Response to Letter

I would like to thank Dr. Reid for responding to my original letter.  I have posted it below along with my short response back.

Hello Kevin,

Thank you for your note and sharing your thoughts and concerns.  As you might guess, we have received a significant amount of feedback on all sides of this challenging topic.  I too, share many of the concerns you have outlined and certainly wish we could have safely opened school for all of our students on the eight days we cancelled due to weather and safety concerns.  

Our school district is geographically large and topographically diverse leading to variant storm impacts for different schools and neighborhoods.  Throughout the snow event, our work crews with all hands on deck, were hard at work addressing our thirty-five school and program sites.  Unfortunately, one of our two plow trucks broke down in the midst of this and even with assistance from other plow contractors available, we were not able to clear parking lots at eight of our schools.  Our transportation department, who drove our most affected routes during the afternoons, (even with snow route adjustments) could not safely assure transportation to nine of our schools.  Three other schools had roof safety concerns and resultant equipment concerns as a result of power and storm damage which had not been fully restored.  Transportation and safety staff drove neighborhoods to assess sidewalks and walker safety for our students and found multiple concerns in all regions of the district where students or families would be walking in the street as a result of snow piled on sidewalks.  At the end of the day, if we couldn’t open a third of our schools, and there continued to be walking safety concerns, it was my decision to heed the concerns of our staff and close school. 

We absolutely have staff who regularly connect with our city and county partners in planning and event management.  Due to the size and layout of our school district, we connect with three cities and two counties and appreciate the collaborative nature of these partnerships.  We regularly connect with emergency services personnel as well as decision making bodies (joint board and council meetings annually).  I personally meet regularly with city managers from the three cities. 

We are definitely working on strategies for making up these days in a way that minimizes extending the school year unreasonably.  Unfortunately, as a likely result of many years of winter weather that has not been as challenging (this is the most significant winter storm in February since 1923) our negotiated school calendar has snow day makeups scheduled for June following the currently scheduled last day of school.  We will work hard to find alternative and authentic ways to make up the time lost that will not be problematic at the end of the year for families with plans in June. 

We will be convening to address the State waiver process, as the Governor called a State of Emergency (generally unprecedented), and we will be looking at our Wednesday early release days, and other possibilities.  Even with a waiver for days, we will still be required, and fully expect, to endeavor to maintain the educational contact time for teaching and learning.  The waiver simply allows us to use our instructional time differently than simply adding more days at the end of the year.  For example, we might prefer to adjust how we had planned to use our Wednesday early release time, or other vacation days upcoming this spring.  All of this will be discussed in the coming days and weeks.  As the winter break is upon us, and previously scheduled a year in advance, it was not possible to cancel the vacation days as many families and staff have made plans.  I will add your email to our file of suggestions we will review when we work to mitigate the impact of this storm on our school year. 

I absolutely support your thoughts on the digital possibilities for connecting students to school when we are not able to open schools, and even when we are as a learning support tool.  We are actively planning for this possibility in the future and have been working with school districts in other parts of the country who more regularly deal with these types of weather issues.  I would welcome your participation in these conversations if you have the time to join me. 

Please know how deeply we regret the interruption to the teaching and learning process for all of our 23,000 students and 3,000 staff and want to assure you that we will continue to make decisions that best support the safe and thoughtful educational experience for each student, staff member and family in our amazing community.  I appreciate your thoughtful consideration and welcome further questions, concerns and ideas you might have on this or any other topic, and would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you in person to visit further about this topic or any other you have questions, ideas, or concerns about.  Together, all things are possible…

Warmest regards,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Northshore School District

My response:

Dr. Reid, 

I would like to thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions and comments. Many of my neighbors, including an NSD school teacher, worked to clear the snow and ice from some of the trouble spots in our neighborhood. I can't speak for all of them, but I believe many would be willing to extend those efforts to our local school when needed after a snow or wind event. Please don't hesitate to call upon our community to help out when needed. 

Questions for Northshore School District regarding February 2019 closures

I am writing with respect to the recent school closures that have taken place in Northshore School District (NSD) in the weeks of 04Feb2019 and 11Feb2019 due to the weather events.  As a parent of an elementary school student in a household with two working parents, the closure of schools presents an obvious burden on households such as mine.  I am sure that this is also extended to single parent households.  Numerous businesses were open during this time period and there is an expectation from our employers and clients that we will be available.  I have the expectation that NSD will focus on performing the actions needed to get the schools open and to develop creative solutions for those students unable to make it to school or for parents unwilling to send their kids to school during this time. 

To help me better understand why the schools needed to be closed for such a lengthy duration, I am requesting that the following questions be answered.  This will help myself and other clients of the Northshore School District better understand the situation in a more comprehensive manner, better understand if you are refining your plans for the future by developing creative solutions, and to better understand what steps we can take to ensure that the goal of re-opening the schools is being worked toward.

Topic #1:  Communication with Cities and Counties within NSD

Background:  An example that would be relevant to the questions about this topic include the plowing of schools and the maintenance of snow routes and main access to the snow routes.

Questions:  Can you please explain the relationship and communication that occurs between the counties and cities within the Northshore School District?  Is there someone communicating the needs of the school district to the proper entities?  If there are issues with the snow route or access to the snow route, is that being communicated?

Topic #2:  Creation of Alternatives to Match the Non-Uniformity within the Boundaries of NSD

Background:  There does not seem to be a plan for meeting the needs in what appears to be a non-homogeneous school district.  For example, I felt as though that my child would have been able to make it to school beginning on 13Feb2019 and definitely on 14Feb2019 and 15Feb2019.  I could understand a late opening, but I found a full school closure to be unnecessary.  Other areas of the school district may disagree.  There appears to be the opportunity to develop solutions for the variety that exists in the district.  For example, NSD posted numerous updates and photos.  The use of technology could also be extended to provide the lesson plans and accompanying assignments to parents of kids unable to make it to school.  For kids without the technology, the required work could be sent home prior to the event.  NSD provides online learning resources so this approach would seem to be a natural extension of what is currently occurring.  This would preserve the safety of students and allow parents to make the determination on whether their children are taught at home during these periods due to their safety concerns or whether the kids are being taught in school.  It is an approach that serves a greater number of clients in NSD and recognizes the varying needs within the district.  The current approach does not accomplish that goal and lacks the creativity that I would expect from the leadership of NSD.

Questions:  Has there been any consideration to alternative methods of instruction for those areas that feel as though they are unable to make it to school? 

Topic #3:  Personnel Leading Coordination Effort

Background:  During the event, I saw the NSD updates along with comments pertaining to those updates regarding staff members shoveling snow at the schools.  As a parent in the NSD, I sincerely appreciate the effort.  However, this effort seems in vain if the coordination is not occurring to get the kids to school.  This goes back to Topic #1 regarding the coordination that is taking place to accomplish this effort.  It seems as there is not a fully developed plan to accomplish the goal of getting the schools open. 

Questions:  Do you have the correct individuals coordinating the efforts to get the schools open?  

   

Topic #4:  Consistency in Determining Safe Travel within the District

Background:  In your updates, you state that NSD has individuals driving around the district delivering meals.  This effort seems incongruent with your concern of safety.  In other words, we receive notification that it is too dangerous to travel in areas of the district, but then NSD sanctions an activity that requires travel within the district.  I suspect that the individuals driving within the district are given the discretion needed to make their own determinations regarding safety.  The reason that I mention this is that it is an acknowledgement that you have a non-uniform district.  The criteria that you apply regarding travel within the district can also apply to parents’ decisions on whether or not they feel safe in bringing their kids to school. 

Question:  Can you please comment on this?   

Topic #5:  Nature of Communication with Parents within NSD

Background:  In your announcements regarding school closures, you consistently state that this is a difficult decision to make.  I was looking for more detail in these statements.  For example, I am looking for specific action items that are being implemented to get the schools open.  These announcements should detail the plan that is occurring along with the problem areas.  The announcements can also be used to detail the assistance that is needed at individual schools or locations around the schools.  These announcements provided me with no confidence that a specific plan was being implemented or that any lessons were being learned for future events.

 

Question:  Can you please comment on what lessons you have learned from this event and how the plan has changed (if at all) going forward?

Topic #6:  Gathering Data to Determine Alternative Plans

Background:  This question ties into the coordination with cities and counties and creativity in your planning process.  I feel that an opportunity was missed to gather data about number of students able to make it to school and problem areas that need attention and coordination by keeping the students out of school on Thursday and Friday (14 and 15 Feb 2019).  At this point, there is no data on the percentage of students who would have been able to attend school on those days and what refinement of the plan and coordination needs to occur to increase the number of students able to make it to school.  The YMCA program was proactive in their leadership and opened on Friday for parents who are enrolled in their before and after school programs.  That filled up very quickly.  Although only qualitative (since I don’t know total number of students participating and total number of students turned down due to space limitations), it still provides an indication that numerous parents did not feel the need to keep their kids home that day. 

Questions:  Can you please comment on whether or not there will be a data driven plan developed for future events with the understanding that refinements to the plan will occur as safe alternatives are developed for these events to further increase attendance? 

Topic #7:  Waiver Request

Background:  My final question is also a comment.  I have to insist that you not request a waiver for any days that NSD falls below the minimum requirement.  Since the decisions made during this event were driven based on conditions in the entire district, the same standard should apply to waivers.  I am sure that you will agree that there are some students who would benefit and definitely need extra school days.  To shorten the school year below these minimums is unfair to those students.  Accordingly, the entire school district should remain in session until the minimums are met.  I recognize that this may not be popular, but the notices of the NSD indicated that tough decisions need to be made.  I ask this for two reasons.  First, there are many students who will benefit from the instruction.  Second, by having to answer to the parents who are against such a decision, you will hopefully understand the position of working households having to answer to their employers and clients during an extended school shutdown. 

Questions:  Can I get your commitment that you will not apply for a waiver?

Since I suspect these issues are of interest to many members of NSD, I have posted these questions at the following site:

nsd-questions.blogspot.com

I do appreciate the time that you take to hear the concerns of a constituent of NSD, and I await your responses to the questions posed above.