Weekly Update from the Office of the Superintendent
Volume 1, Issue 34 (March 12, 2021)
Virtual & Hybrid Learning

Earlier today, we reconvened the District Reopening Task Force. This stakeholder group of parents, teachers, and administrators met weekly during the summer to help guide the work of reopening schools for the 2020-21 school year. This group will assist in continuing to develop plans to increase direct student/teacher contact time and days of in-person instruction and other decision-making during the pandemic.

As we discussed, we needed to calculate an accurate number of students who would be attending school in person for the remainder of the school year. Throughout the year, our planning was based on saving a student’s place in the classroom, should that student return to in-person instruction. We can no longer offer that if we are to examine how to increase in-person attendance while meeting the state’s social distancing requirements. For this reason, we asked our Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) families to make a final decision on whether they would remain virtual until the end of June or return to in-person instruction. The following is a summary of the net total of VLA students who made the decision to return to in-person instruction:

  • Elementary Schools: 83
  • Middle Schools: 50
  • High Schools: 78

Our schools have also been calculating the square footage of each classroom in the district to determine how far apart desks can be spaced, and considering different distance requirements (e.g. 3 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet). Remember: The hybrid schedule was necessitated by the need to decrease in-person attendance because our schools were not able to meet the state’s 6-feet social distancing requirement with all students present. If the state’s social distancing requirements change, we will be able to use this information to determine whether we can bring more students back to the classroom under the new guidance. We are also examining what options we might have at individual grade levels if the requirements do not change.

As I explained last week, we are working through a number of additional challenges that impact our ability to increase days of in-person attendance and student/teacher contact time. The process of planning for each transition such as this is similar to the months-long planning process that takes place each school year in preparation for the next. It involves budgeting, rearranging staffing, rebuilding schedules, rebuilding bus routes, meticulously planning the logistical details of the school day, and more. We’ve had to go through this process several times this school year as circumstances and requirements changed. It’s important to remember that this year was developed on the basis of educating during a pandemic. During the pandemic, we must also consider safety at every moment during the school day - inside the classrooms as well as during arrival, dismissal, lunch, gym, and class changes. We must also consider families who may not be comfortable sending their children to school if students are closer together than the recommended 6 feet.

Our teams are making progress. A major factor will be whether the state changes its current social distancing requirements. We’re hopeful that the science will empower New York State to update their guidance. We are also considering different options for Wednesdays. There are different factors that must be taken into consideration. Over the course of the next week, the Reopening Task Force will be gathering feedback from each of the schools to help make a final determination. I appreciate the patience of our families as we work through this process.
CELEBRATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
This week, we continue to highlight some of the most important women in American history in celebration of Women's History Month. Last week, we celebrated Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the earliest leaders in the women's suffrage movement. Today, we celebrate the achievements of her close friend and ally, Susan B. Anthony.

Ms. Anthony was born in Massachusetts in 1820. They moved to Upstate New York and eventually settled in Rochester. Her family shared a passion for social reform. Ms. Anthony began working as a school teacher and then as a headmistress in a school near Albany. Following the historic Seneca Falls Convention, the church her family attended hosted the Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848. This was the first public meeting in the U.S. composed of both men and women that appointed a woman as its presiding officer. Ms. Anthony did not attend the convention since she was living near Albany at the time, but many in her family did. She became increasingly passionate about women's rights, especially equal pay for equal work, and began her career in advocacy and social reform. In 1851, Ms. Anthony met Elizabeth Cady Stanton while visiting Seneca Falls and the two became very close friends. Although Ms. Anthony advocated for a variety of causes, including the abolition of slavery, equal pay, and temperance, she became increasingly focused on women's suffrage.

Ms. Anthony and Mrs. Stanton went on to advocate for the inclusion of women in the Fifteenth Amendment, which would give African-American men the right to vote. They worked together to organize the largest petition drive in American history up to that point, but they were not successful. They went on to form the National Woman Suffrage Association and, for the next four decades, fought to win women the right to vote. Ms. Anthony and Mrs. Stanton worked very closely together during this time. In fact, Ms. Anthony would often help watch her friend’s seven children while Mrs. Stanton wrote. As a biographer later explained, "Stanton provided the ideas, rhetoric, and strategy; Anthony delivered the speeches, circulated petitions, and rented the halls.”

Mrs. Stanton died in 1902, and Ms. Anthony died four years later, at the age of 86. Neither lived to see the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which finally gave women the right to vote in 1919 in large part because of their efforts.
RECOGNITION: LIBRARIANS
This week, we recognize the work of our outstanding school librarians. These professionals always do an amazing job facilitating access to books, information and media resources. They help students learn how to explore ideas and information and how to effectively implement them. Led by District Library Coordinator Amy Young, our Library Media Specialists are:
  • Elizabeth Aszkler
  • Kimberly Conrad
  • Jill Dempsey
  • Daniel Gattuso
  • Lori Grabenstatter
  • Abbey Kwietniak
  • Mae Martin
  • Mary Kamela
  • Rebecca Thompson

We also celebrate and recognize our Library Media Aides and Library Clerks who facilitate the vital work that takes place in our school libraries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on student access to books in our school libraries, but our library teams worked in partnership with Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries to form an innovative new partnership to increase their access to eBooks and audio books which they can access anywhere. Both library systems combined their resources into one easy-to-use app called Sora and students can now access all of those resources by simply logging in using their school credentials.

This innovative initiative was covered by WKBW Channel 7, the Buffalo News, and the Ken-Ton Bee. It has had a significant impact on how much our students are reading. Just in the first 100 days of the partnership:
  • High school students opened a total of 1,899 books
  • Middle school students opened a total of 3,772 books
  • Elementary school students opened a total of 4,437 books

Thank you to our entire library staff for facilitating this opportunity and for all that you do for our students!
REMINDER: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17
For all of our families, please remember that Wednesday, March 17, 2021 will be a Superintendent Conference Day (it was originally scheduled for Friday, March 19 but was moved to March 17). Students do not attend school on Superintendent Conference Days, which means there will be no remote work for students that day (synchronous or asynchronous). I encourage all of our students and families to use the day to rest, recharge, and concentrate on their own health and well-being.
Thank you for reviewing this information. As always, we remain Ken-Ton Proud, Ken-Ton Strong, and Ken-Ton Moving Forward!

For previous editions of the Ken-Ton Weekly Connection, visit www.ktufsd.org/connection