CBSD Superintendent Update - March 28, 2020

March 28, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,             

Spring break is ending and with that comes the anxiety and questions about what comes next. Per the Governor’s Executive Order, schools are to remain closed through April 28. I would like to communicate with you all the current plan for the Coos Bay Public Schools. The following is our district plan during the closure to meet the expectations from the Governor’s Executive Order.

• These supports do not replace “regular” education, but are intended to help with review and maintenance of current skills.
• More guidance on how we are to do this is coming from the Oregon Department of Education. We will begin to push these supports out on April 6.
• We anticipate a “Pathway to graduation” plan, for our high school students, from the Oregon Department of Education to be released any day. Once released we will work to communicate with students and families to carry out this plan.

• This plan has been in place since before Spring Break and will continue with more routes added to serve our students in remote locations.
• We will communicate with families to see if there are kids we are not reaching and then adjust our plan.

• We are preparing to provide childcare for first responders, emergency workers, and healthcare professionals consistent with the guidance and requirements provided by the Early Learning Division.

• We are currently serving students breakfast and lunch on a pickup system from most of our school sites as well as some drop sites in more outlying areas.
• We will develop plans for further food service upon guidance from the Oregon Department of Education and the Governor’s office.

• March 30-31: Administrators and supervisors will contact staff to check in and gather information so we can effectively begin remote communication with families and students.
• April 1-April 3: Staff will be contacting every student and their family to check in and gather information for us to effectively begin meeting their individual needs for supplemental education and learning support as well as social emotional needs.
• April 6-April 28: Begin providing supplemental education and learning supports, continue to check in weekly with students and families, provide meals for students, support our community with essential services as needed, and support each other as we work together to meet the needs of our students and families.

As we have already experienced, information and guidance changes rapidly during this closure time. This plan will be adapted as new information and guidance is provided to us from the state. The following is a good explanation and filter to look at to better help you understand what supplemental education and learning supports are and how they are different from “regular education”.

Credit-Earning/Standards-Based Instruction (“regular education”) occurs when the answer to any of the following questions is ‘yes’:

• Are students earning credit towards graduation or grade level promotion?
• Is the school/district working towards required minimum instruction hours?
• Is the student’s participation in a course contributing to a course grade?
• Does the instruction focus on teaching new ideas and concepts?
• Is the instruction designed to cover initial instruction on content standards?

• The student cannot earn course credit by completing the work and work is not graded
• The school/district is not counting the time towards required instructional hours
• Student participation is optional, not required
• There is no (or minimal) new content instruction. The focus of the work is on review or maintenance only
• The work is intended to help students maintain or practice existing skills
• The primary focus is on student belonging and connectivity, for their well-being and mental health