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Originally delivered on 7/19/2020 12:26 pm

SUBJECT: Remote Learning Task Force Meeting - July 10 & 17, 2020 Meetings Summaries

Heath PTO
Remote Learning Task Force
Time-Sensitive Announcements

First, two time-sensitive items to make you aware of:

July 10 & 17, 2020 Meetings Summaries

Hello Heath School Households,

I was not able to get out a summary last week, so I am including a summary of the latest two meetings of the Brookline School Committee's Ad Hoc Remote Learning Task Force. Here are the main summary points from the July 10 and 17 meetings (there was no July 3 meeting):

  1. Jim Marini Interim Superintendent for 2020-2021 School Year - Dr. James Marini has now started in the superintendent role and has jumped right into the fall reopening planning. He expressed appreciation about the work that is currently taking place from various stakeholders, along with enthusiasm and optimism about our district’s ability to come together to meet the considerable challenges ahead of us.
  2. Fall Reopening Planning - MA’s DESE released fall reopening guidance on July 10. The guidance calls for each district to first submit a preliminary opening plan by July 31 and then comprehensive plan documents by August 10. The comprehensive plan documents are to be released to the public simultaneously. To help with planning, the PSB central administration has sent out surveys to staff and to households that are available now and will close next week. Please respond to the survey so that your voice is heard.
  3. Expert Panel Updates - Each panel now has a designated liaison from PSB central administration to facilitate the exchange and coordination of information. The liaisons assist in communicating key issues or questions to the panels and help bring back the work of the panels to central administration to be incorporated into the reopening plans. Each panel has created subgroups to collate and summarize knowledge about identified areas of need. That work is being posted to the School Committee website to share with the public, including recommendations about physical wellness from Panel 2, and a recent presentation on healthy school buildings in Panel 4.

The Task Force and the expert advisory panels are continuing to meet in the summer. The next meeting of the Task Force is scheduled for July 24. See the Town calendar for upcoming School Committee meetings. You are encouraged to listen in and submit comments or questions.

As always, if you have a perspective that would be relevant to the Task Force, please do reach out to me by email (esilk@me.com) to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Eli Silk, Heath School Parent Representative

** Note **

Remote learning—and today’s home, school, and work environment more generally—presents a range of unexpected challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes. All stakeholders in our school district are working hard to serve our students as best they can, but the challenges are complex and the situation is continually evolving. The latest Remote Learning Task Force meetings were each 90 minutes and included substantive discussions on a range of topics, but because the Heath PTO wants to keep you informed while respecting that you have many important issues seeking your attention, this summary is necessarily brief and simplified. If you would like to learn more, additional links are provided below.

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