Kingsway Regional School District COVID19: District ... · 2. Virtual Learning & Supports Program...

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213 Kings Highway Woolwich Twp., NJ 08085 ∙ Phone (856) 467-3300 ∙ Fax (856) 467-5382 www.krsd.org

Kingsway Regional School District

COVID19: District Preparedness Plan

Dr. James J. Lavender

Superintendent of Schools

March 19, 2020

Submitted for Review to:

The Gloucester County Executive County Superintendent &

Office of Emergency Management

Kingsway & South Harrison Twp. Elementary School Districts

Kingsway Regional and South Harrison Twp. Elementary Schools have enacted an asynchronous technology instructional plan, known as our Virtual Learning and Support Program Plan, utilizing

online learning resources to facilitate information sharing among faculty, staff and students outside the constraints of traditional school during a time when our school community is

responding to the outbreak COVID-19.

Kingsway Regional School District 2

Commitment to Excellence


INTRODUCTION The Kingsway Regional and South Harrison Twp. Elementary School Districts are engaged in a comprehensive shared administrative service agreement and, therefore, this Virtual Learning & Supports Program Plan (“the Plan”) is designed to address our efforts to limit school community exposure to COVID-19 while delivering Asynchronous technology instruction and services to our K-12 students.

The Kingsway Regional & South Harrison Twp. School Districts (District), Gloucester County, recognizes the importance of continuing to educate its students in the event of a pandemic outbreak. While the District understands it might not be able to operate fully in a traditional school model, this plan will assist the District in continuing to provide students with a high-quality education for a minimum of 14 calendar days. PURPOSE This plan provides guidance to the Kingsway Regional & South Harrison Twp. School District and may serve as the plan for maintaining essential functions and services during a pandemic outbreak. It does not replace or supersede any laws or policies; it simply serves as a guideline to address continuity of operations of the school district, aligned to the requirements set forth by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) specific to disease outbreak. Those requirements include:

1. Written directive from DOH or Local health Agency ordering closure;

2. Equitable access to services for all students;

3. Address provision of appropriate education for Special Ed student; and

4. Provision of school nutrition benefits for eligible students.

COMMUNICATION Communication to District employees and stakeholders has already started. On March 15, 2020 a letter to the community and district employees was sent out. At that time, the district launched a webpage that includes information and updates. Moving forward, the district will use all available communication tools to provide District employees and the community with information and updates. This will include:

School Messenger robocalls;

School Messenger text messaging;

Emails;

Social Media;

Updates to the designated webpage;

District and building-level meetings.




SECTION I:

1. Pandemic Response Team / Essential Personnel During this time of planning and potential implementation of this plan, the following people are part of the Pandemic Response Team for the School District:

Dr. James J. Lavender, Superintendent

Mr. Jason Schimpf, School Business Administrator

Mrs. Patricia Calandro, Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Shanna Hoffman, Child Study Team Director

Mr. Michael Schiff, Supervisor of Pupils Services

Mrs. Kate McEntee, Director of Human Resources

Mr. Mike Shuster, Buildings & Grounds Supervisor

Mr. Mike Schneck, Transportation Director

Mr. Robert Iocona, Chief Technology Officer

Mrs. Holly Haynes, Food Services Manager

Additional Personnel include building principals, assistant principals, athletic director and instructional supervisors; District Office Staff to include administrative assistants, accounts payable, payroll administrator, transportation personnel, food service personnel, and buildings & grounds personnel; and, other personnel as deemed essential by the Superintendent of Schools.

Supplemental members of the Pandemic Response Team includes the Gloucester County Department of Health and Woolwich Twp. Police Department.

2. Certified Faculty & Staff Expectations

a. District & Building Administration In the event of at least 14-calendar day remote learning, district and building administration are responsible to engage families where/when needed; monitor and provide administrative oversight regading the virtual learning and supports program implemented on March 16th; engage faculty/staff via telephone and/or email; develop plan to address/reschedule/postpone field trips, class trips, on-campus assemblies, and out-of-district professional development experiences; identify students who are not engaged in teaching/learning to determine reasons and respond accordingly; address emergent issues related to student well-being and implement proper protocol to address harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

b. Classroom Teachers

In the event of at least 14-calendar day remote learning, teacher responsibilities to support students include 4 hours per day, 20 hours per week. Every teacher is responsible to support students assigned to them for the 2019-20 school year. Monitor your district-issued email account and respond as appropriate to parent/guardian emails within 24 hours. Provide academic feedback as appropriate to students. Collaborate with




building administration and grade/subject-level colleagues as needed for support and consistency throughout the district. Grade-level learning experiences have been developed for students.

3. Demographic Information

Number of Enrolled Students (as of 3/10/2020)

Kingsway Regional (2,804)

South Harrison Twp. Elementary (303)

Number of Special Education Students (as of 3/10/2020)

Kingsway Regional (559)

South Harrison Twp. Elementary (59) (Note: 29 are speech only)

Number of Homeless / Migrant Students



Number of Medically Fragile Students (includes 1:1 nursing in district)



Percentage of Students with a Device and Internet at Home (based on 3/9/2020 student survey)

Kingsway Regional (98.9%)

South Harrison Twp. Elementary (98.7%)

Percentage of Students Without a Device and / or Without Internet at Home (based on 3/9/2020 student survey)

Kingsway Regional (1.1%)

South Harrison Twp. Elementary (1.3%)

SECTION II:

1. Social Distancing Plan

a. Prior to School Closing on March 16, 2020, the Districts enacted a plan, effective Saturday, March 14th, to limit the public’s access to the school building and property in an effort to create social distance, while protecting our student and staff population and the population of visitors who may be at-risk. This plan included the following and will run indefinitely. We will continue to monitor the outbreak of COVID-19 and adjust and/or extend our social distancing efforts accordingly. Therefore, the Districts have required the following steps:




i. All indoor activities, assemblies, banquets, music concerts, etc., that would typically welcome parents, grandparents and residents as audience members, have been canceled indefinitely.

ii. All high school athletic events have been canceled, such as games and scrimmages, with the exception of practice on our site, have been canceled, indefinitely.

iii. All student filed trips and off-campus experiences are canceled indefinitely.

iv. All out-of-district professional development opportunities are canceled indefinitely.

v. Students, parents, guests, community organizations are not permitted to access and utilize Kingsway or South Harrison’s public spaces, playgrounds, fields or courts.

2. Virtual Learning & Supports Program Plan

a. Effective, Monday, March 16th, Kingsway Regional and South Harrison Twp. Elementary School enacted an asynchronous technology instructional plan, known as our Virtual Learning and Support Program Plan. This plan utilizes online learning resources to facilitate information sharing among faculty, staff and students outside the constraints of traditional school at a time when our school community is responding to the outbreak COVID-19. The plans can be accessed on our District websites and those links are provided below.

i. Kingsway Regional’s Virtual Learning & Supports Program ii. South Harrison Virtual Learning & Supports Program

b. Kingsway and South Harrison Township School Districts are uniquely positioned to deliver virtual instruction to our students via Google Classroom and Google Meeting. All teachers are required to facilitate instruction and have current Google Classroom Codes, per class, which will be shared with student to gain access.

c. Hours/Seat Time: Teachers are required to provide 3-4 hours of instruction, per class, per week, which incorporates time to watch prerecorded teacher videos, reading, viewing supplemental videos, completing classwork/homework and specific learning tasks.

d. Schedule: Teachers are required and expected to post daily work according to their normal rotating schedule (i.e. A-Day through D-Day (HS) or Monday through Friday (MS/SH).

e. Lesson Elements: Teachers are required to clearly post three lesson elements: Daily Objective, Learning Resources, and Student Engagement & Learning. Sample Lesson Elements and tools can be found below.

Teacher Posts Include Using These Tools

https://www.krsd.org/domain/434

https://www.southharrison.k12.nj.us/domain/217




Daily Objective Overview of the lesson; Objectives & connections to prior lessons/learning

Make a post to Google Classroom: Include in your presentations

Learning Resources (Instructional Piece)

Course readings (textbook, novel, packets), Digital textbook materials,

Google Slides/PowerPoint Presentations, Notes, Articles, Videos, links, etc...

Create/Post content: Use Google Meet recording to add narration to content to enhance instruction; Access existing content: Khan Academy, Digital Textbook content, iXL, supplemental videos, etc…

Engagement in Learning (student

activities and assignments)

Suggested Activities Include: Reflective writing, journaling,

guided note- taking Discussion boards,

assignment submission, post/share/ respond to audio, video, images, media

Writing, collaborating, peer editing Google Docs

Practice problems Research, writing, projects Online assessments Quiz

Tools: Complete Edpuzzle, Khan

Academy, IXL or other web Assignments

Complete Digital textbook assignments

Create Google Classroom Questions/discussions

Use Google Docs to have students write reflections

Create checks for understanding with Google Forms

f. Teacher Office Hours: Teachers are expected to be available for immediate response to

student inquiries during a two-hour window each school day Ex: Google Meet, chats, answer email, chatting in Google Docs, etc. using the times below. Make evident clear communication of your availability to students.

Wednesday Thursday Friday

Math: 9-11am English/Lit: 9-11am PE/Health: 9-11am

History: 12-2pm Science: 12-2pm Electives: 12-2pm

g. Student Attendance: Will be maintained and monitored through student presence as evidenced through completed activities, assignments, discussion, etc.

h. Lesson Plans: Teachers will continue to post weekly lesson plans on OnCourse as usual.

3. How will special education and related services be provided for students with disabilities?

a. Lesson Plans: Teachers will continue to post weekly lesson plans on OnCourse as usual.

i. Collaboration with inclusion partners must continue. Special Education inclusion teachers are expected to continue to note accommodations/modifications as documented in students’ IEP in OnCourse. General education teacher who




educate students without the support of a Special Education teacher must implement appropriate modifications/accommodations for students as usual.

b. In-class Support & Resource Center: Students will follow the same virtual instruction plans as the general education students. Modifications and/or accommodations will be added to the daily lessons by the Special Education teacher (or general education teacher if Special Education teacher is not in the class) for students via Google Classroom.

c. STEP: Students will be provided daily instruction via their current online platforms for which they are familiar and that provide appropriate modifications and accommodations at their unique levels.

d. Related Services; All providers are prepared to deliver maintenance activities for parents to continue with students at home. This will not replace mandated services, however: IEPs are written in a way that will allow total number of sessions per year to be fulfilled when school resumes. For those students who demonstrate regression without recoupment, compensatory education and/or extended school year (ESY) can be considered.

e. Accessibility Features for Students with Disabilities: This document will be offered to parents of students with disabilities to assist with the use of technology. Google Tips to offer accessibility extensions on your browser will be included and incorporate how to magnify your Chromebook screen, to color enhancers, caret browsing, contrasting and apps that read text aloud through a text-to-speech extension that convert’s a webpage into audio. Additionally, extensions to browse with your keyboard, expand screen colors and voice-in type will be shared.

f. Child Study Team Members: will monitor email and voicemail to meet students, parents, staff and administrator needs as requested. CST will continue to prepare draft IEPs for future meetings and/or finalize IEPs for those completed. CST will also investigate IEP meeting reschedule options and/or conduct evaluations/meetings at a student’s home or through Google Meeting, if appropriate.

4. How will the District ensure access to technology devices and/or Wif to all students?

a. Technology Access: Of the 2,804 Kingsway Regional Middle and High School Students and 303 South Harrison Twp. Elementary School Students, a recent survey determined that a small number of students and faculty, less than 2 percent, do not have access to a technology device at home and/or do not have access to internet. The chart below demonstrates what we have learned about access to technology.

b. Providing Equitable Access to Technology: Presently, the District has 2,014 Chromebooks and chargers. Each Chromebook is equipped with a webcam, which will support virtual learning through Google Classroom and Google Meeting. Therefore, a plan has been established to provide access to these devices and students will be notified and arrangements made to allow students, and faculty, to borrow these devices. For those




students who cannot pickup up the device, arrangements will be made to deliver these devices to a student’s home. Furthermore, information will be provided to students on how to obtain internet access through Comcast Essentials for FREE.

Students without

Internet at home

Students without

technology at home

Teachers without

internet at home

Teachers without

technology at home

High School 24 47 1 3

Middle School 9 18 0 0

Elem. School 4 5 0 2

Total 37 70 1 5

Section III:

1. Plan Guidance on School Nutritional Plan

a. How will school nutrition benefits or services be provided to eligible students?

The food service department is dedicated to continue offering “grab and go” meals designed to meet the nutritional needs set forth by the USDA Child Nutrition Program during the school closure. Families receiving meal benefits are encouraged to contact the Kingsway Regional food service department to continue receiving school meals while school is closed. Therefore, the following arrangements have been made to deliver school nutritional benefits to eligible students.

i. Eligible Students: At present, 349 middle and high school students and 45 elementary school students are eligible for free/reduced lunch.

ii. Lunch Options/Brown Bag: Food service staff will prepare fresh meals daily as brown bag options pursuant to USDA guidelines.

iii. Access/Delivery: Students and/or their parents may pick up lunch daily at the Kingsway Regional High School North Entrance, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. However, families that do not have means to transportation, we will deliver a brown bag lunch to the student’s residence.

iv. Student Privacy: Every effort will be made to ensure the anonymity of students who qualify for free/reduced lunch.

2. Does the plan address the provision of school nutrition benefits or services for eligible students? (Districts should provide the following information in their plan so it can be passed on to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture in the event the pending waiver request before the United States Department Agriculture is granted.)




KINGSWAY REGIONAL

SFA Name: Kingsway Regional School District

Agreement #: 01502440

Date Meal Distribution will begin: 3/17/2020

Date Meal Distribution will end: TBD

Schools/Site where distribution of meals will take place: Kingsway Regional High School/North Main Entrance Lobby

Meals to be claimed for reimbursement per day: (up to two meals, or one meal and one snack, per child per day) 1 meal per day

SOUTH HARRISON TWP. ELEMENTARY

SFA Name: Kingsway Regional School District

Agreement #: 01502440

Date Meal Distribution will begin: 3/17/2020

Date Meal Distribution will end: TBD

Schools/Site where distribution of meals will take place: South Harrison Elementary School/Cafeteria

Meals to be claimed for reimbursement per day: (up to two meals, or one meal and one snack, per child per day) 1 meal per day

3. Provision of School Nutrition Benefits for Eligible Students

a. In the event the district implements this 14-calendar day remote learning plan, Kingsway Regional School District has the following food service plan to ensure the provision of meals to eligible students.

b. In accordance with guidance released March 6, 2020 from the USDA, the district will apply for the temporary Summer Seamless Option (SSO) program in SNEARS.

c. The district will propose the following food drop off sites. The school areas cover the entire district and represent all district students in elementary, middle and high schools. Meals will be prepared at two school locations and will be delivered and distributed through a district-supplied van.

i. Pick-up site- South Harrison Elementary School District- cafeteria

ii. Pick-up site- Kingsway Regional School District- HS North Main Entrance

d. The following Proposed Feeding Plan will be followed:

i. Offer “grab and go” bagged lunches from the cafeteria back door at the South Harrison Elem. School District between 10:00am-12:00pm and the Kingsway High School North Main Entrance between 10:00am-12:00pm.

ii. A maximum of four district employees will be at each location. The Principal and other school staff will assist and one district SRO will be located at each site. Business office and other district staff will be available as needed.

iii. A table would be set up for students to pick up their bagged meals for Lunch for five days.

iv. As required by the NJ Department of Agriculture, a roster of student names for all meals picked up will be maintained. A table will be set up with the bagged




lunches and a food service staff member will request the student’s ID number and check it against the Student Listing Report.

v. Bags will be prepared to serve five days.

vi. Production reports will be maintained with meal quantities prepared, times and temperatures.

vii. Food orders have been placed to implement the proposed plan for the first week upon school closure. Additional food orders will be placed as needed depending on length of closure and food need.

4. Lunch menu options

a. 2 days of turkey and cheese sandwiches. Prepared in separate bags, so students can make their own sandwich, and there is no concern for “soggy” sandwiches.

b. 2 days of Italian meat sandwiches. Prepared in separate bags, so students can make their own sandwich, and there is no concern for “soggy” sandwiches.

c. 1 day of a ham and cheese sandwich. Prepared in separate bags, so students can make their own sandwich, and there is no concern for “soggy” sandwiches.

d. Pre-packaged carrots, cucumber slices, or green/red peppers

e. Juice/fresh fruit

f. Milk (required to “offer” as part of meal)

g. Families may request alternate meals based of food allergies or religious beliefs.

h. Information on the food distribution times and process will be posted on the district’s website. Robo calls and emails will also be used, as needed, to share the plan and direct parents and students to the website for additional information. Information on how to locate a summer or alternate food service program-feeding site is located on our school website under the food service page.

SECTION IV:

1. Plan Component & Other Considerations to Support Kingsway & South Harrison’s Virtual Learning & Supports Program Plan

a. Does the plan include equitable access to instruction for all students? Yes-all students will engage in virtual learning with the accommodations/ modifications specified in the IEP to the most appropriate extent possible.

b. Does the plan include an overall demographic profile of your district, including students counts for state funded preschool, homeless, low socioeconomic (LSE), students with disabilities, and English language learners (ELLs)? Kingsway & South Harrison’s Plans support students in these subgroups includes ensuring device and Wifi access, accommodations/ modifications specified in individualized plans,




and access to teachers and counselors. Additionally, teachers and counselors will monitor progress on assignments completed virtually and contact families of students who are not engaging in learning activities to provide additional individualized support/ remove barriers.

c. Does the plan ensure that all students, with their varied and age-appropriate needs, are addressed through the plan? The plan ensures all students receive varied and age-appropriate support by way of ensuring teachers are knowledgeable about and utilizing principles of UDL, as well as the necessary accommodations/ modifications/ scaffolded supports.

d. Does the plan demonstrate a working knowledge (data summary or narrative) of student access to technology for grades identified in your plan as being served by one or more online platforms? Yes. Prior to the school closure on March 16th, surveys were sent to all students, while attending school, to determine individual student access to technology. Initial surveys demonstrated that 65 of the 1,917 students enrolled at Kingsway Regional Middle and High School did not have access to a device to access the internet. 10 of the 303 students enrolled at South Harrison Twp. Elementary School did not have a device to access the internet. On March 18th, Kingsway and South Harrison’s Chromebook deployment plan was enacted, which continued through March 19th and more than 480 Chromebooks were deployed to middle and high school students and 14 to elementary school students, considerably more than indicated through our surveys. This was due to students who had older devices wanting to ensure that there were no issues accessing Google Classroom.

Additionally, 57 Chromebooks were issued to 209 middle and high school teachers and 8 to 31 elementary school teachers. This was due teachers wanting to ensure that they could deliver instruction via Google Classroom and Google Meet.

By the close of business on March 18th, Kingsway and South Harrison are confident that all students and faculty have access to technology to deliver/consume asynchronous instruction via Google Classroom.

Moving forward, our teachers, counselors, child student team members and instructional supervisors have been directed to monitor student work and report any student not engaging/completing assignments after the first week to ensure that there are no additional technology issues or challenges to access on the student-user side. If issues are identified, they will be addressed accordingly. Now, Kingsway and South Harrison have an additional 600+ Chromebooks we can deploy in the event that the student-user’s device is problematic and/or a student did not report to have needed a device. If necessary, Chromebooks can and will be delivered to students/families who do not have access to transportation or other transportation issues preventing them from reporting to school to pick-up and/or exchange a faulty device.

e. Does plan include adapted materials and assignment to meet student needs? General and special education teachers have the responsibility to adapt instruction and assignments as per the student’s IEP. Support will be provided to teachers by




administration and CST case managers given the uniqueness of the virtual learning experience to ensure IEP supports are implemented to the most appropriate extent possible.

f. Does the plan prepare for how evaluations, IEP reviews, eligibility meetings and reevaluations meetings will be rescheduled? CST personnel will continue to prepare for IEP reviews, eligibility meetings, and re-evaluations while at home. Senior exit meetings can continue as previously scheduled in most cases. While at home, CST counselors will look at future dates to reschedule meetings. The CST Director will adhere to the most current guidance from the NJ DOE regarding exceptions that may be permitted which would allow for virtual meetings from home for families who are agreeable.

g. Does the plan include communication with all parents, including those students in out-of-district schools and contracted providers (e.g. head start, private preschool), in their native language? Out-of-district schools are communicating directly with families. Follow-up communication via School Messenger will be sent from the CST Director to ensure all families are aware their child’s OOD school is closed for the next two weeks. CST Director is communicating directly with contracted providers.

h. Does the plan consider the needs of students who are medically fragile? The District will follow the IEP to the most appropriate extent possible. Case managers will communicate with parents of students with disabilities to ensure students have the necessary supports, including medical supports for those students who are medically fragile.

i. Does the plan outline the determination of how related services will be determined? Families will be provided with activities to do with their children at home to maintain skills acquired. We are exploring delivery of related services via virtual methods. IEP mandated services can be fulfilled upon return with a two-week closure. For a closure beyond two weeks, related service providers will determine if the child requires compensatory education and/or ESY due to regression without recoupment when school is back in session.

j. Does the plan include communication with out-of-district schools where district students are attending including what will happen if the district is closed and the school is not? The Transportation Supervisor will communicate with the county-office transportation consortium regarding contracted runs so that OOD students whose schools are open can continue to attend when the district is closed.

k. Does the plan consider transportation for students attending out-of-district schools and when and how to inform vendors if schools close? Vendors will be informed by the county-office transportation consortium. The county-office should receive direct notification from the OOD schools.

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