Berkeley Public Schools: Reflections On The Week, And Important Updates On End Of Year Plans

Press release from Berkeley Public Schools:

May 29, 2020

Dear Berkeley Unified Community,

This week, I begin by solemnly marking the ongoing and repeated trauma experienced by families of color, and African American families especially. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbury should affect all of us. As we join in the nationwide calls for justice and activism, I’m aware that our children are reacting to this news in pain, anger and frustration, without the full personal support of their classmates and teachers. Our ability to come together, mourn, and demand change is another of the many benefits of our school community that I deeply miss.

We’re now coming close to finishing this school year, and we’re still in a state of great uncertainty. We’re all hoping for guidance soon about how and when to reopen our schools so that students and staff are as safe as possible. We’re also contending with the largest single-year reduction in state funding to public education in a generation. And we know that we have many plans to make with our labor partners, which will take time, partnership, and care.

Like you, I’m trying each day to reconcile what I want to be true – a return to our normal lives, with students in school and caregivers at work – with the reality that COVID-19 will be present in our communities for the foreseeable future. For this reason I asked our principals last week to focus their fall planning efforts on strengthening our Distance Learning plan with the assumption that it may have to form the core of our educational program. In parallel to this work, we are also planning for how we can use BUSD facilities in the fall to supplement distance learning, in the event that we are able to do so.

This planning has our full collective attention, and as it takes shape, I’m committed to keeping you updated about our progress.

Student Make Up and Staff Planning Week, June 8-12

One component of our planning must involve a serious, district-wide reflection on what worked and didn’t work about the emergency Distance Learning Plan that we wrote in March, in the wake of the Shelter-in-Place orders. To this end, at its May 27 meeting, the Board of Education voted to approve June 8-12 as a Student Make Up and Staff Planning week. This week will allow students, and especially students who have had challenges far greater than others, to complete and turn in all outstanding assignments by Friday, June 12. For our seniors, this represents an important opportunity to complete work and avoid the possibility of having to make up a class over the summer.

This is what you and your student can expect during the week of June 8-12:

• No new assignments from teachers are expected
• Students may continue to turn in work, and teachers will continue to accept this work
• Teachers are expected to be accessible to students during the week, typically via email
• No Scheduled Office Hours are expected
• Grades are still due on Friday, June 12 for middle and high school students.

This reduced teaching load during June 8-12 will permit teachers and staff to come together after three months of distance learning to reflect, learn, and plan for the coming school year, which we anticipate will feature the ongoing use of distance learning. Teachers will have professional development opportunities and school meetings, and a chance to develop a stronger educational program for Fall 2020, including discussions about additional live instruction, common scheduling, and teaching practices.

Pre-K and Elementary Report Cards

After much deliberation, we have decided that Pre-K students and elementary school students will not receive report cards for the final portion of the school year because many elements of the report card, like in person assessments, could not be completed during the school closure period.

Family Survey Next Week

Early next week, we will send a survey to families and staff about a number of important questions about the Fall. In particular, we are looking to understand families’ and staff’s feelings about their comfort level with returning to on-campus learning (if it is permitted) and child care needs. Please help us to plan effectively for the coming school year by taking a few minutes with this survey next week.

As always, thank you. This week especially, as we witness and participate in important reactions to injustice, thank you for your commitment to our shared community, and all our children. We’ll get to a better place one shared step at a time.

Sincerely,

Brent Stephens
Superintendent

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