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.

As the Los Altos School District plans for the 2020-21 school year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to hear from our parents, students and teachers regarding their experience in Virtual School in the current school year, as well as your thoughts, opinions and concerns regarding the next school year. If you haven't already done so, please take the Parent Survey at your earliest convenience. It will only take a few minutes and your input will help us serve the needs of all students and families next year. We plan to close the survey at 5pm on Friday, May 29.

The first week-long segment of the Summer Learning for All program will begin on June 1, coinciding with our last eight days of school. Teachers at all grade levels will be encouraging students to participate. For the rest of the summer, students will work independently through weekly online grade-level activities to review and practice reading and mathematics in preparation for the next school year. Students will also receive weekly projects that explore the 6Cs: creativity, character, citizenship, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. These are the critical skills and habits we teach and foster in LASD so students develop the capabilities they need for lifelong learning.

For more information, take a look at the presentation from item H.1. on the agenda online.

The Board received information regarding the math placement plan for the 2020-21 school year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LASD could not complete assessments for incoming sixth and seventh grade math placements this year. Working collaboratively with our partner school districts, Mountain View Los Altos High School and Mountain View Whisman, principals and teachers, we developed a plan for next year.

For the first six weeks of school, all sixth graders will learn math standards together in the same sixth grade course. After the first six weeks of school, all sixth graders will then be assessed so they can be placed in the appropriate grade-level class by mid-October. This change will be universal across the district so all students experience the same standard content.

For incoming seventh graders, all students who are enrolled CC6/7 will be placed into Algebra 1. Those coming from CC6 will be entered into a new seventh grade math class. The new class, designed by our junior high school math teachers, will prepare students to enter Algebra 1 in eighth grade, though some may move into eighth grade math, depending upon their level of mastery, and take Algebra 1 in ninth grade. For more information, please take a look at the item H.2. presentation on the agenda online.

Superintendent Baier presented an overview of the district process to safely begin the 2020-21 school year in the fall. The planning team, with representatives from the teaching, administrative, health care, financial and operations staff, are evaluating a number of scenarios to balance health and safety with effective instruction.

Mr. Baier explained the district is seeking input from students, parents and teachers through an online survey regarding their current experience in Virtual School and their mindset about beginning school in the fall, in either a distance learning, in-classroom or hybrid scenario. He discussed the professional development teachers will experience in June to prepare them for the virtual learning, which will likely be part of the academic experience in the fall. Results of the survey will be presented at the next board meeting on June 1, and the hope is to finalize a plan for the fall by the end of June. For the full presentation, check out item H.3. on the agenda online.

Mr. Kenyon, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services provided the Board with an overview of the uncertain and potentially severe economic impacts to the district budget from the COVID-19 pandemic due to reductions in funding from state and local sources. Despite the uncertainty of the pandemic’s impact on the economy, the district is required by law to adopt a budget for the upcoming school year by July 1, which it can update in late summer once more economic factors are known. Mr. Kenyon recommended a "workload" budget for the 2020-21 school year, where no new programs or initiatives would be implemented for the next year. To prepare for a potentially very large budget shortfall of up to $5 million in future years (the “worst case” scenario), Mr. Kenyon recommended considering adjustments now that could provide more financial stability in the long run. For a closer look at the presentation, please check out item H.4. on agenda online.

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a 2-year extension to the existing 2-year facilities agreement with Bullis Charter School Board. If the BCS Board of Directors also approves the agreement, the charter school would continue to be housed in facilities at the Egan and Blach campuses for a total of up to 1,111 students. The agreement extension would expire at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

The pandemic crisis has resulted in a pause to the community-driven facilities planning process to determine a long term agreement with the charter school. After many months of public feedback from LASD and BCS parents and community members, the Board had hoped to come to a long term solution this school year. Since the pandemic will create unknown facilities requirements, instructional needs and financial challenges over the next 1-2 school years, the LASD Board agreed that the 2-year extension would be the most prudent way forward at this time. To review the agreement, please check out item H.6. on the agenda online.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees will take place on Monday, June 1 at 7:00pm via Zoom. To attend the meeting please visit our Board web page and register for the meeting using the provided link.

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