October Minutes

Staff Advisory Council Minutes

Division Updates

• Staff advisory minutes

• Academic Calendar Feedback 

• Teacher and Staff Member of the Year

Central Elementary

Good news:

Thanks for bringing back Teacher/Support Person of the Year.  Why is the deadline in November?  The year is not even ½ over.

The VDOE has moved its process earlier in the year to February. Having our process resolved in December provides our nominated individual with a month to prepare the packet of information to be submitted to the state.

Staff Questions/Concerns:

1.  Concerns again about the lack of planning/preparation time, especially with the poor training on the new literacy curriculum

I appreciate Mrs. Barnabei working creatively to lessen the impact of the lost recess aides: 

“Teaching staff no longer have lunch duty and are on a rotating recess schedule.  So, while they no longer have recess free because of recess aides, they do not have recess duty each day (except for the grade levels choosing to still go out to recess each day because they enjoy it (some of K and all of 1st) but they do not have lunch duty. 

So, the amount of planning time loss (30 mins of recess 5 days a week- 150 minutes) compensated by not having lunch duty once a week- gained 30 minutes back and not having recess duty once a week, gained another 30 minutes.” 

This doesn’t completely solve the issue. Teachers at Central are still giving up about 90 minutes of planning per week - during a year when planning time is precious. Regarding the literacy training that was administered by the VDOE, I agree it was not what we had hoped for. I applaud our in-house literacy specialists for their exemplary work to fill in the gaps and help provide much-needed support for our teachers.

2. The tables in the cafeteria need to be fixed.

This is an issue that needs to be brought to the principal’s attention first so that appropriate protocol for maintenance/repair can be implemented. I have let Mrs. Barnabei know.

3. The new SPED model is not working; not enough support in each classroom as the SPED teacher is moving from room to room to room.  Are we sure students are receiving all of their allotted minutes?

Previous feedback submitted to the principal indicated collaborative classes were disproportionate with students requiring specialized services, therefore to best meet the needs of all students and respond to teacher feedback the model of delivery of service for this year was adjusted.  Students are far exceeding their required IEP service time through specialized instructional delivery. 

I do believe more clarity is needed to address this concern. There are multiple models of delivery currently being implemented at Central. Please provide more information and/or meet with the principal and Mrs. Valentine so we can help pinpoint and resolve the concerns. Specific questions about service delivery or minutes can go through the SPED case manager, SPED team lead or SPED administrator. 

4. What can be done about staff morale?  Get togethers?

I would love to develop some activities that would help enhance staff morale. Please communicate with your colleagues and SAC representatives so they can bring back some ideas. We will also discuss this as a leadership team.

5. Could there be a possible Town Hall with school board and administration and staff?

My quick answer is “yes”, though my understanding is that this is what I am currently doing with the “block parties” when I meet with staff in small groups in the schools. If there is another format or time that would be more accessible to staff, please communicate that with your SAC representatives so we can discuss this in our next meeting. I am open to pursuing any and all opportunities to meet with our staff.

6. Can report cards be looked at…..printed for elementary school students.  We have no way of knowing if parents have seen them or not.  The technology is horse and buggy.  The grades do not populate for the following 9 weeks.  I have to reenter the grades.

The reason that teachers currently have to re-enter grades is due to the desire to have quarterly standards report cards rather than annual. Regardless of whether we have online or paper report cards, this will not change unless teachers are manually filling out the grades on the paper report card with a pen/pencil. We could consider switching to year-long standards, but this is a decision that should be made by Central working with our instructional leadership. This would mean that the standard is graded once per year rather than each quarter. 

Powerschool will produce a report that teachers can access in order to see if the unique parent portal account has logged in. However, the Parent Portal report cannot tell you what the account looked at or who (which parent), specifically, was using the computer at that time. It could have been mom, dad, grandparent, sibling, the student, a combination of people. 

Lastly, part of the savings of going online is the time recovered from employees not having to print the report cards, stuffing envelopes, and dispersing the report cards (sorting by class, stuffing backpacks, etc).

This is a decision that can also be revisited, although I get considerable feedback each year from staff and community asking that we abandon “paper” and move to all digital.

7. Question about the safety of the first and second-grade playground equipment.  It was originally for older kids.  Concerns about injuries.

Any playground equipment that was not age appropriate has been disassembled from use (for example, the swinging/hanging bars). The rest of the equipment was deemed age appropriate AND in speaking with the nurses again this morning, we've had two broken bones this year. One on a piece of playground equipment and one that fell on the blacktop at recess.  The nurses see more students running/bumping into one another than off of the playground equipment.  

8. SPED aids need a raise.

Thank you for this feedback. I will continue to advocate for salary increases for these and all of our employees.

9. One of our nurses would like to invite School Board members and Central Office Staff to come and observe a day in the life of Central’s Nurse(s).  More support is needed as there are students with serious medical issues:  diabetes; seizures; feeding tubes; students receiving daily medication…This does not include injuries and acute illnesses.  Over 80 kids a day are being seen.

Thank you. I will look for an opportunity to spend some time with the nurse(s) at Central.

10. If there are banked days available, could a day off be provided in April/May, giving parents notice?

There is a thorough explanation of “banked” time in the January 2023 minutes here (https://sites.google.com/apps.fluco.org/superintendentstaffadvisory23/sac-minutes-and-dates/january-2023). We don’t have additional, unnecessary days built or “banked” into our calendar.

11. Cell Phone usage is not a problem with students, but staff….that is often a different ball game. 

Could this person explain more? This is an important comment but there’s no detail to consider.

12. Chromebooks are fine to use in class as long as it is a supplement to what is happening in the classroom.  Students should be limited as to how much time they spend on their chromebooks as most have enough screen time at home.  There is a lot to be said for paper/pencil work.

Thank you for this feedback. 

13. https://www.fcpsva.org/pdf/FCPS%202024-25%20School%20Calendar%20FINAL.pdf It has been suggested that we look at this school system’s calendar. Wellness days have been added to the calendar.

I have submitted this suggestion for review by the Calendar Committee. 

Carysbrook Elementary

Good news:

Staff Questions/Concerns:

1. Can you bring up the idea of the elementary schools starting a little later(7:45?) so that they are not standing/playing near the road at dark? It is unsafe. I know this can reduce the number of built-in days in the calendar, so I wanted to bring it up now. 

I am happy to consider this and would ask that this issue be brought first through the calendar committee being led by Gemma Soares. 

FMS

Good news: 

Staff Questions/Concerns:

What is the process for determining a weather related closing and who is ultimately responsible for making the decision?

Our process involves early and frequent communication, typically among the superintendent and executive staff involved in assessing roads, buildings and transportation initially. We consult with VDOT and the Sheriff’s Office to gain the most comprehensive picture possible, and we typically get out and drive the roads throughout the county to see the conditions. Ultimately, the decision rests with the superintendent.

Staff advisory meetings are after school, department meetings are after school, why are district administration meetings held during school? Our staff are being pulled in several different directions making sure that needs are met when staff members are out. Having admin pulled from the building and unavailable to help makes things even more difficult.

The majority of district and school administrators involved in our leadership meetings are working after school hours. We always prioritize the needs of the school if administrators are needed there and excuse their absence from leadership meetings in those circumstances.

There has been concern/conversation that the teacher rate for covering classes at the secondary level should be divided by 3, not 4. Because the absent teacher would have a planning period, therefore 3 teachers are needed to cover the classes even though it is a 4 block day.

Substitute teachers do not receive a planning period and are to be assigned to duty during all four periods.

FCHS

Good news:

• I'm overall happy with our school system and with our administrators.

That’s very encouraging!

• Great work by AD Morris and AD Barnett on keeping sports rolling during our turf and track redo. They have worked non-stop behind the scenes. Big props, fellas!

I agree; both do an exemplary job!

• I love Securely! The number of students wander in the halls way, way down from what I can see. Mrs. Holland (H.S. assistant principal) is such a dedicated and hard working admin - as are all of our FCHS admin. Mrs. Holland really cares about this school, the students and the staff. We are so lucky to have her!

This is all wonderful feedback.

• I am grateful for our administrators who have a tough job and are stretched thin.

Thank you for recognizing them!

• Anecdotally, the behavior issues and attendance problems in my classroom have decreased greatly over the years since COVID. It feels like we are back near baseline.

This is wonderful to hear!

• Our school has amazing community and support. We spend time reflecting and trying to make changes for the better. I appreciate the feedback and the positive outreach by colleagues and admin.

Thank you for sharing this encouraging feedback!

• Securly has been a great addition to the HS. Def keeping many kids out of the halls.

Thank you for sharing this perspective and I’m thrilled to learn it has improved things!

• Thank you to Mr. Small and the many others that helped to make Homecoming week a success! 

They have done an outstanding job and this year’s activities were tremendous!

• Securly has really made writing and monitoring passes easier and has kept students out of the hall (for the most part)

Great!

• Thanks for your service.

Thank you for all of this wonderful feedback!

Staff Questions/Concerns:

• The current internet filter that blocks virtually every academic and college website is an equity problem. Virtual Virginia students struggle with accessing course material and those who do not have their own computer at home still can't access research materials, assigned course material, etc.

This was addressed in last month’s minutes. Please contact Kristen Davis or Josh Gifford with any problem related to students accessing required materials.

• We need a more comprehensive approach to AI use. There is a policy in the student handbook, but it doesn't assist teachers in how to deal with the issues. What will be considered proof? Do we have access to AI detectors? It is a very thorny, difficult issue and more guidance would be helpful. If we just ignore it, we will be doing a disservice to our students.

Here is a response from secondary ITRT, Kristen Davis:

I've worked with a few teachers who have expressed concerned about AI cheating, here's some of what I've recommended:

1. Require all work in Google docs so revision history can be reviewed.

2. Use extensions like Classroom Zoom that create a timeline to show how the assignment was made over time and any areas of copying and pasting.

3. Give time in class and meet with students as they are developing their writing.

4. Allow and demonstrate proper use of AI to just fix grammar, spelling, and mechanics. It's all about the prompt.

5. I've recommended those AI detectors and used them. They can spot areas of AI use but it is not definitive, nor do I think they are reliable enough to hold up to accusations of cheating. Look at my examples below.

Essay written as a fall assessment by a 7th grader - 

Wrote a Chatgpt prompt with a sample of this writing and a new topic -