LASD Board Highlights

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If you missed the meeting, you can view the video here. The highlights of the meeting are below.

Yesterday evening, Mr. Baier shared an update regarding our phased return to in-person learning in our Blended Learning program on our school campuses, including an update regarding health and safety protocols, our coronavirus tracker and the letter he received from the Los Altos Teachers Association asking for a pause to in-person learning.

The Board of Trustees heard many public comments from passionate and concerned teachers and families at the Board meeting regarding the January 11 return to in-person learning and upcoming January 20 reopening of our junior high campuses.

The Board of Trustees and Superintendent Baier expressed great sympathy with the stress our staff and families are enduring as this pandemic ensues. Balancing work, personal life, health and mental well-being is an enormous challenge for all of us during these unprecedented times.

The health and safety of students and staff is LASD's top priority. Our community of teachers, staff and administrators have worked tirelessly to provide an essential in-person learning experience for our students with stringent adherence to public health guidance from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPHD) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) through the LASD Reopening Plan.

While we are confident our schools are safe places to teach and learn, the Board of Trustees feels it is imperative to hear our teachers' concerns and address them immediately by resuming negotiations on Wednesday, January 13. We will keep our community up to date on these negotiations.

For more information, including data regarding our school reopening, please view item H.2 on our agenda online.

The Board also discussed a separate and unrelated proposed bargaining agreement with LATA regarding salary and benefits. For more information, check out item H.1. on our agenda online.

As you may know, LASD installed solar panels at all of our school sites to generate renewable energy and save on energy costs. The savings helps fund educational programs and teachers at all of our schools.

The report from Terra Verde showed the district saving a total of $119,838 for the 2019-20 fiscal year. This savings was slightly lower than anticipated due to an unexpected and temporary outage at one of our schools and higher than anticipated energy use at another one of our school sites.

The district's solar panel project produced 2,042,586 kilowatt hours of renewable energy generated right here in our school parking lots! LASD is working with Terra Verde to resolve performance issues to ensure an even greater energy and cost savings in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

For more information, please review item H.3. on our agenda online.

Yesterday evening, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve that LASD move forward in developing their own Teacher Induction program. Teacher Induction programs help teachers in their first two years of teaching become fully credentialed. Teachers who enroll and complete induction programs are likelier to be more effective and stay in the profession longer due to the mentorship, support and experience they gain in the program.

Mrs. McGonagle explained that by creating our own LASD Teacher Induction program, new teachers will be better aligned with LASD's vision and culture, providing them with in-district mentorship and guidance to fully and quickly integrate into our district's professional team of educators. Creating our own program will also result in significant cost savings for the district.

For more information, please check out item H.4. on the agenda online.

Yesterday evening, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to begin the process of adopting a new math TK-5th grade math curriculum. Mrs. McGonagle discussed the process as necessary to better align math instruction across schools and grade levels to ensure student success in this critical core academic subject area.

The new curriculum being studied is the San Francisco Unified School District Math Core Curriculum. It has been developed and revised by SFUSD teachers with expert advice from their partners (Silicon Valley Math Initiative - SVMI, Bay Area Math Project at the Lawrence Hall of Science, San Francisco State University, Strategic Education Research Partnership - SERP).

By bringing together parents, teachers and administrators through the LASD Curriculum Council, the curriculum will be closely reviewed prior to approval. Once planning is complete with all necessary input, the Board will consider adopting the curriculum in May 2021.

For more information, please review item H.5. on our agenda online.

As housing in our area is expensive and scarce, many of our teachers have difficulty living in the community where they work. The pandemic has made the need for housing even more immediate for some of our staff. Does your family have an additional dwelling unit, or in-law unit that would make a nice home for one of our teachers? If so, please contact Erin Green, Director of Student and Staff Services at (650) 947-1150‬‬.

The next meeting of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees will take place on Monday, January 25 at 7:00pm via Zoom. To attend the meeting please visit our Board web page and register for the meeting using the provided link. The link will be posted on Thursday at 5:00pm the week prior to each meeting.

If you would like to stay updated regarding upcoming Board meetings, please email mbirnie@lasdschools.org, providing your name, email address and a request to be added to the email list for Brown Act updates, including upcoming meetings and agendas.

Website: www.lasdschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LASDK8/