by ConVal School Board Member Janine Lesser
The Covid19 Pandemic has thrust the world into a place it hasn’t seen in the lifetimes of our current generations.
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The Covid19 Pandemic has thrust the world into a place it hasn’t seen in the lifetimes of our current generations. To see the changes that we are all struggling with is to see a world-down to the family level – that is challenging all of us to re-evaluate where we have been and where we are going.
School districts across the United States are reimagining education to be delivered where there is no physical school, no physical classroom, no physical classroom community. Over the past years, schools have adopted strategies to maximize their ability to deliver the wider world to their students by utilizing the internet and online resources as part of their curriculum. In higher grades, whole courses have been delivered online, offering wider and more flexible selections to students. There was never an expectation that remote learning would replace what communities, families, teachers, and students so highly prize about our physical schools: the classroom community.
The possibility of whole communities being shut down was on the horizon with the news of a new coronavirus ravaging Wuhan, China. On return from February Winter Break, teachers and administrators began work to shift their classroom curriculum to a format that can be delivered remotely. The need to re-translate curriculum began on March 14th, and continues to evolve as the virus has changed how we operate as a community. The first step was for all school staff to prepare materials for a learning menu in reading, writing, math, and unified arts, for use at home in the event of an extended shut down. Classroom lessons had to be translated to a format that could be delivered in a new medium. At this point, everyone was still unsure of what the virus would bring, and were hoping for a two-week hiatus before returning to the school buildings on April 6th. For this three-week period, login information was sent home for any learning platforms currently in use by classrooms. Teachers and administrators engaged in a comprehensive “reformatting” of the traditional classroom. Starting on March 18th (far ahead of many districts) teachers were reformatting and delivering instruction at the same time – flying the plane while building it simultaneously. Schools use technology to enhance curriculum, but research has always confirmed that the most effective and crucial part of education is the relationship between teacher and student. Principals and teachers explored how this connection would be communicated in this all remote world, most importantly for the most vulnerable students – the youngest and special education students.
Many problems had to be solved. Younger children require lots of adult supervision, and require free and outdoors time and exploration that caregivers or parents need to provide. If the parents are trying to work remotely, this creates serious problems. For 2nd-4th graders, they may need help in finding sites, logging on, reading instructions, clicking in the right place, typing answers, staying on task, again, a high degree of parent involvement. ConVal administration worked on two huge tasks: ensuring all students had a computer, and all students had internet access. This became especially crucial as April 6th approached and it was clear that the virus was only getting started, and the shutdown was going to continue. Students in grades 5-12 have a personal Chromebook for use in school, due to foresight of our nine communities in voting for budgets that continuously look forward. Students in grades PreK-4 have access to home computers only if there is a home computer. Internet access is a well-publicized problem for our nine-town school district, and has been the target of planning and legislative efforts over the past five years for a host of reasons – but now the ability to deliver an equitable education depended on the ability to ensure all children who needed one had access to a computer and the internet. The administration, with the cooperation of internet companies, delivered100 + hotspots along with additional Chromebooks and other appropriate technology.
At the same time, the question of how to support children and families who had depended on meals that were delivered in school had to be confronted, a need that became very clear as more and more families lost their jobs and their income. The administration immediately stepped up to develop a program where breakfast and lunch would continue to be put together by our food service contract, and delivered by our school busses.
As the shutdown continues, ConVal continues to learn and adapt. Where the classroom was the predominant platform used to deliver lessons, the new platform had to be constructed from the available remote tools, and lessons rearranged to be effectively delivered on this new platform. The process of moving instruction online is a time consuming and bumpy process: verbal classroom instructions and reinforcement must be clearly written in themes and directions, to be delivered by a third party – the computer. Where any confusion over assignments or lessons could be cleared up immediately, or with a short pull-out, separate time must now be scheduled. Teachers must always provide additional access for instructions, feedback, and follow up. Special education students do not at this point have access to Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, nurses, or their one-on-one aides. Administration is developing compensatory services for those students whose IEP’s require them, ensuring these students will retrieve the progress that they have made, and allowing them to continue progressing.
There are many styles of delivering remote education; teachers must figure out which matches their curriculum and their students. Some classes depend on morning check-in, some are using Google classroom, Zoom for online live classes, and most post office hours when they are available for student questions and help. Online resources must be curated for appropriate content, level, and support to the lesson.
At the same time, there are efforts towards the developing structure and a community environment of their school and classroom. Teachers are constantly assessing and measuring the amount their students are mastering, the level of their engagement. The social-emotional aspect of children feeling secure in their environment is one of the most important underlying facilitators of learning. Online lectures don’t work – teachers must devise other ways for lessons to be delivered. One of the most powerful learning strategies included in every classroom is the ability of students to support and mentor each other. The biggest challenge is creating this online community that will engage and allow collaboration across the class. Other challenges include measuring engagement, managing behavior, and dealing with overloaded platforms. Presentations must be crafted for on-demand relearning or rescheduling.
Classroom environment and curriculum cannot always be transferred online--especially for PreK-through grade 2, and for students with special needs. For those parts of the district that have weak or no bandwidth to support online technology, it's not possible. Students who live in dead zones have no access to the school at all. For those students, the lessons must be translated a third way – hard copy packets. These packets of a day’s lesson must be copied, collated and sent to students on a weekly basis.
ConVal is well-positioned to meet these challenges as they have an administration and teachers who have previously completed work in integrating technology in their curriculum delivery. That is not to minimize the challenge of-overnight-switching from using technology as part of a classroom model to using technology as a classroom. That is a heavy lift, and the work continues as there is no clear end in sight.
[post_title] => How ConVal Is Managing Remote Learning [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => how-conval-is-managing-remote-learning [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-05-06 11:44:02 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-05-06 15:44:02 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4519 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4501 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-04-24 14:53:35 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-04-24 18:53:35 [post_content] =>The impacts of COVID-19 on the finances of the ConVal School District are not clear.
The Administration and School Board are in the process of determining the impacts but, at this time, there are many unknowns. The effects of remote instruction can be increased expenses in some budget lines and potential cost savings in others.
As soon as accurate estimates of these costs and savings are known, they will be communicated to towns and citizens in a timely fashion. Please see this document for details on the budget mechanics as well as some questions and answers regarding potential budget impacts.
[post_title] => The Effects Of COVID-19 On The ConVal Budget [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => the-effects-of-covid-19-on-the-conval-budget [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-04-24 14:55:24 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-04-24 18:55:24 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4501 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4497 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-04-23 14:34:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-04-23 18:34:24 [post_content] =>The school buildings may be closed, but work in the ConVal School District continues uninterrupted. The School Board is proud of the many accomplishments of the administration, teachers, and staff members who continue to dedicate themselves to the education of our students in the midst of this pandemic and national emergency.
ConVal employees are working around the clock to keep families and students moving forward. Starting at 5:00 in the morning, meals are being readied for delivery to families on a daily basis. Hard copies of learning materials are being delivered by district school buses. Teachers hold online meetings with students for direct instruction. Regular surveys have been sent out and, based on parent feedback, revisions are continuously made to improve the delivery of instruction.
There is now a website for students and parents who are seeking information and resources while remote learning conditions are in place. You can access it here. The site is continually updated and expanded.
We certainly are all in this together and we appreciate what everyone is doing to make this experience the very best it in can be for our children — our number one priority.
Stay safe and be well!
[post_title] => Buildings May Be Closed But Work Continues Uninterrupted [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => buildings-may-be-closed-but-work-continues-uninterrupted [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-04-25 14:15:10 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-04-25 18:15:10 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4497 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4498 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-04-23 13:00:00 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-04-23 17:00:00 [post_content] =>The ConVal School Board continues to meet virtually during this pandemic.
If you are interested in following a meeting, you can go to the ConVal School Board website and scroll down to the bottom left and click on “School Board Calendar of Events.” Once there, you can click on the meeting and details to get the Zoom log in.
If you are interested in learning about what items are scheduled on an agenda or what happened at a past meeting, go “Minutes/Agenda” to view agendas and minutes of past and future meetings.
Please note that future School Board meetings will start at 6:30 pm, and thank you for your continued support!
[post_title] => Join School Board Meetings Remotely Via Zoom [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => join-school-board-meetings-remotely-via-zoom [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-04-29 08:47:55 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-04-29 12:47:55 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4498 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4458 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-03-26 23:38:00 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-03-27 03:38:00 [post_content] =>Under observance of proper social distancing rules, the ConVal school board members got together virtually for a board meeting.
Last night, Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders and School Board Chair Rich Cahoon held a training board meeting using a teleconferencing tool.
We had to learn some new protocols, such as stating our name and being recognized by name, so accurate minutes could be taken.
School Board meetings are public as well, so figuring out logistics is a new challenge for everyone.
But these board members, just like the administrators, teachers, parents, and children, are rising to the challenge.
[post_title] => School Board Meeting Under Social Distancing Rules [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => school-board-meeting-under-social-distancing-rules [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-03-27 23:39:28 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-03-28 03:39:28 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4458 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4435 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-03-12 22:38:36 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-03-13 02:38:36 [post_content] =>Dear Fellow Community Members,
The ConVal School Board wishes to thank you for your continuing support of our students, staff, and programming.
Voter approval of the 2020-2021 operating budget ensures a continued excellent and supportive education for the children of our district.
For the Board and administration, this was a months-long process, developing a budget that is both educationally sound and fiscally responsible.
Thank you again for your support.
The ConVal School Board
Voting Results
For a .pdf file with detailed results, please click here.
[post_title] => School Board, Schools Thank Community For Budget Vote [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => school-board-thanks-voters-for-budget-vote [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-03-15 07:59:43 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-03-15 11:59:43 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4435 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4422 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-03-04 08:21:46 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-03-04 13:21:46 [post_content] =>Voting on the 2020 ConVal School Budget will take place on Tuesday, March 10, in all school district towns at the following locations:
For a copy of the 2020 Warrant, please click here. For an explanatory document that lists the ballot questions and what they mean, please click here.
[post_title] => ConVal School District Voting March 10, 2020 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => conval-school-district-voting-march-10-2020 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-03-11 10:39:17 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-03-11 14:39:17 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4422 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [7] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4387 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-02-20 22:24:39 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-02-21 03:24:39 [post_content] =>by ConVal School Board Member Janine Lesser
Springtime brings new life back to us here in the Northeast — and time to vote on a new school budget. On March 10th, voters in the nine communities of the ConVal School District will vote on the warrant that dictates the school district budget. As we prepare to think about this annual decision, it’s always important to consider what’s at stake.
The nine communities are justly proud of the education that they have been able to provide for families who live in the ConVal District. The administration and school board work hard to look to the future and ensure we are preparing our students to work and thrive, and keep New Hampshire growing and healthy — a state where the children we are educating will be proud to live and raise their own families.
What does it take to ensure these opportunities continue? A good and fair budget, for one, that carefully manages resources raised by taxation against the diverse needs of the nine towns; and most importantly, a belief that we are making an investment in our communities, our families, our children, together. It is not an easy decision for many of us, as it can involve some considerable sacrifice when it comes to the tax bill.
The administration and school board regularly struggle with the complexity of running the district. We want to make sure that your questions are answered. The Budget and Property Committee developed a comprehensive explanation of how the budget is developed, how the budget translates to your tax bill. ”A School Budget Primer: Understanding School Budget Preparation, Methodology and the Impact on Property Taxes” was distributed at the first Deliberative Session on February 4th. The primer also reviews the 2020-21 warrant articles and explains the school board’s position on those articles and can be found on the ConVal website within the Budget Digest Resource page. You can also click the banner at the top of the ConVal School District website which directs you to the budget information.
If you have questions that aren’t answered on the website, please contact your school board representative, whose contact information is available on the website as well. We hope that you will vote “yes” on the operating budget, and the recommended articles.
You will also receive a flyer in the mail that explains the warrant and its articles. It will direct you to the ConVal website for budget information. It is our intention to be as transparent as possible, and provide the information that will help you understand the district operations. You can find all ConVal School District budget information here.
Default budgets are implemented when the proposed operating budget fails to win voter approval. Before you vote, here are some facts to consider about the ConVal budget:
• For the past eight years, ConVal administration and Board have held the operating budget to 1% annual increases, sometimes less than .5%. This was due to a variety of cost-saving measures: changing health insurance plans, cost-sharing the health insurance with district staff, postponing capital improvements (high school parking lot!!!), using trust funds to cover what would normally appear in the budget, staff decreases, redistributing staff responsibilities. Last year was the exception, when a combination of reduced state funding and increased mandatory expenditures increased the operating budget by 1.8%. This year is another increase: 2.23%. This increase in the 2020-21 operating budget is due primarily to the need for long-deferred capital improvements and the second year of the teacher contract — which we support and believe to be necessary and fair.
• At the same time, the administration and Board managed to keep the operating budget increase to a minimum in past years, the budget met its contractual obligations, including transportation, new teacher contracts; continued to ensure student safety and excellence in education the taxpayers count on by implementing security measures, continuing with curriculum review, professional development and implementation, implementation of ever-growing state and federal statutory requirements, and finally, ever-decreasing local state education investment. The state has recently convened an education funding task force, partly due to the will of our legislature, and partly due to several school districts’ lawsuit (one of whom is ConVal). The past year was a single year of some funding relief, which in the ConVal district went back to the nine communities. This should be reflected in your tax bill.
• When you see the difference between the operating budget and the increase in your education property tax — it is primarily due to decreased enrollment due to our local demographics, and the shrinking state funds. What the state chooses not to pay, the local taxpayer must make up. Please consider the budget-cutting that has gone on for the last five years in the interest of keeping your property tax increase to a minimum — and understand the current increases in that light: there are now no more places to cut. The 2.23 % increase in the operating budget reflects the Board and the administration’s effort to keep the district moving forward towards its goals of excellence for every child, and fiscal responsibility.
If the budget fails, we must implement a default budget. When it comes to the default budget, the biggest problem is the lack of places to go to cut. Everything that could be cut, that would not significantly affect the education our district children receive, has been cut in previous years. (This is now the new normal.) The default budget will require $1,422,487 in cuts to the 2020-21 budget.
In anticipation of this possible event, the Board requested the administration to develop a list of possible cuts. The administration offered this list in a series of five tiers: the first tier being the farthest from student impact on education to the closest and most impactful in tier five. The reality is that in order to meet the $1.5 million in cuts, we will have to go deep into tier four, and even some cuts from tier five.
If the default budget must go into place, the Board will work with the administration to identify the list of items selected for cuts from the 2020-2021 budget, and these will be eliminated before the year begins.
We hope you will vote to support the school budget. Thank you.
[post_title] => 2020-2021 Default Budget [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => budget-season-for-2020-2021 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-03-04 09:56:53 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-03-04 14:56:53 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://schoolboard.convalsd.net/?p=4387 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [8] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 4254 [post_author] => 9 [post_date] => 2020-02-13 08:18:00 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-02-13 13:18:00 [post_content] =>As the SAU 1 administrative team and the ConVal School Board prepare to make important school budget decisions to be voted on at the district meeting this March, a familiar struggle is taking shape. The financial demands placed on local schools to maintain high-quality education plays out as taxpayers worry about affordability.
Why are we facing increasing tax rates to fund our schools at the local level? A driving force is New Hampshire lawmakers are downshifting school costs through unfunded mandates. This issue is the same for all of the 221 towns and 13 cities in New Hampshire. In addition, Federal laws which must be followed compound these costs as Federal grants do not fully cover the requirements necessary for compliance.
An unfunded mandate occurs when a new piece of state or federal legislation requires the school district to perform functions without providing funding, or adequate funding, to facilitate the requirement. The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution leaves the responsibility for public K-12 education with the states. Each school district is administered and financed by the local community along with that district's state government. The New Hampshire Constitution guarantees an “adequate education” for all citizens of the state. The New Hampshire Constitution does not specify who is financially responsible for this guarantee. When the state or federal legislature passes a new law without funding, any increases in cost that result from complying with the unfunded mandate becomes part of the local school budget. Standards and quality of education consequently vary widely from state to state and even district to district. The local district is either supported or limited by its budget. The budget is dictated by what local taxpayers will approve.
Because of the increased awareness in disparity, during the 1960s compelling interest in our nation’s public schools was addressed by the Federal Government through the legislative process creating laws and providing assistance to states and schools through educational grants to enact these laws. Federal Education laws that are most commonly known are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Every Student Succeeds Act (Common Core). These laws authorize federal grants for elementary and secondary school programs for children of low-income families; school library resources, textbooks and other instructional materials; supplemental education centers and services; strengthening state education agencies; education research; and professional development for teachers. While these federal grants provide support for their mandates, they do not cover the entire cost. The remaining cost must be covered by the state and local taxes. As the local school budget is built, all federal mandates must be met.
As far as New Hampshire State Education mandates and the effect they have on the local school budget you need only to turn to the local news to become apprised of the disparity in education funding occurring in New Hampshire and the impact it has on the local tax. Many of the educational laws passed by New Hampshire legislature and changes made to standards that come from the Department of Education are well intended to promote student success, but these laws do not, in many cases, come with any additional funding. An example of a state unfunded mandate is the 2016 New Hampshire K-12 STEM curriculum requirements. The requirements proposed will produce more skilled workers, inspire innovation, increase New Hampshire business growth and affect the New Hampshire economy. There is certainly a valid return on this educational investment. However, only a fraction of the additional funding needed to meet the new State STEM standards was provided to the schools and the result: The local property tax must increase to comply with the New Hampshire K-12 STEM initiative.
The administrators in the ConVal School District work year-round to produce all of the financial data necessary to analyze a “ConVal” education. The administration carefully checks off the right boxes on accounting and compliance reports required by the State and the Federal government to assure accuracy in crafting a fiscally sound budget. Detailed financial analysis is compiled to monitor and evaluate each school building’s expenditures. The focus of the Superintendent and the School Board is the classroom where the critical work happens and where the allocation of funds and resources provides services that affect student performance.
In summary, local schools are required to comply with federal and state-mandated laws. While federal and state laws’ express purposes are to raise achievement for all students and to close the achievement gap, the additional funding needed to translate laws or requirements into a classroom reality is not provided. The looming question as to whether or not the funding is adequate to accomplish the laws’ purpose has become clear and yet the funding issue remains unanswered by Washington lawmakers and the New Hampshire legislature. The growing reality for New Hampshire residents and businesses is that the burden falls on the local tax base to make up the difference. The ConVal School District is compelled to sustain high education standards and build a budget that supports those standards and student success. Residents can be assured that every local tax dollar spent in the ConVal School District is a closely monitored resource invested in a quality education for our students and our future.
For more detailed information on Federal Policy and NEW HAMPSHIRE Policy laws enacted that impact the budget and decision making at the local level please visit:
“Laws & Guidance Overview”, U.S. Department of Education, link
“The Federal Role in Education”, U.S. Department of Education, link
Baron, Kathryn. “Finding a Balance for the Federal Role in Education Policy”, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, December, 2016, link
“2019 State Education Policy Watchlist”, Education Commission of the States, link
Austin, Donald; Christina, Barrett. “2017 Legislative Summary”, New Hampshire School Boards Association, 2017, link
Zelin, Gerald M.. Glynn, Meghan S. “New State Statutes Regulating Schools”, Drummond Woodsum. Copyright 2018, All rights are expressly reserved. These materials may not be reproduced without prior written permission. link
“How the courts have shaped education funding, and what comes next”, Reaching Higher New Hampshire, March, 2019, link
Duffort, Lola.“Bill to limit unfunded mandates could have unintended effect on special ed” Concord Monitor. March, 2017. link
Leachman, Michael, Masterson, Kathleen, Figeuroa, Eric. “A Punishing Decade for School Funding” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. November, 2019, link
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District Meeting Part 2
Voting in Individual Towns
March 10, 2020
by ConVal School Board Member Janine Lesser
The Covid19 Pandemic has thrust the world into a place it hasn’t seen in the lifetimes of our current generations. To see the changes that we are all struggling with is to see a world-down to the family level – that is challenging all of us to re-evaluate where we have been and where we are going.
School districts across the United States are reimagining education to be delivered where there is no physical school, no physical classroom, no physical classroom community. Over the past years, schools have adopted strategies to maximize their ability to deliver the wider world to their students by utilizing the internet and online resources as part of their curriculum. In higher grades, whole courses have been delivered online, offering wider and more flexible selections to students. There was never an expectation that remote learning would replace what communities, families, teachers, and students so highly prize about our physical schools: the classroom community.
The possibility of whole communities being shut down was on the horizon with the news of a new coronavirus ravaging Wuhan, China. On return from February Winter Break, teachers and administrators began work to shift their classroom curriculum to a format that can be delivered remotely. The need to re-translate curriculum began on March 14th, and continues to evolve as the virus has changed how we operate as a community. The first step was for all school staff to prepare materials for a learning menu in reading, writing, math, and unified arts, for use at home in the event of an extended shut down. Classroom lessons had to be translated to a format that could be delivered in a new medium. At this point, everyone was still unsure of what the virus would bring, and were hoping for a two-week hiatus before returning to the school buildings on April 6th. For this three-week period, login information was sent home for any learning platforms currently in use by classrooms. Teachers and administrators engaged in a comprehensive “reformatting” of the traditional classroom. Starting on March 18th (far ahead of many districts) teachers were reformatting and delivering instruction at the same time – flying the plane while building it simultaneously. Schools use technology to enhance curriculum, but research has always confirmed that the most effective and crucial part of education is the relationship between teacher and student. Principals and teachers explored how this connection would be communicated in this all remote world, most importantly for the most vulnerable students – the youngest and special education students.
Many problems had to be solved. Younger children require lots of adult supervision, and require free and outdoors time and exploration that caregivers or parents need to provide. If the parents are trying to work remotely, this creates serious problems. For 2nd-4th graders, they may need help in finding sites, logging on, reading instructions, clicking in the right place, typing answers, staying on task, again, a high degree of parent involvement. ConVal administration worked on two huge tasks: ensuring all students had a computer, and all students had internet access. This became especially crucial as April 6th approached and it was clear that the virus was only getting started, and the shutdown was going to continue. Students in grades 5-12 have a personal Chromebook for use in school, due to foresight of our nine communities in voting for budgets that continuously look forward. Students in grades PreK-4 have access to home computers only if there is a home computer. Internet access is a well-publicized problem for our nine-town school district, and has been the target of planning and legislative efforts over the past five years for a host of reasons – but now the ability to deliver an equitable education depended on the ability to ensure all children who needed one had access to a computer and the internet. The administration, with the cooperation of internet companies, delivered100 + hotspots along with additional Chromebooks and other appropriate technology.
At the same time, the question of how to support children and families who had depended on meals that were delivered in school had to be confronted, a need that became very clear as more and more families lost their jobs and their income. The administration immediately stepped up to develop a program where breakfast and lunch would continue to be put together by our food service contract, and delivered by our school busses.
As the shutdown continues, ConVal continues to learn and adapt. Where the classroom was the predominant platform used to deliver lessons, the new platform had to be constructed from the available remote tools, and lessons rearranged to be effectively delivered on this new platform. The process of moving instruction online is a time consuming and bumpy process: verbal classroom instructions and reinforcement must be clearly written in themes and directions, to be delivered by a third party – the computer. Where any confusion over assignments or lessons could be cleared up immediately, or with a short pull-out, separate time must now be scheduled. Teachers must always provide additional access for instructions, feedback, and follow up. Special education students do not at this point have access to Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, nurses, or their one-on-one aides. Administration is developing compensatory services for those students whose IEP’s require them, ensuring these students will retrieve the progress that they have made, and allowing them to continue progressing.
There are many styles of delivering remote education; teachers must figure out which matches their curriculum and their students. Some classes depend on morning check-in, some are using Google classroom, Zoom for online live classes, and most post office hours when they are available for student questions and help. Online resources must be curated for appropriate content, level, and support to the lesson.
At the same time, there are efforts towards the developing structure and a community environment of their school and classroom. Teachers are constantly assessing and measuring the amount their students are mastering, the level of their engagement. The social-emotional aspect of children feeling secure in their environment is one of the most important underlying facilitators of learning. Online lectures don’t work – teachers must devise other ways for lessons to be delivered. One of the most powerful learning strategies included in every classroom is the ability of students to support and mentor each other. The biggest challenge is creating this online community that will engage and allow collaboration across the class. Other challenges include measuring engagement, managing behavior, and dealing with overloaded platforms. Presentations must be crafted for on-demand relearning or rescheduling.
Classroom environment and curriculum cannot always be transferred online--especially for PreK-through grade 2, and for students with special needs. For those parts of the district that have weak or no bandwidth to support online technology, it's not possible. Students who live in dead zones have no access to the school at all. For those students, the lessons must be translated a third way – hard copy packets. These packets of a day’s lesson must be copied, collated and sent to students on a weekly basis.
ConVal is well-positioned to meet these challenges as they have an administration and teachers who have previously completed work in integrating technology in their curriculum delivery. That is not to minimize the challenge of-overnight-switching from using technology as part of a classroom model to using technology as a classroom. That is a heavy lift, and the work continues as there is no clear end in sight.
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The Covid19 Pandemic has thrust the world into a place it hasn’t seen in the lifetimes of our current generations.
The impacts of COVID-19 on the finances of the ConVal School District are not clear.
The Administration and School Board are in the process of determining the impacts but,
The school buildings may be closed, but work in the ConVal School District continues uninterrupted. The School Board is proud of the many accomplishments of the administration, teachers, and staff members who continue to dedicate themselves to the education of our students in the midst of this pandemic and national emergency.
Read More: Buildings May Be Closed But Work Continues Uninterrupted
The ConVal School Board continues to meet virtually during this pandemic.
If you are interested in following a meeting, you can go to the ConVal School Board website and scroll down to the bottom left and click on “School Board Calendar of Events.” Once there,
Under observance of proper social distancing rules, the ConVal school board members got together virtually for a board meeting.
Last night, Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders and School Board Chair Rich Cahoon held a training board meeting using a teleconferencing tool.
Read More: School Board Meeting Under Social Distancing Rules
Dear Fellow Community Members,
The ConVal School Board wishes to thank you for your continuing support of our students, staff, and programming.
Voter approval of the 2020-2021 operating budget ensures a continued excellent and supportive education for the children of our district.
Read More: School Board, Schools Thank Community For Budget Vote
Voting on the 2020 ConVal School Budget will take place on Tuesday, March 10, in all school district towns at the following locations:
For a copy of the 2020 Warrant,
by ConVal School Board Member Janine Lesser
Springtime brings new life back to us here in the Northeast — and time to vote on a new school budget.
As the SAU 1 administrative team and the ConVal School Board prepare to make important school budget decisions to be voted on at the district meeting this March, a familiar struggle is taking shape.
Read More: State and Federal Mandates Affect Local Education Budget
CONTOOCOOK VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
District Meeting Part 2
Voting in Individual Towns
March 10, 2020