Dear Superintendents,
Thank you for your time today. I’m writing to follow up on the issues we discussed during our meeting and a few additional topic areas.
Updated Drive-Through/Drive-In Graduation Guidance
Public health has made some changes to the guidance around holding drive-through or drive-in graduations.
View the updated guidance.
COVID-19 Repository
Per superintendents' request, we've created a Google Drive with folders for you to place COVID-19-related documents you wish to share with each other. The folder also includes the PowerPoint presentation with images of schools reopening around the world and a chart Tim Glover shared on how districts are handling senior activities.
Each superintendent received an invitation via email to access the Google Drive. If you did not receive access, please contact
Music Watson.
Reopening Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shared a
decision tree for school reopening. The purpose of the tool is to assist administrators in making reopening decisions regarding K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC notes that “it is important to check with state and local health officials and other partners to determine the most appropriate actions while adjusting to meet the unique needs and circumstances of the local community.”
San Diego County must first pass the state’s phase 2 criteria for reopening before schools can consider reopening. Then it will be up to districts and charter schools to meet these very loosely defined criteria from the CDC on hygiene, screening, and social distancing practices.
Helping Vulnerable Students Feel Comfortable with Online Learning
Students who are experiencing homelessness, from a low-income household, in foster care, or dealing with trauma may find online video meetings uncomfortable, scary, or embarrassing. They are being asked to bring teachers and other students into their homes and personal spaces like never before and that can bring up vulnerabilities and challenges.
SDCOE created
this resource to help teachers identify vulnerable students and respond with compassion and support.
Best Practices for Remote Interpreting
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that all educational services have had to make an overnight switch to remote communications. Unless we are thoughtful about translation and interpretation, we risk leaving the one in five Americans who report speaking a language other than English at home out of the critical communications between schools and families.
The Interpreting and Translation in Education Workgroup has created a
best practices document for remote interpreting in educational settings to support your team in communicating over telephonic and video platforms.
Sincerely,
Paul
Dr. Paul Gothold
San Diego County Superintendent of Schools
phone: 858-292-3514
