Author Archives: Stan Jester

Sports – DeKalb Schools Delays Athletics

Posted on August 14, 2020 | 17 comments

DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is delaying all athletic activity for the Fall 2020 season until the end of September. This includes marching bands and auxiliary groups.

Georgia High School Association (GHSA)
DeKalb Schools has been generally more strict than GHSA recommends regarding COVID guidelines. This still seems to be the case. As of August 12, GHSA still recommends a September 4 date for opening football season.

College Football
Big Ten and Pac-12 have delayed all Fall sports until next Spring. SEC, Atlantic Coast and Big-12 conferences are forging ahead with Fall sports.

DeKalb COVID-19 Cases – Daily Count and Cumulative Count
The daily rate of contraction for COVID-19 cases in DeKalb is trending much lower than the state.
Georgia Covid Cases - August 14, 2020

Georgia COVID-19 Cases As Of Aug 13
Georgia Covid Cases - August 14, 2020

Georgia COVID-19 Deaths As Of Aug 13
Georgia Covid Deaths- August 14, 2020

DeKalb County School District Delays Athletic Activities for Fall Season Due to COVID-19

Press Release
DeKalb County School District

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – DeKalb County School District (DCSD) announced today that all athletic activity for the 2020 fall season will be delayed until the end of September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes marching bands and auxiliary groups. The district will continue conditioning through September while monitoring and revisiting its plan. DCSD will monitor the data provided by health partners and will revisit to make a determination regarding fall sports at the end of September.

The decision comes after reviewing the latest data from the DeKalb County Board of Health and feedback from parents, coaches and other stakeholders regarding the increase of COVID-19 cases in DeKalb County. The district has solicited and received input from the community on this topic and acknowledges that there are different opinions on the matter, however the health and safety of students and staff continues to be the top priority for DCSD.

To garner input and discuss the issue, the district held an Athletic Town Hall on Aug. 4 to engage the community and address concerns. During that event, Dr. Sandra Ford of the DeKalb County Board of Health shared the data outlining the spread of cases in DeKalb County, and other information related to prevention efforts of the district were highlighted. At this time, there have been 14 cases of COVID-19 associated with DCSD sports activity since July 1.

“After evaluating the data and the cases since July 1, the District feels that this decision is in the best interest of our student-athletes, coaches, their families, and the community. The concerns created by coronavirus place our student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk, even after safety measures were implemented during practices,” said Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris. “As a mother of a former high school football player and competitive cheerleader, I understand the role sports play in galvanizing the local community and instilling the values of teamwork, leadership, self-discipline and perseverance among our scholars. However, the current health risk is too great.”

Collegiate coaches are still pursuing student-athletes for scholarship opportunities. A delay of the season will afford athletes and coaches more time to prepare and continue engagement through virtual workouts and team meetings. The district strongly encourages parents, coaches, and local athletic directors to continue appropriate collaboration with collegiate coaches and engage in safe individual workouts.

On June 18, DeKalb County Schools allowed athletes to begin conditioning with restrictions in accordance with Georgia High School Association guidelines (including fewer number of participants in pods, shorter amount of time allowed for activity). The district also implemented temperature checks, encouraged face coverings and monitored social distancing of athletic participants and stated that it would closely monitor data to determine next steps.

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Posted in Coronavirus

School Virtual Opening Update

Posted on August 11, 2020 | 185 comments

Teachers started pre planning yesterday and students are back to school 100% virtually on Monday. The following are my takeaways from the administration’s latest update.

School Readiness Presentation

100% virtual or not at all – The administration and most of the board seem firm that all schoolhouse work must be done virtually. I pointed out that many of the administrators are working from their school district offices. I asked that teachers be given the same opportunity if they would prefer to work from their classroom. I’ve heard from a number of teachers that would like to have that option because it is more conducive for them to work from their classroom than from home. While my suggestion was met with some incredulity from some members of the board, the administration said they would contemplate whether or not they will give teachers the option of going back into the classroom in extreme cases. It seems to me that teachers and staff would be able to socially distance effectively in a school building without students.

Optimizing staff utilization – “Re-imagine job assignments in the virtual world”, says Regional Superintendent Triscilla Weaver. Schoolhouse resources are being realigned to provide virtual education services. In addition to working with teachers, para-professionals will be doing virtual pull out sessions with students, leading study groups, etc.

Numerous employees will spend their time reaching out to students in an attempt to get them to engage virtually. Attendance secretaries who would normally work on attendance within the building will now be calling homes to encourage virtual attendance.

Sports – DeKalb Schools has already cancelled Fall middle school sports. For varsity sports, the administration is taking their cues from GHSA and the county Board of Health who currently recommend playing games. The GHSA already delayed the start of varsity sports by 2 weeks. Big 10 college football just cancelled the 2020 season. A North Fulton high school athlete just lost both parents to COVID-19.

Virtual Remote Learning Expectations
The administration heard loud and clear from teachers and parents the desire to have a structured schedule. Every student should expect to be engaged during the 7:45 to 1:50 timeframe. The principals were given sample baseline schedules for their grade bands. They modified the schedules to accommodate the needs of their community and submitted their customized schedules to the regional superintendent.

On or around the virtual Open House, when students receive their schedules, parents and students should receive their school’s customized schedule that will look like the sample below.

DeKalb Schools Back To School Virtual Schedule

Student Attendance
Student attendance will be taken, but the school will just be looking for signs of participation. In addition to online participation in virtual classes, the school will be looking for students who login to the system or engage their teachers through email or turning in homework.

Grading Protocol
Teachers will share specifics with students and families regarding classroom grading procedures and expectations. Grading categories will include formative and diagnostic assessments, assessment tasks (skills & homework), classwork (guided, independent & group practice), quizzes, tests and projects. The administration is still working out the specific details.

Chromebooks & Hotspots
The school district currently has enough laptops for 80% of the student population. The school district recently purchased 28,000 new Chromebooks. Due to high demand for laptops these days, the new laptops will not be ready until September at the earliest. In the meantime, students without devices are encouraged to use their own devices.

The school district has currently distributed roughly 8,000 internet hotspots. Connectivity needs are being assessed by surveys and the local school.

Students without devices and/or connectivity will be allowed to work asynchronously. If possible, they can download lesson assignment on their schedule. If necessary, students can pick up paper packets from school.

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Posted in Coronavirus, Technology