DAILY UPDATE #223 -- 3/09/2021
 

• NEW ITEMS
   
• VACCINATIONS
  School district employees should use this link to sign up for vaccinations.
  https://sdusdvaccinates.com/fair/index   All school district employees are encouraged to become vaccinated ASAP. 
   
• DISTRICT COMMUNICATIONS
   
  The following communication was sent to principals on March 8:
   

  SDEA BARGAINING UPDATE

• We are still actively bargaining the instructional model proposals, the possible impacts, and the health and safety guidelines.
• Once we have reached a tentative agreement, we will communicate with you immediately about the particulars of the models to best support your preparation for Phase 2 reopening.
   

  SBB PROCESS FEEDBACK SURVEY

• In order for us to continue to improve our SBB process, we are seeking your voluntary feedback with a quick 5 question survey. 
• We appreciate you taking the time to complete this survey.  
   

  FAMILY PREFERENCE SURVEY UPDATE

• Our families received the family preference survey on Friday, March 5. Survey is due Friday, March 12. 
• Families received the communication via robocalls, school messenger and text messages.
• Our goal is to have 100% of our families complete this survey. 
• Feel free to share the following links with your families via Classroom Dojo, Google Classroom, etc.
• Families have been encouraged to complete ONE survey per child and can only complete ONE survey based on their Student ID. 
   Go to Survey. English
  Ir a la encuesta. Español
  Bấm vào khảo sát. Tiếng Việt Nam
  Puntahan ang survey. Tagalog
   Aad U Kuurgalka. Somali
  Nenda kwenye Uchaguzi. Kiswahili
  လဲၤဆူတၢ်တၢ်ကွၢ်ထံဆိမိၢ်လၢကညီကျိာ်
  اذهب للاستبيان. اللغة العربية
  
  MASK ACCOMMODATION
   
• We have updated the mask accommodation process to include:
  1. Transportation Considerations (#4)
  2. SAMPLE MESSAGE (#5) for families of students in the classroom with the student who has a mask accommodation
     
     COVID 19 TESTING UPDATE FOR PRINCIPALS
• We are speeding up our rollout to bring testing to all comprehensive sites by April 2021. 
• Testing will now be once a week at all Comprehensive High Schools with Athletics and every two weeks in all other sites. 
• For schools that currently have testing at their site or who have scheduled testing in the future, please check the updated schedule here, as the time for your testing may have changed
• We are speeding up our rollout to bring testing to all comprehensive sites by April 2021. 
• Testing will now be once a week at all Comprehensive High Schools with Athletics and every two weeks in all other sites. 
• For schools that currently have testing at their site or who have scheduled testing in the future, please check the updated schedule here, as the time for your testing may have changed
  
  HOONUIT: NEW “HOME PAGE” 
• Effective  March 5^th, a new “Home Page” will appear when you first log into Hoonuit to support the pending release of additional Hoonuit modules in addition to Essentials and Operations that are currently available
• For new users or those wanting a refresher, two Zoom sessions have been scheduled. 
• Click here for more information.
• If you have questions about using Hoonuit or understanding the data, please contact either Ron Rode rrode@sandi.net Rob Fargo rfargo@sandi.net. 
  
  PHYSICAL EDUCATION (PE) UPDATES & SUPPORT
   
• As a part of our district contract with the County Health and Human Services Agency, Physical Education Cluster Coordinator’s (CPECs) will provide assistance to schools in an effort to increase effective delivery of standards based physical education. Click here for the update.
• Questions? Contact Stacey Seiders sseiders@sandi.net.
   

  IMTSS BLOCK GRANT

• The “Among Us” Block Grant (also known as the IMTSS Block Grant) has launched a Spring Challenge to keep students engaged in enrichment activities to support their social emotional well-being, academic progress, and college/career planning. 
• March 1st to May 14th Block Grant eligible students will have the opportunity to earn a District Apple iPad to support their learning through graduation by participating in any of our programs or enrichment activities. 
• The challenge will be administered by your site’s District Resource Teacher/Counselor.  
• If you have any questions please refer to the Block Grant Org Chart and contact the District Resource Teacher/Counselor for your school or contact ejohnson7@sandi.net.  
• Program overview video linked here. https://youtu.be/kNknrZ8IieA
  
  SECONDARY UPDATES
  
  New Course Submission
• Please ensure any planned new courses for the 2021-22 school year have been submitted to UC for next year’s A-G list. 
  1. Courses need to be approved by UC prior to submission to ICC and subsequent board approval.
  2. No new courses will appear in Powerscheduler until board approval has been given. 
  3. The deadline to submit new courses to ICC for approval prior to the end of this school year is April 8.
• Contact Maureen Cottrell, mcottrell@sandi.net with any questions.
  
   
• MESSAGE FROM ERNEST LOGAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
  When all is said and done, at the end of this pandemic year, I hope school leaders across the nation will be recognized as national heroes. With nearly 40 million K–12 students dependent on you from coast to coast, you had to find a way to educate them without a crisis road map. Neither did you have a timetable, because in the beginning it was inconceivable that this crisis would stretch much beyond a couple of weeks. A month later, the possibility of an open-ended timeframe was dawning on you. And the invaluable role of schools in society was dawning on parents, the media, elected officials and the public at large.
  In the earliest days, you tried to figure out where to begin: Providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the kids who relied on school meals just to survive? Developing a hybrid instructional plan and finding a scheduling genius who could implement it? Securing your buildings and acquiring the personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to short-circuit a much more dangerous contagion than we first imagined? You quickly learned that you had to keep your focus on all those things at once—and you met the moment.
  The logistics of establishing remote, in-person and hybrid learning solutions were staggering. Without much training, you had to figure out how to shift at least partly from in-class to online learning. Some of you, and your teaching staffs, distributed computer equipment to your students at their homes. Many of you put pressure on internet providers to offer families free access. With your unique people skills, you sought allies in your community to shore up connectivity wherever possible. You also had to attract and try your darnedest to keep qualified staff to teach in all three situations: online, in person, and both.
  And while you were pulling off these daily miracles, quite a few of you were dealing with multiple new aspects of the human condition. In all of our districts, students have vanished from the rolls. I’ve written at length about youngsters who’ve gone missing while you and your staffs searched online, and often in your cars, and then knocking on doors. This attendance crisis could have lifelong consequences, and you’ve been losing sleep over it.
  The human condition also reflects sorrows closer to home. While some of your own family and friends were slipping away from the virus, you had to help your staffs and students deal with their trauma. Sometimes tragedy visited your school—a teacher, a cafeteria worker, a student’s parent. School leaders like yourselves weren’t immune. In New York, Dez-Ann Romain, a 36-year-old principal, lost her life early in the pandemic. No matter where you lived—California, Maryland, Michigan—you took each of these losses personally. But you carried on.
  While juggling responsibilities and emotions, and in some cases never taking a day off, many of you generously contributed to your national union’s Issues Guide to Reopening School Safely, published in July. I can’t thank you enough. For this AFSA handbook, you came up with 17 ways to create a safe school environment, guided by three overriding considerations: the safety of students, school district employees and the community; prominent parental involvement in determining what a school day should look like during the “new normal”; and a generous infusion of funding to make possible all the safety measures. It is tremendously rewarding to see months later that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now published a guide that almost exactly matches ours, but with the addition of contact tracing, which our schools would have had no way of accomplishing on their own.
  You also have found time to be vocal on the legislative side, advocating additional funding for K–12 schools, including for cleaning and sanitizing, PPE and professional development. You have made it clear that a separate stream of funding is necessary for computer devices, hotspots and internet access services for the 12 million students who lack connectivity in their homes. AFSA has been pushing this agenda forward. Right now, the government is on the brink of passing a COVID-19 relief bill that would respond to nearly everything you’ve advocated.
  Despite the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, it is possible that many schools will reopen fully in the fall. Various logistical hurdles in the strict CDC guidelines, as well as in AFSA’s, will have to be overcome if all schools are to open. This will not happen unless President Biden’s package, with its $130 billion to pay for all staff and safety needs, is fully implemented, and his vaccination plan is completed. But his would not even be a gleam in the eye of the powers that be if you had not already shown the way forward with your daily triumphs, against the odds.
   
• OTHER NEWS
  Opinion:  John Lee Evans on the April 12 target date for school reopening (VOSD, March 8)
  https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/opinion/san-diego-schools-should-honor-the-april-12-reopening-date/
   
• REMINDERS
   
• AASD/DISTRICT "HOTLINE" INFORMATION
  The hotline established with the District is available to AASD unit members and other management who are charged with enforcing the health and safety policies and procedures.  Call the hotline when you need immediate assistance when conflicts arise, clarification is needed, or decisions must be made regarding health and safety matters. 
  
  This hotline is for ALL AASD represented members, both classified and certificated.  The hotline phone number is (619) 981-0760.  The hotline is available on all District workdays, Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  In the rare event that a message must be left, all calls will be returned promptly, within the same day.
   
• SPECIAL GRATITUDE
  If an AASD member has a department or individual that deserves special recognition during this time of crisis, please use the link below for reporting issues/questions/concerns/gratitude to show your gratitude for the department or individual.  AASD will publish that special thanks in our next Daily Update.
   
• AASD OFFICE CLOSURE 
  AASD will be sending out a Daily Update, Monday-Friday, throughout the return to instruction/school reopening period.  The Weekly Update will continue as usual on Thursdays with the typical news and information for AASD members.  The AASD Office continues to remain closed.  AASD staff are working remotely and can be reached via the contact information at the end of this Update.
  
  AASD has created a Google Form for AASD Members to report issues, questions or concerns regarding work-related issues, COVID-19, return to instruction and school reopening.  AASD will provide answers to issues, questions or concerns submitted as answers become available.  You may also share your gratitude for another AASD member, district personnel, etc., via the same link.
  
  The link to share issues/questions/concerns/gratitude is:
  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVSsqBQSHboCdgqbnpaucUY--DHKjosG8MAmRuCxawzB4blg/viewform?usp=sf_link
   
  Please do not share this link outside of AASD membership (classified and certificated management/supervisors).  The link will be active until this crisis is over. 
   
  NOTE:  All previous AASD Daily Updates and Weekly Updates are located on the AASD Website www.aasdcs.org if you need to refer back to them for information.
   
• DISTRICT WEBSITE
  For your convenience, the District has created a list of Frequently Asked Questions.  To access that list, click the link https://sites.google.com/sandi.net/covid19/staff-info
   
• AASD CONTACT INFORMATION
  Executive Director, Donis Coronel -- donis@aasdcs.org   619-813-8792
  Office Manager, Linda Crout-Hamel -- linda@aasdcs.org   619-861-2701
  Office Clerk, Jim Costello -- jim@aasdcs.org 
   
  Please keep informed via the District’s website www.sandi.net, Daily Updates from AASD and via the AASD Website www.aasdcs.org.
   

Contacts

• AASD Board of Directors - http://aasdcs.org/board-of-directors/
   
•  AASD Office Staff - http://aasdcs.org/staff/