School Board Meeting: 8/10 Update
The school board met on Tuesday, 8/10. The links are to time-stamped sections of the board meeting on YouTube.
Dr. Noonan gave a presentation on reopening. Here are some highlights and issues discussed (but do watch it all):
My other post discusses the 3 feet distance rule and the new quarantine rules (which allow for a much more “normal” return). Update on testing requirements in the event of exposure for those who do not need to quarantine: testing will be offered for those that want it.
No surveillance testing due to high false positive rate from rapid tests used over the summer. Surveillance testing would interrupt educational continuity without providing much additional benefit, especially given other mitigation measures.
Dr. Noonan alluded to no masking outdoors but there was no further discussion about the topic so I was left uncertain as to what the policy was on masks outdoors. I will note that no masks outside is consistent with the evidence on the low risk of transmission outdoors. (Edit 1: if you are a FCCPS parent, check your email spam filter for a message from the schools. Masks are now required for unvaccinated individuals indoors and outdoors on FCCPS property. Currently, CDC guidelines (updated as of August 5) do not recommend masking outdoors, except for “crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people”. I’ll update as more info comes in.) (Edit 2: updated information from FCCPS clarifies that outdoor masking for unvaccinated individuals is encouraged but not required.)
Along with a 96 percent staff vaccination rate, here are the vaccination rates of older children in Falls Church City: 80 percent of 12-15 year-olds and 94 percent of 16-17 year-olds are vaccinated with at least one dose!
Discussion on whether to require staff disclose vaccination status and whether to implement regular PCR testing for unvaccinated staff.
Discussion on no virtual option being offered. With the rise in cases and the delta variant, I know some parents of elementary students may want a virtual option. Here are the questions I sent to the board about that topic yesterday morning.
In deciding to not have a virtual option for elementary students, what alternatives were considered?
I imagine that it would be onerous for FCCPS to staff an online option because of the lack of sufficient demand. Are there other options for online elementary provided by outside organizations from which FCCPS can purchase usage licenses that would allow for concerned parents to have their elementary children educated virtually? That might require the parents to commit to (for example) an entire quarter or semester of virtual instruction, but I'm just wondering what options were considered.
Discussion about lunch and mitigation measures during meal time.
FCCPS is ready to open safely!
The board addressed policies on reproduction of copyrighted material, professional staff development, character education, the guidance and counseling program, student conduct, and student transcripts, and notification regarding prosecution of juveniles as adults. (These links are to BoardDocs where you can read the policies).
Future agenda items discussed were updates to advisory committee policies, presentation of student academic progress, and, regarding naming of schools, removing the restriction requiring a person be deceased for more than 10 years to have a school named after them.
The superintendent gave a report on activities including future pop-up registration events and welcoming new staff.
Student liaison and board member updates included reminders about Rec and Parks department provision of camps for many school holidays this fall and childcare for early release Wednesdays at the elementary schools, the Falls Church Education Foundations events this fall (including the Run for Schools), and a reminder of the Tinner Hill Music Festival on August 21 .
A FCCPS grad (Sofia Heartney) presented a study of homework in FCCPS. The presentation included a discussion on the role of homework and student and teacher responses on homework in FCCPS, noting variation by grade. I think it’s great that FCCPS gave this opportunity to Ms. Heartney, and this involvement of former students is one thing that makes FCCPS special.
The board also provided considerations for the development of the school calendar. The board requested community feedback on all issues raised in this part of the presentation, so feel free to email them.
