Berkeley Public School Town Hall Followup And Thought Exchange

Press release from Berkeley Public Schools:

April 30, 2020

Dear Berkeley Community,

I am very grateful for the high level of participation at last night’s Town Hall. You can watch the meeting on the BUSD YouTube page, and we have also uploaded the slide deck.

I’d like to invite you to continue to engage with us as we respond to COVID-19 and plan for the future. Last night, we began using a tool called Thoughtexchange to gather feedback from our community. This format allows people to share thoughts and rate the thoughts of others so that we can get a sense of a range of concerns, “crowdsource” ideas, and incorporate suggestions into our planning.

To participate, please go to: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/244260951

When you sign in, you will have the option to select a language other than English, in the “introduction” tab. Participation will be open until midnight on Monday, May 4.

Even if you’ve already contributed, you can go back to offer additional suggestions and take a look at other ideas that are popping up. After you share your thoughts, please consider and rate at least 20-30 thoughts of others. Your thoughts and ratings are anonymous. You can come back as often as you’d like to participate and in fact, we ask that you do come back to star some of the new ideas shared since you first participated. Here are just two examples of the thoughts that have already been shared:

Your thoughtful participation is crucial and valued. We will share results from this exchange and use this as one way to inform discussions about eventually reopening our schools. This exchange is just one of many ways we are gathering input from families and staff. We are also surveying students and families specifically about distance learning, and developing a survey for staff as well. We are also in the process of putting together workgroups, advisory committees, and outreach to under-served families. In these unprecedented times, we are grateful for your support and collaboration.

Thank you,

Brent Stephens
Superintendent

PS If you need technical help, please call Thoughtexchange at 1-800-361-9027 ext. 4 or email help@thoughtexchange.com

This press release was produced by Berkeley Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.