Freehold Township School District Reopening Plan

August 11, 2020

Restart and Recovery Plan

The Freehold Township School District Restart and Recovery Plan can be found in its entirety at the clickable link below:

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cNaQf2TOXUM-NQEXbxEYA_J5Tvc3IrcB/view?usp=sharing

Conditions for Learning

General Health and Safety Guidelines

• Promote behaviors that reduce spread:
• Stay home when appropriate
• Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette
• Face coverings
• Signs and messages

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• CDC’s Guidance for When to Quarantine

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• CDC’s Guidance for Schools and Childcare Programs

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• Accommodations for High Risk Staff

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• Accommodations for High Risk Students�
• People at Any Age with Underlying Medical Conditions

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Classrooms, Testing Rooms, and Therapy Rooms - Social Distancing

• Staggered arrival and dismissal through multiple points of entry�
• Staggered switching of classes in middle school�
• Student desks spaced six feet apart facing forward
• 12-14 students per classroom�
• Small group instruction may reduce social distancing as low as three feet
• Physical barriers made of plexiglass will be used as appropriate�
• Masks must be worn by staff and students while in the school�

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Classrooms, Testing Rooms, and Therapy Rooms

• Classroom windows will be open as practical�
• All schools are air conditioned with fresh air components�
• Air filters are aligned with manufacturer’s recommendations for unit�
• Eliminate the use of shared objects
• Preschool classrooms will rotate items used in centers and disinfect those items between use�
• Signage will be used to remind students to socially distance, establish one way paths as appropriate, identify entrances and exits, provide reminders to wash hands, provide reminders to keep masks on, and clearly state expectations to maintain safety of students and staff�

Classrooms, Testing Rooms, and Therapy Rooms - Hand Hygiene

• Classrooms without sinks will be provided bottles of hand sanitizer
• Hand sanitizer will be included on the list of optional school supplies
• Hand sanitizing stations with alcohol-based hand sanitizers (at least 60% alcohol) to be utilized before entering the school, throughout the school day, upon transitions, before/after bathroom use, snack, after blowing their nose and/or leaving/entering a classroom and will be located:
• In each classroom (for staff and older children who can safely use hand sanitizer),
• At entrances and exits of buildings,
• Near lunchrooms and toilets,
• Existing handwashing stations will be outfitted with soap, water and alcohol-based hand sanitizers (at least 60% alcohol).

Transportation

• Students must wear masks on buses at all times�
• Bus aides will wear masks and gloves at all times�
• Parents are asked to have their children use hand sanitizer before boarding the bus�
• Windows will be open to the extent possible�
• Vehicles will be cleaned and disinfected with an EPA approved Multi-Purpose Cleaner and disinfectant after each run and every day after all bus runs are complete. Daily checklists will be provided to the drivers and verified nightly.

Transportation - Social Distancing

• There will be one student in the two seater sitting at the window and one student in the three seater sitting at the window.
• An exception to this is if more than one family member are aboard the bus. In that case, they may sit next to one another.

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• When possible, students will be seated in alternating rows. Keep in mind, this may not be possible for all routes.

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• Spaces for students to sit will be clearly identified.

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• On the way to school, students will board the bus from back to front, no exceptions. Students will exit the bus from front to back, no exceptions.

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Student Flow, Entry, Exit, and Common Areas - Social Distancing

• Freehold Twp. Schools will establish social/physical distancing expectations inclusive of:
• walking on the right side of the hallway,
• giving 6ft of space to others,
• wearing masks at all times, including when walking halls, riding the bus, using bathrooms, entering & exiting classrooms & building.�
• Expectations will be communicated with staff, students and families.�
• Expectations will be embedded into PBS programming/approaches/lessons for the school year.

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• Signage in hallways to establish one way passages, six foot waiting spaces, and safety reminders

Student Flow, Entry, Exit, and Common Areas

• Freehold Twp. Schools will create structures and schedules which minimize the number of students in the hallway at one time.

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• Middle school students will stagger release from classrooms and limit transitions to different classrooms.

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• Elementary students will remain in their classrooms with limited transitions during Phase I (4 hour day) and stagger movement when students travel to lunch and related arts in subsequent phases.

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• Create arrival & dismissal plans which align with social distancing guidelines and help ensure students are 6ft apart with consideration for the entrances/exits utilized; staff will monitor hallways.

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Student Flow, Entry, Exit, and Common Areas

• Freehold Twp. Schools will limit the number of students who can enter the bathroom at one time.
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• Designate staff members to enforce limited capacity and avoid overcrowding

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• Elementary buildings will consider visual system to communicate when 2 (or max # agreed upon for social distancing) students are already inside the bathroom. For example, students have individual tags/passes which can be hung on two hooks outside the bathroom

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• A “waiting area” will be outlined in the hallway.

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PPE

• Students are required to wear masks while on the bus and on school property
• Students will be provided by the school district two reusable cloth masks�
• Staff are required to wear masks while on school property
• Staff will be provided by the school district a reusable cloth mask with a clear area around the mouth, one typical reusable cloth mask, and a face shield that is optional to wear�
• Visitors, if permitted into the building by Building Administration, are required to wear masks. Visitors will not be permitted into the buildings without face masks.�
• Nurses will be provided more enhanced PPE due to the nature of their responsibilities.

Screening

• Parents will be required to complete an electronic self screening tool in Genesis prior to sending their child to school each day.

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• Teachers, bus drivers and all staff will be required to complete a self screening tool in Genesis prior to the start of each school day.

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• Teachers / staff will be trained to visually check students for signs and symptoms COVID-19 illness.

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• Students or staff members who have not completed the self screening tool will be sent to a designee determined by administration, for evaluation.

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• Health checks will be conducted safely and respectfully, and in accordance with any applicable privacy laws and regulations.

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Screening

• Health checks will be conducted safely and respectfully, and in accordance with any applicable privacy laws and regulations.

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• Results will be documented by the school nurse in the student’s or staff member’s confidential school health record when signs/symptoms of COVID-19 are observed.

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• Accommodations will be made in the screening process for students with disabilities.

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• Administrators and school nurses will encourage parents to be on the alert for signs of illness in their children and to keep them home when they are sick.

Staff or Students Presenting Symptoms

• An isolation space will be established in each building. Students and staff with symptoms related to COVID-19 will be safely and respectfully isolated from others. Students will remain in isolation with continued supervision and care until picked up by an authorized adult. Staff members will remain in isolation until they are well enough to leave school or get picked up by a family member.
• The school nurse will follow current Communicable Disease Service guidance for illness reporting.
• If the school district becomes aware that an individual who has spent time in a district facility tests positive for COVID-19, district officials will immediately notify local health officials, staff, and families of a confirmed case while maintaining confidentiality.
• When a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, close contacts will be notified via written correspondence.

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Contact Tracing

• The District will collaborate with the local health department and engage our school nurses to educate the broader school community on the importance of contact tracing. All contact tracing will be conducted by the Freehold Area Health Department in collaboration with our school nurse and district administration.
• The District procedure for reporting a positive case of COVID-19 for anyone who has come in contact with or has themselves tested positive for COVID-19 will be as follows:
• Contact the school nurse and/or principal to report the situation.
• The principal will notify the Superintendent. District Administration will contact the NJDOE County Office and the Freehold Area Health Department and consult with them for the next steps to take about informing the school and community.
• The school nurse and the school administrators will assist the Freehold Area Health Department with their contact tracing procedures by providing any necessary information such as student/staff schedules, bus lists, seating charts, daily attendance, and other information as needed.

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Contact Tracing

• Alert the lead custodian if there was exposure within the school building and enable the district emergency cleaning process to ensure proper and effective sanitation of the school facility.
• The extent of cleaning/sanitization will be determined on the severity of the exposure and may be isolated to only certain locations in the buildings based on the risk of exposure.
• Whenever possible the classroom and work areas where the student or staff member was located should be closed off for at least 24 hours (if possible) prior to being cleaned and disinfected.
• In some events the District may have to engage in an emergency school closure to properly and thoroughly sanitize the facility as determined by the school Superintendent in collaboration with the Freehold Area Health Department.
• When a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, close contacts as defined by CDC guidelines will be notified by the district via written or electronic correspondence.

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Facilities Cleaning Practices

• Enhanced cleaning procedures since H1N1 and MRSA will continue�
• Frequent contact surfaces cleaned more frequently throughout the day�
• Schools disinfected and sanitized nightly with EPA approved product effective against COVID�
• Middle school desks wiped down between classes�
• Water fountains closed�
• When playground use is permitted, a schedule will be created which includes time in between classes for the custodian to disinfect the equipment

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Meals

• ECLC - pre packaged breakfast will be offered�
• Students who qualify for free and reduced lunch will have lunches made available to them
• Survey of families who wish to receive lunch
• Pick up available at predetermined locations on Mondays and Thursdays
• Delivery available to those who cannot pick up on Mondays and Thursdays�
• Students may pre order lunches on an app
• Parents would pick up lunches after student dismissal on Mondays and/or Thursdays

Field Trips, Extra-Curricular Activities, and Use of Facilities Outside of School Hours

• Field trips are not permitted until further notice

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• Extra curricular activities will be conducted virtually, as appropriate

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• The use of school facilities by outside organizations is not permitted until further notice
• Exception is YMCA for before school care and after school care
• Custodians will not clean, disinfect, or sanitize spaces used by the YMCA until after

6:30 PM�

• Middle school fall athletics are cancelled
• Monmouth County Middle School Soccer League cancelled our soccer season

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and School Climate and Culture

• Administrator and teacher training with SEL consultant
• Universal screeners for families, students and staff to assess wellness and potential SEL needs prior to return
• Responsive classroom strategies
• Mindfulness curriculum
• Daily scheduled time for SEL
• PBSIS programs
• Explicitly teach expectations and reinforce positive behavior
• District SEL team led by SEL consultant
• Dedicated time during staff meetings for SEL topics
• Pandemic response teams, PBSIS teams, and school safety teams consistently assess school climate and culture

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Multi Tiered Systems of Supports

Wraparound Supports

• Contract with YMCA for mental health support services�
• Staff mentoring�
• Community resources link on website�
• Mental health first aid training for staff to support students�
• Trauma Informed Schools and Children of Trauma training for staff�
• Rutgers teacher assistant coaching project

Quality Child Care

• District administration is currently working with the YMCA to offer the following:�
• Child care for children of staff members so that the staff members can report to work�
• Child care for students in the district when scheduled for virtual days�
• Before and after school care when children are present in school

Leadership and Planning

Restart Committee

• The restart committee is comprised of a broad set of stakeholders. The team has been divided into subcommittees to review the guidance document and translate the minimum requirements and additional considerations into best practices for Freehold Township School District. An orientation meeting was conducted with the committee to review the guidance document and to communicate the assigned tasks of each subcommittee. Subsequent meetings were held for progress checks and to review the final draft plan.

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• A core team of committee members has been established to oversee the processes of the full team. The core team are the committee chairs responsible for completing the individual documents with required information to be copied into the final plan.

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• Meetings of both groups will continue throughout the pandemic as needed. The plan will be evaluated on a regular basis to ensure it most effectively meets the needs of the staff, students, and community.

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Pandemic Response Team

• Each school will create a pandemic response team. The building principal will be the liaison that reports to district-level administrators to ensure coordinated activities across the district. The pandemic response team will be comprised of the school crisis team and school safety team. If a required representative group is not on either of these committees, a person representing that group will be added to the pandemic response team.

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• The pandemic response team will meet weekly in September. After September, teams will meet biweekly. The meeting schedule will be reevaluated in October to determine frequency based upon need. Minutes of meetings will be maintained in a shared Google folder to maintain transparency and ongoing communication among the district. The team will be responsible for determining the need for communication to the school community.

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• The Freehold Township School District has implemented the Positive Behavioral Supports in Schools framework to foster a positive school climate. The pandemic response teams will maintain close communication with the building based Positive Behavioral Supports in Schools committee chairs to express needs in the areas of safe and supportive school climates.

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Scheduling

Schedule Beginning September 21, 2020

• All students will begin school in a virtual model on September 8, 2020
• Students in the virtual academy will be with their virtual academy teachers
• Students in the hybrid model will be with their assigned teachers
• This provides time for the class as a whole to establish relationships and for teachers to receive additional training in designing an effective virtual classroom environment

Scheduling - Elementary

• The school day will consist of four hours of instruction as follows:

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• In Person
• Content area instruction and SEL
• Ninety minutes each Math and ELA
• Thirty minutes SS/Science
• Thirty minutes of SEL

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• Remote
• Live instruction in related arts including music, art, physical education, health, Spanish, and STEAM/media
• Thirty minutes to forty five minutes of live whole class instruction or live small group instruction from teacher
• Activities, assignments and recorded instruction

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Scheduling - Middle

• The school day will consist of four hours of instruction as follows:
• In Person
• Content area instruction
• Seventy minutes of instruction per core class
• Thirty minutes of SEL

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• Remote
• Eighty eight minutes of live related arts instruction including fine/performing arts, physical education, health, Spanish and personal financial literacy
• Activities, assignments and recorded instruction
• Teacher office hours

Scheduling - Virtual Academy

• The school day will consist of four hours of instruction including:
• Daily live instruction consisting of a minimum of thirty minutes per core content area (reading, writing, math and science/social studies) and thirty minutes of SEL. In addition, small group instruction and related arts will be provided.
• Recorded supplemental resources may be provided
• Follow up activities and assignments

Scheduling - Printable Calendars

• September Calendar�
• October Calendar�
• November Calendar�
• December Calendar

Scheduling - Phase In Plan

Phase Two

• Maintain the cohort model with Group A and Group B
• Extend the school day to be a full day with lunch, recess, and related arts in elementary schools
• Extend the school day to be a full day with lunch, study, and a regular schedule in middle school
• Extend the school day to be a full day with lunch, nap time, and related arts in preschool

Phase Three

• End the cohort model
• All students attend school five days per week

Staffing

• Technology�
• Social/emotional health�
• Childcare�
• Workplace accommodations�
• Leaves of Absence

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Policy and Funding

CARES Funding

• Allocation is $242,597
• Funding is being used for the following:
• PPE for staff and students
• Salaries to accommodate unbudgeted need for additional custodial support
• Staff training

CARES - Digital Divide Funding

• District did not qualify for funding for this initiative
• The district purchases new devices for students entering sixth grade annually
• Devices returned from graduating eighth graders get redistributed to elementary schools
• Since we were able to grant every request for a device in the spring, we did not receive an allocation for this program
• We anticipate additional needs as we move into the fall
• Additional requests for hotspots (Internet) and Chromebooks
• Will need to be funded by district

Continuity of Learning

Ensuring Delivery of Special Education and Related Services to Students with Disabilities

• Ongoing progress monitoring through formative and summative assessments�
• Self contained students attending school daily
• Preschool Disabled, Autism, Multiply Disabled, Learning Language Disabled�
• Related services and structured literacy programs scheduled individually to best accommodate each student’s scenario�
• IEPs will be implemented to the greatest extent possible�
• Staff will be trained on additional local safety procedures

Technology and Connectivity

• Middle school students are 1:1 so all students will be issued a district Chromebook device during the week of August 23rd
• Parent survey will allow us to identify pre-K and elem families in need of a district device. Distribution will begin during the week of August 23rd and continue through Sept 3rd.
• Parent survey will allow us to identify all district families who may be in need of internet connectivity. Distribution of those devices will begin during the week of August 23rd.
• Staff survey will allow us to identify staff members who may be in need of internet connectivity. Distribution of those devices will take place during Sept. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessments

• Hybrid Learning Model
• Face to Face
• Personalize Learning
• virtual Learning Tools
• Social and Emotional Learning
• virtual Office Hours and Small Groups
• Social Distancing
• Tailors NJSLS Curriculum
• Teacher PD
• Modified Assessment calendar
• Virtual Learning Academy (all virtual)

Freehold Township Schools • Hybrid Learning Model 2020

Face to Face

Personalized Learning

virtual Learning Tools

Social & Emotional Learning

virtual Office Hours & small groups

Social Distancing & Safety

Tailored NJSLS Curriculum

Professional Learning

• FTS Teacher Support site- resources for continuous professional learning for hybrid learning model
• August 2020- 2 hours of paid professional development
• The Distance Learning Playbook ( 1 hour)
• FTS grade band specific recorded video focused on virtual learning best practices (1 hour)
• Ebook for all teachers- The Distance Learning Playbook by Hattie, Fisher and Frey
• September 1-3, 2020
• 90 minute presentation on The Distance Learning Playbook from a consultant
• Teacher choice boards on virtual learning best practices
• Instructional Coaching at building level
• First two weeks of school ongoing professional development for the last hour of the day