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DAILY UPDATE #26 -- 4/20/2020
- AASD OFFICE CLOSURE
AASD will be sending out a Daily Update, Monday-Friday, throughout the school closure period. The Weekly Update will continue as usual on Thursdays with the typical news and information for AASD members. The AASD Office will remain closed during the period of time the schools/district are closed. AASD staff will be working remotely and can be reached at 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 and the COVID-19 virus. Any issues, questions or concerns submitted via the Google form will be shared daily with the District. AASD will then share the answers to issues, questions or concerns submitted as those answers are received from the district. 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. PLEASE CHECK THE DISTRICT’S WEBSITE TO ENSURE YOUR ISSUE/QUESTION/ CONCERN HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN ADDRESSED THERE.
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.
- IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR PRINCIPALS – PLEASE READ
Principals, many of you have reached out via the AASD google doc to report issues and concerns with the “Action Team Lead.” Those anonymous reports continue to come in daily and are shared with the District daily. AASD also reached out to Chief of Staff, Staci Monreal, this morning to engage in conversation regarding the roles and responsibilities of the Action Team Lead. In response to the concerns shared, Area Superintendents have sent (or are sending) a four question survey to all Principals regarding their experience with their assigned Action Team Lead. The survey is anonymous. If you are a Principal that has been sharing concerns via the AASD google link regarding the role and responsibilities of the Action Team Lead, please share those concerns via the Area Superintendent survey. Also, you are encouraged to discuss any conflicts with the Action Team Lead directly with your Area Superintendent for resolution.
If you still wish to share your concerns regarding the Action Team Lead via the AASD google link, please choose to list your name and work location so AASD can intervene and help.
Out of respect and fairness, AASD has also had a number of Principals who have shared that their experience thus far with their Action Team Lead has been very helpful and positive.
- Q and A (Monday, April 20, 2020) (Questions were submitted by AASD members; the answers are from the District. AASD publishes the answers as they are received from the District.)
Q -- My ESA does not know how to process our time cards for the time-and-a-half. Can you please post instructions in your daily email that we could forward to our ESA.
A – (Answer provided by AASD) See this attachment titled “Payroll Instructions.” Also refer your ESA to the District Website under COVID-19 “For Staff.”
Q – In the Classified MOU (COVID-19) the probation period has been extended. Does that mean I will not be getting my step increase at my one year mark if I am probationary?
A -- (Answer provided by AASD) The step increase and the paper evaluation are two separate processes. The step increase for probationary unit members will occur on the one-year anniversary date, as planned. The deadline for submission of the probationary paper evaluation will be extended the number of months equal to the school closure.
- SPECIAL GRATITUDE
If an AASD member has a department or individual that deserves special recognition during this time of crisis, please use the link above 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.
An AASD Member in Good Standing gives kudos to Jim Solo, Executive Director, Leadership and Learning, for facilitating Friday's Elementary Operational meeting and trying to keep to the agenda and not allowing questions from the group to go on a bird walk to Timbuktu! As colleagues, we need to use these meetings for all of us and keep our site-specific issues with our Action Team Leaders or Area Superintendent. Thanks, Jim!
- ANOTHER INSPIRATIONAL ONE-MINUTE MESSAGE
AASD has been in communication with and following Superintendent Joe Sanfelippo from Wisconsin. This is the third YouTube one-minute video we have posted from Dr. Sanfelippo. Once again, amazing words. Take a minute to listen to his message. (For context of his message this week, Dr. Sanfelippo spends 20 minutes each day on Facebook Live doing a read aloud and/or magic tricks for students – giving the parent at home a 20-minute break.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuNwabiAdIo
- FROM THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS (FROM PRESIDENT, ERNEST LOGAN)
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, our physical and economic survival is tied to a renewed realization of how schools educate our children and serve many of their other critical needs. We’re trying desperately to continue educating students while they are confined at home—but it’s not easy.
Jokes abound across the internet. We laugh over cartoons of parents crouching over laptops in the bathroom, trying to work as the kids poke their heads in and holler, "We’re hungry! What’s a quadratic equation? I’m bored, I wanna go back to school."
Everyone gets it, including the many teachers and administrators working from home with their own children craving attention. The laughter is telling, and it has never mattered more.
Some 50 million public school students and their families are relying on us. But we can’t turn on a faucet and go from in-school learning to distance learning overnight. Most children don’t have the focus for learning remotely. And we don’t have the practice, training or the access to sufficient equipment. What we do have is the passion, expertise and talent to teach.
No one was prepared to implement a full program of effective long-term home instruction, but the challenges for low-income communities are especially daunting. School principals, assistant principals and teachers are struggling, without adequate protective gear, to distribute computer equipment and meals.
We’re hearing of some principals traveling from home to home with equipment, also at personal risk. The homes they deliver to often have four people to a room, and mothers and fathers who are holding down essential jobs in hospitals, on ambulances, on loading docks and in transit facilities.
But even if kids get computer devices, Pew research indicates that as many as 18% of students in our country lack Wi-Fi access and are unable to complete school assignments that call for it. These students already are the most vulnerable in our system, and now they are being hit even harder.
The new $2 trillion federal stimulus bill doesn’t address this reality at all. Unions and school systems now are fighting to get another bill that makes sure these precious children don’t lose once again.
School leaders are trying to do it all even as we face exhaustion, health risks and the demands of our own families. We are adapting our old rules and practices for short-term shutdowns like hurricanes and snowstorms and trying to make them work for long and indefinite closures.
Keeping students engaged in distance learning is tough. Educators stay up at night coming up with innovative ways to capture and keep kids’ attention on screen. Most students thrive on interaction with teachers and classmates. During summer vacation, their learning slides significantly. We can’t let that happen now. They are counting on us to keep them focused—so we huddle with our colleagues to develop and refine ways to do just that.
No matter what, we can’t replicate schools with kids at home. Schools are so much more than classrooms. Sports teams play here, orchestras perform, chess clubs compete, actors put on plays, robots get built. Daily structure and discipline are provided, and special services and mental health needs are met. Students are looked after, often from morning to evening, so parents can make a living and contribute to the economy. And children are fed.
Schools are the heart of our communities—a place where all can gather to find hope. This is where families go for all kinds of reassurance. This is where children go to seek the path to growth and achievement.
Whenever this pandemic is over, we and our children will be changed in ways we can’t imagine now. One change we should have is an enhanced appreciation for the tremendous return society gets on its investment in public schools—and a better understanding of how central public schools are to our families and society.
When students return to classrooms, we as a society need to renew our commitment to support them and our schools with needed resources. And we can breathe easier knowing if a situation like this happens again, we will be prepared to jump in and give our students and their communities everything they need.
- FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS (ACSA)
Join ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith tonight at 5:30 on Facebook Live for Common Purpose, Uncommon Times. ACSA’s weekly show includes the latest COVID-19 headlines from the state Capitol and how they impact your work as an educator and student advocate, as well as a special segment and a live question and answer session with Wes.
The show begins at 5:30 tonight and you can watch it by clicking here. If you have a question for tonight’s show, send it to nalikhan@acsa.org.
- OTHER NEWS
San Diego County Office of Education COVID-19 Recovery Plan Assumptions and Recommendations (updated April 20) “A Must Read!”
https://covid-19.sdcoe.net/Portals/covid-19/Documents/Pandemic%20Plan%20Resources/20-04-14_Recovery_Plan_Assumptions_and_Recommendations.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0h2220H1t5-euHrSxEb0KLTjs8Zb6tlTgNDluBtLlQRZsVGSzpFZsYW2U
Public Finding it Difficult to Participate in Online Government Meetings (such as Board of Education meetings) (San Diego Union Tribune, April 20)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/story/2020-04-20/public-input-during-the-pandemic
Police Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) (April 18, 2020)
The current scare from the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is influencing social media users and online bloggers to spread news sources without fact-checking, causing a word-of-mouth spread of inaccurate reports.
According to FEMA, you can do your part to stop the spread of rumors by doing three easy things:
- Find trusted sources of information.
- Share information from trusted sources.
- Discourage others from sharing information from unverified sources.
To find trusted sources, look for information from official public health and safety authorities. You can find many official sources at coronavirus.gov. Check your state and local government, or emergency management websites and social media accounts for trusted information specific to your information.
Here are a few examples of debunked rumors:
Rumor: I Got A Call, Text, Or Email Saying I Could Get Financial Help. Is It Legitimate?
Fact: There have been reports that scammers are pretending to be the government, contacting people by robocall, text message, email and other outreach. These scammers say they can get people financial help during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then ask for money or personal information, like your Social Security, bank account or credit card number. This is a SCAM.
Don’t trust anyone who offers financial help and then asks for money or personal information. Federal and local disaster workers do not solicit or accept money. The Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, U.S. Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control staff never charge for disaster assistance.
Rumor: Is 5G Cell Phone Technology Linked To The Cause Of Coronavirus?
Fact: A worldwide online conspiracy theory has attempted to link 5G cell phone technology as being one of the causes of the coronavirus. Many cell towers outside of the U.S. have been set on fire as a result. 5G technology does NOT cause coronavirus.
For more information and rumor control, visit the FEMA website https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus/rumor-control
- 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 DURING THE DISTRICT CLOSURE
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
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