A FOIA Request was made for my communications with various people. Legally I am bound to provide this information and I would like all of the public to see the requested information. The FOIA request wants my communications with a variety of people and seems like a fishing expedition for political purposes. I have nothing to hide so I'm sharing the messages publicly as they are produced. It is unfortunate that my political opposition is taking up valuable staff time to compile these items for political purposes. The person making the request is LUCAS ANDERTON who is a paid operative for several local campaigns (see attached). The opposition seems to be on a fishing expedition but they aren't going to find any rotting fish that they hope for. I am one of the most transparent local elected officials and I'm happy to share my communications here. FIRST FOIA DOCUMENT FROM MY EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS Two of my colleagues are denying that Glenn Singleton's Courageous Conversations is being used in VBCPS. At the last School Board meeting, the superintendent and director of equity and inclusion both stated we are currently using it.
I will not stand for the public being told lies. Here is the video of the last meeting (starting at 1:57): https://youtu.be/NptfQW36d9A?t=7017 The superintendent says: "we do have some training we use now Courageous Conversations Around Races and other training that happens in our schools" and then the Director of Equity and Inclusion also confirms our "framework courageous conversations about race". These are two emails from two colleagues that were sent out in reply to citizen concerns. The image above was provided to me and I have verified that this is part of current training in VB Schools. If you have any viewpoints that you would like to share regarding these new and amended policies, contact the school board at the group e-mail: vbcpsschoolboard@googlegroups.com or call to sign up to speak at 757-263-1016. You may also sign up to speak by using this form. 1: EQUITY POLICY: * Will mandate training for employees and School Board members regarding the topic of Culturally Responsive Practices. School Board has not been informed of what the required training will be. We must vote on the policy to know what is in the policy. Superintendent verified that part of current training is "Courageous Conversations About Race" (see above). Glenn Singleton's "Pacific Education Group based in San Francisco makes millions of dollars from this type of training throughout the country. He is political and seems to be extreme and seems to hold his own biases. I do not know if this is what will be mandated but it is being used now. * I had a meeting with administration last week and I verified that not all stakeholder groups were represented in creating this policy. The Equity Council and the Policy Review Committee (made up of 3 School Board members) drafted the policy. The equity council is made of 20 members, 16 of which are VBCPS employees. There was little to no representation from the Latin, Filipino, or Native American community. A member of the United Jewish Federation was invited to participate (which is great) but no other Christian or Muslim organization was specifically invited. No one was invited who represented the Special Education Community. * Budget: the policy gives the Superintendent full authority to spend money with no cap to hire consultants and to implement the policy. 2. SCHOOL BOARD STANDING RULES: * Reduces the amount of the time the public can address the school board from 4 minutes to 3 minutes 3. BY-LAW 1-47: * Reduces the amount of time for the public to speak and also reduces the window of when speakers can sign up to address the Board 4. POLICY 3-32-CONTRACT EXECUTION POLICY: * Exempts certain items up to $100,000 from being competitively procured. This includes Instructional Software and Digital Resources. There are thousands of companies that provide these products. ACTUAL POLICY DRAFT DOCUMENTS School Board wants to reduce the amount of time the public can speak at School Board meetings.9/4/2020
Next Wedn the School Board will vote on lowering the amount of time citizens can speak at a public meeting.
Why would the Board want do this? Do they not want to hear from the people who they serve? E-mail the Board or sign up to speak: vbcpsschoolboard@googlegroups.com or 263-1016 Last winter, the School Board Ad-Hoc Discipline Committee conducted surveys of teachers and staff at a variety of schools throughout the district. Attached are the qualitative results from those surveys. School Board Legal council has reviewed and redacted appropriate portions of the document for personnel/privacy reasons. Prior to COVID, I made the decision to run for re-election. The primary reason is because I wanted to continue to be a voice for employees and students related to student discipline problems that I believe strongly relate to safety. Elementary Level Discipline Survey Results Middle School Survey Results High School Survey Results The new policies being discussed on 8/25 and then most likely up for a vote at the following school board meeting are detailed below. If you would like to provide feedback, you may sign up to speak at 263-1016 or e-mail the full board at vbcpsschoolboard@googlegroups.com The policies include: Policy Review Committee Recommendations: 1. Equity Policy (brand new 5 1/2 page policy) 2. Bylaw Appendix B / School Board Standing Rules (changes public comment time from 4 minutes to 3 minutes) 3. Bylaw 1-18/ Officers: Elections and Terms of Office (no significant changes to current practice) 4. Bylaw 1-39/ Agenda Preparations (no significant changes) 5. Bylaw 1-47/ Public Comments at School Board Meetings (changes public comment time from 4 minutes to 3 minutes, also reduces amount of time to be able to sign up to speak) 6. Policy 3-32/ Emergency/Small/Sole Source Purchases (exempts certain items such as instructional software and digital resources from competitive bidding) 7. Policy 3-89/ General Contract Execution (increases purchasing authority without approval of business services office) When I was advocating for in-person learning (at a reduced capacity and with proper social distancing and mitigation measures), many of my colleagues and the VBEA union were adamantly opposed because they said that it wouldn't be safe. Union members were saying that we wanted teachers and students to be "canaries in a coal mine". My opponent and board colleague said those of us advocating for in person learning were "playing russian roulette with a gun". I was advocating for parents and teachers to have a choice regarding whether or not students/staff went back to school for in-person learning. The Board voted 8-3 to have only virtual school until the metrics show that it is safe. Now, VBCPS is going to provide childcare in our elementary schools BEFORE their metrics show that it is safe. Are these same Board members and VBEA Union going to speak out against having these children in school because of the dangers? I don't believe so. One of the Board members, who is also a Union member and was calling for "First 9 online" has already praised the childcare plan. How is it all of a sudden safe when the metrics they voted to approve have not yet been met? I guess the COVID virus only infects people if schools are being used for school and not childcare. See attached document for details. Around 1:15am this morning, the VB School Board voted 8 to 3 to approve the superintendent's recommendation of online school to begin the fall. I, along with 2 other Board members, advocated for parents to have a choice for in person learning or virtual learning. I felt that due to the reduced numbers of students who would be returning to school (based on parent questionnaires), we could do it safely. I advocated for proper PPE for our staff. I also advocated for staff who have underlying medical conditions or care for family members with medical concerns to also have a choice.
During the meeting, we heard from pediatricians. One doctor stated that he has seen a 23% rise in children with depression indicators. Another pediatrician indicated that children have already died due to factors of isolation. I have spoken with medical professionals who have told me that there has been a surge of people with suicidal ideations. It is my view, after talking with medical experts that the risks of isolation in both our students and staff outweigh the risks of COVID. I also know there are a large number of teachers who have indicated they want to be back to in-person learning this fall. We can never guarantee complete safety, even without COVID. We can minimize risk. It was my view that this could be done through smaller class sizes and proper PPE. We must now move forward with the plan approved by the School Board. My greatest concern is that the "green" indicators for returning our 7-8th grade, and 10-12th grades back to school are much too stringent. Even a pediatrician last night said that it could take years to get into the "green" level and that COVID could be with us for many years. The Superintendent did indicate that there is flexibility to send students back to school once we are in the "yellow" levels. The plans for the different levels are attached. I am also concerned for our students with special needs, our specialty programs that require hands on learning (VoTech, ATC) as well as our elective classes (music, art, PE, etc). I know that we have a lot of dedicated teachers and staff who will do their best to try to make the Superintendent's plan work and I will offer my support to do all we can to help all of our students succeed. My colleague Carolyn Weems and I have created an alternative proposal for VB Schools reopening (letter below). We disagree with the recommendation made by the Superintendent and have presented an alternative proposal to our Colleagues on the School Board. So far, one other Board member has signed on for support. This decision was reached after receiving expert medical opinions from local physicians as well as recommendations from the CDC and AAP. If you support our proposal, please e-mail the Board and let them know: vbcpsschoolboard@googlegroups.com A vote is scheduled for tomorrow evening. A group is also organizing a rally in support of choice, here is a link to their event: http://evite.me/JDJbdXGa84 Apparently, the Board will not receive the collated data from the Parent & Staff questionnaires until Tuesday, but below are some of the results. I continue to review the recommended plan and welcome feedback from the public. School Board group e-mail is vbcpsschoolboard@googlegroups.com.
Family data (34802 respondents) Scenario 1 (face to face) preference: Send to school, 62% Remote learning only, 36% Would disenroll, 1% Scenario 2 (hybrid) preference: Send to school, 72% Remote learning only, 24% Would disenroll, 3% Scenario 3 (virtual only) Will you continue to enroll in VBCPS: Yes, 84% No, 16% Instructional Staff data (5377 respondents) Return to position in Scenario 1 (face to face): Yes, 84% Undecided, 15% No, will retire or resign, less than 1% Preference for teaching in Scenario 1: No preference, 40% Prefer face to face, 35% Prefer to teach remotely only, 25% Return to position in Scenario 2 (hybrid, alternating day): Yes, 90% Undecided, 9% No, will resign or retire, less than 1% Preference for teaching in Scenario 2: No preference, 43% Prefer face to face, 32% Prefer to teach remotely only, 25% Return to position in Scenario 3 (virtual only): Yes, 92% Undecided, 7% No, less than 1% Non-Instructional Staff data (2446 respondents) Return to position under face to face model: Yes, 89% Undecided, 10% No, less than 1% Return to position under Hybrid (alternating day) model: Yes, 91% Undecided, 8% No, less than 1% I previously posted a statement on social media that I received from the VBEA stating that they are opposed to schools reopening this fall. The attacks toward me in the comment section were interesting. People saying that I no longer support teachers is absolutely incorrect. I want to share a portion of an e-mail that I received from a teacher asking us to reopen schools:
“I had a sad FaceTime conversation with one of my… students. She has my cell number because communicating with her during virtual learning was easier than Zoom. As we started talking her tears began to flow. She told me she was so worried about school next year and what it was going to be like. She sits at home alone a lot and doesn't get out to see friends. She misses school so much and wants to go back so bad.” For all of those people with the VBEA saying that I don’t listen to teachers, the VBEA only represents a small portion of VB Schools employees. I’m also listening to all sides, including the large number of teachers who feel that it is in the best interest of the students to return to the classroom this fall. I have talked with many pediatricians and other physicians who have stated that the negative aspects of not having in-person learning far outweigh the impacts of COVID. I still support our employees and I also support our parents and students. I support choice. I support those who want to opt-in their students to in-person learning but I also support those who want to opt-in to full time meaningful virtual learning. For our employees who have documented health conditions, options are being provided per the “reopening plans” provided by HR and I support our HR department for making those accommodations. Other plans for paid leave have also been put into place for anyone who has been exposed to COVID or must care for family members who have been exposed (see reopening plans for further details). I also support the division providing appropriate PPE to our staff. I support our teachers and employees, but I do not support the VBEA. Last year when I was advocating for teacher working conditions related to student discipline problems, fighting and school safety the VBEA leadership filed a complaint against me, rather than helping me. They were not happy because I was exposing what was really happening behind the scenes. I have not seen the VBEA do anyting to help with teacher concerns related to student discipline problems and school safety? For those stating that the VBEA is not a union and that there is no collective bargaining—you are incorrect. They are (by their own admission) a union and collective bargaining can also now be allowed in Virginia based on new legislation just passed. Page 5 and 6 of this document outlines paid leave options for employees. Up to 12 weeks for COVID related issues. These are CURRENT guidelines for employees who have returned/are returning to work. One of the reasons I decided to run for re-election is to be able to have a voice for teachers, staff and parents who have been expressing their concerns related to safety and student discipline. I have been raising these concerns for a couple of years now and a temporary committee was finally created this year to try to address those concerns. Even though the chair of the committee wanted to end the work of the committee prior to our completion, I was able to get the committee to push forward and recommendations will be made to the full school board at this week's School board retreat. I will highlight those recommendations later but wanted to share some of the data that was collected from staff surveys. 26 schools were surveyed by our committee. Schools were chosen based on VDOE survey results. Approximately half of the schools were those that scored highest on the VDOE surveys in the areas of discipline and safety and the other half were those that scored the lowest. Here are the qualitative summaries that I put together from the staff surveys on the topic of student discipline and safety. Appropriate portions were redacted by the School Board attorney. Here is the agenda for the School Board Retreat for July 7 & 8. The public will have the opportunity to address the Board regarding views regarding reopening schools. The Board will be meeting in person for the retreat meetings as well as having meals together. However, the Board will leave prior to the public speaker portion of the meeting. The speaker portion of the meeting will be via ZOOM.
I requested to have the speaker portion in-person but was overruled. If you wish to speak to the Board on the topic of School Reopening, this will be your opportunity. Instructions for speaking: Remarks are limited to four minutes per person. Requests to address the Board are made through the clerk of the Board by calling 757.263.1016 by noon the day of the meeting. A few weeks ago, the Board chose to have a 4 1/2 hour IN PERSON closed meeting to evaluate the superintendent and to vote to give him a $12,000 bonus and extend his contract (I voted NO). However, the Board cannot take the time to hold an in-person hearing to listen to our very important stakeholders (the community) on the very important topic of reopening our schools. This letter was received by the School Board from a Pediatrician and Emergency Physician. It is important for the public to know that my decisions regarding reopening schools are based on input from experts on the ground including parents, teachers, staff and physicians. These local physicians also garnered a petition of 8,000 people who signed to reopen our schools full time. Many of those who signed the petition were also physicians.
I'm a pediatrician married to an emergency medicine physician (who has a masters in public health)....We've seen the fallout of school closures in children, and after speaking to many of our colleagues in health care, we decided to write a petition from the perspective of healthcare workers who feel that the health and well being of CHILDREN is not being considered enough in the closures of school. While there is no doubt that COVID is deadly for certain populations, we are dismayed that children are suffering needlessly. The petition is signed by thousands of pediatricians, physicians from all fields, social workers, nurses, counselors, speech therapists, teachers, and psychologists and psychiatrists, among others. Because so many parents wanted to sign it, we opened the petition to them and it now has nearly 8,000 signatures (growing by the day). (Most professionals did not add their credentials but I vouch for several hundred of them!) Please read it at https://www.change.org/openVAschools or see the attached signatures and comments PDFs with the petition copied below. We realize at this point that schools plan to open somehow, but we implore you to open FULL TIME with as much normal activity as possible, while making efforts to protect teachers. Moving to Phase 3 by August is needed, and we MUST not take the joy out of school-- recess, sports, and activities should be preserved as much as possible as they are directly responsible for kids' mental and emotional development and well-being. An "opt in to full time attendance" and "opt out for full remote learning" option makes the most scientific and practical sense for the following reasons: 1/ Hybrid models require parents to obtain childcare on 'off days.' a/This WIDENS the circles of exposure to daycares/nannies/adult caregivers which is the opposite of what we want to do. b/This is costly. Poor families struggle to afford childcare. Many kids will be home alone. Increasing the burden of finding care widens already existing inequities; some will have to quit jobs to stay home with children. c/There is likely not enough childcare to allow for this, even if affordable. Childcare is already hard to find, so even those who can afford it will struggle. Grandparents or older people who have cared for children in the past are often unable to care for extended families' children anymore. (This is our situation, and reflects others as well: grandparents cannot care for kids of two working parents due to risk factors, and nannies are scarce.) We are all seeing many situations in which young children are receiving no supervision at all. d/ Remote learning is NOT working for the vast majority of students, especially those with special needs AND is unfairly biased toward those who already have more resources to support ‘homeschooling’, widening already existing gaps. 2. Opt-out allows people who either DESIRE to homeschool or who MUST homeschool due to risk, to do so. Teachers who want to support remote learning due to their own health concerns can support the likely increase in families who choose to homeschool. 3. If busing is the issue, give the community the chance to re-envision this. Other states don’t use buses (eg California). Prioritize buses to be used by kids already identified (free-reduced lunch) and allow the community to rise to the challenge. Parents are used to networking and many would have to drive their kids to daycare if school wasn’t open. Please recruit physicians like us who are seeing FIRSTHAND what kids are experiencing-- as well as school counselors and psychologists, who are busier than ever-- to participate in existing 'task forces' and support schools to open in a sensible way. We see superintendents and college presidents on your task forces but we need more people who are seeing what is happening to kids over the last few months. From anxiety to depression, to screen addiction, regression of speech apraxia or social skills, we are seeing kids suffer immeasurably, for no benefit to them or society as a whole. Physicians on the ground want to participate in the decision-making processes. The CDC recommendations are somewhat nebulous and will be difficult to implement, and some should not be implemented at all in some places. We are a diverse Commonwealth. We want to help schools reopen and support the staff and teachers. |
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