First, I admit I've been slacking. Having two kids is a challenge, the pandemic, work, everything is just crazy. How do you parents of multiple kids do life? I'm still trying and failing in many ways including keeping blogs updated after each meeting.
We're entering our second year of the pandemic. March 2020 seems like forever ago, doesn't it? Our kids didn't return to classes for the 2020 academic year, returned fall 2020 and had an adjusted Fall 2020 - May 2021 school year. Our teachers, administrators, and staff did amazing things. That brings us to summer 2021. We thought we were home free. The vaccine was readily available. Then, the delta variant came and we have to continue to adapt. Let's acknowledge something together. We're tired. We're weary. We're angry. We're on edge. Let me give a personal anecdote. My family is going to start next week our 4th consecutive week at home because our boys somehow got e. Coli and being a highly communicable disease, we must wait until their poop doesn't show it in their system anymore. Honestly, a part of me wishes it was a COVID quarantine because it's been a stressful 3 (going to be at least 3+ weeks) of kids at home while we balance them + work. I can (and have been) angry and frustrated at the rules, the slow tests, the unknown. Then, I read about the 3-5% of cases of children who have major complications and even die. Are my kids and is my situation more valuable to rush them back to child care to possibly give it to another child who may be one of the 3-5%? COVID isn't too different as I process what I'm going through. Would my stress, anger, and frustration at the lack of work productivity and schedule adjustments be different if my children were in the 3-5%? Absolutely. Our administrative team and faculty have been faced with the most undesirable situation. Nobody is happy. They aren't happy about the decision they had to make. Neither are parents. Neither are students. But leaders have to lead and make decisions with consulting and weigh pros/cons. In the end, the administrative team presented our return to school plan to the school board last night. In the end, it was approved as presented by the administrative team. Prior to approval, a motion was made to approve the plan as presented -- and it failed -- by a vote of 3-4 (4 against). The 4 against were split for opposite reasons: wanting masks required for all students or wanting masks strongly encouraged but not required at any level. This is a perfect example and how our community is split. For me, I am completely torn. Seeing faces, emotions, and learning in this way is the most desirable for our youngest children. It kills me to think about elementary age children in masks. Our youngest with learning delays likely may not make as much progress as if unmasked. That said, I recognize the harm that was done by being completely virtual from March 2020 - May 2020 for these littlest kiddos. On the flip side, by masking our youngest children, we per the close contact rules (outlined on page 7-8 of the plan) we can minimize and better control close contacts to ensure our youngest learners have the most time in-seat possible. It really comes down to weighing the value of possible quarantines and keeping the most kids in-seat as possible vs. the mask wearing. If by requiring masks---that we can prevent or lessen the number of children in quarantine---then that's for the greater good of all. It's tough and it isn't an easy decision. This calculated risk is what our admin team faced and presented to us as a board. To me, it made the most sense for the greater good of all kids. As with any decision the board makes, parents are faced with decisions now to do what they feel is in the best interests of their kids. I would say that as a board member, it's my intention (and I believe the intention of the administrative team) to revisit the mask requirement as the situation changes. The reality is that with the delta variant, as I write this--our state ICU capacity only has 14% remaining--now is the time to be cautious to ensure as many children can remain in-seat as possible for as long as possible. I hope and believe it can be revisited as the situation stabilizes and changes. I hope this is helpful to explain the rationale. I'm always happy to answer further questions folks have. For the admin team and board -- I believe -- the decision that was reached was not an ideological or political or some other statement---but one to allow the most kids to be physically in seat while ensuring our staff also were able to lead and teach their students. Now, moving on to COVID relief. Between all of the federal relief packages (2020/2021) coming in, our district is to receive approximately $3 million. We have already ordered devices for our district to go 1-1 with technology (something we've talked about for 5-10 years!). Those funds will provide the resources to cover some of our new staff this year, license for English and language arts evaluation tools and more. It's important for folks to know that our district is utilizing these one-time resources in positive ways but also it's allowing us to build our capital fund amounts for replacing things like the intermediate school chiller system that is 25+ years old. Lastly, it's very likely the board will ask voters in April 2022 to approve a no-tax-increase-bond for capital projects. The facilities committee has been meeting and is likely to present to the board in September. Look for community forums and conversations this fall as we shape what that looks like. The capital needs of our district are great and will always be more than there are resources for. We will likely have approximately $5 million in bonding capacity that (if approved by voters) we could utilize. As our staff return to be with our kiddos, let's all do our best to understand we are and have experienced trauma in the pandemic. It's probably fair to say that all of our mental health is not at its best. However, we're stronger together as a community. We are choosing to live here and need each other. I don't say that to be mushy --- I say that because that's the backbone of living in a small community---and I want to keep that backbone in tact. Thank you for giving and trusting me to be on your school board. Until next time, Craig
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10/6/2022 09:52:50 pm
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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