EDUCATION FORWARD Safely and Successfully Reopening Wisconsin Schools EDUCATION FORWARD Safely and Successfully Reopening Wisconsin Schools Developed by Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in collaboration with: Educational Stakeholders and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Carolyn Stanford Taylor, State Superintendent Madison, Wisconsin This publication is available from: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 125 S. Webster Street Madison, WI 53703 (608) 266-3390 June 22, 2020 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, marital status or parental status, sexual orientation, or ability and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. R esponding to COVID-19 is a tremendous undertaking for schools. Schools are tasked with re-envisioning educational delivery models in a span of weeks and adjust practices accordingly. As we look toward the fall, the safety and health of our students, educators, and families remains of the highest importance. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is providing this guidance to aid in school districts’ decision making as they look to build educational services and supports in a COVID-19 environment. Under state law, school districts determine the operations of their buildings and the learning environment. Risk mitigation and health factors will drive decisions regarding school operations. While I expect schools to reopen this fall, they will undoubtedly look different. There will need to be social distancing, new cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and changes to how educators deliver instruction. There will be students who are not able to return to school due to health concerns and students and staff who may be quarantined due to exposure. This means every school district will need to plan for both school operations on campus and remote learning. The DPI will be using federal CARES Act dollars to support school districts around remote learning options. Changes will need to be made as districts look at how they provide meals to students, transport students to and from school, move through their buildings, and gather to celebrate achievements. The DPI partnered collaboratively with our state’s educational leaders: the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services, Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Wisconsin Education Association Council, and the Cooperative Educational Service Agency Statewide Network and in conjunction with the Department of Health Services. Education Forward was developed to help local education and community leaders plan appropriately for students to return to school this fall. There are 421 school districts, 26 independent charter schools, and 792 private schools serving a school-age population of over 1,000,000 students in Wisconsin. Due to the extensive variance in schools, this guidance is offered as a workbook to be considered in conjunction with the Department of Health Services risk assessment checklist. Please use these tools to discuss school district reopening plans with local health agencies and ensure information is complete in regards to the magnitude of risk associated with options being considered. The DPI will continuously update this guidance as new information arises and provide additional resources as they become available to support school operations and the learning environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequities existing in Wisconsin. As we look to address these inequities and the planning around the pandemic, the DPI is focused on providing school districts the necessary supports and regulatory relief to pursue innovative strategies to ensure equitable access to learning. Carolyn Stanford Taylor State Superintendent 1 FORWARD! Table of Contents Returning to Schools .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 3 How to Use This Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Goals .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 4 Public Health Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 Taking an Equitable Approach .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 6 The Learning Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 7 Learning Environment Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 8 Scheduling Scenarios for Physical Distancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 9 Instructional Models for Flexibility .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 11 Operations .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 18 Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 19 School Operations .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 23 Technology .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 26 Health and Safety .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 29 Infection Control and Mitigation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 30 School Safety / Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 39 Instructional Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 48 Teaching and Learning .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 49 School Libraries .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 59 Special Education .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 65 English Learners .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 71 Gifted and Talented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 77 Out-of-School Time Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 80 2 “DPI has been diligent in the preparation of this guidance document. Administrative teams now need to create and implement local procedures.” — Gary E. Myrah, Executive Director Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services Returning to School Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is committed to every student receiving an equitable education— regardless of learning environment—so all students have the skills, habits, and dispositions to graduate career and college ready. As we prepare to return to school, we must begin with strengthening relationships, focusing on equity, and supporting the overall well-being of Wisconsin’s students, families, school staff, nations, and communities. These are the essential elements that never change. While COVID-19 impacts us all, it has been shown to disproportionately impact Black, Native, and Hispanic/Latinx communities. Therefore, collaborating with families, community-based organizations, local health organizations, and local businesses to ensure schools are ready and able to provide holistic support for all students. How to Use this Resource Education Forward provides considerations for district and school leaders to plan and implement a safe, efficient, and equitable return to school. In collaboration with multiple stakeholders, the Department of Public Instruction has identified district and school leadership action items aligned to key resources. The action steps are divided into three sections: 1) REVIEW: Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. 2) PREPARE: Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. 3) IMPLEMENT: Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. Some action steps may apply to your local context while others may not. Considerations for early, clear, and frequent communication as well as opportunities for family and community engagement have been included throughout the resource. Please know the guidance does not constitute a requirement for any district or school. Instead, this information should be used as a starting point to be modified in collaboration with all stakeholders to fit each system’s unique student population and needs. DPI will continuously update this guidance and provide additional resources as they become available as well as continue to support districts and schools throughout the planning and implementation of processes that will be needed as schools open. Educators must remain steadfast in our determination to respond to evolving conditions with compassion. 3 Goals of Returning to School District and school leaders are faced with a host of questions and decisions to make before schools reopen. The goal of this guidance is to offer clear and straightforward decision-making points of consideration for all districts to consider. The fall will be a time for focusing on a few critical things: • Keeping students and staff physically safe; • Caring for the social-emotional and mental health needs of students and staff; • Keeping learning coherent by creating a scope of standards with aligned systems of assessments, bound in units of instruction -- whether learning is in-person, virtual, or physically-distanced; • Meeting the needs of every student by considering the unique experiences of students and by considering students’ families as active partners in learning; and • Designing flexibility into school schedules, built-environments, protocols, and norms for being together in-person , physically-distanced, and through virtual learning. “School board members are, by nature, generalists rather than professional educators. These guidelines can inform board members and help them better evaluate the plans being put forward to guide their district’s reopening.” — John Ashley WASB Executive Director Assumptions Regarding Public Health Based on the most recent information available, DPI recommends K-12 schools in Wisconsin create plans based on the assumptions below. 1. The virus will remain in circulation until a vaccine is developed and widely used. • A vaccine is not likely to be in broad use during the next 12-18 months. • Improvements in understanding the virus and in testing will allow public health officials to act with greater precision when taking steps to slow the rate of infection. • Another wave of infections could occur resulting in changes to operations or closure. 4 • Short-term closures of schools will remain a possibility until a vaccine is widely used. • Children and staff with significant health conditions will continue to be especially vulnerable during this time. • Teaching and reinforcing prevention behaviors (hand washing and cough/sneeze etiquette) and promoting influenza vaccinations will continue to be essential strategies in slowing the spread of this and other infectious diseases. • Frequent cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces are needed throughout this period. 2. When schools are reopened, it is likely operations will need to be modified to include the following: • Screening of students and staff for symptoms; • Social distancing in all settings; and • Isolation and timely removal of students and staff who are displaying symptoms. 3. Deaths from COVID-19 are possible while the virus is in circulation, especially children and adults in high-risk categories. 4. Fear, loss, and isolation may result in the need for increased mental health supports. Whole child supports are encouraged. 5. Communications with staff, families, and students are critical to the success of safe return to school. “A safe return to school requires true partnership that considers all that educators are charged with developing in our students. That includes the intellectual, physical, social and emotional well-being of the students we serve every day. This guidance was developed with educators at the table, giving students and staff the best shot at returning to school without intended negative consequences stemming from school closings and loss of learning time.” — Ron Duff Martin WEAC President 5 Taking an Equitable Approach COVID-19 is highlighting and widening educational inequities previously existing in our school system and disproportionately impacting some communities and groups of students. Educators should consider the following questions as they plan to return to school: • What inequities has the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted? • How are you addressing these inequities? • Who is at the table when you are planning and making decisions? How are you ensuring those who are most impacted are an integral part of the planning and decision making process? • How are decisions and decision-making processes made transparent to those they affect? Does everyone know how to make a suggestion or raise an issue? • What are the assets of under-served and under-resourced communities that you work with or belong to? • What might help staff notice biases in working with people different from themselves? • Do you have a full enough understanding of the needs of specific groups as you identify priorities? • Will the decisions you are making help you to meet the needs of all students? • How are you actively seeking and using data to understand needs and perspectives of different groups of students? • Does everyone on the team have access to the same information? 6 The Learning Landscape The next school year will look different. DPI recommends planning for multiple scenarios. Assumptions that go into this recommendation are as follows: 1. Schools should plan for change throughout the next school year. Schools and districts should monitor guidance affecting their communities and be prepared to shift between in-person, physically-distanced, and virtual learning throughout the school year. 2. New health and safety protocols will impact many aspects of school operations, including teaching and learning. Health and safety recommendations may change during the school year as new best practices develop and may vary from one community to another. Guidance from national, state, county, and city health officials will include general recommendations to be adapted locally. For example, guidance on physical distancing, surveillance measures, and disinfecting could impact decisions related to teaching and learning. In particular, the physical distancing guidance may lead to class size constraints best met by students attending school in staggered groups, in shifts, or in static groupings. 3. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups.” (COVID-19 in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups, CDC). 4. Schools provide not only positive educational and social interactions, but also ensure students are cared for when families work outside the home. School closures and reduced time in the school building may put a strain on families needing to make additional childcare arrangements. 5. Some staff and students may not feel safe coming into school buildings and may need to work and study from home. • Those over age 60 are in a higher-risk category due to COVID-19. • Staff may have underlying conditions putting them at high risk for infection as well. • Students may have underlying conditions or live with family members who are at high risk. 7 Learning Environment Considerations As schools reopen, the health of students, educators, and the community will require implementation of instructional models that are flexible and support local physical distancing guidance. Districts must also plan and be prepared for change throughout SY21. A second wave of infections could result in site, district, county-wide, or regional school closures, in which case instructional models must be able to accommodate shifts between in-person and virtual learning. The information below provides guidance for district consideration of in-person, physically distanced, and virtual learning options. IN-PERSON LEARNING The vast majority of students attend in-person. Some students (those with health concerns) may participate virtually on an as-needed basis. VIRTUAL LEARNING PHYSICALLY DISTANCED LEARNING To support physical distancing, learning occurs both in-person and virtually, utilizing classrooms, outdoor learning spaces, homes, and community-based organizations. All students attend virtually using digital1, analog2, synchronous3, asynchronous4, or hybrid5 instructional models. Considerations: Considerations Considerations • Building a welcoming, safe, and supportive community for students and teachers. In addition to the considerations for In-Person Learning: In addition to the considerations for InPerson and Physically-Distanced Learning: • Developing schedules that accommodate physical-distancing recommendations and allow students to move in shifts between in-person and virtual attendance using a cohort-based model. • Building relationships with students and families remotely. • Aligning assessments, curriculum, and instruction to help each student progress. • Supporting teachers as they support students. • Accommodating physical space issues by leveraging outside learning spaces, partnerships with community-based organizations. • Providing flexible structures for teacher roles and responsibilities. • Preparing staff, families, and students to potentially move to virtual learning if there is an outbreak. • Determining how students will be divided into cohorts to minimize spread. • Using equity—students getting what they need when they need it—to prioritize which students are placed in cohorts in school, outdoor learning spaces, at community-based organizations, and at home. • Monitoring and tracking students as they are coming in and out of different settings. • Finding strategies to maintain coherence across virtual and inperson learning. • Selecting an instructional model that supports learning. Digital: online/computer learning. Analog: paper/pencil/phone learning. 3 Synchronous: teaching and learning occur at the same time. 4 Asynchronous: teaching and learning occur at different times. 5 Hybrid: blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning. 1 2 • Maintaining active partnerships with families to navigate current and future scenarios. • Ensuring all students have access to virtual learning resources (digital or analog). • Maintaining instructional coherence and managing progress in a remote digital or analog setting. • Identifying students’ access needs, particularly for students with visual or auditory needs or for whom English is not their first language. All materials must be accessible (use of captioning, image descriptions, providing translations). • Supporting teachers with instructional practices for remote learning. • Ensuring there are reliable technology systems and that staff, families, and students have access to and instruction on the use of technology. • Identifying resources and supports families may need, including explanations of classroom routines and how to support student learning. • Deciding and communicating how instructional materials or resources will be delivered to students and returned to teachers. 8 Scheduling Scenarios for Physical Distancing As schools reopen, the department is providing the following examples of modified scheduling options. This is not an exhaustive list, but is meant to provide examples of scheduling modifications a school could use if the school is looking to return on a different schedule than one it would normally use. Four-Day Week • Each student level (elementary, middle, and high school) reports to school, outdoor learning spaces, or community-based organizations four full days a week. Schools are closed on the fifth day to allow for deep-cleaning. • Students are provided with virtual learning materials—digital, analog,or a combination of the two formats—to support learning on those days when they do not report to school for in-person learning. • All English learner, special education, gifted and talented, and resource teachers work with small groups of students to reduce the studentteacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer in each learning environment. Learning in outdoor spaces or partnerships with communitybased organizations may be needed to keep student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer. • One day per week is used for teacher planning and professional learning. On this day, students do not report to school but virtual learning continues. Two-Day Rotation • All students report to school, outdoor learning spaces, or community-based organizations two full days per week (Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday). • Students are provided with virtual learning materials —digital, analog,or a combination of the two formats— to support learning on those days when they do not report to school for in-person learning. • All English learner, special education, gifted and talented, and resource teachers work with small groups of students to reduce the student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer in each learning environment. Learning in outdoor spaces or partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer. • One day per week is used for teacher planning and professional learning. On this day, students do not report to school but virtual learning continues. 9 A/B Week Rotation • Half of the student population reports to school, outdoor learning spaces, or community-based organizations four full days per week for in-person learning while the other half of the school population participates in virtual learning at home. The two student groups alternate between in-person and virtual learning weekly. All grade bands are included. • Students are provided with virtual learning materials—digital, analog,or a combination of the two formats—to support learning on those days when they do not report to school for in-person learning. • All English learner, special education, gifted and talented, and resource teachers work with small groups of students to reduce the student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer in each learning environment. Learning in outdoor spaces or partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer. • One day per week is used for teacher planning and professional learning. Students do not report to school on these days but continue learning independently. Elementary Face-to-Face and Secondary Virtual Learning • Elementary students start back to school first, before other levels. Elementary students attend four full days per week and are distributed across multiple sites (e.g., elementary and middle school buildings) to reduce the student-teacher ratio in accordance with physical distancing recommendations. • Secondary students continue to engage in virtual learning. • Students are provided with virtual learning materials—digital, analog,or a combination of the two formats—to support learning on those days when they do not report to school for in-person learning. • All English learner, special education, gifted and talented, and resource teachers work with small groups of students to reduce the studentteacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer in each learning environment. Learning in outdoor spaces or partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student-teacher ratios to 10/1 or fewer. • One day per week is used for teacher planning and professional learning. Students do not report to school on these days but continue learning independently. 10 Instructional Models for Flexibility As schools reopen, the health of all educators, students, and families is of primary concern. Schools will need to consider any local health authority requirements as well as health recommendations to mitigate risk, such as physical distancing. At the same time, planning considerations should be taken into account around equitably serving all students, providing instructional consistency should short-term school closures occur and making accommodations for students who, for health or other reasons, may be unable to return to school buildings. The chart below lists different instructional models that are based on the work of Heather Staker.* The instructional models may be utilized within each learning environment (in-person, physically distanced, virtual) which districts may consider during the 2020-21 school year. IN-PERSON LEARNING* PHYSICALLY DISTANCED LEARNING VIRTUAL LEARNING Enriched Virtual Enriched Virtual Enriched Virtual Station Rotation Station Rotation Station Rotation Individual Rotation Individual Rotation Individual Rotation Flipped Classroom Flipped Classroom Flipped Classroom À la Carte À la Carte À la Carte Model Diagrams: Enriched Virtual (4+ Days of Instruction with Teacher) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 12 Enriched Virtual (2+ Days of Instruction with Teacher) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 13 Station Rotation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 14 Individual Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 15 Flipped Classroom .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 16 À la Carte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 17 * Special thanks to the Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC) and their partnership with Heather Staker to support our Wisconsin schools in blended learning practices. Heather Staker, “Student-Centered Learning: Austin, TX,” Ready to Blend, accessed June 18, 2020, https://www.readytoblend.com/. 11 Instructional Models Enriched Virtual Instruction Model (4+ Days of Instruction w/Teacher) MON/TUE (or even weeks) • Cohort A: in-person learning with the teacher.* • Cohort B: virtual learning with the teacher. *Subset of Cohort A (students identified due to health risks, etc.) engages with the teacher virtually. WED • Both cohorts learn virtually. Options include independent work, individualized work with the teacher, small group work, intervention and extension activities, etc. • Building undergoes deep cleaning in between cohorts. THUR/FRI (or odd weeks) • Cohort B: in-person learning with the teacher.* • Cohort A: virtual learning with the teacher. *Subset of Cohort B (students identified due to health risks, etc.) engages with the teacher virtually. In the 4-day Enriched Virtual model, all students learn from the teacher four days per week (two days in-person and two days virtually). Schedules are staggered with students moving in shifts between in-person and virtual attendance using a cohort-based model. Wednesday are reserved for deep-cleaning at the school and virtual connectivity with the teacher as needed (independent or small-group work, individualized work with the teacher, intervention and extension activities, etc.) or professional development for teachers. Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): May be modified so students complete independent work and Wednesday activities in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: The model supports physical distancing. • Virtual Learning: In-person learning with the teacher may be modified to virtual learning in the event schools temporarily close down. 12 Instructional Models, continued Enriched Virtual Instruction Model (2+ Days of Instruction) MON/TUE (or even weeks) • Cohort A: in-person learning with the teacher.* • Cohort B: independent learning. *Subset of Cohort A (students identified due to health risks, engages with the teacher virtually. WED • Both cohorts learn virtually. Options include independent work, individualized work with the teacher, small group work, and intervention and extension activities. • Building undergoes deep cleaning in between cohorts. THUR/FRI (or odd weeks) • Cohort B: in-person learning with the teacher.* • Cohort A: independent learning. *Subset of Cohort B(students identified due to health risks, etc.) engages with the teacher virtually. In the 2-day Enriched Virtual model, students attend class in-person with a teacher two days per week and learn independently two days per week. Schedules are staggered with students moving in shifts between in-person learning and independent learning using a cohort-based model. Students complete the majority of coursework independently at home or outside of school, but attend school for required face-to-face learning sessions with a teacher. Wednesdays are reserved for deep-cleaning at the school and virtual connectivity with the teacher as needed (independent or small-group work, individualized work with the teacher, and intervention and extension activities) or professional development for teachers. Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): May be modified so that students complete independent work and Wednesday activities in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: The model supports physical distancing. • Virtual Learning: In-person learning with the teacher may be modified to virtual learning in the event schools temporarily close down. 13 Instructional Models, continued Station Rotation Model The Station Rotation model allows students to rotate through stations on a fixed schedule. Floating Teacher/ Paraprofessional Small Group Instruction with Teacher Teacher-led Instruction Independent Learning Collaborative Activities Intervention /Extension with Teacher Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): Students may complete their independent work in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: Supports physical distancing pending capacity at the school. Partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student/teacher ratio at 10/1 or fewer. • Virtual Learning: In-person learning with the teacher may be modified to virtual learning in the event schools temporarily close down. 14 Instructional Models, continued Individual Rotation Model Floating Teacher/ Paraprofessional Small Group Instruction with Teacher Teacher-led Instruction Independent Learning Collaborative Activities Intervention /Extension with Teacher The Individual Rotation model allows students, in small-groups or one-by-one, to rotate through stations on individual schedules set by a teacher or software algorithm. Unlike the Station Rotation Model, students do not necessarily rotate to every station; they rotate only to the activities scheduled. Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): Students complete independent work in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: Supports physical distancing pending capacity at the school. Partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student/teacher ratio at 10/1 or fewer. • Virtual Learning: In-person learning with the teacher may be modified to virtual learning in the event schools temporarily close down. 15 Instructional Models, continued Flipped Classroom Model Teacher-guided practice or projects Independent coursework, content & lectures, The Flipped Classroom model flips the traditional relationship between class time and homework. Students learn independently via online coursework and lectures, and teachers use class time for teacher-guided practice or projects. This model enables teachers to use class time for more than delivering traditional lectures. Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): Students may complete their independent coursework and lectures in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: Supports physical distancing pending capacity at the school. Partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student/teacher ratio at 10/1 or fewer. • Virtual Learning: Teacher-guided practice or projects may be delivered via virtual learning in the event schools temporarily close down. 16 Instructional Models, continued À la Carte Model Online w/Teacher School Classroom Learning Lab Home The À La Carte model allows individual students to take one or more courses entirely online with an online teacher of record while continuing to access the regular curriculum. Applicability in Different Learning Environments: • In-Person Learning (all students in school): Students may complete independent coursework and lectures in classrooms, library, computer lab, or other areas of the school. • Physically Distanced Learning: Supports physical distancing pending capacity at the school. Partnerships with community-based organizations may be needed to keep student/teacher ratio at 10/1 or fewer. • Virtual Learning: Individualized or small group work w/teacher is already online. Classroom work with teacher and learning lab/small group activities may be moved online. 17 Operations Section Header Educational manage school operations and resources to promote the academic We need an leaders introductory paragraph here... success and well-being of each student. In this unprecedented time, clear and frequent Guidance within this section is sub-divided to help districts identify important actions to communication among all stakeholders will ensure shared understanding of goals, 1) CONFIRM as you wrap up records from the 2019-20 school year; 2) PREPARE before responsibilities, and accountability within and across the district. the start of the 2020-21 school year; and 3) SUSTAIN during and/or before the end of Guidance is sub-divided to help districts identify important actions to 1) REVIEW: Recommended the 2020-21 school year. 2019-20 school year closing actions; 2) PREPARE: Do before the 2020-21 school year starts; and 3) IMPLEMENT and review during the 2020-21 school year. CONFIRM REVIEW Confirm completion of these recommended actions. Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. PREPARE PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school Doyear before the starts. 2020-21 school year starts. SUSTAIN IMPLEMENT Complete during the 2020-21 Implement and review school year. during the 2020-21 school year. In This Section: In This Section: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ## Title .. . 19. . . ## Governance .. . . . . . . . Title .. . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page 23. . . ## School Operations . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . page . . . . . . Title .. . Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 26 18 Governance Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Returning to School Committee has been launched. The leader has single-point accountability (he/she is ultimately responsible). • The Return to School Committee is recommended to include district staff, students, families, and community groups. It may also include school counselors, school nurse, and social workers, and janitorial or maintenance staff. REVIEW: School Level Returning to School Committee has been launched. The leader has single-point accountability (he/she is ultimately responsible. • The Return to School Committee is recommended to include district staff, students, families, and community groups. It may also include school counselors, school nurse, and social workers, and janitorial or maintenance staff. • For districts with 4K and 4K community approaches (CA), include child care and Head Start partners on the planning team (system protocols and regulations need to be understood). • The Return to School Committee should have a representative from each school in the district. Get feedback from stakeholders. Consider using UW-Milwaukee’s surveys for educators, families, and students to gather data from various points in the year as these surveys are in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Hmong. Coordinate with the district to get feedback from stakeholders. Consider using UW Milwaukee’s surveys for educators, families, and students to gather data from various points in the year as these surveys are in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Hmong. Resource: UW-Milwaukee Survey Distance-Learning in the Time of COVID-19 Resource: UW Milwaukee Survey Distance-Learning in the Time of COVID-19 Articulate a vision in line with local values and community needs relative to the Returning to School Committee’s work and communicate this vision with all district stakeholders that includes the Learning Environment Considerations (page 8) and Instructional Models (page 12). Determine professional learning needs to support. Resource: DPI Teaching and Learning Resource: DPI Teaching and Learning Define and assign roles and responsibilities of Returning to School Committee work which may include subcommittees relative to essential actions within each workflow. Institute a regular meeting schedule for the committee and any subcommittees. In partnership with families, determine what supports families and students need for learning in a virtual or physically-distanced learning environment. Assert a vision for the Returning to School Committee’s work including Learning Environment Considerations (page 8) and Instructional Models (page 12). Determine professional learning needs to support. Define and assign roles and responsibilities of Returning to School Committee work which may include creating subcommittees relative to essential actions within each workflow. Institute a regular meeting schedule for the committee and any subcommittees. In partnership with families, determine what supports families and students need for learning in a virtual or physically-distanced learning environment. 19 Governance, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Assess where additional capacity and support may be needed from external partners to support the Return to School Committee’s work. Subsequently, develop strategies, including procurement considerations, for securing assistance. Assess where additional capacity and support may be needed from external partners and develop strategies for securing assistance. Develop a communication plan including early and frequent digital and analog communication with families that fosters meaningful two-way communication as well as with the local media. Develop a communication plan that includes early and frequent digital and analog communication with families that fosters meaningful two-way communication as well as with the local media. Prioritize re-establishing any lost connections with families of students whose continuity of education has been significantly disrupted, such as students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility. Prioritize re-establishing any lost connections with families of students whose continuity of education has been significantly disrupted, such as students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility. When appropriate and in consultation with stakeholders, review and consider multiple factors, integrating flexible policies to support school enrollment based on the student’s best interest in favor of educational stability. When appropriate and in consultation with stakeholders, review and consider multiple factors, integrating flexible policies to support school enrollment based on the student’s best interest in favor of educational stability. Resource: Educational Stability for Students in Out-of-Home Care (Foster) Resource: Educational Stability for Students in Out-of-Home Care (Foster) Identify needed translation and interpretation resources as part of the communication plan. Identify needed translation and interpretation resources as part of the communication plan. Review and revise policies and procedures related to telecommuting, virtual learning, security, and privacy protocols. Review district policies and procedures related to telecommuting, virtual learning, security, and privacy protocols. Plan for cyber events within a hybrid environment. Cyber events include ransomware attack, data incidents (breach), malware, and denial of service attacks. Plan for cyber events within a hybrid environment. Cyber events include ransomware attack, data incidents (breach), malware, and denial of service attacks. Continuously Improve: Reflect on remote learning lessons learned from last Spring. Continuously Improve: Reflect on remote learning lessons learned from last Spring. Continue preparing or present Returning to School plan to school board for approval. 20 PREPARE PREPARE Governance, continued Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Establish or reestablish a district-level pandemic response committee. • Name a leader with single-point accountability (one person who is ultimately responsible) • The pandemic response committee should include representative stakeholders, such as coaches, librarians, administrators, technology leader, teachers, families, homeless liaison, foster care point of contact, and students in addition to subject matter experts. • Define or redefine the core structure of the pandemic response committee including, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. PREPARE: School Level In coordination with the district, reestablish/establish a school-level pandemic response committee to help operationalize district level instructions. • The pandemic response committee should include representative stakeholders, such as coaches, librarians, administrators, technology leader, teachers, families, homeless liaison, foster care point of contact, and students in addition to subject matter experts. • Define or redefine the core structure of the pandemic response committee including, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. Resources: CDC Pandemic Intervals Framework (PDF) Create or amend any existing district pandemic response plans, emergency recovery plans, and virtual and blended learning plans based on the updated health status of the community and lessons learned from the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak to date that will help inform responses to a second wave in school year 2020-2021, should it materialize. Review updated district pandemic and emergency recovery plans, and virtual and blended learning plans based on lessons learned from the outbreak to date that will help shape responses to a second wave of SARS-CoV-2 in school year 2020-2021, should it materialize. Scenario plan with the pandemic response committee and return-to-school committee. Refer to Learning Environment Considerations (page 8). Scenario plan with the pandemic response committee and return-to-school committee. Refer to Learning Environment Considerations (page 8). Meet with key stakeholders (families, community-based organizations, local child welfare agencies, unions, Nations) to understand their expectations for return to school. Meet with key stakeholders (e.g., families, community-based organizations, local child welfare agencies, unions, Nations) to understand their expectations for return to school. Reflect on what happened during the extended closure as preparation for planning for upcoming school year. Reflect on what happened during the extended closure as preparation for planning for upcoming school year. Create digital and analog resources for families and students about learning in a virtual or physically-distanced learning environment. Coordinate with the district to create digital and analog resources for families and students about learning in a virtual or physically-distanced learning environment. Resource: Cyber Safety for Parents/Guardians and Children. Resource: Cyber Safety for Parents/Guardians and Children. Refine and update communication protocols and tools for information sharing between local public health agencies and policy leaders as well as district stakeholders, community-based organizations, and families relative to returning to school. Understand updated communication protocols with district leadership and both state and local public health system leaders relative to returning to school. 21 PREPARE Governance, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Continuously Improve PREPARE: School Level Continuously Improve • Collect and listen to questions and concerns. • Collect and listen to questions and concerns. • Schedule meetings to reflect and adjust. • Schedule meetings to reflect and adjust. Update the Return to School Committee procedures and processes based on conclusions and recommendations. Update the Return to School Committee procedures and processes based on conclusions and recommendations. Governance, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Continue District Pandemic Response Committee workflows based on community pandemic-response alert level. Continue School Pandemic Response Committee workflows based on pandemic response level and district instructions. Provide consistent and clear updates about the status of the health of the district and what this means for district stakeholders. Provide consistent and clear updates about the status of the health of the school and what this means for school stakeholders. Continuously Improve : Continuously Improve : • Collect and listen to questions and concerns. • Collect and listen to questions and concerns. • Schedule meetings to reflect and adjust. • Schedule meetings to reflect and adjust. • Codify recommendations for future improvement. • Codify recommendations for future improvement. Update the Return to School Committee procedures and processes based on conclusions and recommendations. Update the Return to School Committee procedures and processes based on conclusions and recommendations. 22 School Operations Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level In consultation of the school board policy, consult insurance company and legal counsel to preemptively address liability questions, related concerns, or vendor issues relative to SARS-CoV-2 . Communicate necessary information to school leadership. Coordinate with the district to learn about updates to liability questions, related concerns, or vendor issues relative to SARS-CoV-2 . Conduct a staff assessment to understand who is coming back. Conduct a staff assessment to understand who is coming back. • Plan for higher than usual staff absenteeism due to stricter expectations about not coming to work if not feeling well. • Look into any flexibility with the ability of retired educators hours to be increased without penalty of their retirement. Plan for higher than usual staff absenteeism due to more stricter expectation about not coming to work if not feeling well. Develop a plan to replace teachers and staff who are not returning and to add new or additional positions with a specific focus on student and staff wellness and technology support. Develop a plan to replace teachers and staff who are not returning and to add new or additional positions with a specific focus on student and staff wellness and technology support. Review and update student enrollment and attendance policies. Ensure students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility are able to enroll throughout the year during any phase of instruction. (This may be district or school level, depending on how enrollment is set up). Ensure the Home Language Survey (HLS) is available for students if the learning scenario is virtual or blended. In coordination with the district, update student enrollment and attendance policies. Ensure that students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility are able to enroll throughout the year during any phase of instruction. Ensure changes are adopted by the school board or approved by an official to whom the board has formally delegated responsibility for determining enrollment and attendance policies. Communicate any student enrollment or attendance policy changes with all stakeholders. Communicate any student enrollment or attendance policy changes with all stakeholders. Update district procedures to ensure any student newly experiencing homelessness due to the pandemic is identified (staff should not assume the housing situation of any family). Update procedure to ensure students continue to be identified as experiencing homelessness if their living situation changes while they are attending school virtually. Resource: Preparing for School Reopening and Recovery: Considerations (Homeless) Liaise with State Education Agency (SEA) to understand and access new resources. Provide guidance and best-practices to school leaders for recruiting, interviewing, and hiring staff remotely. Resource (WASB video): Hiring Teachers During a Pandemic Coordinate with the district to recruit, interview and hire new staff. 23 PREPARE School Operations, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Provide staffing guidance to schools. Considerations may include whether there will be short-term flexibility with associated resources to hire additional intervention specialists, social workers, or guidance counselors. In consultation with the school board regarding expenditure of funds, review budgets to plan for changing enrollment patterns, new staffing needs, and resource constraints or additional dollars. Support building leadership with reviewing school budgets accordingly. PREPARE: School Level Build and send back-to-school communications to all relevant stakeholders (families, school staff, and Nations) and include updates across all workflows. Consider needs for translation and interpretation. Review and update budgets to include any staffing changes, and orient staff to any operational changes. Note: Wisconsin Digital Learning collaborative (WDLC) offers supplemental online program options to schools. WDLC Resource: Ready to Blend Implementation WDLC Webinar: Virtual Learning Program vs. Charter DPI Resource: Online & Blended Learning Guide Create master teaching schedules, student and faculty arrival and dismissal schedules, bus schedules, lunch schedules for staff and students, and bell schedules with social distancing guidelines and facility access control in mind. Refer to Infection Control and Mitigation (page 30). In consultation with the school board, establish policies for extracurriculars and athletics, including the allowance of spectators, close-contact sports, and equipment sterilization based on CDC guidance. Review district policies for extracurriculars and athletics, including the allowance of spectators, close-contact sports, and equipment sterilization based on CDC guidance. Resource: Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Infectious Disease COVID-19 Guidance and Coronavirus Resources Verify student and staff handbooks and planners are printed and ready for distribution. Create a master list of any changes to distribute at the first staff meeting. Evaluate whether new food vendors need to be sourced if there is a change in requirements (individually packaged items) based on CDC guidance. Refer to Infection Control and Mitigation (page 30). Collaborate with transportation vendors to implement a busing plan meeting social distancing requirements, if necessary. Include a plan for pick-up, in-transit, drop off, and cleaning and disinfection protocols. DPI Resource: Interim COVID-19 Transportation Guidance Build out supports and policies for a virtual or physically-distanced learning environments for students who lack accessibility or affordable access to the internet or devices. Refer to Technology (page 26). Resource: WIAA Infectious Disease Coronavirus Resources Collaborate with cafeteria staff to ensure any necessary food handling changes are implemented. Refer to Infection Control and Mitigation (page 30). Collaborate with transportation vendors to implement a busing plan meeting social distancing requirements, if necessary. Include a plan for pick-up, in-transit, drop off, and cleaning and disinfection protocols. DPI Resource: Interim COVID-19 Transportation Guidance Collaborate with the district to build out supports and policies for a virtual or physicallydistanced learning environments for students who lack accessibility or affordable access to the internet or devices. Refer to Technology (page 26). 24 School Operations, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level In consultation with the school board, update extracurricular and athletic policies based on state and local health agency and CDC guidance. In consultation with the school board, update extracurricular and athletic policies based on state and local health agency and CDC guidance. Resource: WIAA Infectious Disease Coronavirus Resources Resource: WIAA Infectious Disease Coronavirus Resources Adjust all schedules as needed based on public health guidance. Adjust all schedules as needed based on public health guidance. Conduct ongoing cleaning of technology, keyboards, screens. 25 Technology Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Conduct a Needs Assessment Conduct a Needs Assessment In consultation with the school board, review infrastructure to align with newly identified priorities, virtual and physically-distanced learning environments, and security needs. Streamline platforms and tools, as possible. Review and update district technology policies to align with virtual and physicallydistanced learning environments. Review cyber and data security requirements. Communicate with families. Review inventory of what assets are assigned to students and staff. If no inventory is available, conduct a survey to families and staff to build an inventory. • Survey families to collect information about the numbers, types, and conditions of devices used in their homes to support virtual learning. • Survey students who may not be living with their parent or legal guardian. Considerations may include connectivity, devices, quality, and number of users. Resources: Talk to your neighboring districts, Cooperative Education Service Agency (CESA), and existing vendor partners to find examples of tools that work for inventory management. Complete a software inventory, in collaboration with the library media specialist and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, to determine what software was purchased or is in a trial period and needed to assist students and staff telework. If needed, identify and purchase inventory and asset tracking tool. Work with the district leadership team to identify points of contact and priorities for staff and student needs. Inventory district technology staff strengths and needs In collaboration with the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Inventory communication resources and protocols and evaluate performance and needs. Communicate Develop and communicate a return to school technology plan, aligned to the district library plan if not integrated, for coherence across the district. Coordinate with district leadership to identify staff that can assist with device management and extended technology support. These staff should have a background in technology support or inventory systems. Plan for device repairs, including the option to support/repair devices while limiting contact. Communicate Develop a return to school technology plan, aligned with the district library plan, for your school aligned to the district plan. If possible, include training and support for teachers to adapt virtual learning skills for the classroom. Additionally, provide training in data and cyber security to assist staff in understanding the risks and responsibilities associated with the new learning environment. 26 Technology, continued Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. REVIEW: District Level Develop a communication plan for schools. Prepare Work with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to identify solutions for student and staff that do not have internet access where they live. REVIEW: School Level Designate a single point of contact in your building to plan and communicate with district technology teams. Prepare Identify a technology support person for your building (this person might be a district support person ). Resource phone#: 608-267-3595 Identify addresses of students and staff who need broadband. Identify addresses of families and staff that need assistance with affordable broadband. Update infrastructure to support the needs identified in the assessment. Provide asset tags and updated inventory for tracking hardware and software as needed. Plan Review budget and determine what is available and needed to continue operations in a work-from-home (WFH) or hybrid environment. Work with district and building leadership to identify priorities. Verify cyber and data security protocols are in place for each scenario. DPI Resource: Cyber Security Other: INFOSEC IQ • $2.72 per staff plus a one-time set-up fee based on district size. • State contract number: 505004-MSA-SECUREIQTRN-01 Create or update policies around cyber and data security. Ensure the budget includes infrastructure and cyber security. Be sure to consider state and federal law, including • Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) • Wisconsin pupil records law 118.125 Plan 27 PREPARE Technology, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Update communication strategy with district and technology leadership. This should include all websites, written communications, and social media. Identify primary point of contact for district technology. Align school website with district website to avoid confusion. Stage device processing areas as needed to run procedures. Supplies, instructions, and equipment should be moved to areas where work will take place to make school opening as smooth as possible. Work with technology leadership to identify how and where equipment will be processed to students and staff. Based upon budget assessment, review district longterm learning goals and order replacement and new devices in line with district goals as needed while monitoring current supply chain limitations. Where appropriate work with the library media specialist to access Common School Funds to provide for student needs. Designate primary point of contact to share return to school technology plan including device processing with school leaders and key stakeholders. Collect feedback and revise the plan to reflect the feedback. Work with technology leadership to identify return and repair of equipment. Communicate frequently with families regarding technology use in the building. If students are using their own devices, make sure that communication includes the district’s bring-your-own-device policy (if you don’t have one, create it). Consider technical support for families and students. Technology, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level Develop mechanisms for staff, student, family, Nations, and community to voice feedback. Collaborate with the library media specialist and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction to create professional development based upon needs identified. Debrief and review lessons learned during the spring of 2020. Continuously monitor and document device return process. Review district long-term infrastructure plan, update as needed. Identify chronic technology issues that arose during the school closure period and use them to adjust the district technology plan. IMPLEMENT: School Level Review issue tracking and inventory results frequently as a way of understanding the facts regarding the quality and progress of technology processes in your building. 28 Health and Safety The virus causing COVID-19 will remain in circulation for the foreseeable future. The vast majority of students and staff will remain susceptible to COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. The strategies presented constitute what are considered promising practices at the current time, based upon what is currently known and understood regarding COVID-19. This section offers guidance for infection control and mitigation, school safety, and mental health with the understanding each school community is unique and strategies proposed here may not be able to be implemented in every setting. This section addresses the safe, supported, and equitable return to learning for students and school staff. Guidance is sub-divided to help districts identify important actions to 1) REVIEW: Recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions; 2) PREPARE: Do before the 2020-21 school year starts; and 3) IMPLEMENT and review during the 2020-21 school year. REVIEW PREPARE IMPLEMENT Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. In This Section: Infection Control and Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 30 School Safety and Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 39 29 Infection Control/Mitigation Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Establish a planning team* to: • Develop guidelines for infection control practices; • Determine what supplies (PPE, disinfectants, soap, tissues, hand sanitizer, thermometers) are available and make arrangements for procurement • Determine if school health staff need N95 respirators and make arrangements for procurement and fitting of respirators if needed. Bear in mind that numerous supply chains are broken and it may be difficult to obtain supplies. * If the district includes 4K and/or 4K Community Approaches, include child care and Head Start partners on the planning team. While the virus (SARS-CoV2) that causes COVID-19 remains in wide circulation and the general public remains susceptible, the mitigation measures of social (physical) distancing, use of facial coverings/masks, isolation of those with symptoms or illness, and good hand/cough hygiene provide the only protection to students and staff. The more individuals a student or staff member interacts with, and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. Resource: Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool REVIEW: School Level Designate a school health member, such as a school nurse, to act as liaison with the local public health department. *Suggested planning team members include administrators, school nurse, medical advisor or local community health care providers, public health official, teachers, support staff, parents and students. Review health care procedures to identify any that may involve areosolization of respiratory secretions (suctioning, use of nebulizer, etc.) and determine what changes will be necessary to health protocols. The degree to which that individuals and schools follow public health mitigation measures, the lower the risk. These practices will also have a direct impact on how many individuals are exposed and how many individuals (students and staff) will be required to isolate or quarantine at home. DPI Resources: • COVID-19 Infection Control Checklist for K-12 Schools • School Health Services Interim COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation: Toolkit • Interim COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation Measures for Schools Other: • OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Determine what physical infrastructures are required to: • Promote physical distancing (consider desks, classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, gym, playground, etc.) • Isolate ill students and staff • Enable health and sanitization protocols. Have protocols in place to scale mitigation strategies up or down as the local situation evolves. • OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 • Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool The overall goal of social distancing is to increase the physical space between members of the school community to reduce unintended exposures. Infrastructure changes may include use of Plexiglas barriers, moving desks or tables, use of portable classrooms, providing physical guides on floors or walls, and reassigning use of offices or break rooms. This is not an all-inclusive list. 30 PREPARE Infection Control/Mitigation PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Consider ways to accommodate the needs of children and families at risk for serious illness from COVID-19. Honor requests of families who may have concerns about their children attending school due to underlying medical conditions of those in their home. Identify staff who cannot or choose not to be in school due to their own high-risk conditions or age. Staff who cannot be at school due to their own high-risk conditions could provide distance learning instruction to those students who are also unable to attend. Job responsibilities could be modified that limit exposure risk. Resources: • Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool • CDC People Who Need to Take Extra Precautions (List of underlying medical conditions that may increase the risk of serious COVID-19 for people of any age. Develop a continuum of strategies for implementation of physical distancing. Identify all locations and times where students are in close contact with each other and create strategies to restructure those locations and activities. Consider the impact of physical distancing on school provided transportation. DPI Resource: Interim COVID-19 Transportation Guidance PREPARE: School Level Determine what communications and what messaging will be required to both staff and families to provide reassurance that health and safety precautions are in place for a safe return to school. School districts are encouraged to have thoughtful discussions with school nurses, other school health professionals, teaching and support staff, and parents regarding use of masks by students and PPE use by staff who work closely with students who are unable to control secretions or present other concerns for effectiveness or safety of masking. Resources: • Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool • Cloth Face Coverings for Children During COVID-19 Create small, closed classroom groups that serve a consistent group of students and teacher(s) to: • Enable physical distancing • Enable closer control of the environment • Support contact tracing if exposure occurs. • Build classroom routines for students (wash hands upon entering and leaving the classroom, etc.) and to regularly clean desks, equipment, writing utensils, and other classroom materials. Stagger arrival and/or dismissal times. Stagger recess, lunch hours to avoid contact between cohorts. Consider dividing up student entry points rather than funneling all students through the same entry space. Stagger arrival and drop-off times or locations, or put in place other protocols to limit direct contact with parents as much as possible. Establish controlled entrances and exits (e.g. based on grade levels, students and teacher entry) and flows (e.g. one way traffic in tight corridors). • These approaches can limit the amount of close contact between students in high-traffic situations and times. Explore the use of alternate spaces (e.g., classroom) for eating lunch and breakfast. • If alternate spaces are not available, ensure classroom groups sit together in lunchrooms. • See: Interim COVID-19 Cafeterias and Food Service Guidance 31 PREPARE Infection Control/Mitigation, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Rearrange student desks and common seating spaces to maximize the space between students. • Desks to face in the same direction (rather than facing each other) to reduce transmission caused from virus-containing droplets (e.g., from talking, coughing, sneezing). • Consider using visual aids (e.g., painter’s tape, stickers) to illustrate traffic flow and appropriate spacing to support social distancing. Modify classes where students are likely to be in very close contact. • Bring in specialist teachers (e.g., music, art, physical education) to individual classrooms versus rotating all kids through a shared space that is not able to be cleaned with each new student introduction. • Whenever possible, hold physical education and music classes outside and encourage students to spread out. • Discourage the sharing of music stands. It is important that students in music classes maintain social distancing. Have students in one line or stagger spacing to ensure maximum distancing. Recognize singing and playing of some musical instruments increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19 via respiratory droplets. Consider increasing the amount of social distancing beyond six feet. • Consider using visual cues to demonstrate physical spacing. Arrange classrooms to allow teachers to practice social distancing. • Turn teachers’ desks to face in the same direction (rather than facing students) to reduce transmission caused from virus-containing droplets (e.g., from talking, coughing, sneezing). Erect partitions in open spaces with high risk of interaction/contact (e.g. playground, blacktop) to create several separate areas to prevent large groupings. 32 PREPARE Infection Control/Mitigation, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Create plans to limit symptomatic and asymptomatic spread of the virus: • Individuals should NOT be in school if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19 within the last 14 days. • Require ill staff and students to remain home and contact healthcare provider for guidance. • Ill students or staff should not return to school until they have met the criteria to discontinue home isolation. Determine exclusion criteria and plans to monitor students and staff for COVID-19 like symptoms. Additional waves of infections are expected, possibly coinciding with flu season in October or November. This could result in site, district, regional, county or statewide school closures or additional modifications to school operations. Short-term closures of single or multiple schools will remain a possibility until a vaccine is widely used. PREPARE: School Level Determine protocols for notifying local public health officials of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19. Resource: • Department of Education Student Privacy Policy Office, FERPA & Coronavirus Disease 2019 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) School districts should remind school staff regarding confidentiality laws and statues that protect student and staff health information. Student communicable disease related information is protected health information. Even if a family/student acknowledges and publicly discloses a positive test, school staff and officials should not participate in discussions or acknowledge a positive test if personally identifiable information (PII) is involved. Consider community circumstances that affect if such information may be PII. Resources: • DPI Resource: Confidentiality, Privacy, and Student Records • Department of Health Services COVID-19 Symptoms of Illness Determine district protocol on use of facial coverings by staff and students. PPE recommended for school nurse, building engineer, and isolation room monitor could be different from that of teachers and other support staff. Determine schedule of regular screenings or surveillance in line with current COVID-19 health recommendations. CDC Resource: Schools and Child Care The Department of Health Services recommends cloth face coverings for teachers/staff and older students who can wear and remove them properly, in situations when social distancing is difficult to maintain. Create a communication system for staff and families for self-reporting of symptoms and notification of exposure and closures. Ill student or staff should not return to school until they have met the criteria to discontinue home isolation. CDC Resource: What to Do If You Are Sick Consider implications of staff traveling between several buildings Set up policies for closing classes, cohorts, or the entire institution and for managing symptomatic students. Set up protocols for contact tracing if cases are detected in school/ community. Set up an isolation facility to limit contact in case symptomatic students or staff are detected on campus. Determine staffing of isolation facility and use of PPE. Communicate behavioral expectations of use of masks (if facial coverings will be recommended or required) hand hygiene, social distancing, exclusion criteria and symptom monitoring to families, students and staff prior to start of school. 33 PREPARE Infection Control/Mitigation, continued Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: School Level Determine attendance policies and how absences will be monitored. • Policies that support ill students and staff remaining home are encouraged. • School has a plan for monitoring student absences by grade and classroom and has flexible attendance policies and practices in place. • School tracks whether absences are due to illness, quarantine from being identified as a contact, or any other reason. If absence is due to illness, school monitors symptoms being experienced and whether the student has been asked to isolate following a positive test. • School has a plan in place to offer alternative or distance learning for students who need to be absent from school due to illness or potential exposure and has clarified any differences in expectations of participation in alternative learning for students who are experiencing symptoms, compared to asymptomatic students who have been sent home due to potential exposure. Consider change in open campus lunch policies. Cloth face coverings should not be placed on: • Children younger than 2 years old • Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious • Anyone who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the cloth face covering without assistance Face masks/coverings: • Face masks should not be worn while engaged in physical activity. • DHS recommends adults and students over age 2 wear cloth face coverings. • Work with those who are uncomfortable or unable to wear a cloth face covering – due to health, sensory or racial discrimination concerns – to develop an appropriate alternative. • Consider providing education to staff regarding implicit bias and racial profiling in the context of COVID-19 and face coverings. • Consider providing training to all school to increase knowledge and understanding of the district anti-bullying policy so that all staff know the protocol for consistently responding to both witnessed and reported incidents of bullying. • Consider providing education to staff regarding varied sensory needs, as well as alternative options, such as face shields, to those who communicate via American Sign Language. • CDC Resource: Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19 The justification to support facial covering recommendation is largely based on evidence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission. CDC Resource: Recommendation Regarding the Use of Cloth Face Coverings, Especially in Areas of Significant Community-Based Transmission DPI Resources: • PPE Considerations for Schools (chart) • School Health Services Interim COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation: Toolkit • Interim COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation Measures for Schools 34 PREPARE Title, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level Develop strategies to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. PREPARE: School Level “Schedule” and structure routines for hand washing at the start of each class period or at strategic times of the day. Make arrangement for use of hand sanitizer on buses. Schedule frequent disinfection of high-touch surfaces. Install no-touch bathroom fittings, no touch trash cans. Install hand sanitizing stations at entrances, common areas in the school. Insure adequate supplies to minimize sharing of high touch materials to the extent as possible, or limit use of supplies and equipment by one group of children at a time and clean and disinfect between use. Adjust protocols on receiving mail, deliveries. Consider holding mail and packages for 72 hours before delivery. Post signs regarding how to stop the spread of COVID-19, properly wash hands, promote everyday protective measures, and properly wear a face covering. CDC Resources: • Stop the Spread of Germs (sign) • Face Covering Do’s and Don’ts (sign) Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors, using fans, or other methods. Do not open windows and doors if they pose a safety or health risk (e.g., allowing pollens in or exacerbating asthma symptoms) risk to children or staff using the facility. Consultation with school nurse regarding risks is suggested. Provide information to all staff on proper use, removal, and washing of cloth face coverings. Implement communication system for staff and families for self-reporting of symptoms and notification of exposure and closures as needed. 35 Infection Control/Mitigation Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Implement strategies to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Ensure classroom access to hand hygiene products (e.g., hand sanitizer, soap, tissues, disinfectant wipes). Frequent cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces will be needed. Ensure daily cleaning of the school environment. Consult the EPA list of disinfectant products that can be used against COVID-19, including ready-to-use sprays, concentrates, and wipes. Each product has been shown to be effective against viruses that are harder to kill than viruses like the one that causes COVID-19. Resources: • Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool • CDC Reopening Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes • EPA List: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Ensure availability of appropriate cleaning supplies (e.g. disinfectant wipes) for cleaning high touch surfaces. Ensure safe and correct application of disinfectants and keep products away from children. Resources: • Reopening School Buildings Risk Assessment Tool • CDC Reopening Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes Encourage no sharing of supplies, learning aids, electronic devices, lunches among students. Use promotional programs around hand washing and other best practices. Consider engaging the school community in developing communications or creative strategies to limit the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., develop a competition to design posters addressing COVID-19 prevention tactics). Provide information to staff on proper use, removal, and washing of cloth face coverings. • CDC Resource: Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19 Adjust lunch policies: • Consider change in open campus lunch policies. • Ensure all food items and choices are fully boxed or individually plated and no food can be directly touched by students. • Enforce ‘take what you touch.’ • Package cutlery, seasonings, sauces and napkins in single serve packages If students eat in class rooms as part of social distancing take measures to ensure the safety of food allergic individuals (students and staff). Minimize risk of cross-contact of allergenic proteins in the classroom by: • Reinforcing strict hand washing with soap and water after food contact • Disinfect surfaces after food contact is made • Enforce blanket “do not share” food practices. These strategies are consistent with those outlines in the CDC’s 2013 publication: Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs, and synergize with the principles of hand hygiene and surface washing that also reduce infection spread. DPI Resource: Interim COVID-19 Cafeterias and Food Service Guidance 36 Infection Control/Mitigation Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level Implement plans to limit symptomatic and asymptomatic spread of infectious diseases (COVID-19 and others). Emphasize the importance of daily health checks. • This includes temperature checks and respiratory symptom screening for students and staff to ensure those who develop symptoms are not attending school. If it is not feasible to conduct health screening given the setting: • Provide parent education about the importance of monitoring symptoms and staying home while ill through classroom applications and other district messaging. • Ask about access to thermometers and consider implementing temperature checks for households who do not have one. • Use existing school outreach systems to provide text and email reminders to staff and families to check for symptoms of household members in the morning and evening. Teach and reinforce use of cloth face coverings. • Face coverings may be challenging for students (especially younger students) to wear in all-day settings such as school. • Face coverings should be worn by staff and students (particularly older students) as feasible, and are most essential in times when physical distancing is difficult. • Individuals should be frequently reminded not to touch the face covering and to wash their hands frequently. • Information should be provided to staff, students, and students ’families on proper use, removal, and washing of cloth face coverings. DPI Resource: School Health Services Interim COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation: Toolkit IMPLEMENT: School Level If feasible, conduct daily health checks ( e.g. temperature screening and/or symptom checking) of staff and students using the following questions: • Have you been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19? • Are you experiencing a cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, sore throat? • Have you had a fever in the last 48 hours? • Have you had new loss of taste or smell? • Have you had muscle pain or chills? • Have you had new headache? • Have you had nausea, vomiting or diarrhea? Conduct health screenings safely and respectfully in accordance with privacy laws and regulations. Confidentiality should be maintained. CDC Resources: • General Business Frequently Asked Questions • Guidance for Screening Children If it is not feasible to do health checks or health screenings before students and staff enter the building or bus, then more effort will be required and attention given to identifying ill staff and students at school and isolating them as quickly as possible to limit the risk of transmission of any illness. Utilize a designated communication system for staff and families for reporting of symptoms and notification of exposure and closures. Require ill staff and students to remain home and contact family healthcare provider for guidance. Ill student or staff should not return to school until they have met the criteria to discontinue home isolation. • CDC Resource: What to do if You Are Sick Encourage parents to keep symptomatic children home. Reinforce flexible attendance policies and other educational options during quarantine period Notify health officials of suspected or confirmed positive cases. • Resource: Department of Education Student Privacy Policy Office, FERPA & Coronavirus Disease 2019 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 37 Infection Control/Mitigation, cont. Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: School Level Reduce congestion in the health office. • Use the health services office for children with respiratory symptoms and, if possible, create a satellite location for first aid or medication distribution. • Allow for flexible administration of health care tasks for students who are able to independently manage needs. • Consider using visual cues to demonstrate physical spacing Limit interactions from outside school. • Limit nonessential visitors. • Limit the presence of volunteers for classroom activities. • Move parent-teacher conferences, 504 and Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings to phone conference or a virtual format. • Use virtual formats for guest speakers and reading programs. Limit cross-school transfer for special programs. • Consider using distance learning, or recording any live competitions from your own school. • Promote staff, students, and their families to maintain distance from each other in the school. • Potential visitors, including substitute teachers, families or caregivers, are screened prior to entry for fever or symptoms of COVID-19. Those with symptoms are not permitted to enter the facility. • Families or caregivers who are picking up their child are not required to be screened but should avoid entering the building by waiting outside or in their car for the student to be dismissed. Staff members can escort younger children out of the building. • Mail carriers and other delivery people do not need to be screened. • Visitors that are permitted inside must wear a cloth face covering while in the building, maintain physical distancing, and restrict their visit to the location designated by the school. They are also reminded to frequently perform hand hygiene 38 School Safety/Mental Health Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Develop a communication strategy regarding student and staff mental health (include how to respond to rumors). Create clear district messaging and share the district messaging with all staff. Resource: • Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): Create an SEL Communication Strategy REVIEW: School Level Engage teachers and other school staff in planning and communication efforts. Resource: • Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): Create an SEL Communication Strategy Ensure all staff understand and utilize the district messaging. Create and share with staff internal communication plans for consistently sharing and receiving information. Utilize a consistent response to rumors and gossip Ensure high risk and at risk students are provided with mental health and wellness resources for the summer months (Trevor Project, crisis helplines, etc.) Review full-time employee (FTE) student services staff roles, responsibilities, and priorities and align to anticipated needs. Provide district-level staff with information regarding specific reallocation suggestions and how each may benefit students and families. 39 PREPARE School Safety/Mental Health, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level Review and/or revise district board policies and school safety plans to update pandemic response, mental health related crisis response, and response to community concerns. Resources: • National Association of School Psychologists: ESSA School Safety for Decision-Makers • Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Review and/or revise policies regarding suspension and expulsion, to ensure policies are socially just and culturally responsive. Leverage district and school equitable multi-level system of support or PBIS team knowledge and prior work on creating welcoming, safe and supportive environments. As students return, there may be increased acting out due to anxiety, depression and trauma brought on by the pandemic. Creating flexible discipline systems will be critical to creating safe and supportive environments for returning students. PREPARE: School Level Review district board policies and school safety plans to understand the school’s responsibility in pandemic response, mental health related crisis response, and response to community concerns. Resources: • Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Review and gather resources to share with staff on trauma-informed restorative discipline practices, equity, and culturally responsive problem solving. DPI Resources: • PD module on Trauma Sensitive School Discipline • Culturally Responsive Problem Solving Guide DPI Resources: • PD module on Trauma Sensitive School Discipline • Culturally Responsive Problem Solving Guide Utilize frequent communications through multiple formats with students and families about the opening of school. Be clear about your safety and health procedures, and ensure equitable access through communication in multiple languages. Resource:Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Identify the impacts of the pandemic on the different groups of students in your school to guide mental health services provisions. • DPI Resource: Culturally Responsive Problem Solving Guide • Create an SEL Communication Strategy Families will need to feel that the school can keep their child(ren) safe. Adapt district procedures to accommodate physical distancing following Infection Control/Mitigation Guidelines (page 30). Ensure the school’s physical environment is safe by following Infection Control/Mitigation Guidelines (page 30). The pandemic and ‘Safer at Home’ order have disproportionately impacted students and families across the district. Identify how different groups of people may have been impacted and provide appropriate, equitable, and culturally sensitive supports. Identify the impacts of the pandemic on the different groups of students in your school to guide mental health services provisions. • DPI Resource: Culturally Responsive Problem Solving Guide • DPI Resource: Culturally Responsive Problem Solving Guide 40 PREPARE School Safety/Mental Health, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level Review and update the district anti-bullying policy. Make sure all staff understand the policy and encourage them to use it. PREPARE: School Level Review the district and school anti-bullying policy with all staff and review all reporting and investigation procedures. There may be an increase in bullying behavior when students return. Ensure that all staff know the protocol for consistently responding to both witnessed and reported incidents of bullying. Districts should review mandated reporting requirements and direct all school district personnel to have the information. Schools should review mandated reporting requirements. Staff should be trained on signs of abuse and neglect and know how and to whom to report suspected cases. • DPI Resource: Child Abuse and Neglect web page (training and information) Align district resources to support the creation or strengthening of school-level mental health referral pathways. This may include: Creating a district level mental health team, Providing needed student records management systems, Building relationships with external partners, Developing systems for monitoring interventions. DPI Resource: School Mental Health Referral Pathways • DPI Resource: Child Abuse and Neglect web page (training and information) Assess functioning of your established school-level mental health referral pathways to identify and address any gaps. Give special consideration to how this pathway functions in both in-person and virtual settings. Key components include: • An integrated school mental health leadership team • A procedure for managing referral flow • A system for information gathering, including screening and assessment • A secure student record management system, • An updated needs assessment and resource map • Decision rules for determining appropriate intervention, • A system for school-based monitoring of intervention effectiveness DPI Resource: School Mental Health Referral Pathways Review the school’s equitable Multi-Level System of Support (MLSS) to ensure a continuum of behavioral supports, applicable to both virtual and in person situations. Create mental health support systems and services flexible enough to be implemented in virtual, in-person and blended settings. Familiarize staff with virtual, in-person, and blended mental health supports. Recognize children may experience a regression in social and emotional skills due to anxiety, trauma, and grief. Recognize children may experience a regression in social and emotional skills due to anxiety, trauma and grief. Plan with district staff, making sure everyone understands how to respond to misbehavior with a trauma-sensitive approach. Develop a plan to identify and provide equitable supports to students and families experiencing or likely to experience grief. Avoid punitive discipline approaches. Plan with district staff, making sure everyone understands how to respond to misbehavior with a trauma-sensitive approach. • Resource: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Supporting Families with PBIS at Home Avoid punitive discipline approaches • Resource: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Supporting Families with PBIS at Home 41 PREPARE School Safety/Mental Health, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Create a plan, with local housing providers (shelters, community organizations, landlords), for an increase in evictions for students when the statewide and federal eviction moratoriums end and to ensure students who lose housing are offered support under the McKinney-Vento Act. Ensure schools have access to district-wide mental health literacy resources to address understanding mental health conditions and their impact, understanding and responding to stigma, recognizing when students are experiencing a mental health crisis and know how to respond to get appropriate help to students. Ensure schools have access to district-wide mental health literacy resources to address understanding mental health conditions and their impact, understanding and responding to stigma, recognizing when students are experiencing a mental health crisis and know how to respond to get appropriate help to students. Resources: Resources: • DPI Web-based Suicide Prevention Training for All School Staff • DPI Web-based Suicide Prevention Training for All School Staff • Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center (WISH) Training Youth Mental Health First Aid • Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center (WISH) Training Youth Mental Health First Aid • Wisconsin Initiative for Stigma Elimination (WISE) Basics Stigma Reduction Training • Wisconsin Initiative for Stigma Elimination (WISE) Basics stigma reduction training Train staff on district’s trauma-informed restorative practices and culturally responsive practices. Train staff to increase knowledge and skill in the use and implementation of teleservice and other available supports. Ensure staff complete mandated reporter training and can recognize signs of possible neglect and abuse, and report it as mandated by law. • DPI Resource: Child Abuse and Neglect Training Communicate frequently, using multiple formats, with students and families about the opening of school. Communicate frequently, using multiple formats, with students and families about the opening of school. Be clear about safety and health procedures, ensuring equitable access by communication using multiple languages. Be clear about safety and health procedures, ensuring equitable access by communication using multiple languages. Review and update the district anti-bullying policy. Review the district and school anti-bullying policy, and all reporting and investigation procedures, with all staff. Make sure all staff understand it and encourage them to apply it. There may be an increase in bullying behavior when students return. Ensure all staff know the protocol for consistently responding to both witnessed and reported incidents of bullying. 42 PREPARE School Safety/Mental Health, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Create outreach plan to connect with students and families you are unable to contact. Utilize multiple means of communication, identify emergency contacts, and if needed have local law enforcement make a welfare check. Follow the district outreach plan to connect with students and families you are unable to contact. Utilize multiple means of communication, identify emergency contacts, and if needed have local law enforcement make a welfare check. If working with unaccompanied, homeless youth (student not with a parent or legal guardian) collect contact information for the person the youth is staying with for communication. Ensure staff members are staying in contact with youth and families experiencing homelessness during school building closures. Create an outreach plan to connect with students and families in the community who may have had changes in their living situations. This includes working with local businesses or other partner agencies to hang posters with contact information for the district’s homeless liaison. Re-allocate resources to support increased mental health efforts. This could include making changes to staff roles and responsibilities, adjusting budgets to provide funding for mental health resources, and adjusting daily schedules to include focused time on social and emotional learning and mental health literacy. Create a mental health collaborative that includes community stakeholders such as community mental health and physical health providers, out-of-school time programs and youth serving organizations, child welfare agencies, non-profits, businesses, faithbased organizations, institutions of higher education, technical colleges, local libraries and any other relevant community members. Review and/or revise district’s attendance policy to accommodate students who do not attend school due to concerns associated with the pandemic or are otherwise experiencing changes to their living situations (students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility). Identify stakeholders in the local school community and engage them in collaborative planning and supports for students, extending mental health and wellness supports across the community. Partners could include parents and family members, out-of-school time programs and community learning centers (CLC), youth serving organizations, public libraries, businesses and employers, colleges or technical schools, community mental health, physical health providers, transportation providers and law enforcement. Be familiar with the district attendance policy and create a school plan for connecting with chronically absent or unresponsive students. Review/revise attendance policies for students experiencing homelessness to allow for unstable living situations or unexpected changes to living situations. • Resource: WI State Stat. 118.16(4) Create a staff wellness plan. Resources: • National Assoc. of School Psychologists (NASP) Ask the Experts Webinar Series • Compassion Resilience Toolkit • District Examples: Sheboygan Area School District, Deforest Area School District Create a staff wellness plan. Resources: • National Assoc. of School Psychologists (NASP) Ask the Experts Webinar Series • Compassion Resilience Toolkit 43 PREPARE School Safety/Mental Health, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Adapt current school- and district-wide behavioral expectations to different learning environments. Resource: • Getting Back to School after Disruptions: Resources for making your school safer, more predictable, and more positive School Safety/Mental Health, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Monitor and review district-level attendance, bullying, and discipline data regularly. Monitor and review district-level attendance, bullying, and discipline data regularly. Implement a welcome plan Provide developmentally appropriate mental health literacy education for students. Resources: • Mental Health & High School Curriculum Guide • Bibliocounseling: Mental Health Literacy One Story at a Time Promote equitable social support systems and facilitate student connections through universal supports such as trauma-informed social and emotional learning (SEL) for all students, including students who may engage in school virtually. Resources: • Trauma-informed SEL Toolkit • Great Lakes Equity Center Centering Equity in SEL • Wisconsin’s State Superintendent’s Equity Stakeholder Council Advancing Equity Through SEL 44 School Safety/Mental Health, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Ensure the district is following the McKinney-Vento Act to support students experiencing homelessness, including continuing to identify students who may lose housing while attending school virtually. Consider increasing the capacity of the district homeless liaison to conduct outreach and ensure identification. Start each day with a welcoming activity and end with an optimistic closure. Resource: • 3 Signature Practices to support SEL Re-teach all daily procedures and routines and be specific about changes to these due to physical distancing. Resource for positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) • Creating a PBIS behavior matrix for remote instruction Provide guidance for schools to implement developmentally appropriate resources, instruction, and activities to address current events for students, staff members, and families. Address current events with students. Reaffirm student feelings and concerns about the pandemic. Provide facts and be honest about the situation as appropriate developmentally. Consider beginning classes with a circle activity to re-establish a sense of community. Be sensitive to questions or topics addressed during a circle activity, knowing students may be experiencing trauma outside of school. Provide guidance for schools to implement developmentally appropriate grief support for students, staff members, and families. Identify students struggling more significantly with grief, recognize students at risk, and provide appropriate supports. Resources: Resources: • Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools • National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement • Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools • National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement District administration may work with schools to create plans to identify and support students who are experiencing significant mental health challenges. School based mental health staff may create a plan to identify and support students who are experiencing mental health challenges. Create plans to identify and support students who may experience additional trauma from loss of housing, changes in living situations, or extended shelter in place orders in unsafe living situations. Identify subgroups of students English learners, special education, students experiencing homelessness, out-of-home care (foster care), students transitioning back to school from a neglected or delinquent institution, migrant, immigrant, known at-risk students, LGBTQ students, and students who have lost a family member. 45 School Safety/Mental Health, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level All staff monitor for signs of possible neglect and abuse, and report as mandated by law. Resources: • DPI Training/Information Resource: Child Abuse and Neglect DPI Webpage • Department of Children and Families Mandated reporting Information for School Staff During ‘Safer at Home’ Ensure the continued implementation the district’s mental health continuum of supports. Implement plan to identify students and families who are not responding and implement a student and family outreach plan. Involve the homeless liaison to identify and support families who may be experiencing homelessness. Communicate with families regarding student rights to remain in the school of origin and receive transportation. Implement plan to identify and provide equitable supports to students/families experiencing or likely to experience grief. Resource: • National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Responding to Death sin the COVID-19 Context: Guidelines for Administrators and Crisis Teams Ensure accurate data collection around tier 2 or targeted interventions. Review data regularly to assess intervention and support effectiveness. Allocate time and funding to provide mental health literacy training to all staff. Assess any staff mental health literacy training needs. Provide staff with opportunities to increase their mental health literacy through online training, community of practice experiences, book studies, and professional learning communities (PLC). Train staff in McKinney-Vento, so staff are aware of possible signs of homelessness and know the process to contact the homeless liaison. Resources: • DPI online mental health training resources • Psychological First Aid • DPI McKinney-Vento Guidance 46 School Safety/Mental Health, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Provide ongoing support for staff knowledge and skill development in the use and implementation of telehealth and other available supports. Utilize the school’s mental health referral pathway to screen and connect students with appropriate mental health supports. Use culturally responsive problem-solving when making decisions about how to best address student mental health concerns. • DPI Resource: Culturally Responsive Problem-Solving Guide Monitor and support staff wellness plan. Attend to staff wellness. Present staff with information on Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and other wellness supports on an ongoing basis. Implement school staff wellness plans. Present staff with information on Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and other wellness supports on an ongoing basis. 47 Instructional Programming Teaching and learning is the heart of our schools. This section focuses on essential actions to promote coherence with grade-level standards and offer flexibility to support and sustain student learning moving forward. Guidance is sub-divided to help districts identify important actions to 1) REVIEW: Recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions; 2) PREPARE: Do before the 2020-21 school year starts; and 3) IMPLEMENT and review during the 2020-21 school year. REVIEW PREPARE IMPLEMENT Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. In This Section: Teaching and Learning .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 49 School Libraries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 59 Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 65 English Learners .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. page 71 Gifted and Talented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 77 48 Teaching and Learning Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Build a Return to Instruction working group, potentially led by the Director of Curriculum and Instruction and composed of diverse and representative stakeholders including community-based organizations, education directors from Nations, families, students, district-level staff, and school-level staff. Maintain regular communication with district leadership to understand and inform the district’s approach to instruction and assessment. Work with a school-based team to support instruction: teachers, coaches, department chairs, families, and students. Reflect on what happened during the extended closure before planning for upcoming school year. If district administered any surveys, review feedback specific to student learning. Reflect on what happened during the extended closure before planning for upcoming school year. If district administered any surveys, review feedback, specific to student learning. UW-Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 UW-Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 Connect with DPI around teaching and learning resources, state and federal updates, and financial information. Current resources include: • Waiver and Alternative Compliance Information • Formative Assessment Resources for Parents • Formative Assessment Resources for Students with Disabilities • Federal Waivers: Information for Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) • Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act • Responding to the Changing Needs of Private School Students (Private school equitable participation) • Information about general school finance (FAQ Regarding COVID-19_ Based on feedback from stakeholders, review school board policies for potential revisions: • Calendar (start date, breaks, professional learning, parent-teacher conferences) • Adoption of new Wisconsin state standards • Grading (transition to competency- or standards-based grading) • Report cards (transition to competency- or standards-based grading) • Innovative instructional design • Educator Effectiveness If revisions are made, develop a communication plan for stakeholders including school leadership, teachers, students, families, and community members. Update school-based information based on current school board policies. 49 Teaching and Learning, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Plan for the possibility of three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models with an orientation of preparing all teachers to be teachers of blended learning: • In-person; • Virtual: digital synchronous, digital asynchronous, analog synchronous, analog asynchronous, hybrid synchronous and asynchronous; and • Physically-distanced: in-person and remote using a cohort-based model. Account for instruction potentially occurring in schools, at community-based organizations, in school outdoor spaces, and at homes. Use feedback from stakeholders, including local public health officials, to select the learning scenario. Evaluate opportunities for partnerships with community-based organizations (such as a local nature center or Boys and Girls Club) who could provide space and extended community-based learning opportunities for a cohort-based learning model for students not in the school building during the school day due to social-distancing guidelines. Develop professional learning plans for staff to further develop their understanding of how to teach in all learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. REVIEW: School Level Coordinate with the district to plan for the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models with an orientation of preparing all teachers to be teachers of blended learning: 1) In-person, 2) Remote: digital synchronous, digital asynchronous, analog synchronous, analog asynchronous, hybrid synchronous and asynchronous, and 3) Physically Distanced: in-person and remote using a cohort-based model. Account for instruction potentially occurring in schools, community-based organizations, and homes. Use feedback from stakeholders to select the learning scenario. Evaluate opportunities for partnerships with community-based organizations (such as a local nature center or Boys and Girls Club) who could provide space and extended community-based learning opportunities for a cohort-based learning model for students not in the school building during the school day due to social-distancing guidelines. Consider how to integrate and collaborative lessons with classroom teachers possibly utilizing small groups to reduce ratios in virtual environments. Develop professional learning plans for staff to further develop their understanding of how to teach in all learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. • DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Consider how to integrate and collaborative lessons with classroom teachers possibly utilizing small groups to reduce ratios in virtual environments. • DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Review your systems of assessment to ensure assessing student learning is occurring within the context of their learning (formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, family feedback). Do not focus on large scale gap-finding assessments or diagnostics at the beginning of the year. Resource: • Formative Assessment practices for Distance Learning (help identify individual students’ learning levels and provide feedback about what comes next for learning. Coordinate with the district to develop a plan for assessing student learning within the context of their learning (formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, family feedback). Coordinate with special education, English learners, bilingual staff, and advanced learning staff. Resource: • Formative Assessment practices for Distance Learning (help identify individual students’ learning levels and provide feedback about what comes next for learning. 50 Teaching and Learning, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Develop a plan to support schools and teachers to analyze curriculum maps and create flexible, modular standards-based and student-centered learning units of study to respond to the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. • Consider using place- or project-based learning to increase relevance and rigor. • Use principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address barriers by creating options and various means for ensuring equitable access to learning and resources. • Ensure all students have access to and are engaged with courses that provide a well-rounded education. Students may apply core skills and find engagement in these courses. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) states that students need to receive a well-rounded education, and school schedules for this next year need to ensure equitable access to opportunities that meet the educational and social and emotional needs of the whole child. The how may need to look different, but schedules should include the arts, career and technical education (CTE), science, social studies, world languages, math, and English language arts. REVIEW: School Level Establish structures for teacher teams to analyze curriculum maps and create flexible, modular standards-based and student-centered learning units of study to respond to the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models • Consider using place- or project-based learning to increase relevance and rigor. • Use principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address barriers by creating options and various means for ensuring equitable access to learning and resources. • Ensure all students have access to and are engaged with courses that provide a well-rounded education. Students may apply core skills and find engagement in these courses. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) states that students need to receive a well-rounded education, and school schedules for this next year need to ensure equitable access to opportunities that meet the educational and social and emotional needs of the whole child. The how may need to look different, but schedules should include the arts, career and technical education (CTE), science, social studies, world languages, math, and English language arts. • Ensure digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized. • Plan for additional time for social, instructional, and academic language development. • Address social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. • For 4K community approach (CA), align standards and approaches to teaching early learners across system partners (child care and Head Start). • Plan for additional time for social, instructional, and academic language development. • Review assignment of teachers to the particular learning scenarios to align their curriculum work. • For 4K community approach (CA), align standards and approaches to teaching early learners across system partners (child care and Head Start). • Review assignment of teachers to the particular learning scenarios to align their curriculum work. • Ensure teachers have professional learning time for collaborative lesson study, collaborative review of student work, and sharing of practice. Resources • UDL in the Cloud Resource Guide • DPI: Culturally Responsive Education • CCSSO: Resources for Math and English Language Arts • Instruction Partners Curriculum Support Guide • Ensure teachers have professional learning time for collaborative lesson study, collaborative review of student work, and sharing of practice. Resources • UDL in the Cloud Resource Guide • DPI: Culturally Responsive Education • CCSSO: Resources for Math and English Language Arts • Instruction Partners Curriculum Support Guide 51 Teaching and Learning, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Inventory and secure curricular resources, language-attentive strategies, culturally and linguistically sustaining practices, interventions, and extensions available to students when they return to school to identify and fill gaps. Inventory and secure curricular resources, language-attentive strategies, culturally and linguistically sustaining practices, interventions, and extensions available to students when they return to school to identify and fill gaps. Identify technology and applications that were purchased/used and review for alignment to learning plan. Identify technology and applications that were purchased/used and review for alignment to learning plan. Verify that the technology programs meet criteria for data and cyber security. Verify that the technology programs meet criteria for data and cyber security. Verify that the technology programs meet criteria for data and cyber security. Share resources with early learning partners (child care and Head Start) and use partners as a resource to identify resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to children and families. Share resources with Early Learning partners (Child Care and Head Start) and use partners as a resource to identify resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to children and families. Create an outline of digital ecosystem of grade-level platforms and instructional technology tools to accommodate the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. If possible, simplify to one platform for teachers, students, and families. Support all teachers in being a blended learning teacher, regardless of environment. Plan for professional learning about being a blended learning teacher, regardless of environment. Include schedules, platforms, upgrades, adoptions, reflection on best practices, and student data privacy practices. DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Website Create a plan for professional development to accommodate upgrades, adoptions, reflection on best practices, student data privacy practices, and professional learning strengths and needs of staff in the use of digital tools and resources. DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Website Create a plan for continued instruction for youth placed in a delinquent institution. Include institution staff and teachers and consider the unique situation of possible continued social isolation for these youth. Set ambitious learning goals, so every student is on track for success academically and socially and emotionally by the end of the 2022 school year. Create a process for schools to create and implement individualized learner profiles for each student based on their needs to accelerate learning. Include health information for determination of placement, location, accommodations, etc. Current teacher of record (K-5) or teacher teams (6-12) should create learner profiles for students based on the 2019-20 school year to share with the new teachers for the 2020-21 school years to facilitate personalized approaches and create smaller learning cohorts. Teacher teams should include the staff who worked with the most institutionally underserved and under-resourced students (teachers of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP), teachers of students receiving Title I services, teachers of English learner (EL) and bilingual students, staff who specialize in supporting students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility). Co-planning for instruction and assessment between teacher of record and staff who work with the most identified students should occur. 52 Teaching and Learning, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Identify students who could use a boost (students with IEPs, English learners, students who are experiencing homelessness or live in temporary housing, migrant students, and students who are experiencing poverty or whose families face other challenges, and students directly affected by SARS-CoV-2 due to a death or job loss in their family) to recognize, prioritize, and plan for their needs. Coordinate with the district to identify students who could use a boost (students with IEPs, English learners, students who are experiencing homelessness or live in temporary housing, migrant students, and students who are experiencing poverty or whose families face other challenges, and students directly affected by SARS-CoV-2 due to a death or job loss in their family) to recognize, prioritize, and plan for their needs. Coordinate with special education, English learners, bilingual staff, and advanced learning staff. Assess the capacity of structures outside of the regular school day, such as an extended school year, summer learning options, extended day, after school programming, workbased learning opportunities (Youth Apprenticeship),and state certified co-op programs to potentially be leveraged to support students. Collaborate with the district to use structures outside of the regular school day, such as an extended school year, summer learning options, extended day, after school programming, work-based learning opportunities (Youth Apprenticeship),and state certified co-op programs to potentially be leveraged to support students. Resource: • Refer to Fostering Innovation Guide for further guidance Create a plan for students who select enrolling in virtual online options as it aligns to district policy and to prevent losing students to open enrollment. This plan should include the selection of a provider which supports leveraging district instructors to support training and program development. Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative Resources: • School Closure Learning Continuity Readiness Rubric • Six Resources to Support Remote Instruction (checklist) Other: • Refer to Fostering Innovation Guide for further guidance Develop a communication plan for staff, families, and students. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. • Create a plan for translating communication. Coordinate with the district to develop a communication plan for staff, families, and students. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. • Create a plan for translating communication. Video Resource: Dr. Karen Mapp Shares Advice for Educators on Family and Community Engagement Strategies 53 PREPARE Teaching and Learning, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Solidify and communicate an overall plan for the learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models during the 2020-21 school year, responding to health guidelines and potential emergency remote learning, and outline time frames for assessments, data analysis, and adjusting curriculum and academic goals based on the data with educators, 4K CA, community-based organizations, and families. Meet with staff to align expectations around teaching and learning for the school year. Explicitly acknowledge equity and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable students as a priority. Include and provide support for 4K CA partners and staff to participate in the meetings. DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Website Share data from surveys and feedback from stakeholders to schools. UW-Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance Learning in the Time of COVID-19 DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Website Review data from the district as well student work submitted during remote learning to support teachers to make adjustments to curriculum and instruction to meet students where they are. UW-Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance Learning in the Time of COVID-19 Support schools and teachers to analyze curriculum maps to create flexible, modular standards-based and student-centered learning units of study to respond to the three learning environments (page 8). • Consider using place- or project-based learning to increase relevance and rigor. • Use principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address barriers by creating options and various means for ensuring equitable access to learning and resources. • Ensure all students have access to and are engaged with courses that provide a well-rounded education. Students apply core skills and find engagement in these courses. ESSA states that students need to receive a well-rounded education and school schedules for this next year need to ensure equitable access to opportunities that meet the educational and social and emotional needs of the whole child. The how may need to look different, but schedules should include the arts, CTE, science, social studies, world languages, math, and English language arts. • Ensure digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized. • Address social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. • Plan for additional time for social, instructional, and academic language development. Provide professional learning time for teacher teams to analyze curriculum maps and create flexible, modular standards-based and student-centered learning units of study to respond the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models • Consider using place- or project-based learning to increase relevance and rigor. • Use principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address barriers by creating options and various means for ensuring equitable access to learning and resources. • Ensure all students have access to and are engaged with courses that provide a well-rounded education. Students apply core skills and find engagement in these courses. ESSA states that students need to receive a well-rounded education and school schedules for this next year need to ensure equitable access to opportunities that meet the educational and social and emotional needs of the whole child. The how may need to look different, but schedules should include the arts, CTE, science, social studies, world languages, math, and English language arts. • Ensure digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized. • Address social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. • Plan for additional time for social, instructional, and academic language development. 54 PREPARE Teaching and Learning, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level • For 4K CA, align standards and approaches to teaching early learners across system partners (child care and Head Start). • For 4K CA, align standards and approaches to teaching early learners across system partners (child care and Head Start). • Review assignment of teachers to the particular learning scenarios to align their curriculum work. • Review assignment of teachers to the particular learning scenarios to align their curriculum work. • Ensure teachers have professional learning time for collaborative lesson study, collaborative review of student work, and sharing of practice. • Ensure teachers have professional learning time for collaborative lesson study, collaborative review of student work, and sharing of practice. Provide professional learning about your systems of assessment to ensure assessing student learning is occurring within the context of their learning (formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, family feedback). Do not focus on large scale gap-finding assessments or diagnostics at the beginning of the year. Distribute curricular resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to students when they return to school, through the district and at the school-level to identify and fill gaps. Coordinate with the district to provide professional learning for assessing student learning within the context of their learning (e.g., formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, family feedback). Coordinate with special education, English learners, bilingual staff, and advanced learning staff. Coordinate with the district to distribute curricular resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to students when they return to school, through the district and at the school-level to identify and fill gaps. • Identify technology and applications that were purchased or used and review for alignment to learning plan. • Identify technology and applications that were purchased/used and review for alignment to learning plan. • Verify that the technology programs meet criteria for data and cyber security. • Verify that the technology programs meet criteria for data and cyber security. • Share resources with early learning partners (child care and Head Start) and use partners as a resource to identify resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to children and families. • Share resources with early learning partners (child care and Head Start) and use partners as a resource to identify resources, interventions, and extensions that are available to children and families. Review learner profiles for students based on the 2019-20 school year to share with the new teachers for the 2020-21 school years to facilitate personalized approaches and create smaller learning cohorts. Teacher teams should include the staff who worked with the most institutionally underserved and under-resourced students (teachers of students with IEPs, teachers of students receiving Title I services, teachers of English learners and bilingual students, staff who specialize in supporting students experiencing homelessness, students in out-of-home care, migratory students, and students transitioning out of a neglected or delinquent facility). Co-planning for instruction and assessment between teacher of record and staff who work with the most identified students should occur. 55 PREPARE Teaching and Learning, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts.. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Create plans for identified students who could use a boost (students with IEPs, English learners, students who are experiencing homelessness or live in temporary housing, migrant students, and students who are experiencing poverty or whose families face other challenges, and students directly affected by SARS-CoV-2 due to a death or job loss in their family) to recognize, prioritize, and plan for their needs. Coordinate with special education, English learners, bilingual staff, and advanced learning staff. Include students in the development of and reflection on their own learning goals and personalized learning plans. In grades 6 - 12, consider the role of academic and career planning from a college and career readiness perspective, one that prioritizes students interests to “hook” or motivate them to engage in their learning; particularly for students. Develop a communication strategy to share learner profiles with families; include grade-level and standards-specific activities that can be used at home to support learning. Communicate with families options for 100% virtual enrollment options in connection with information about staying within your own district (policies, access to on-site services and a few face-to-face course selections, transcripts and graduation tied to local district, online and parent handbook resources). Resource: • Fostering Innovation in Wisconsin Schools If physical distancing requires fewer kids in schools, communicate with families regarding options for alternative learning sites: school buildings, community-based organizations, and home. If physical distancing requires fewer kids in schools, coordinate with the district to communicate to families options for alternative learning sites: school buildings, community-based organizations, and home. Communicate decisions and guidance around grading, report cards, and promotion policies with school leaders, teachers, and families. Collaborate with the district to communicate decisions and guidance around grading, report cards, and promotion policies with staff, families, and students. Create a plan for awarding credits to students who may have moved between districts. Ensure counselors are meeting with students experiencing homelessness or students placed in out-of-home care to award partial credits. Consider and plan for how to leverage home- and community-based assets for high-quality, interdisciplinary learning in the three learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. 56 PREPARE Teaching and Learning, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Support educators to develop back-to-school onboarding with students and families to establish or reestablish relationships and develop understanding of family and school expectations. Emphasize the importance of taking the time needed to develop strong relationships with students, their families, and among cohorts of learners early in the year in case of a second round of school closures. Reflect on data. Reflect on data. UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 Communicate with staff, families, and students early, clearly, and frequently. Communicate with staff, families, and students early, clearly, and frequently. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. Ensure there are plans for two-way communication opportunities with families. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. Ensure there are plans for two-way communication opportunities with families. • Create a plan for translating communication. • Create a plan for translating communication. 57 Teaching and Learning, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Provide professional learning time for teacher teams to reflect and adjust on curriculum maps. This includes, but is not limited to, units of instruction that meaningful engages students, not that simply covers standards. Revisit local, community connections in projects designed to engage students through their identities and interests in humanities, arts, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) contexts. DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Provide professional learning time for teacher teams to continue to learn about curricular resources, best practices in UDL, social emotional learning, interventions, and extensions to ensure high-quality instruction and ongoing support for all students. DPI Resource: Teaching and Learning Review and update learner profiles. Continually monitor every student’s learning progress through ongoing revision and updating of their learner profile based on formative assessments, diagnostics, conferences, advisories, family feedback, and summative assessments. Conduct checkpoints with school leaders around curriculum pacing and ongoing monitoring of student progress, specifically honing in on the progress of the most vulnerable students or student populations. Analyze learner profiles and assessment data to design instruction, adjust curriculum, and develop learner cohorts to meet learners where they are and provide personalized instruction to accelerate learning. Work with schools to develop targeted intervention plans for the most vulnerable students. Identify additional students in need of intervention or services, whether academic or social-emotional and prioritize support for the most vulnerable students. Assess the efficacy of all academic and social-emotional programming against the goal of ensuring every student is on track by the end of the 2022 school year, and report out the results on a quarterly basis. Communicate with staff, families, and students early, clearly, and frequently. Communicate with staff, families, and students early, clearly, and frequently. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. • Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. • Ensure there are plans for two-way communication opportunities with families. • Create a plan for translating communication. • Ensure there are plans for two-way communication opportunities with families. • Create a plan for translating communication. Reflect on data. Reflect on data. UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 58 School Libraries Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Review information on the COVID-19 Information for DPI School Libraries web page. REVIEW: School Level Review information on the COVID-19 Information for DPI School Libraries web page. Communicate with other district leaders, including those in technology and curriculum and instruction, to determine the role of the school library program in district plans and align the district long-range library plan accordingly. Create a plan for safely returning materials to schools, including placing materials in dated containers that can be placed in a quarantine area for a minimum of 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff members. Carry out plan for safely returning materials to schools, including placing materials in dated containers that can be placed in a quarantine area for a minimum of 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff members. Reflect on what happened during the extended closure before planning for upcoming school year. Make sure to record qualitative and quantitative data that illustrate the district’s school library program’s impact on student learning during this time and include it in any end-of-year reports. Review Common School Fund budget and work with business services team to ensure the 2019-20 allocations are encumbered. If districts are unable to spend their 2019-20 Common School Fund allocation in full, the unspent portion should be coded as restricted fund balance (10 B 936130) and spent in 2020-21. These changes should be noted in the district’s long-range library plan. Complete an inventory, in collaboration with the technology team, of all online resources and software used by teachers as a trial or purchase and collect any available usage data. Work with others, including the technology team, to identify professional learning strengths and needs of staff in the use of digital tools and resources. Work with others, including the technology team, to identify professional learning strengths and needs of staff in the use of digital tools and resources. Coordinate and integrate school library communication for staff, families, and students with district plans. Share school library communication for staff, families, and students following district plan. Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. Identify multiple ways (print and digital) to communicate with families. Create a plan for translating communication. Create a plan for translating communication. 59 PREPARE School Libraries, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Communicate with staff members with copyright guidance reminders to remove any read-aloud videos created under special permissions granted by publishers. Communicate with staff members with copyright guidance reminders to remove any read-aloud videos created under special permissions granted by publishers. Resource: Resource: School Library Journal COVID-19 Publisher Information Directory School Library Journal COVID-19 Publisher Information Directory Work with technology and curriculum teams to plan professional learning opportunities for staff members based on identified needs. Work with technology and curriculum teams to plan professional learning opportunities for staff members based on identified needs. Create plan for removing manipulatives, maker space items, headsets, virtual reality (VR) goggles and any other shared supplies and determine strategies for substitute, high-quality activities meeting the same academic standards, as well as plans for reintroduction of selected items. Pack and store manipulatives, maker space items, headsets, virtual reality (VR) goggles, and any other shared supplies, and implement new activities determined at district level. Arrange libraries to reflect district distancing guidelines: Arrange libraries to reflect district distancing guidelines: • Table seating should have students face one direction and allow for social distancing. • Table seating should have students face one direction and allow for social distancing. • Consider marking traffic flow on floors to designate entrance, exit, and spacing for check-out line. • Consider marking traffic flow on floors to designate entrance, exit, and spacing for check-out line. • Close meeting rooms/small group work spaces and use them for storing quarantined materials. • Close meeting rooms and small group work spaces and use them for storing quarantined materials. Remove handouts, such as bookmarks, from student access. If the district collects fines for overdue or damaged books, evaluate discontinuing this practice and update procedures. In addition to health risks associated with handling money, the American Library Association has made a resolution on monetary library fines as a form of social inequity. Implement updated district procedures regarding fines for overdue or damaged materials. Economic Barriers to Information Access: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights Create ways to hold online and telephone office hours for students, teachers, and parents to ask questions during times of virtual learning and coordinate implementation with district-level curriculum scheduling. Review and revise curriculum considerations for shifts in scheduled class time and priorities. Consider: • More integrated and collaborative lessons with classroom teachers possibly utilizing small groups to reduce ratios in virtual environments. • Ensuring digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized • Addressing social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. 60 PREPARE School Libraries, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Review and revise curriculum, making considerations for shifts in scheduled class time and priorities. Consider: Review and revise curriculum, making considerations for shifts in scheduled class time and priorities. Consider: • More integrated and collaborative lessons with classroom teachers possibly utilizing small groups to reduce ratios in virtual environments. • More integrated and collaborative lessons with classroom teachers possibly utilizing small groups to reduce ratios in virtual environments. • Ensuring digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized. • Ensuring digital citizenship and other online skills and practices are prioritized. • Addressing social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. • Addressing social emotional needs in digital environments, as well as navigating the stress and challenges of not having internet access. Create resources for instructing students and teachers to use online catalogs to view the collection and place holds for materials. Use multiple instructional strategies to show students and teachers how to use online catalogs to view the collection and place holds for materials. Work with technology team to create alignment of web pages for accessing information about technology and online resources and tools. Communicate location and access points for these resources to staff. Work with technology team to create alignment of web pages for accessing information about technology and online resources and tools. Communicate location and access points for these resources to staff. Create plan for circulation of materials during in-person, virtual, and blended learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. Follow district plan for circulation of materials during in-person, virtual, and blended learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. In-Person: Consider options appropriate for school community for selecting materials to check out. In-Person: Consider options appropriate for school community for selecting materials to check out. • Use online catalog to place holds on materials and have library staff retrieve items and check them out to students/staff. • Use online catalog to place holds on materials and have library staff retrieve items and check them out to students and staff. • Pull small selections of books from shelves, set out on display, and allow youngest students to select from them. • Pull small selections of books from shelves, set out on display, and allow youngest students to select from them. • Limit student browsing directly from shelves by having them select options in catalog before retrieving items. • Limit student browsing directly from shelves by having them select options in catalog before retrieving items. • Provide hand sanitizer near shelves. If students are selecting books for check-out in physical space, limit contact during process. • Provide hand sanitizer near shelves. If students are selecting books for check-out in physical space, limit contact during process. • Have library staff operate computer with students scanning their book choices. • Have library staff operate computer with students scanning their book choices. • Older students can do self check-out by scanning ID barcode and book choices. • Older students can do self check-out by scanning ID barcode and book choices. Provide book return containers that can be dated and placed in quarantine for at least 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff. Provide book return containers that can be dated and placed in quarantine for at least 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff. 61 PREPARE School Libraries, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Virtual: Work with district leadership to plan for circulating print materials. PREPARE: School Level Virtual: Work with district leadership to plan for circulating print materials. • Use a pick-up/drop-off and delivery system coordinated with meals or instructional materials utilizing safe handling procedures. • Use a pick-up/drop-off and delivery system coordinated with meals or instructional materials utilizing safe handling procedures. • Students can use online catalog to select and place holds on materials. • Students can use online catalog to select and place holds on materials. • Provide a means, such as calling library staff, to request materials for students without internet access. • Provide a means, such as calling library staff, to request materials for students without internet access. • Share instructions with families and caregivers for helping students with these processes. • Share instructions with families and caregivers for helping students with these processes. School Libraries, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level Maintain libraries to reflect district distancing guidelines and clean space between student visits: IMPLEMENT: School Level Maintain libraries to reflect district distancing guidelines and clean space between student visits: • Table seating should have students face one direction and allow for social distancing. • Table seating should have students face one direction and allow for social distancing. • Consider marking traffic flow on floors to designate entrance, exit, and spacing for check-out line. • Consider marking traffic flow on floors to designate entrance, exit, and spacing for check-out line. • Close meeting rooms and small group work spaces and use them for storing quarantined materials. • Close meeting rooms and small group work spaces and use them for storing quarantined materials. • Clean tables and circulation desk between class visits. Note this will require extra time between classes. • Clean tables and circulation desk between class visits. Note this will require extra time between classes Use multiple instructional strategies to show students and teachers how to use online catalogs to view the collection and place holds for materials. Use multiple instructional strategies to show students and teachers how to use online catalogs to view the collection and place holds for materials. Promote and facilitate use of online resources, such as eBooks, audiobooks, research databases, and instructional tools. Promote and facilitate use of online resources, such as eBooks, audiobooks, research databases, and instructional tools. 62 School Libraries, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Implement plan for circulation of materials during in-person, virtual, and blended learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. Implement plan for circulation of materials during in-person, virtual, and blended learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. In-Person: Consider options appropriate for school community for selecting materials to check out. In-Person: Consider options appropriate for school community for selecting materials to check out. • Use online catalog to place holds on materials and have library staff retrieve items and check them out to students and staff. • Use online catalog to place holds on materials and have library staff retrieve items and check them out to students and staff. • Pull small selections of books from shelves, set out on display, and allow youngest students to select from them. • Pull small selections of books from shelves, set out on display, and allow youngest students to select from them. • Limit student browsing directly from shelves by having them select options in catalog before retrieving items. • Limit student browsing directly from shelves by having them select options in catalog before retrieving items. • Provide hand sanitizer near shelves. • Provide hand sanitizer near shelves. If students are selecting books for check-out in physical space, limit contact during process. • Have library staff operate computer with students scanning their book choices. If students are selecting books for check-out in physical space, limit contact during process. • Have library staff operate computer with students scanning their book choices. • Older students can do self check-out by scanning ID barcode and book choices. • Older students can do self check-out by scanning ID barcode and book choices. Provide containers for book return that can be dated and placed in quarantine for at least 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff. Provide containers for book return that can be dated and placed in quarantine for at least 72 hours (3 days) before being handled by staff. Virtual: Work with district leadership to plan for circulating print materials. Virtual: Work with district leadership to plan for circulating print materials. • Use a pick-up/drop-off and delivery system coordinated with meals or instructional materials utilizing safe handling procedures. • Use a pick-up/drop-off and delivery system coordinated with meals or instructional materials utilizing safe handling procedures. • Students can use online catalog to select and place holds on materials. • Students can use online catalog to select and place holds on materials. • Provide a means, such as calling library staff, to request materials for students without internet access. • Provide a means, such as calling library staff, to request materials for students without internet access. • Share instructions with families and caregivers for helping students with these processes. • Share instructions with families and caregivers for helping students with these processes. Work with technology and curriculum teams to provide professional learning for staff on the use of digital tools, including instructional strategies, data privacy, cyber security, and ethical practice. Work with technology and curriculum teams to provide professional learning for staff on the use of digital tools, including instructional strategies, data privacy, cyber security, and ethical practice. Continue work with technology team to budget a portion of Common School Funds for devices providing students with access to digital resources. Continue work with technology team to budget a portion of Common School Funds for devices providing students with access to digital resources. Monitor and evaluate use of digital resources to determine future Common School Fund purchases. Monitor and evaluate use of digital resources to determine future Common School Fund purchases. 63 School Libraries, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Establish quarantine areas for new materials arriving from vendors. Allow items to sit for 72 hours (3 days) before handling. Establish quarantine areas for new materials arriving from vendors. Allow items to sit for 72 hours (3 days) before handling. Continue to research and curate safe, high-quality, standards-based alternative activities for maker space and STEM programs. Follow established plan for storing manipulatives, maker space items, VR goggles, and share supplies with reintroduction of select items as determined. Curate and implement alternative activities. Maintain a Plan-Do-Study-Act process for the district long-range library plan to keep it aligned with district plans. Maintain a Plan-Do-Study-Act process for the district long-range library plan to keep it aligned with district plans. 64 Special Education Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section. Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section. Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. Familiarize yourself with the following resources: Familiarize yourself with the following resources: • DPI Special Education COVID-19 resources with a particular focus on the extended School Closure Due to COVID-19 • DPI Special Education COVID-19 resources with a particular focus on the Extended school closure due to COVID-19 Develop a plan for assessing students’ present levels of performance and regression of skills when students return that includes progress toward IEP goals. Develop a plan for assessing students’ present levels of performance and regression of skills when students return that includes progress toward IEP goals. Resources: Resources: • Information Update Bulletin 20.01 (Additional Services Due to Extended School Closure) • Information Update Bulletin 20.01 (Additional Services Due to Extended School Closure) • Introduction to Monitoring Progress of IEP Goals • Introduction to Monitoring Progress of IEP Goals Implement a plan for providing continuity of services to the greatest extent possible during a school closure. Provide accommodations, instruction, and services to the greatest extent possible during school closure. Communicate with families frequently to determine the best ways of meeting the needs of their children during the closure. Provide resources on how families can support learning. Ensure the infrastructure, communication, and staffing are in place to hold virtual or phone-based IEP team meetings to the extent possible. Resource: • Conducting Parent Friendly and Productive Virtual IEP Meetings Develop a plan for identifying graduating students or students reaching the maximum age of eligibility who are willing to participate in additional services. Identify additional costs associated with providing services due to COVID-19 and determine the best funding source, whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) formula funding, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, or local dollars. Train staff to effectively conduct virtual IEP team meetings. Resource: • Conducting Parent Friendly and Productive Virtual IEP Meetings Conduct IEP team meetings for graduating students or students reaching the maximum age of eligibility who are willing to participate in additional services to determine whether such services are appropriate and what the services should be. 65 Special Education, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level IDEA maintenance of effort requirements have not been waived. If your local Fund 27 costs for FY 2020-2021 will decrease due to effects of COVID-19. Schedule a consultation call with the Special Education Team fiscal monitoring consultant. IDEA equitable services and proportionate share requirements have not be waived. The local education agency (LEA) is required to conduct meaningful consultations with private schools for FY 2020-2021 and spend down the mandatory proportionate share. Prepare for post-school outcome surveys (optional, but required to be eligible for state aid payments under the Transition Improvement Grant). Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 7 application to document outcomes for early childhood learners. Resource: WI State Performance Plan (SPP), Indicator #7 Indicator 11: Verification activities for 2019-20 submissions will continue as outlined in letter to LEAs dated January 15, 2020. LEAs provided instructions to upload Step 2 lists via e-mail, 5/13/2020. Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 12 application to document compliance with transition services from the county to the district. Resource: COVID-19Special Education Question and Answer Document Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 13 application to document compliance with postsecondary transition planning. Resource: COVID-19Special Education Question and Answer Document Post School Outcome Surveys (Indicator 14): any district that would like to receive state aid for qualifying student surveys may proceed. Detailed guidance: COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document 66 PREPARE Special Education, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section. Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section. Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. Develop a plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to address any backlog of special education evaluations, IEP team meetings, as well as collect data on present levels of performance and progress toward IEP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. Develop a plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to address any backlog of special education evaluations, IEP team meetings, as well as collect data on present levels of performance and progress toward IEP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. Additional monitoring progress of IEP goal resources available here: CCR IEP Digging Deeper module page Additional monitoring progress of IEP goal resources available here: CCR IEP Digging Deeper module page Develop a plan for communicating with families regarding process for determining whether and to what extent additional services are required due to the impact of the extended school closure. Review Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state, county, and school board health guidelines in areas of personal hygiene and safety to consider each student’s present levels of performance in relation to new knowledge or procedures that may be expected. Plan for instruction of new learning in the areas of hygiene and social distancing. Determinations about whether and to what extent additional services are required should be made as soon as possible after sufficient data has been obtained to make the determination and no later than the first six months of the 2020-21 school term. See Bulletin 20.01 on (Additional Services Due to Extended School Closure) Consider and plan for the effects of trauma and lack of educational opportunities during school closure. Plan to accommodate students for whom traditional use of personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing, and hygiene techniques may not be feasible. Anticipate additional sensory accommodations or modifications to match PPE to student sensory needs, visual supports, and boundaries to assist with social distancing, use of social narratives ,and video modeling to teach new hygiene routines such as more frequent hand washing. Ensure there are plans in place to support students with IEPs should virtual education and services again become necessary. In collaboration with families, assess and reflect on special education virtual learning activities and strategies that were successful in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. Develop a plan to identify students who may have special difficulty transitioning back to the school environment. Have IEP teams consider and specify services addressing the needs of students who may have special difficulty transitioning back to the school environment. Determine potential staffing needs and implement additional services required due to the impact of the school closure. Plan for positive behavior interventions and supports to be in place and clearly communicated to all staff before students return. In prioritizing additional services determinations, LEAs should first consider those students who did not receive special education services during the school closure or were unable to access the services provided, and students with newly identified needs requiring additional services for a successful return to school. 67 PREPARE Special Education, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 12 application to document compliance with transition services from the county to the district. Ensure consultation between families, special and general education staff, Occupational, Physical, and Speech-Language therapists, and school nurse to identify procedures and supports that may need to be individualized and in place for students who are medically fragile. Resource: COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 13 application to document compliance with postsecondary transition planning. Resource: COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document Consider adding contingency plans to IEPs if virtual learning becomes necessary again. 68 Special Education, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section (page 49). Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. As all students with IEPs are general education students, refer to the guidance in the Teaching and Learning section (page 49). Ensure students have meaningful and effective access to the general education environment and instruction. Least restrictive environment (LRE) should be central to decision making. Improve district-wide system of control to ensure all IEP teams and educators have access to assessments, supports, and instructional supports to meet individual student’s Assistive Technology (AT) needs. Re-establish current level of performance on IEP goals to determine where students are re-entering and establish growth from IEP goal baseline prior to and during the school closure period. This includes considering how AT supports required and necessary for an individual student can be generalized and used universally to support the needs of many across classrooms, supporting general and special educators in their ability to support student use for individual low and high AT tech devices including adaptable features of common technology applications and Accessible Educational Materials, and Alternative Augmentative Communication systems, and supporting the use of AT in a student’s home and community through student ownership, family engagement, and additional AT supports available outside of school. Document observed effects of school closures on individual students to inform upcoming IEP meetings to assist IEP teams with discussing and identifying root causes and disability-related needs and need for additional services. See Bulletin 20.01 on additional services due to extended school closure. Implement plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to address any backlog of special education evaluations, IEP team meetings, as well as a reasonable time to collect data on student present levels of performance and progress toward IEP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. DPI College and CareerReady Resource: Introduction to Monitoring Progress of IEP Goals Convene IEP teams to consider, on an individualized basis, whether and to what extent, additional services are required due to the impact of the public school closure. Determinations about whether and to what extent additional services are required should be made as soon as possible after sufficient data has been obtained to make the determination and no later than the first six months of the 2020-21 school term. Document in the student’s IEP the discussion, data relied upon, and the determination regarding additional services. See Information Bulletin 20.01 on additional services due to extended school closure. Timely evaluation cyclical data collection (Indicator 11): 2020-21 submissions will begin in August for LEAs notified of participation by letter dated March 3, 2020. Resource: Download Cycle List Continue to use the Indicator 12 application to document compliance with transition services from the county to the district. Resource: COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document Re-establish relationships and a sense of safety for students through consistent and predictable routines and procedures that emphasize and allow for communication and choice. Conduct any evaluations and IEP meetings that were delayed due to the public health emergency closure as quickly as possible once school resumes. Consider virtual or phone IEP meeting options for families who prefer to not meet in person. 69 Special Education, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level Within guidance, continue to use the Indicator 13 application to document compliance with postsecondary transition planning: COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document IMPLEMENT: School Level Ensure educators and paraprofessionals have reviewed current state and national resources to support in-person learning for students with significant adaptive and behavioral needs. DPI identified and is updating resources to support in-person instruction for these groups of students at the following web links: • Supports for Students with Neurodiverse and Social Emotional Needs • NS website (COVID page) • Resources to Assist with Virtual Learning for Students on Alternate Standards • TIES Center: DL #9: Start Now to Plan for Students Transitioning Back to School DPI is continuing activities related to verification of 2019-20 RDA: PCSA submissions. Your LEA Contact will be contacting you with next steps. Consider the use of CEC High Leverage Practices in Special Education, as well as use of practices, such as visual supports, modeling, peer mediated interventions, social narratives, naturalistic interventions, and video modeling in multiple locations for all students. These practices can be applied to supporting skill growth for many students across disability impairment areas to support and improve skills, such as personal hygiene, hand washing, social distancing. Modules on these practices can be found through: • Autism Internet Modules • Autism Focused Research and Intervention and Modules • Assistive Technology Internet Modules Be creative when aligning individual accommodations to student needs to ensure students with IEPs meet school-wide health and safety requirements (e.g. using tape to create visual boundaries, using a unique method for hand sanitizing, visual schedules to follow class routines) 2020-21 disproportionality procedural compliance self-assessment (PCSA) activities will begin in August for districts identified via the Racial Equity in Special Education report uploaded in SAFE on March 5, 2020. Revise existing behavior intervention plans and consider functional behavior assessment to identify supplementary aids and services and specially designed instruction to support behaviors that interfere with learning. Family engagement cyclical data collection (Indicator 8): 2020-21 submissions will begin in January 2021 for LEAs notified of participation by letter dated March 3, 2020. Communicate with families regarding the process for determining whether and to what extent additional services are required due to the impact of the public school closure. Maintain documentation of this communication. Consider adding contingency plans to IEPs if distance learning becomes necessary again. Ensure principles of Universal Design for Learning are guiding instructional design and decision making. 70 English Learners Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level As all students who receive services for English/bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. As all students who receive services for English/bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. Familiarize yourself with the DPI English Learners COVID-19 resources on the DPI Bilingual and English Learner Education. Familiarize yourself with the DPI English Learners COVID-19 resources on the DPI Bilingual and English Learner Education. If district administered any surveys, review feedback, specific to English learners. If district administered any surveys, review feedback, specific to English learners. UW-Milwaukee Survey: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 UW-Milwaukee Survey: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 Determine potential staffing needs and implement additional services required due to the impact of the school closure. Determine potential staffing needs in and implement additional services required due to the impact of the school closure Develop a plan for assessing students’ language and literacy skills and needs when students return that includes progress toward individualized learning plan (ILP) goals if used. Develop a plan for assessing students’ language and literacy skills and needs when students return that includes progress toward individualized learning plan (ILP) goals if used. Resources: Resources: • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 3 (Making and EL Determination) • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 3 • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 8 for ILP (Programming Decisions) • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 8 for ILP Design a plan for providing continuity of services to the extent possible during virtual or blended learning. See Learning Environment Considerations ( page 8). Prepare to provide accommodations, instruction, and services to the extent possible during virtual or blended learning. See Learning Environment Considerations (page 8). Resources: Resources: • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 9 (Supports and Accommodations) • WIDA Teaching Multilingual Learners Online • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 9 (Supports and Accommodations) • WIDA Teaching Multilingual Learners Online Ensure the infrastructure, communication, staffing, and language supports are in place to hold virtual or phone-based ILP team meetings to the extent possible. Train staff to effectively conduct and document virtual ILP team meetings. Develop a plan for identifying graduating students or students reaching the maximum age of eligibility who meet criteria and are willing to participate in additional services. Conduct ILP team meetings for graduating students or students reaching the maximum age of eligibility who are willing to participate in additional services to determine whether such services are appropriate and what the services should be. 71 English Learners, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level Develop a professional learning plan for all educators, so they can support all students as language learners with time and targeted support. REVIEW: School Level Engage in professional learning plan for all educators, so they can support all students as language learners with time and targeted support. • Prepare all staff with knowledge of students’ English language proficiency levels and ways to target and assess for growth. • Prepare all staff with knowledge of students’ English language proficiency levels and ways to target and assess for growth. • Support school staff with planning for language proficiency development utilizing the revised WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, and including the Wisconsin Standards for World Languages and WIDA Spanish Language Development (SLD) Standards for bilingual/dual language learners. • Support school staff with planning for language proficiency development utilizing the revised WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, and including the Wisconsin Standards for World Languages and WIDA Spanish Language Development (SLD) Standards for bilingual/dual language learners. • Ensure lesson plans include language objectives in all learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. • Ensure that lesson plans include language objectives in all learning environments, scheduling scenarios, and instructional models. • Prepare how to pre-teach academic and instructional language and use oral language to activate background knowledge to maximize understanding of new concepts and processes. • Prepare how to pre-teach academic and instructional language and use oral language to activate background knowledge to maximize understanding of new concepts and processes. • WIDA Teaching with Standards • WIDA Can Do Descriptors • WIDA Standards: Features of Academic Language Resources: • WIDA Teaching with Standards • WIDA Can Do Descriptors • WIDA Standards: Features of Academic Language Prepare to support the linguistic and social-emotional needs of students and their caregivers. Prepare staff with background knowledge and responsive practices related to students’ linguistic and cultural heritage. Identify community partners to support engage in planning for how to support the linguistic and social-emotional needs of students and their caregivers. Include background knowledge and responsive practices related to students’ linguistic and cultural heritage. Communicate a climate of inclusion and celebration of the linguistic and cultural assets of the school community. Assure families of the district’s commitment to partner with them on the education and language development of their youth. Resources: Communicate process for assessing and supporting students’ academic and language development with families. Resources: • WIDA Family Connections through Home Languages • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, English • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Spanish • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Arabic • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Simplified Chinese • WIDA Family Connections through Home Languages • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, English • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Spanish • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Arabic • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Simplified Chinese Identify standards-aligned digital instructional materials in the languages of instruction for remote learning. Provide staff with digital instructional resources and tools to support standards-based learning in the language of instruction. Plan for assessments in the language of instruction to be proctored remotely if needed. Plan for assessments in the language of instruction to be proctored remotely if needed. 72 PREPARE English Learners, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level As all students who receive services for English or bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. As all students who receive services for English or bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. Plan for English learning (EL) identification within first 30 days of school. If in a virtual scenario, create a plan for assessing students records to provide programming until the screener can occur. Plan for English learning (EL) identification within first 30 days of school. If in a virtual scenario, create a plan for assessing students records to provide programming until the screener can occur. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 2:English Language Proficiency Screening DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 2:English Language Proficiency Screening Finalize reclassification plans if necessary. Plan for English learner identification within first 30 days of school. If in a virtual scenario, create a plan for assessing students records to provide programming until the screener can occur. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 6: EL Reclassification DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 6: EL Reclassification Plan for winter English language learner (ACCESS) testing. Consider potential school closures. Coordinate with the district for winter access for English language learner (ACCESS) testing. DPI Resource: Access for ELLs DPI Resource: Access for ELLs Create a plan for family engagement that promotes family connections through the importance of home language development. Determine translation and interpretation needs as well as additional supports for onboarding, coping with changing requirements, and blended learning. Coordinate with the district to create a plan for family engagement of ELLs. Determine translation and interpretation needs as well as additional supports for onboarding, coping with changing requirements, and blended learning. Resources: Resources: • WIDA Family Connections through Home Languages • WIDA Family Connections through Home Languages • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, English • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, English • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Spanish • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Spanish • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Arabic • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Arabic • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Simplified Chinese • WIDA flyer: Family Connections through Home Languages, Simplified Chinese Develop a plan for communicating with families regarding process for determining whether and to what extent additional services are required due to the impact of the extended school closure. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 10: Parent Engagement and Support Develop a plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to conduct screening, ILP team meetings, as well as collect data on student present level of performance and progress toward ILP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 10: Parent Engagement and Support 73 PREPARE English Learners, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level Ensure there are plans in place to support students with individualized learning plans (ILP) should virtual or blended education and services again become necessary. PREPARE: School Level Assess and reflect on English learner virtual learning activities and strategies that were successful in meeting the needs of English learners. Prepare staff to discuss these strategies with families and individualized learning plans (ILP) teams. Develop a plan to identify students who may have special difficulty transitioning back to the school environment. Have ILP teams consider and specify services that address the needs of students who may have special difficulty transitioning back to the school environment. Plan for positive behavior interventions and supports to be in place and clearly communicated to all staff before students return Identify which ILP goals have received the least amount of support through distance learning during school closure and prioritize goals that may require additional support and instruction. Collaborate with special education teachers to support students with special needs or differing abilities in their heritage language. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 11: ELs with Disabilities 74 English Learners, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level As all students who receive services for English/bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. As all students who receive services for English/bilingual learning are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. Screen incoming students for English learning (EL) status. Convene ILP teams to consider, on an individualized basis, whether and to what extent, additional services are required due to the impact of the public school closure. Resource: • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 3: Final Determination of EL Status • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 8 for ILP: Programming Decisions Resource: • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 3: Final Determination of EL Status • EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 8 for ILP: Programming Decisions Complete reclassification decisions, make sure student information systems (SIS) are updated and data pushed to WISEdata. Complete reclassification decisions, make sure student information systems (SIS) are updated and data pushed to WISEdata. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 6: EL Reclassification DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 6: EL Reclassification Implement plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to address any backlog of screening, ILP teams meetings, as well as a reasonable time to collect data on student present levels of performance and progress toward ILP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. Implement plan for a systematic way to ensure staff have time to address any backlog of screening, ILP teams meetings, as well as a reasonable time to collect data on student present levels of performance and progress toward ILP goals to determine regression and impact on progress that occurred during the public health emergency. Re-establish relationships and a sense of safety for students through consistent and predictable routines and procedures that emphasize and allow for communication and choice. Re-establish current level of performance on ILP goals to determine where students are re-entering and establish growth from ILP goal baseline prior to and during the school closure period. Document observed effects of school closures on individual students to inform upcoming ILP meetings to assist ILP teams with discussing and identifying root causes and language development-related needs and need for additional services. Use language development standards as well as research-based and best practices to support English learners within all classrooms. Resource: • WIDA Teaching Multilingual Learners Online • WIDA Teaching with Standards • WIDA Can Do Descriptors • Features of Academic Language in the WIDA Standards 75 English Learners, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: School Level Be creative when aligning individual accommodations to student needs to ensure students with ILPs meet school-wide health and safety requirements (using tape to create visual boundaries, using a unique method for hand sanitizing, and visual schedules to follow class routines). Communicate with families regarding the process for determining whether and to what extent additional services are required due to the impact of the public school closure. Proceed with any screening and ILP meetings delayed due to the public health emergency closure and consider virtual or phone ILP meeting options for families who prefer to not meet in person. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 10: Parent Engagement and Support Continue to monitor and exit students. DPI Resource: EL Policy Handbook, Chapter 6: EL Reclassification 76 Gifted and Talented Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level As all students who are identified for gifted and talented are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. As all students who are identified for gifted and talented are general education students, refer to the guidance in Teaching and Learning. Volunteer to be a member of the Returning to School working group or offer to provide feedback on the Returning to School plan to ensure students with gifts and talents are represented. Maintain regular communication with district leadership to understand and inform the district’s approach to supporting students with gifts and talents. If district administered any surveys, review feedback, specific to student with gifts and talents. If district administered any surveys, review feedback, specific to student with gifts and talents. UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 UW Milwaukee Survey Resource: Distance-Learning in the time of COVID-19 Conduct a review of the district’s gifted and talented plan to determine if revisions are needed, especially in relation to identification processes, extensions, and social-emotional support that were unavailable - or did not occur - during the pandemic. • Advanced Learning has five domains, and any scheduling/delivery model should ensure core instruction as well as advanced learning opportunities for all domains: intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, and specific academic areas Resources: • Wis Stat. 118.35: Programs for gifted and talented pupils • Statues and Rules for Gifted Education: Wis Admin. Code sec. 8.01(2)(t)2 Determine if an identification process for high-ability/high-potential students can occur prior to the start of the fall semester so grouping and subject-based or grade-based acceleration decisions can be made. Conduct a review of the services provided to high-ability/high-potential students during the school building closing to determine who needs to be evaluated for identification and what extensions were provided. Develop a plan for assessing students’ learning within the context of student learning when students return that includes multiple forms of assessment (formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, and family feedback). Collaborate with the district to plan for assessing students’ learning within the context of student learning when students return that includes multiple forms of assessment (formative assessments, student work, conferences, advisories, and family feedback). Inventory all available extension programs and services that support students’ academic and social-emotional learning. Strengthen extension programming and social-emotional supports by working closely with intervention specialists, school counselors, and school social workers and psychologists. Assess the capacity of structures outside of the regular school day, such as summer learning options, extended day, and after school programming, to potentially be leveraged to support students in need of academic and social-emotional learning recovery. Revisit gifted and talented plan and make any necessary adjustments and communicate this to schools. Collaborate with the district to review any adjustments made to the gifted and talented plan. 77 Gifted and Talented, continued Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Create a communication plan for families and students about updates made to the identification processes, extensions, and social-emotional support for the fall. Support teachers to create feedback loops with families and families about students’ academic and social-emotional health and well-being, through use of virtual conferences or surveys to families about their child’s experience and learning while out of school. Plan for professional learning time for teachers to intentionally plan for extensions while they are engaging in curriculum planning, inclusive of curriculum maps, pacing plans and calendars, and lesson plans, to ensure continuity of instruction during a second wave in school year 2020 -2021 should it materialize. Collaborate with the district to ensure teachers have professional learning time to intentionally plan for extensions while they are engaging in curriculum planning, inclusive of curriculum maps, pacing plans and calendars, and lesson plans, to ensure continuity of instruction during a second wave in school year 2020 -2021 should it materialize. PREPARE Gifted and Talented, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Share a comprehensive account of academic extensions and social-emotional and mental health support services available through the district. Analyze data from any student work submitted during remote learning, along with feedback from students and families, to support teachers to make adjustments to curriculum and instruction to meet students where they are. Solidify and communicate an overall plan for assessment for when students return to school that includes timelines for assessments, analyzing data, and making adjustments to academic and social-emotional learning goals. Coordinate with the district about any district-wide assessments to include timelines, analyzing data, and making adjustments to academic and social-emotional learning goals. Conduct, when possible, any suggested identification processes for high-ability/ high-potential students so grouping and subject-based or grade-based acceleration decisions can be made. Conduct, when possible, any suggested identification processes for high-ability or high-potential students so grouping and subject-based or grade-based acceleration decisions can be made. Revisit students’ differentiated education or advanced learning plan (when they exist) in partnership with teachers and families to reflect each student’s evolving needs based on time away while schools were closed. Coordinate any district-level assessments for students with gifts and talents with schools Administer systems of assessment to determine student’s academic and social-emotional learning needs, e.g., formative assessments, diagnostics, conferences, advisories, and family feedback. Maintain systems to continually monitor learning progress. 78 Gifted and Talented, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: School Level Complete delayed or new identification processes (testing, nominations, rating scales, demonstrated products/performances) for targeted high-ability/high-potential students and create corresponding pupil profiles, as warranted. Collect and use data to guide instruction for students with gifts and talents. Resource: Pre-assessment (PDF) Identify additional students in need of intervention and/or services, whether academic or social-emotional and prioritize support for the most vulnerable students. Use the Equitable Multi-Level System of Supports Roadmap to determine how best to match supports to the needs of a particular high-ability/high-potential or gifted/talented student at the Universal, Select, or Intensive level. Resource: Equitable Multi-Level Systems of Support Roadmap Utilize flexible grouping practices to better serve the needs of students with gifts/talents. Resource: Flexible Grouping (PDF) Differentiate in a variety of ways, especially for gifted/talented or high-ability/highpotential students who know the content or can learn it quickly Resource: Curriculum Compacting (PDF) Procure any additional programs, tools, or materials to support differentiation, extension, and supports, based on students’ academic and social-emotional learning needs. Communicate with families about every student’s progress and plans for students in need of additional support. 79 Out-of-School Time Programs This section lists essential actions to ensure communication and processes are employed to align services and safety measures across day school and Out-of-School Time (OST) programs that occur in school buildings. This includes alignment of facility management processes and infection control/mitigation guidelines, as well as identified academic and social and emotional learning (SEL) needs of students and families. OST programs include services such as before- or after-school tutoring, homework help, activities, and clubs. Guidance does not include school-sponsored athletic activities. Note that some OST programs may not be sponsored by the school or district, but traditionally access the school building to deliver services (YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, faith-based organizations). All OST programs that meet this definition should be consulted when reviewing the following considerations. Guidance is sub-divided to help districts identify important actions to 1) REVIEW: Recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions; 2) PREPARE: Do before the 2020-21 school year starts; and 3) IMPLEMENT and review during the 2020-21 school year. REVIEW PREPARE IMPLEMENT Review the recommended 2019-20 school year closing actions. Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. 80 Out-of-School Time Programs Review whether these tasks have been completed or are underway as of end of the 2019-20 school year. REVIEW: District Level REVIEW: School Level Identify the stakeholders who will be involved in making decisions related to OST programming, including community based organization members if appropriate. Collaborate with the OST program to identify the OST program team members who will lead the work of planning and implementing the OST program in accordance with school and district policies. Consider the recommendations for essential actions in the Infection Control/Mitigation section (page 30) and the implications for OST operations. Consider the recommendations for essential actions under the Infection Control/Mitigation tab within this document and the implications it has on OST operations. Include OST providers in the planning of and communication of district policies on use of facilities and relevant resources (playground equipment.). Ensure OST staff have a clear understanding of any restrictions or guidelines to use of the facility and its resources (playground equipment, use of cafeteria). PREPARE Out-of-School Time, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Complete any and all of the items above that were not completed prior to the end of the 2019-20 school year. Complete any and all of the items above that were not completed prior to the end of the 2019-20 school year. Solicit feedback from stakeholders to identify the current goals and needs (mental health, credit recovery, academic support services, meals, and family resources) of the OST programs at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. Ensure there are processes in place to facilitate communication between day school and OST staff, particularly related to student needs and school goals. Continue to include OST providers in the planning of and communication of district policies on use of facilities and relevant resources (playground equipment). Continue to ensure OST staff have a clear understanding of any restrictions or guidelines to use of the facility and its resources (playground equipment, use of cafeteria). Determine what adaptations (physical space, technology, staff to student ratios, schedules, types of programming) may be necessary to deliver OST programming and services, as allowable and as aligned with goals. Determine what physical spaces, technology, staff, etc. will be made available to OST programs to effectively and safely deliver programming. Work with OST providers to ensure an adequate number of staff are hired in alignment with school protocols around staff to student ratio and group size. Collaborate with OST providers to ensure that an adequate number of staff are hired in alignment with school protocols around staff to student ratio and group size. Encourage qualified staff to participate in OST opportunities to ensure students have access to aligned academic activities, mental health supports, and social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies during OST hours. Support OST leadership efforts to recruit school day staff to work in the OST program to ensure alignment of academic services, mental health supports, and social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies during OST hours. 81 PREPARE Out-of-School Time, continued PREPARE Do before the 2020-21 school year starts. PREPARE: District Level PREPARE: School Level Create OST supports flexible enough to be implemented in in-person, socially-distanced and virtual learning environments. Review the Technology tab of this document and the implications on OST operations. Include OST program providers in any relevant district- and school-sponsored trainings. Provide OST staff with training that will prepare them to address COVID-19-related issues they may encounter, including trauma-informed teaching practices, social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies, and virtual learning strategies. Consider how the district and OST programs can align existing resources in an effort to maximize the available resources to meet the needs of students and families. Consider the types of materials and services that are required to provide OST program participants and their families with the support they need (academic and otherwise), and create an OST program budget that includes those materials and services. Consider the impact of any travel or field trip restrictions or protocols on OST programs and include program providers in communication regarding these restrictions or protocols. Provide OST staff with the guidelines and restrictions on field trips and bus transportation. Determine which groups of students are most in need of OST services and establish a process for identifying and recruiting those students. Consider students that do not have stable housing and may not be in a safe environment outside of school. Solicit feedback from OST stakeholders (OST staff, parents/guardians, community based organizations) and consider how district protocols regarding transportation and food service impact OST programs. Consult with Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) or the Afterschool Snack program to develop protocols for safely serving food to OST program participants. If transportation is provided to OST program participants, develop a plan for safely transporting students home that aligns with district protocols. 82 Out-of-School Time, continued Implement and review during the 2020-21 school year. IMPLEMENT: District Level IMPLEMENT: School Level Include OST stakeholders and program providers in any communication that may impact program operations. This includes, but is not limited to, sudden changes in protocols, potential exposure to COVID-19 positive individuals, access to district resources that may assist in delivering programming. Include OST staff in any communication that may impact school operations to ensure alignment of protocols and procedures. This includes, but is not limited to, adjustments to safety procedures, communication distributed to day school staff and families of students, potential exposure to a COVID-19 positive individual, etc. This also includes access to materials and resources that may assist OST staff in delivering high-quality academic support and resources to support families. Include OST program providers in any relevant district- and school-sponsored trainings. Include OST staff in any relevant district- and school-sponsored trainings. Support and encourage OST-specific training and professional development. Determine which groups of students are most in need of OST services and establish a process for identifying and recruiting those students. Consider students who do not have stable housing and may not be in a safe environment outside of school. Survey students and families about their needs and the possible ways the OST program can address those needs. Establish and maintain clear processes for facilitating communication between day school and OST staff, particularly regarding the academic and social and emotional learning (SEL) needs of students. Plan and implement activities that align with OST program goals, and address the specific needs of schools, students, and families. Consider how to integrate the recommendations found under the School Safety/Mental Health tab of this document into OST programming. Integrate practices into program activities that address the SEL needs of students, and create a safe and supportive environment, such as opening and closing circles. 83 Wisconsi n Departm ent of Public Instructi on • Caro lyn St anfor d Tay lor, S tate Sup erint enden t • dpi.w i.gov