Minutes 09-24-2020 Virtual Joint Meeting w-Schools

Browse Search

6 provided for each center. He said a third center will be opening, with CHCCS Board approval, on October 1st at the University United Methodist Church, which can take about 50 students. He said students that are involved in these programs have an average state test score of 2.5 or lower. Dr. Jim Causby said staff has serious concerns around safety when considering returning to school. He said the district is trying to educate staff, and holding science collaborative webinars. He said CHCCS is opening smaller programs to help staff see that things can happen safely if precautions are in place, including the road drivers education program. He said CHCCS is also ready to open up for athletics. Dr. Jim Causby said the SNAC committee met this week, and has exciting ideas. He said Dr. Felder gave a wonderful explanation of the Science Collaborative, and the collaborative has more than 50 members. He said CHCCS jumped on child nutrition issues a long time before he re-joined the district, but he wanted to brag on that concern. He said the District jumped on grants, and 600,000 meals have been distributed to students and families, providing breakfast, lunch, and food for weekends. Charlos Banks said 2019-2020 data has 78 CHCCS students experiencing homeless with the majority coming from the elementary level; 74% are African American; 10% are Caucasian; and less than 10% Latino and Asian. She said social workers are keeping track of these students and connecting them to resources and help. Charlos Banks said Dr. Causby and the Public School Foundation made a call to the community and raised $100,000 to help students and families secure housing, and being safe while practicing remote learning. She said CHCCS received a McKinney-Ventos 3-year grant of $15,000 per year. She said due to the school closure, the district could not follow through with traditional plans, but is working on other options. Charlos Banks said CHCCS has 21 fulltime school nurses who have been at the forefront during this health pandemic. She said regular health items, such as immunizations and health screenings, still need to be maintained. She said nurses are still working with students to manage chronic conditions, doing wellness checks at the learning labs, and partnering with the Health Department on all manner of things. Dr. Jim Causby said the CHCCS Board of Education was wise to budget and order Chrome books and iPads for students very early on. He said many systems across the State are waiting on technology. He said Wake County Schools is waiting on 18,000 pieces of equipment. He said CHCCS has issued 12,000 devices, 1,400 hotspots and an additional 270 hotspots for staff. He said CHCCS does not have the same connectivity issues as OCS, but there are some tricky spots. He said CHCCS has a contract with T-Mobile, with no data caps or throttling. He said some areas do not have T-Mobile service, and AT&T has provided hotpsots. He said if virtual learning continues into the next year, CHCCS would need to rethink its structure. He said technology staff is supporting far more devices than normal, and have become the tech support for all families in the district. He said at some point in time the Board would have to update the technology department. Dr. Jim Causby said SROs have been received both positively and negatively. He said the CHCCS Board has charged him with creating a taskforce to look at the issue, which should begin meeting by the middle of October. He said the taskforce will look at data, expenditures, student/staff experience, etc. He said the taskforce will meet as many times as necessary, and is not charged with reaching any particular goal. He said CHCCS collaborates with OCS in many things, but noted that the two districts are very different, and he would recommend maintaining two separate task forces that will share information with each other.