COVID
Q. If we lose a significant number of teachers as a result of the vaccine mandate, with the shortage of substitutes, how will the classes be taught? Will you be combining two classes into 1?
A. We are recruiting for new teachers/substitutes. We have also increased the daily sub rate to $200/day and Long Term sub rate to $250/day. More information will be shared with impacted school sites before 10/25.
Q. Is it possible to show on the Dashboard currently quarantined students by school Vs cumulative? It would help us better plan or decide to do extracurricular activities or events if we knew how many were quarantined in a specific week not since start of school year.
A. Since students are constantly entering/leaving quarantine it would require a lot of data management to keep the dashboard current/accurate. Unfortunately, we do not have the staff to do that at this time.
Q. The Burbank/Burroughs football game is soon. There is a good chance more than 1,000 people will be in attendance. Will masks be required, and how will that be enforced?
A. Spectators will be cut by ⅓ than our normal ticket sales. Based on the Los Angeles County of Public Health guidelines, masks will be recommended, particularly around concessions and ingress/egress. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/BestPractices/LargeEvents/
Q. When will the high school School Profiles be updated? Will they have any information about the impact of Covid and the limitations that came as a result of Covid?
A. This was done a few weeks ago when this came up at the last meeting. Both comprehensive high schools updated the school profiles. There is a notation on the transcripts explaining the impact of Covid and the reason for Pass/No Pass.
Q. Now that testing is no longer happening what layer of mitigation is being offered to High School sports or performing arts? It was required that you were vaccinated or test weekly not option to not test. Drama students can’t socially distance on or back stage, choir is singing, band is blowing through instruments at one another, sports teams are in locker rooms and buses etc.
A. We are continuing testing for sports and performing arts.
Q. What if you know your school obviously expects kids to wear masks and the principal says it has to be done but the teachers just aren’t enforcing it. My student said of their 6 classes only the Chemistry (science) teacher is serious about masks even giving out detention after 3 infractions. None of their other teachers care about noses being covered and some just say don’t worry about it.
A. Please share the specific information with the principal and they will address it.
Q. How is Covid contact tracing done when there is a positive case? We hear that it is done, but no details are given as to how. When there is more than one positive case in a class, is there an attempt to determine if the cases are linked?
A. We work closely with Public Health to conduct contact tracing per their protocols and we attempt to determine if cases are linked. If three cases are linked it is deemed an outbreak (we have not had this happen). http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/protocols/ExposureManagementPlan_K12Schools.pdf
Q. At our elementary school parents are told if there is a positive case in our class, but not how many positive cases nor when they tested positive? Why can’t we know the number of positive students in a class and when their positive test was?
A: Please contact your principal to get clarification. If there is a positive case, the close contact letter indicates when we identified the case, that is how we let you know how many days to quarantine. If we have three connected cases in a class it is determined to be an outbreak that requires separate communication (this has not occurred).
Q. The BHS Drama teacher said that he was waiting on PPE from the district. Is there PPE or funding still remaining to be distributed by the district to schools or for school programs?
A. This has been addressed with the BHS Drama teacher.
Q. Ultimately, what will happen to BUSD teachers who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19? Will they remain employed and be transferred to distance learning only? Will their employment be terminated?
If transferring to a distance learning platform is offered, what will happen to the students in their in-person classrooms?
A. If they refuse to be vaccinated they will be moved to unpaid status and we will take disciplinary actions.
Q. Recent emails have come from you and the site principals that there may be staffing shortages due to the mandated COVID-19 vaccine. Have you started the process of hiring replacements? What impact will BUSD’s inability to pay a competitive wage due to the ability to hire replacements?
A. Yes. You may see all the positions we are currently recruiting by clicking HERE.
Q. Do you expect class sizes to increase across all grade levels due to staffing shortages and the inability to hire needed replacements? Aren’t there some grades like K-2 that are legally mandated class size limits?
A. We are recruiting for new teachers/substitutes. We have also increased the daily sub rate to $200/day and Long Term sub rate to $250/day. More information will be shared with impacted school sites before 10/25. TK-3 average class size for the district must be below 24:1 (some classes may be higher than 24 students).
Q. There have been news reports of special education students excluded from distance learning platforms and/or not provided their related services or accommodations if enrolled in distance learning. Is that the case with BUSD special education students currently enrolled (for what ever reason) in distance learning?
A. We have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting with every family before moving them to independent study.
Q. How many special education students are currently enrolled in the Independent Learning Academy?
A. There are currently 12 students.
Q. Concerning requesting BUSD employees to get vaccinated, what is the rate of employees being vaccinated? The rate of the ones who are exempted ? And the rate of the ones who will have to quit their job?
A. The data is changing daily. We will provide that information after 10/22.
Q. When will the District be returning to on-site Covid testing? Why was the school district charged for testing when all of the student’s insurance information was collected during testing sign-up?
A. If we receive federal funding and/or we see an increase in cases, we will revisit our testing strategy. Some insurance companies would not cover testing costs, so we did not want to put any financial burden on families. We encourage families to use their insurance and get tested at any of the local sites in Burbank.
Q. How will BUSD detect positive cases when there are no longer testing strategies in place? LA County protocol’s include testing and quarantine. Two things we will lose as of next week.
A. Families will need to continue to quarantine students who have symptoms and will need to have them tested. The majority of our cases have been determined this way.
Q. How will you protect our students that are under 12 now that testing is no longer available on site? What will the new quarantine procedures be and how will they be implemented?
A. We are continuing to follow the health guidelines for quarantine. Our testing program was not identifying that many cases.
Q. If students stay home due to cold-like symptoms (but also could be COVID symptoms), can students be required to provide a negative test in order to return to school?
A. If students are symptomatic they should stay home and contact their medical provider. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/protocols/ExposureManagementPlan_K12Schools.pdf
Q. There is a huge staffing shortage – Why are positions not being flown as soon as a teacher or BUSD employee gives their notice? The turn around time to begin filling vacant positions seems to be taking an extraordinarily long time.
A. They are being flown as soon as we receive all of the paperwork.
Q. Could you please clarify the quarantine process for students that were in contact with a student that was positive? Is there the ability to take a PCR test after day 5 of the exposure and if negative return to school?
A. Please see the top of page 4. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/protocols/ExposureManagementPlan_K12Schools.pdf
Music/Arts
Q. Follow up to last month’s music question and answer. The elementary music program is a general music program. Rhythm, percussion, and Orff instruments are used to teach grade-level standards under normal circumstances. We have paused the use of the instruments in elementary school to ensure students remain safe and to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19. Which standards are taught in the Elementary Music program? All of them or some of them? If it is some of them, which ones? What is the district’s goal for mastery of these standards by the end of 5th grade?
A. General music instruction is not dependent upon the use of an instrument and many standards can be covered with vocal music and movement instruction. BUSD’s goals for standards-based music instruction are aligned with the California State Superintendent’s goals. A joint message from the State Superintendent and the President of the California State Board of Education on page 1 of the 2019 Revised California VAPA Standards explains that “Every child should have equitable access to high-quality, standards-based arts education to thrive and participate in a modern society. The California Arts Standards reflect that fundamental belief. The standards are conceptual and support inclusive arts learning experiences to the needs of students with a wide range of abilities.” CDE has grouped standards into 4 categories at each grade level: Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. Each of these areas is covered in the Elementary Music Program. Lessons are designed to cover as many standards as possible. Mastery is most commonly defined as “a comprehensive knowledge of something; expert skill; a command; display of great skill or technique.” BUSD does expect to provide as much access as possible in music education.
Q. Performing Arts programs often change schedules at the last minute and demand many hours of the students’ time. Students have to readjust their other activities around choir/band/drama/dance, as do families. The students are not given schedules ahead of time and if they are, those schedules often change. Students can’t say “I’m not available” because these are school classes that involve grades. The adults don’t seem to have much respect for the students’ time. The students seem to be expected to be on-call 7 days a week. Is this acceptable? Could you talk to the teachers about how they communicate with the students?
A. Please speak directly with the teacher and if needed the principal.
Q. I heard that PTA and fundraising committees can not raise money for instrumental programs in Elementary schools until their school has general music for kindergarten through 5th grades. I heard this was Board policy but I cannot find it. Which Board policy is this?
A. District elementary music instruction implementation priority sequencing is included in the Board adopted BUSD Arts for All Strategic Plan. The sequence priorities are used by the District and schools that elect to fundraise for supplemental programs. The purpose of the priorities is to ensure sustainable, sequential, standards-based instruction for all students.
On June 1, 2017, the Board adopted the BUSD 3 Year Priority Plan that included implementation of Arts for All Plan priority goals that reference implementation sequencing priorities, as funding allows, of elementary music instructional programs.
Q. Since elementary music is only offered to 4th and 5th graders and those students have not had any prior music education, does the BUSD program focus on the kindergarten and 1st grade Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) music standards in those classes? And are you able to get through more than just the kindergarten and 1st grade curriculum/standards since the students are older?
A. This will be the second year since grades 2nd and 3rd were cut. Students who are currently in grades 4-5 had music instruction in their 2nd and 3rd grades. We review the curriculum at the end of each school year and make adjustments as needed. At the end of this school year, we will review and consider the needs of the incoming grade 4th and 5th students and the instructional minutes we can provide for the 2022-2023 school year.
With two teachers serving 11 elementary schools, it will not be possible to cover all of the grade 2-5 curriculum as it is written now. This year we received a grant that allowed us to hire a part-time music consultant to cover two of the 11 schools. That made it possible to provide weekly 30 minute lessons to 4th and weekly 40-minute classes to 5th. They had previously received 45 minutes weekly. The number of music teachers available directly impacts instructional minutes and the curriculum that is covered.
PE
Q. Bullying seems to be more prevalent in PE which is also a class that has significantly more students than classes held indoors. Would safety be increased by adding an assistant (yard supervisor) to help supervise students on the field?
A. Please contact your principal if you are hearing about bullying in PE so that they may address it with the teacher.
Q. What are the expectations for elementary PE? Is taking kids out for an additional recess an adequate way to provide PE or is instruction required?
A. In grades 1-5, lessons for PE should follow the California Physical Education Framework and the Standards. Recess is not physical education instruction.
Q. We were told that the elementary school day was shortened because the PE teachers were no longer there and the classroom teachers needed planning time. But that didn’t affect first and second grades who never had instruction from the PE teachers, so why are their days shorter?
A. Some schools had different instructional minutes for grades 1 and 2, so we aligned them this past year so that they were consistent across schools. All grades continue to exceed State instructional minute requirements.
2018-2019 Instructional Minutes
Grade 1 State annual minutes are 50,400 and the current schedule provides 51,060 minutes
Grade 2 State annual minutes are 50,400 and the current schedule provides 51,060 minutes
2021-2022 Instructional Minutes
Grade 1 State annual minutes are 50,400 and the current schedule provides 51,060 minutes
Grade 2 State annual minutes are 50,400 and the current schedule provides 51,060 minutes
Other
Q, Why didn’t the students get 5 week grades? Is there any requirement this year about how often teachers have to post grades on corrected assignments? It seems that the only requirement is the 10 week grades and if you don’t realize your kid’s struggling until 10 weeks, they have a hard time catching up.
A. It is the expectation that teachers update their grade books every two weeks instead of doing 5-week report cards.
Q. Elementary school time has been shortened. Does that mean that last year students were given more instructional minutes than they needed? Has CA changed the number of required instructional minutes?
A. Previously we offered more instructional minutes than the required instructional minutes.
Q. Middle Schools have started doing iReady testing to assess students this fall. We’ve heard parents saying that their kids’ assessments are lower than usual, particularly in math. Is that the case? How is learning loss being addressed?
A. Because this is our first year doing i-Ready at the middle school level and because we did not have standardized testing (CAASP) at all grade levels last year, it’s hard to get an accurate measurement of student growth. As a district, we are committed to mitigating any learning gaps, whether due to the pandemic or not.
Our district has done several things to help move all students forward:
We’ve implemented i-Ready, which provides precise data on student learning that teachers can use to inform their instruction. i-Ready also provides individualized practice that students can do to help them with the specific skills they need to work on. Even if teachers do not assign work in i-Ready, the program automatically creates individualized practice lessons that they can access for additional support.
Our district has hired two Academic Growth and Support Coordinators, Laura Kubler for Elementary and Lucia Bowers for Secondary. They are working closely with school sites to implement i-Ready, help oversee Independent Study, and are working with our intervention teams. For secondary specifically, Mrs. Bowers has been visiting sites and collecting data on existing interventions that she will share with the district and our families shortly. Her next steps are to collaborate with a team of Intervention Specialists, Title I Coordinators, site administrators, and others to evaluate our secondary interventions.
Our district has taken the “Accelerate, Don’t Remediate” approach to interventions. Rather than focus primarily on reviewing previous standards, teachers have been continuing with grade-level work and putting supports in place as needed. This is a challenging prospect, but research has shown that pulling students out for remediation or reviewing standards from previous grade levels in order to “catch up” is not an effective approach.
Q. At a recent City Council meeting, there was discussion about whether the City Council should pursue a parcel tax and it was implied by a City Council member that School Board members were not participating in a dialog with City Council members about a parcel tax. Is that the case? Has any City Council member reached out to you or a school board member to discuss a City Council sponsored parcel tax?
A. No. They did not reach out to us to discuss.
Q. My Child has received a chrome book recently. She uses her own laptop at home. I received one last year when I needed one and I’m thankful of that but now I don’t need it at all. I wonder f there is a way to keep it at school and leave it there (she walks to school and back and her backpack is almost 13lbs.) It is kind of a liability that I don’t want it.
A. Unfortunately, we do not have places to store Chromebooks on campus for students.
Q. Concerning the recent vandalism incidents linked to Tik Tok that happened at BHS, did this happen to other schools in Burbank? If so, are there actions that the District took to solve the issue ? Or is it managed at school level?
A. We had vandalism at a couple of schools. We sent out a districtwide notification to all parents and students stressing we will not tolerate these illegal acts. Each school directly addresses the specific discipline for the students.
Q. What are the factors that determine if a school needs a Vice-Principal? Our school used to have one. If we still have a similar number of students, why is this position not being filled? It’s not a luxury, but a necessity at this point.
A. We do not have the funding to rehire the three vacant AP positions.
Q. What can parents do to help the district advocate for more funding from the state?
A. Please contact your elected state officials and get involved with PTA’s legislation and advocacy team. https://www.burbankcouncilpta.org/legislation-and-advocacy/