Rescue Union School District

Educating for the Future, Together

Board Of Trustees Meeting Highlights - August 11, 2020

 

We continue our efforts to communicate effectively and in a timely fashion with our families and staffs.  We know not every parent, teacher, or staff member can attend our Board meetings, so we will provide a brief update after each Board meeting, sharing highlights and actions taken by the Board.  As always, please let us know how to better serve and communicate with you!  We want to be partners with you in the educational journey of the children entrusted to us.
 
UPDATES/REPORTS:
 
Superintendent Report
 
The Superintendent provided information regarding the opening of schools. 
 
Superintendent Olson started by thanking the RUFT negotiations team, RUFT Executive Board and the CSEA negotiations team for the countless hours they all gave this summer to develop their respective Memorandum of Understanding documents.   Each MOU includes provisions that address important aspects we will face this year whether we are in a hybrid model or distance learning.  The documents are impressive, thorough, and we appreciate the dedication and efforts put forth by each and every person on the teams that brought about an agreement of each.  It was a challenge, and we truly appreciate the thought, care and reflection that went into these documents for the benefit of our certificated and classified groups, and ultimately our students.
 
An important concern in our district has been the county’s capacity for testing.  Ed Manansala shared that last week the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved 5 million to assist with COVID-19 impacts on education in four areas: COVID-19 Testing, PPE, Childcare and Mental Health.
 
EDCOE is the recipient of the funding and will facilitate the operational use of these allocated dollars.  Increasing the testing capacity is the first priority.  EDCOE is working in partnership with El Dorado County in securing additional companies to expand testing capacity and increase responsiveness for students and staff.  A follow up meeting is set up this week to review, assess, and determine how best to implement additional testing focused on the 69 schools in our county.  He shared that since our district opens next week, the El Dorado County Public Health has prioritized additional support to our district so that until the regular testing is available in September, we will be covered for the next few weeks.  This is great news for us.  Additionally, one of the owners of the company the county is contracting with lives within our district.  Their children attend our schools!  They are very eager to support and help our district teachers and staff.
 
There has been some information in the news regarding our Distance Learning program and how we determined who would teach.  We had worked closely with the RUFT negotiations team to develop selection criteria.  Top priority went to those individuals with a known health risk. The next priority went to those individuals who has an age factor, and lastly if someone had an interest in teaching in the distance learning model they could apply.  We were able to offer a position to every general education teacher who desired to participate in the Frontier Virtual Academy. Some teachers declined when provided the teaching position offer and decided to remain in the hybrid mode, for various reasons.  In the beginning we did not think we would be able to offer special education teachers an opportunity to teach in the distance learning program, but since that time, we have been able to offer it, and each special education teacher who requested a position in the distance learning model has been offered a position.  Some have since declined, but each was provided the opportunity.  The only teachers we were not able to accommodate for the distance learning model were temporary teachers, part time teachers, or specialized individuals.  Because we did not have enough of our RUSD teachers apply for the Frontier Virtual Academy, we also had to hire two additional teachers from outside the district to cover the classes in Frontier.
 
Lastly, our teachers, administrators, and staff are hard at work this week preparing for Monday’s start of school.  We are grateful to and for our teachers and staff for their hard work and for their care in preparing for either distance learning through the Frontier Academy or our hybrid model.  Last week Sean held a disinfectant training for all custodial staff on our processes for disinfecting, the disinfectant we are using with our hypocholorous machine, the backpack sprayers they each received and all the procedures and protocols for cleaning.  I also got to go around the district yesterday to talk with principals and walk their campus to see the plans that they have developed for drop off and pick up, recess, the isolation rooms, lunch, hygiene, how to help students with social distancing and mask wearing.  In addition to all that, how they each are focusing on the first day of school and how to welcome the students and make it a special day.  Our M&O staff, Utility Techs and custodians have worked
 
incredibly hard to make sure our sites are ready to go and they have setup countless plexiglass barriers, are changing out filters, they have made all the new hand washing stations, conducted the necessary deep cleaning and a host of other projects.  Our IT department – I don’t even know where to begin!  Larry and his team always have a positive attitude, and they have taken on monumental tasks this summer to reschedule every student into Frontier, into the hybrid model, they have prepped all the Chromebooks to deploy and they have set up the Fuel Ed platform for teachers and list goes on.  Our office staff in the district office and at each site have been incredibly helpful as we navigate the scheduling issues of the hybrid model.  We are so grateful for them all and appreciate the time they have given to make this happen.  Bottom line, this has been a summer filled with seemingly insurmountable tasks and our folks have handled it with finesse and skill.  We know beyond a shadow of a doubt our students are in capable hands and that our students will have a fantastic year. A special thank you to our administrators, teachers, and staff for all their work this summer.
 
 
ACTION ITEMS:
 
    • The Board considered CSBA Call for Nominations Legislative Awards (no nominations)
    • The Board approved Resolution #20-09 – Conflict of Interest Code Review for 2020
    • The Board approved the revised school calendar for 2020-2021
    • The Board approved certificated personnel actions.
    • The Board approved classified personnel actions
    • The Board approved:
      • Minutes of the July 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting
      • District Warrants and Purchase Orders
      • Agreement for Legal Services
      • Williams Quarterly Report
      • AB181 White Paper Response – Serrano Village J, Lot H-41, Lot Residential
      • AB181 White Paper Response – Serrano Village M2-Unit 3
      • AB181 White Paper Response – Silver Springs Unit 1 Revere
      • Investment Portfolio Report - Quarter Ending June 30, 2020
      • Correction to P-2 Attendance Report
 
NEXT MEETING:   Regular Board Meeting, September 8, 2020