LASD Board Highlights

You may also read the Board Highlights on our homepage in the "Latest Headlines" section.

Para traducir, haga clic en el enlace "Ver en el navegador", luego haga clic en el enlace Traducir al final del boletín.

要进行翻译，请单击“在浏览器中查看”链接，然后单击新闻稿末尾的翻译链接

Чтобы перевести, нажмите ссылку «Просмотреть в браузере», затем нажмите ссылку «Перевести» в конце бюллетеня.

翻訳するには、「ブラウザで表示」リンクをクリックしてから、ニュースレターの最後にある翻訳リンクをクリックしてください

If you missed the September 13 special meeting, you can view the video here. You can view the September 20 meeting video here.

Summer Academy Principal Laura Wiley, provided a report on the new format for the LASD Summer School program, which was very successful in improving academic outcomes for students. The new format mirrored more of a regular school day, filling in academic gaps. Students engaged in reading, writing, math and STEM instruction daily. LASD expanded its summer school invitations this year, focusing on students with achievement below their current grade level.

Fun activities engaged students in their reading and writing, such as the 4th-6th grade comic class, which focused on building phonemic awareness and phonics skills through reading and writing graphic novels. Hands on practice, investigations and games helped hone and improve student math skills.

In STEM lessons, students focused on design thinking, through challenges like a paper skyscraper or the mask challenge. The makerspace was also available to students to test, reflect and explore. The STEM design challenges included boat design, paper car builds and buzz bots. At the upper grade levels, students built Go Karts that they raced on Go Kart Race Day.

To view the presentation please check out item H.1. on our agenda.

Superintendent Baier provided an update on our school operations during the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Cases Remain Low and Isolated

As local case rates have declined, we continue to see very low incidence of COVID in our schools. More importantly, the small number of cases have remained isolated and not spread in our schools due to our COVID safety protocols.

Testing

Free pooled testing through a partnership with Concentric began this week. Approximately 2/3 of our students are participating. Our partnership with the Mountain View Los Altos High School District is also providing a local and convenient location for those in our schools who require individual tests.

If you haven't yet signed up for pooled testing, but would like your child to participate, please click here to fill out the online consent form. Use the code for your school to sign the correct form and fill out one form for each student.

Codes for Concentric Consent:

LASD-ALMOND

LASD-BLACH

LASD-COVINGTON

LASD-EGAN

LASD-GARDNERBULLIS

LASD-LOYOLA

LASD-OAK

LASD-SANTARITA

LASD-SPRINGER

Outdoor Masking Modifications

The Board approved a few modifications to the outdoor masking policy on our campuses. Due to the fact that our elementary TK-6th grade students are not currently eligible for vaccination, the Board agreed to keep the outdoor masking policy on campus during recess and PE. However, the Board agreed to allow afterschool programs, which operate under differing public health guidelines, to follow CDPH masking guidance.

In our junior highs, a very strong percentage of our students (approx 90%) are vaccinated, meaning their quarantine requirements differ from those students at the elementary level. The Board agreed to move to sports league requirements for afterschool sports programs, to make masking optional during PE classes under certain circumstances and to allow afterschool providers to follow CDPH masking guidance for their program.

To view the presentation, check out item H.2. on our agenda.

As the Governor's Executive Order allowing online Board meetings is expiring soon, the Board discussed how it will hold its meetings to protect public health in the coming months. The Board will continue to discuss this topic, ensuring the community may participate in and comment during public meetings during this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, please check out item H.6.

The Board received and approved the 2020-21 unaudited actual revenue and expenditures after receiving a financial report for the district.

Due to a very unusual 2020-21 school year due to the COVID pandemic, the district has an unexpected surplus of $3.5 million. In 2020-21 it was very difficult to accurately predict what would happen throughout the year—especially as health guidance changed--while implementing a return to in-person instruction as quickly as possible. LASD budgeted conservatively regarding anticipated expenses and benefitted from savings in many different areas. In addition, the district was able to use state and federal COVID relief funding to offset certain expenditures, thereby saving additional money.

As the current school year unfolds, the Board will continue to discuss how to use these funds to directly support student learning. For more information and view the full presentation, check out item C.1.

The next meeting of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees will take place on Monday, October 4 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/