Agenda - 11-05-20; 8-a - Minutes

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3 She said currently the district is in a plan C, but plan B would be a hybrid model with both 1 remote and in person instruction. She said there will always be a fully virtual option, and if OCS 2 does move to plan B, there would be strict adherence to all social distancing protocol. 3 Melany Stowe said the needs of parents and students continue to drive OCS. She said 4 virtual schooling is particularly daunting to those who face various inequities, and supervised 5 learning labs are the new necessary adaptation of OCS. She said Orange County Schools has 6 facilitated a supervised learning lab for a month in partnership with the YMCA, and a second 7 learning lab started this week in partnership with Pleasant Green United Methodist Church. She 8 said equity is a district priority, and the district sought to insure that the learning labs are 9 accessible to all. She said there are 3 different payment options, including a reasonable rate of 10 $10/week thanks to an anonymous donor. She said the second lab has given priority to 11 students that are homeless or in foster care. She said OCS is using the before and after school 12 fund balance to provide this service at no cost, including transportation. She said there is an 13 upcoming service that will be offered in an actual school. 14 Melany Stowe said technology is an ongoing need, and OCS has opened two Internet 15 hubs, which are located at schools near the greatest areas of need. She said families can sign 16 up, and come into the buildings so that there is access to bathrooms, as well appropriate air 17 temperatures. She said sitting in a car parked to access Internet service is not necessarily 18 equitable, and thus OCS has responded accordingly. She said staff will continue to work 19 towards plan B, and the needs will continue until all students can be back in school full time. 20 Dr. Kathleen Dawson said access to bathrooms, HVAC, and safety is basic human 21 rights. She expressed thanks to the BOCC for its support and willingness to fund the additional 22 hotspots. She said Orange County Schools purchased 500 hotspots in the spring, have 23 purchased 400 this fall, and have 600 more on order to meet the needs of their families. She 24 said a question was raised about where the need was coming from and why. She said the 25 quality of service was lacking, and families are trying to do what they can, but families have 26 multiple users on the bandwidth trying to work and learn. She said there are areas in the 27 community where even a hotspot will not help. She said 40% of OCS families qualify for free 28 and reduced lunch, and it is unrealistic to think these families can transport children to the 29 schools for Internet access. She said a lot of families rely on the district’s services. She said 30 the district has purchased flash drives to download learning materials in order to support the 31 needs of their students. She said OCS has worked on making secondary school parking lots 32 Wi-Fi hotspots, and is working on doing the same for elementary school parking lots. She said 33 OCS is also seeking to purchase teacher devices, as many were incompatible for remote 34 learning. She said an expected delivery date for Chrome books was unknown. She said OCS is 35 renting devices to insure all children have access, which costs over $90,000 and webcams for 36 teacher laptops were over $35,000. She said once the district is able to transition to plan B, 37 there will still be remote learning students, and teachers will have to take on that dual 38 instruction, which will require setup technology. She said the costs are enormous, and Covid 39 has required all of this in such a rapid manner. She said OCS has spent over $954,000 since 40 Covid hit, which does not include the previously scheduled laptop refresh. She said the biggest 41 long term issue is Internet access for all. 42 Dr. Monique Felder introduced the scientific analyzing boards (ABC science 43 collaborative), which is a partnership between OCS, CHCCS, Duke and UNC. She said the 44 purpose of these boards is pair schools, medical and scientific professionals to help to keep 45 students and staff safe. She said there are weekly COVID-19 webinars and webinar topics 46