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness curriculum and the Calkins Units of Study in Phonics. Last year, CPS also started professional development with DESE to begin implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) across grades to ensure that students have the support they need, especially when they need more than what the core curriculum provides. CPS is also using the Wilson Fundations program in some places for students who need a more explicit phonics program. Additional programs and support that need to be included may be identified as the District builds out its MTSS plan.

FY22 Capital Budget Update

A preliminary capital budget plan for FY22 was presented at the Nov. 5 School Committee meeting. At that time, Business Administrator Barry Nectow noted that additional projects may be added to the funding recommendation after some modifications to the original proposal.

At that time, it was also stated that the funding for a Ruckus classroom access points technology project would likely be reduced which would allow for additional cash capital projects to be funded in the FY22 budget. That technology project has since been reduced to $20,875. With that reduction, the following projects were given an increase in funding or were added to the cash capital plan:

Building Repairs and Improvements

• Fitness Center Upgrades at CHS and GMS ($19,215)
• Painting and furnishing of JFK Lobby ($12,300)
• Continued HVAC maintenance district-wide ($58,501) (an additional $8,501 was added to the original recommendation presented Nov. 5)
• Library carpet replacement at GMS ($22,400)

Technology

• Replacement of computers for administrative staff across the District (non-instructional computers), a proposed 2-year project ($42,640) (an additional $17,640 was added to the original recommendation presented Nov. 5)
• Replacement of some laptops across the district, a cycled project that is funded every few years to replace outdated laptops ($25,000) (an additional $20,750 was added to the original recommendation presented Nov. 5)
• Ruckus classroom access points across the district ($20,875) (reduced by $83,217 from the original recommendation presented Nov. 5)

Safety and Security

• Creation of a Strategic Operations Plan District-Wide ($9,995)

Program Improvement

• Laboratory probes for the science department at CHS ($5,514)
• The School Committee also recommended transferring $5,028 in funding from the replacement of classroom based instruments district-wide ($30,826) to fund the purchase of ukuleles for the elementary schools.

The School Committee voted to approve the cash capital budget with the transfer in funding from the classroom-based instrument replacements to the ukulele purchase.

The District also recommended at the Nov. 5 meeting putting funding toward three debt capital projects as part of FY22. No changes were made to the debt capital plan, and the School Committee voted to approve the debt capital plan recommendations.

The approved budget recommendations for the cash capital and debt capital plans now go to the town. The updated FY22 Capital Plan Summary can be viewed here.

Air Quality Testing

The second cycle of air quality testing was completed last week. Two rooms at GMS and one room at JFK were noted for CO2 levels that were slightly elevated according to the air quality targets. The District’s HVAC technician was sent to evaluate these spaces and the District will report on its actions to mitigate the levels in the coming weeks. No action was cited in any other rooms across the District. The next round of testing will be completed in January.

Communication

As the District approaches the end of the first term in these unprecedented times, families are reminded to contact a teacher or principal directly if they have any questions or concerns.

The next Canton School Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, Dec. 3, following the Thanksgiving holiday. 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.