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

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2 1 Williams, Chief Operations Officer; Dr. Dena Keeling, Chief Equity Officer; Sara Pitts, Director of 2 Environmental Health and Safety; and Rhonda Rath, CFO. 3 4 Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m., and asked for a Roll Call. 5 6 Welcome and Opening Remarks 7 Chair Rich thanked the schools and staff for offering a sound basic education to students 8 in Orange County. She said decisions made today will affect tomorrow, and there is no way to 9 please everyone. She said the New York Times said 12 million children in America are without 10 technology services to continue educational opportunities. She said broadband has been an 11 issue on which the County has been working for several years, and is an example of top down 12 policy that is not effective. She said the County will aid Orange County Schools (OCS) in 13 purchasing 1000 additional hotspots. 14 Chair Rich said both districts have created learning centers for students who do not have 15 technology services or family at home to help in the learning process. 16 Mary Ann Wolfe expressed appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate. She said 17 Schools are the hub of the community, which has never been more clear than in this time. She 18 said equity has never been more important, and it goes beyond the issue of broadband. She 19 said wonderful work has been done through the Food for Students program, for food insecurity, 20 as well as supporting students academically, socially and emotionally. She said she is an 21 eternal optimist, and believes this pandemic will end. She said once it does there will be new 22 challenges. 23 Mary Ann Wolfe expressed gratitude for the life of Euzelle Smith, former educator and 24 namesake of Smith Middle School, who passed away recently. She said she was great 25 reminder of this community's values. 26 27 Jennifer Moore and Commissioner Marcoplos joined the meeting at 7:13 p.m. 28 29 Hillary MacKenzie thanked the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for the 30 opportunity to meet collaboratively to best meet the needs of students and families. She said 31 the community is facing unprecedented needs due to the pandemic, but is also making great 32 strides, as the nation is reckoning with deep issues of racism. 33 34 1. COVID Updates 35 a. School reopening 36 b. Supervised Learning Lab update 37 c. Technology challenges— internet accessibility and costs 38 d. Scientific Analyzing Board 39 e. Food insecurities — Food distribution update 40 f. Homelessness 41 g. School Nurses 42 43 Dr. Monique Felder said the safety of students and staff is the top priority in OCS. She 44 said the goal is to have a safe return to in person learning. She said the OCS Board of 45 Education established a COVID-19 metrics taskforce. She said the taskforce is comprised of a 46 broad spectrum of people, and the purpose of the taskforce is to monitor trends and follow 47 metrics. She said the School Board will be monitoring whether to return to in person instruction.