Superintendent of Schools

The long-awaited answer about what schools will look like in the fall was delivered on July 17 when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced all public and private schools in counties on the state’s monitoring list, which includes Santa Barbara County, must open via distance learning. This includes all public, private and charter schools serving students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. Preschools may continue to serve children and families. 

Susan Salcido
Santa Barbara County Education Office

Although data, orders, and guidance related to COVID-19 change frequently, this update on our schools aims to shed light on what we know today about the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

Until last Friday, most districts throughout the state had operated under the assumption that reopening models would be decided for each district by its board of trustees after meeting local, state and federal requirements, and receiving input from multiple stakeholders, including staff and parents. Governor Newsom’s order specified the model that our county’s schools, and many others in the state, are now required to follow. 

Over the past months, countywide and district workgroups have been consistently and regularly meeting and planning for the fall, considering various options that balance the health and safety of students and staff, with the need to provide a robust education for all students. Emerging reopening plans met all public health requirements; each detail was rigorously analyzed and evaluated, with six feet of physical distancing as a leading parameter. Plans looked at daily health screenings, transitions between classes, transportation, face coverings, food services, and increased cleaning, among many other factors. Based on the requirements for physical distancing within facilities and with available resources, plans ranged from full on-campus learning to a hybrid model to full distance learning, knowing that movement between the models could be required as our county’s metrics change. 

During the initial response to the pandemic, schools focused on meeting students’ essential needs, including providing grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches, distributing devices and hot spots for remote access, working with external partners to support free and low-cost connectivity, and providing teacher support for remote instruction. During this time, the state and federal government offered flexibility for schools in the areas of assessment, attendance, and grades, which was needed, but also added to some inconsistency across the state. 

This fall, however, will be different. New California law outlines the expectation that all public schools, whether in-person, online or a hybrid, will meet specific standards for instruction, engagement, assessment and attendance during this pandemic. Schools will provide a minimum of 3 hours of instruction per day in kindergarten, 3 hours and 50 minutes per day for grades 1-3, and 4 hours for grades 4-12. Each weekday will include interaction between teachers and students for the purposes of instruction, tracking progress, and maintaining school connectedness, and will include off-line assignments as well. Schools will develop plans for re-engaging absent students, and districts will adopt learning continuity and attendance plans by September 30.

The Governor’s guidance, provided by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), allows schools to open for in-person learning once the county has been off the monitoring list for 14 days. Elementary schools may apply for a waiver from local public health departments, which, if granted, would allow them to open for in-person instruction. The waiver process involves consultation between Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (SBCPHD) and school partners, and a review of the county’s epidemiology. As of this writing, CDPH has not yet released a specific process or criteria for approving waivers. The Santa Barbara County Education Office, along with school leaders, will continue to work closely with SBCPHD and our school liaison to understand the criteria once it is released by CDPH.

With only a few weeks until schools begin across our county, we continue to focus on equity as one of the core principles guiding school reopening. School teams are reexamining student success through the lens of equity, under the full distance learning model. We know that students at-promise, foster youth, youth experiencing homelessness, English learners, students with Individualized Education Plans — all students — deserve to be seen, heard, understood, motivated, supported and included in every school model.

And while a part of student success depends on material support like technology and connectivity, another necessity is addressing the social and emotional needs of students, families and educators. We appreciate the broad range of community partners who provide essential support in the areas of mental wellness, food continuity, internet connectivity, child care and preschool services and so many other critical areas. We are grateful for their work every day, and particularly throughout these uncertain times. 

We recognize that all school reopening models have real and significant impacts on our entire community, including students, teachers, staff, parents, family and employers. Youth of all ages need varying levels of supervision and care during the day. Remote schooling adds complexity as parents and guardians balance the support of student learning at home while managing work and home responsibilities. We know that teachers will focus on supporting all of their students, however, many are parents as well and will need to coordinate care for their children while teaching. There is not a one size fits all answer, but we will continue to find solutions, together. 

We all want to see students and staff back in our classrooms, meaningfully connecting with one another in person, when it is safe to do so. We can get there more quickly by following practices that are known to be effective: wearing face coverings consistently and correctly, maintaining physical distancing as much as possible, and washing hands or using hand sanitizer frequently. Getting back to school, in person, depends on all of us. 

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As we all grapple with the innumerable impacts that are reverberating throughout the world and in our close-knit communities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on behalf of the Santa Barbara County Education Office, I want to first thank all those who are serving to support others during this unprecedented time. For doing essential work every day, from farmers to grocers, from mail deliverers to meal deliverers, we thank you. To our friends and neighbors, whose essential work supports critical, life-saving needs: Words can hardly express the depth of our gratitude to you for your courageous support of those in your care.  

In a matter of weeks, we quickly learned and adapted to a new phrase: social distancing.  It started with greeting one another with a hand wave rather than a handshake, removing chairs in some rooms to allow for more space, and now, for those who must and can, we stay at home as much as possible and make social distancing a part of every activity. Social distancing is no longer a new phrase; it’s our new normal, for now.

In schools, the call for social distancing and the need to protect children, families, and school staff, caused the most significant disruption to the system of education in our lifetimes. Schools, in the traditional sense, closed.  

The challenges that surface from schools closing are numerous and complex. However, with these complicated challenges come the opportunity to meet new standards of service and provide alternative means to reach and teach our young people.   

For example, almost immediately, schools pivoted in the way their kitchens and cafeterias provided meals for students. To address the critical need of nutrition continuity, from the very first day of school closures to today, families may “grab and go” student lunches as well as breakfasts for the next day at a variety of school locations. Throughout Santa Barbara County, student meals are being provided by school staff from Cuyama to Guadalupe to Lompoc to Carpinteria. North County schools alone are providing an estimated 10,000 meals each day.  

Another shift occurred – and is still evolving – which is the shift to distance learning. Distance learning, also called remote learning, has many variations, including reading from books and working through hard-copy materials, to online resources and videos that can be accessed at any time (“asynchronous”), to online classroom environments which allow for interaction, engagement, and exploration that occurs at a set time (“synchronous”).  

Some schools, at the beginning of the school closure period, provided distance learning to various degrees along this spectrum. Other schools paused on assigning online assignments in order to distribute thousands upon thousands of technological devices and help students obtain online connectivity, all while continuing to plan next steps.

As school closures move into their next phase due to longer and currently unknown lengths of time, distance learning delivery and content are progressing, and so, too, are the creativity, innovation, motivation, and supports for providing them.

Along with providing school meals and distance learning, schools are in the early stages of working with community partners to provide childcare for essential workers. These services, along with many others, will continue to evolve.

None of this happens by chance — hard-working, dedicated staff members, along with support from our partners, make it happen. While teachers plan and implement distance learning, equally dedicated staff members are making the needed meals, distributing them, and maintaining essential operations. School district offices, charter school offices, and the County Education Office remain open and continue to support students, families, and employees.  

As schools progress in their new forms, the education community continues to work around the clock, across the county, state, and country, with the California Department of Education, US Department of Education, colleges, and universities. We continue to work together on topics such as graduation requirements for current seniors, college entrance requirements, meeting individualized and special student needs, and supporting mental wellness for youth and families. Dynamic shifts in delivery have not displaced our mission of equitably serving students academically, socially, and emotionally.  

We all look forward to the time when we can be together in person. For now, what we can do together is to be there for one another, albeit apart. We thank families for helping your children feel comforted, secure, and loved. We thank our many partners and community members for helping others at this unprecedented time. As educators and school staff members swiftly shift gears, know that we appreciate this is dynamic and will take time, practice, and grace. 

Connecting with your students and engaging them in learning has always been essential – we thank you for being there then, and most definitely, now.

The post Op Ed: Santa Barbara County’s schools respond during COVID-19 closures appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

SB County Superintendent of Schools

Starting in Guadalupe on Aug. 8 and ending in Carpinteria on Aug. 26, schools throughout Santa Barbara County have welcomed students back into their classrooms for another year. The beginning of the school year can signal optimism, wonder, and a fresh start for students, families, and the entire education community.

This year, the start of school may even bring needed comfort as it reminds us that despite tumultuous and challenging events in our nation, there is a rhythm to the year upon which we can rely. The beginning of the academic year arrives just like clockwork and provides continuity and sense of promise for all of us.

Classroom walls get redecorated to feature new student artwork, cafeterias are stocked with nutritious food for our children’s meals, and boxes that are piled in offices during the summer months are emptied and put away to signal that students are arriving.

Our children are greeted by principals, teachers, school secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, crossing guards, support staff, parent volunteers and fellow students, all crackling with the almost electric first-day-of-school excitement. It is a tribute to our professionalism, our resilience, and the optimistic human spirit.

Educators and school staff make these openings appear seamless and effortless but, of course, they are not. Starting a new school year requires a great deal of preparation, elbow grease and skill.

While the summer break offers a time of renewal and refreshment, we also know that the vast majority of administrators, teachers and staff members spent time planning for and working on the coming school year so that all will go as smoothly as possible for students and parents.

This summer, in fact, many educators throughout our county attended conferences, studied, refined, planned and deepened their knowledge about content and instructional approaches, and connected with professionals about impactful ways to support students.

For the students who will reap the benefits of these efforts, excitement is no doubt building for the new school year, but it is also quite normal for them to have some trepidation.

Michele Frantz, the 2020 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year, from Joe Nightingale School in Orcutt, has this advice for students: “Know that it is normal to feel both excited and nervous about returning to school. Remember that you are one of a kind and have special gifts and qualities that only you can bring to your classroom, so just be you!”

That’s great advice for parents to share with their children as the school year gets into full swing. Here are some other tips from experts that have proven helpful:

• Make extra time for your children, especially as they go through the transition to a new year with new teachers and new friends. Listen to their questions and concerns. Stress your love and support to help ease their worries. Talking together about school can strengthen your family bonds and ease any anxiety your children may be feeling.
• Try to structure time so that the morning is calm. You can work backward from the time your children need to be at school, figuring out how long it will take to get dressed, eat breakfast, and travel to school. Build in time for unexpected delays.
• Make an after-school game plan. How will your children get home? Will there be after-school programs, sports practices, or music lessons? Where and when will your children do their homework?

Parents can be assured that all our dedicated and skilled school professionals have a common goal of supporting their children. Going back to school is a ritual that we’ve all gone through in our own childhoods, and it will continue for generations to come.

I hope the new school year will be productive, fun, full of joy, wonder and new learning for your children and for every member of our school community.

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The principles of science form an umbrella over almost everything we do. Science is essential to understanding and making sense of the world around us. Many educators feel that science is also one of the most innately interesting subject areas for children.

Having a strong scientific background enables students to make informed decisions about issues that affect their lives, and helps prepare them for a future that, in many ways, is unpredictable.

Recognizing the critical role science plays in a student’s academic and intellectual development, California recently adopted the Next Generation Science Standards. This adoption marks the first science standards update since 1998. While the old standards heavily emphasized knowing scientific facts and theories, the new standards address all three dimensions of science: content, concepts, and practice.

As the National Research Council recently pointed out, learning science depends not only on the accumulation of facts and concepts, but also on students’ motivation and interest to learn more. That intellectual growth is valuable not only for those students who go on to become scientists or engineers, but also for the great majority of students who do not follow these professional paths.

The new standards are great developments in science education. They capture the wonder, curiosity, and excitement that most students bring naturally to science. By engaging students in these concepts and practices, teachers help them develop the skills to think like scientists and engineers.

With an increased emphasis on students thinking like scientists and engineers, science education will involve more students conducting investigations, designing models and experiments, solving problems, and supporting claims with evidence and reasoning.

Piquing a child’s curiosity in science and engineering doesn’t have to be limited to classroom activities, however. To help your child develop an interest in science, parents can try these tips:

•  Discuss family eating habits in terms of how the body uses various kinds of food. The body can be viewed as a system, and food as the power source. Check out ingredients labels on cereal boxes, for example, and learn with your child the various nutritional benefits of those ingredients.

•  After you have removed all electrical cords, encourage children to tinker with old clocks, radios, or computers to see what makes them “tick.” For some young students, trying to understand how certain every day items function can prompt a lifetime of intellectual curiosity.

• Children often discover things in nature that they find fascinating. They should be encouraged to learn about their environment, and consider how these different elements of nature are interconnected.

•  Demonstrate scientific thinking by challenging general statements with the question, “How do you know that’s true?” “What proof do you have that can verify it?” This helps children understand the difference between opinion and fact.

•  Encourage any interest in collecting rocks, leaves, shells, or other natural objects. Provide a place to display and observe the collections.

Explore the many opportunities for science-related outings in our own county, so you can make learning a fun family affair. Science learning in school leads to citizens with the confidence, ability, and inclination to continue learning about issues — scientific and otherwise — that affect their lives and communities.

“The important thing is to not stop questioning,” Albert Einstein wrote in Life Magazine over 60 years ago. “Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” Einstein’s encouragement of exploration and lifelong learning is as appropriate today as ever, and is essential in helping develop the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.

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