Q: What can we do about some teachers not wearing their masks properly? My child has mentioned a particular teacher who always wears it under her nose. If the district is talking about stricter discipline for students, what are you doing about the teachers?
A: Please notify your principal and they will take appropriate action.
Q: When I reviewed your video this past Friday, you indicated that the surge is of concern but not alarming. Can you define with concrete numbers what would constitute alarming? To that point, if things become alarming, would anything change outside of what is being proposed as a result of the special board meeting on Saturday? I’m simply trying to thread this needle and better understand the language used in the video. Thank you!
A: My comments were echoing Dr. Ferrer’s comments from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) at the time. She emphasized that we need to get vaccinated and follow protocols to mitigate hospitalizations and deaths. I will continue to follow LACDPH’s guidance and protocols.
Q: Is quarantining due to a family member having Covid an excused absence?
A: If a student is exposed to a household member and is unvaccinated, that person should quarantine for 5 days and test on Day 5. If they get a negative test, are symptom and fever-free, they can return on Day 6. Those absences would be excused. If fully vaccinated, the student or individual can come to school or work but should double mask, monitor for symptoms, and test right away and again on or around Day 5.
Q: When a student returns after having Covid and they have to upload their test results, are they uploading a picture of a negative at-home test, are they uploading the results from a test taken through BUSD or at a lab, or are they checking a box that says they have tested negative?
A: Please click this link to see the process: https://forms.gle/piqzEYiH7LRc9gZT7. Students are asked to upload a picture of their results or an electronic copy of their test results if testing outside our clinic. Students do not need to upload clinic results as the school district already has those.
Q: Are all BUSD employees vaccinated? Does that include all School Board Members?
A: Yes all Board Members and employees are vaccinated, except for a small number who have a legal exemption (they test weekly).
Q: In the new guidelines it states: “Returning from being absent due to testing positive for COVID and/or being on QIS: Students must upload their negative COVID test if returning after a FIVE DAY Isolation period and no longer have symptoms or a fever. Upload 5 Day Isolation NEGATIVE TEST here Please upload prior to returning to school.” Do you know if a picture of the test is uploaded (if you take it at home) or if you are required to take it somewhere and get an official notification that you upload or if you self-report?
A: Please click this link to see the process https://forms.gle/piqzEYiH7LRc9gZT7.
Q: Is it true that going to distance learning (like we had last year) for 4-8 weeks is not allowed this year?
A: Correct.
Q: If the district shut down for a few weeks, would those days be added to the end of the year like snow days?
A: If we don’t follow the state guidelines for closure, yes.
Q: When will boosters be required of all parent volunteers, PTA, or Fundraising committee? I heard at one point that students were not considered fully vaccinated if they are eligible for a booster and have not gotten it, then shouldn’t the same rules apply to adults? I don’t mean staff, I know that is a different situation, but parent volunteers especially the ones who are in classrooms.
A: The health department (LACDPH) is not requiring boosters for students, volunteers, or employees at this time, but they are highly recommending them.
Q: I would love to know how the covid vaccinations on the dashboard are recorded. I know of many people who did not know to enter them into Aeries and it’s been a week since they have and our numbers have not changed so I’m thinking the data must be getting pulled some other way?
A: We collect data from Aeries, school sites, and health services and we are using this form: https://forms.gle/6TaNnkqqeFgDdxXD8. Our nurses are able to pull data from the County health system.
Q: Will we be doing weekly mandatory testing at each school during school hours ? (like before when we had kids sign up and they’d go once a week except this time it’s mandatory)
A: It depends on our vendor’s capacity. At this time, it looks like it will be during the day for middle and high school and after school for elementary school.
Q: Is there a way we can see the results on Covid dashboard starting from after winter break instead of having them from back in August and also 14 days.
Follow-up question: Can we have each site principal send out a weekly email ( maybe on Friday? ) stating how many positives we had that week.
A: Secondary principals are sending school-wide notification letters each day summarizing the number of positive cases.
Q: Now the vaccines are available for 5-12 year olds, can Elementary Schools please be provided with the same rules and standards as the middle school and high schools? ex. MS & HS students are allowed to have performances and travel to other locations for field trips, competitions or sporting events. We would like our students to be able to perform in our auditoriums. We would like our students to be given the choice to attend field trips this spring.
A: Not at this time, any change will be determined by current health guidelines and we will communicate them with the community.
Q: What are the plans for testing after the upcoming president’s holidays and spring breaks?
A: We have ordered at-home test kits (but the order is delayed), we are also looking to secure additional clinics. More information will be shared closer to those dates.
Q: Is the county or the state acknowledging that with the staff shortage the schools are quite often not able to provide instruction to the students? (for example when a history teacher is hired as the substitute for the calculus teacher) Are other approaches being considered for future surges? This approach seems to be more about daycare than education.
A: That was a challenge the first week of 2nd semester, but we have been able to find substitute teachers the past two weeks.
Q: Based on recent events, I would like to verify the recent precedent that has been set, e.g., OSS [Outdoor Science School]. If a school activity/function is canceled by the school or BUSD, parents, on their own time/money can plan that exact activity on their own as long as it is off-campus and school communication is not used?
A: We do not encourage parents to organize events on their own that exclude other students.
Q: The Bridges program at Luther Middle School has its students leaving their classrooms 10 minutes early each day. Bridges students are missing instructional time as much as 50 minutes per week or 1900 minutes each school year which amounts to almost 32 hours of missed instructional time as compared to their general education peers. Why is this permitted?
A: Dr. Paramo will look into the matter with the principal. If it is the class right before lunch, it is probably so the Bridge’s kids get to the front of the lunch line. Same, if it is right before nutrition or after school. We will look into the situation.
Q: What is the communication plan for any on-campus emergency event? Where can parents go for up-to-date, clear information? When the information is not available, they seem to text their children and the information their children can provide is not always complete or accurate.
A: Please contact your school to learn about their emergency plan. If it impacts multiple sites, the district will send out a Blackboard message (we will now send it via email, phone, and text). We will also post to BUSD’s Facebook and the website. We are constantly reviewing our protocols so we would love to hear your feedback.
Q: I don’t understand the rules about who can be on campus. Why are parent groups allowed to have Halloween parties for the entire school on the playground but parents are not allowed to go on the same playground to watch their kids parade in costume during the school day?
A: A couple of schools allowed 3 or 4 parent volunteers on campus for a special event like Halloween to help with logistics. We are currently limiting access to the school, and when health guidelines allow, greater access will occur.
Q: How many teachers and school site staff took November 12th off, making Veteran’s day a 4 day weekend? It is disheartening for students to be told that they have to be in school so that the school can get its funding and then to have to hear about the fun vacations that the adults took. I understand that the adults get personal days but when the Calendar Committee is looking at the calendar and seeing the potential of a 4-day weekend that the union workers and management might take advantage of with their personal days, then they should put the floating holiday there, so the kids and their families can also enjoy the 4 day weekend.
A: We had 108 teacher absences on 11/12/21. The Calendar Committee is creating a survey to collect feedback regarding which days should be pupil-free days. This information will be reviewed in conjunction with cost and other factors.
Q: Does the district keep a list of all of the programs that are funded at school sites by PTA and Fundraising Committees? (dance, music, science, etc) Does the district meet with the principal to evaluate the program after it has been completed to see if it was of value and should be expanded to all school sites or if part of it is useful for all school sites?
A: No. There is not an official list of “programs: funded by PTA or Committees. However, there is a specific process that requires that the principal and the district administrator to evaluate the new program before it is approved.
Q: Washington, Muir, and BHS are schools that serve the deaf and hard of hearing communities. Are there flashing lights in every room that go off with the fire alarm?
A: Yes, there are flashing lights that are connected to the emergency alarm system.
Q: In some districts, any employee who sees a threat can initiate a lockdown. In some districts, only the principal can do that. What is the policy in BUSD?
A: Principals and site supervisors review lockdowns with each site. All staff has access to the speaker system in case of an emergency, though generally, an administrator would initiate a lockdown. We also work closely with BPD and BFD in these situations.
Q: When will the 2022-23 Instructional Calendar be available? What is the start date for school in August?
A: The Calendar Committee is currently meeting and will present to the Board as soon as they can.
Q: Will middle schools and high schools have an 8:30 start in August?
A: Middle Schools will remain at 8:00 am. High Schools will be 8:30 am.
Q: For the schools that have principals who are on leave, when will we be told if the principal is returning or when a new principal will be hired?
A: Information will be shared as soon as it can be shared.
Q: Assembly Bill 22 expands Transitional Kindergarten to 4-year-olds over a period of time based on birthdate. What is BUSD’s plan for expanding TK? Will all elementary schools have a TK program?
A: BUSD will be expanding Transitional Kindergarten for children who turn five years of age between September 2, 2022, and February 1, 2023. The District will be phasing in additional months in the 2023-24 school year. Not all schools may be able to accommodate TK based on their available classrooms.
Q: ATB currently ( or before we went on winter break, not sure if it’s changed) eats snack inside. Can we make it to where they eat outside (weather permitting) now?
A: Depending on health conditions and weather, snacks may be eaten inside the classroom or outside.
Q: We realize it’s early, but what are the plans for promotion/graduation this year?
A: We are currently working on that now. JBHS and BHS graduations will be on Memorial Field. We will communicate when plans are solidified.
Q: Some teacher positions and yard supervisor positions that were vacant in October have still not been filled or flown? When can we expect to have our school fully staffed again?
A: All positions have been flown. Depending on the candidate pool, some positions are being flown again.
Q: If a teacher cannot be in their classroom and a long-term substitute is hired, which teacher grades the assignments that are given to the students and turned in during the time the long-term sub is running the classroom? If the teacher is out for a 10-day quarantine, who is supposed to grade the assignments?
A: If the teacher is not on paid leave, the long-term or short-term substitute teacher will grade the assignments.
Q: It was just brought to our attention that Band kids woodwind, brass and colorguard must test every week like athletes. Great! But then we were told we could just have our student upload a home test picture in google classroom each week to prove they are testing. How is this going to help? What is to stop a student from having another or a parent or a sibling take a test for them and they use that picture? Then maybe they move that negative test to another table or take a pic from a slightly different angle and continue to upload that same picture each week? The honor system is what we are banking on clearly at the moment. But we have the ability to test them at a clinic on Mondays with athletes. Why aren’t we making that a rule? This is kind of ridiculous if we are just hoping all kids are honest. Band is a spreader. They have masks off often, they are blowing and spitting. The least we can do is make sure they are tested weekly and it’s tracked honestly vs just doing this for show to meet LA County guidelines.
A: As we ramp up testing, we want students to either use the clinics or at-home tests. If students are using at-home tests, we expect everyone to honestly report their results in order to keep everyone safe.
Q: Prior to Covid, elementary schools had valet programs to help ease parking congestion around the campus. The valets were usually 4th and 5th grade students and received their training from one or two assigned officers of the Burbank Police Department. Since the return to campus, many (if not all) valet programs are not running because there are no officers from BPD available to provide the training. Can the district reach out to BPD to find officers who can provide the training and restart this much-needed program?
A: Principals have been given contact information for the BPD traffic bureau. They can contact Sergeant Fatta to get assistance with Valet training. We confirmed that BPD can still provide this training. We also work with BPD to try to provide additional presence around our schools during periods of traffic congestion. BPD can support when they have resources and traffic patrol available.
Q: With the ongoing shortage of teachers and classified staff throughout the district, attention needs to be drawn to the special education service providers including psychologists who provide counseling, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, adapted physical education providers, physical therapists, and instructional and behavior aides both assigned to classrooms and assigned 1:1 to a student. Gaps in services mandated by a student’s IEP are occurring and may continue to occur in the near future. So far, the district has not been notifying parents that a school is without a service provider and the burden is then on the parent to learn of the service gap. Because parents may not know to request service logs or think to call an IEP meeting to discuss, the more transparent and, frankly, trust-building approach would be for the district to send out notice of a service gap and reassure parents that the district will make up the missed service minutes. For example, the district did not notify Miller parents that their students hadn’t been receiving speech and language services for weeks because there was no speech and language pathologist to provide services. Why isn’t the district notifying parents of service gaps and offering to make up the missed service minutes?
A: For short-term service gaps, such as a Special Education service provider being out ill, any lost service minutes are added to the student’s weekly minutes and made up by the provider, either by longer future sessions or more sessions. (usually Speech or OT). For example, if a student receives 30 min of speech weekly and misses 2 sessions due to a provider being out, those minutes are added to future sessions or are made up in an additional weekly session. Parents are not notified of those minutes but they do appear on the service logs. For BI and 1:1 aides who are out, coverage is either provided by temporarily re-assigning site staff or by agency subs or coverage by a Program Specialist.
For longer-term shortages, such as a site being without a provider (Speech, OT, APE), parents are notified by email at the email address in SEIS, and sometimes via US Mail. When a provider is not available on campus, we notify the parents that there is not a provider, via mail. When a provider is found, we notify individual parents of the new provider and the missed minutes. For Miller, the parents were notified by email that there was not an OT from Oct. 25- January 24th. The new OT just started yesterday, and parents will receive a letter with the missed minutes for their students. Parents are encouraged to ensure the school has the correct email address and to ask if they have questions about service minutes.
If you have not been notified, please contact your school.