 Okay, great. So thank you Good evening and welcome to the st. Rain Valley school district's board of education meeting. Thank you for joining us this evening Bar before we call the roll. I do want to make an announcement That we apologize that longmont public media may be experiencing technical difficulty difficulties With their streaming of tonight's board of education meeting. We thank you for your patience as we shared out a New link to our community ahead of the meeting and Kerry just to clarify where can people access that link? Okay Okay, fantastic. So the Twitter feed. Thank you. That's wonderful Kerry Thank you for coming to the rescue and rerouting that and as usual there will be a recording on the district website tomorrow morning of The meeting as well Barb, it's nice to see you. Can you now call for the roll, please? Mr. Aaron's present Mr. Berkel present Mr. Garcia here Dr. Martyr present Miss Pierce Mrs. Ragland here and Miss Seagra's Here, thank you Barb We do have some very important guests here this evening and in prior to introducing all of you We have just a few housekeeping items to take care of we do have a public common comment portion of our our meeting That we need to address We did receive several public comments this past week and so what we've decided to do in uh Are we good? Oh, would you sure absolutely we can uh first we're going to go ahead and say the Pledge of Allegiance if everyone can uh join me I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and the republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Thanks Don I got a little distracted By wanting to ensure the the streaming was taking place. So thank you again public comment, we had several public comments and All board members have been provided with those public comments as well as dr. Haddad We have all read each one of them in the interest of time this evening though Because we do want to spend the bulk of our time speaking with our guests and the experts in the audience and about our return to school plan We went through those comments the vast majority of them were questions We believe all of those questions fell into categories that wanted to address Questions surrounding the science the epidemiology And the evidence behind our decision plan that will be answered this evening People want to also know about our mitigation and intervention practices, which will be answered at this meeting this evening There were also a few hr and personnel questions Contained in there and what we've done is we've gone through and removed all the questions And then paula will be reading 10 minutes of public comment at that point We will stop all of the public comments that were submitted though Are part of the permanent board record in our minutes So if anybody desires to go back and look at them, they absolutely can Paula Yes, thank you, joey. I will Start a timer here The can you hear me all time? Yes, ma'am Okay, the first comment comes from Rio Penman in eerie Who states can you please consider the parents that have children in multiple grades at multiple schools? The suggested schedule for elementary being full-time Yet middle school is part-time and high school has a completely different part-time schedule Making it impossible for parents to find child care or make any sort of work schedule to provide for their family We already have to deal with the ridiculous amount of time between each school starting and ending But nowadays changing weekly makes it ridiculous the second comment Is from laura leigh h at 1242 judson I suggest the reopening of schools should be delayed until we can determine the effectiveness of mandatory masking and the cessation of out-of-state visitors Rushing reopening before While infection rates are climbing rather than leveling runs the risk of throwing us back into a complete shutdown medical information coming out of texas and Florida suggests younger people are now at risk with the added risk of organ and intellectual long-term impairment During an interview on I believe npr Dr. Feesh Remarks this is a virus that doesn't behave in a manner that is seen in other virus with that in mind Well, it seems younger are not susceptible. We cannot have assurance What will the outcome of putting them in a classroom without social distancing primary kids just don't social distance That being said think of the staff the teachers and the worry they will have about not only their health But what they may be taking home to their loved ones The third Comment comes from linda bid Lake Forgive me if I mispronounce the getting names from central elementary school To the school board of st. Green valley regarding reopening the schools The criteria for reopening keep changing in colorado our health departments and department of education have set different standards From cdcs and this was made even more clear this week The original guideline from cdc was that reopening could begin in a phased process when the numbers of new cases declined for 14 days And cdc laid out specific safety precautions for when reopening began In colorado those numbers declined, but have now been rising steadily since mid june According to this we should not be reopening and the schools should be continuing online learning In addition the current plans do not strictly follow cdc's safety precautions One of those is social distancing It is simply not possible to maintain six feet of distance in a regular full classroom The loosening of criteria has been justified by studies that children are less affected by the covet 19 virus But there is variation and contradictions in these studies and they are not yet conclusive In short, we just don't know It is because of these changing numbers and criteria That many educators do not believe that it is safe to return to in-person learning yet But want the board to know just how unsafe teachers feel Here and across the country teachers are writing our wills and checking our life insurance Some are trying to find alternative places to live so we don't bring the virus home to our families I do hope this is not okay with you I also want to speak as a mental health specialist One argument is that children need to return to school for their social and emotional well-being I believe that the opposite may be true It may be traumatizing to children to want to play with their friends and make new friends But not be allowed to be close to them Imagine them on a playground each allowed to play by themselves with their own ball Apparently one suggestion that has been proposed They would not be able to share books or sit in a group on the floor to hear a story The necessary behavioral restrictions are not inappropriate And they would set the children up for frequent corrections and feeling of failure and shame They would be reminded continually of an unsafe situation When they are afraid or sad their teachers would not be able to comfort them with appropriate touch This is not necessarily better than being at home or learning in a small neighborhood group Thanks for your attention and your thoughtful consideration of all alternatives Okay The next comment Is from Diane Berthold at 2143 Spencer street in Longmont Two super super incendent had had and our esteemed board of education Thank you for your time today. We are all acutely aware of the challenges you face to adhere to state And local health regulations and the varied and important wishes of parents We appreciate that you have offered an online learning protocol for all families That choose not to send their children to school during these unprecedented times This truly allows our families to make their own informed decisions about the risks they've received with this virus My family is concerned with the mandate that all children pk through 12 Will be required to wear masks throughout their day with breaks for elementary children We know from multiple international studies done that children largely do not contract or spread the virus to adults According to studies done in china and switzerland only five to eight percent of outbreaks within families start with the child The pdc reports that less than two percent of total positive covid cases in the us are in children Studies done on schools reopening in multiple countries show that schools have very rare incidents of being the source for outbreaks I've emailed each of you the links to these studies and many more I'm confident that you will take this objective science into consideration when developing your final plan Furthermore boulder boulder county health has stated that masks for children under 12 are ineffective at controlling the spread Because they are not able to wear masks properly for long periods of time This is not to mention that masks are inherently dangerous for children due to increased co2 absorption And recirculation of bacteria and viruses that the body is meant to expel This can cause more extreme symptoms should children contract the virus and have to rebreat it throughout their days Increasing their viral load and the danger to at-risk family members My question is if the board has looked into psych psychosocial implications of mask bearing and social distancing on childhood development What are the unintended consequences of forcing children who naturally interact as a means of learning? And who desperately need to learn facial cues for proper communication and emotional intelligence To be separated and have their faces covered What does this mean for our kids who depend on svv sd to enhance their responsible academic and emotional growth and development? We are not raising children in a bubble and it would be extremely short-sighted to not consider the long-term psychological impact Of these protocols on the future adults of long life. We look forward to your response. Thank you again for all your effort and for your time And the next comment Is from kim and adam frances from 1662 holland way Members of the board we are writing to express our extreme discomfort with commencing in-person learning During the current health crisis. Please address the following points in your response At this juncture, it seems imprudent dangerous and unethical To enlist our students and staff in a grand experiment to determine the safety of returning to school While it has been widely reported that children are less susceptible to the virus Florida has recently noted a greater than 30 positive test rate among children With no to mild symptoms many of these COVID positive children would likely not be kept home Further a recent large-scale study published on the cdc's website indicates that children ages 10 to 19 are no less likely to spread the virus than adults point one her jeffrey shaman columbia university epidemiologist quote Putting students together in schools having them mixed with teachers and other students will provide additional opportunities for the virus to move from person to person and quote point two Current understanding indicates transmission occurs best through intended exposure Extended exposure in enclosed spaces. In fact, the risk of spread is 19 times greater indoors than out Point three classrooms are ideal loci for virus transmission Our household includes a fifth grader and eighth grader and a high school teacher Collectively our family will be directly exposed to more than 200 people per week and indirectly in contact with more than 2000 Even with the proposed cohorting at the middle and high levels Individual students will be sharing space with space with 70 to 80 people per day during their classes In the event that a student becomes ill Contact tracing and quarantining will be nearly impossible We help care for elderly members of our family and could not in good conscience continue to do so with that level of exposure Though a return to normalcy is in everyone's best interest simply returning students to classrooms will not Be a return to the quotidian While we appreciate the district's work towards developing protocols for a safe return Students and staff will be taxed in implementing and maintaining these standards younger students will have a very difficult time Compliant with masking and distancing protocols while older students will likely be resistant to full compliance We should learn from experience We realized the worst-case scenario in the spring when in-person learning was scuttled overnight and online learning was implemented with limited time to plan For effective instruction if we begin planning for online instruction from the start We will not face the same crisis while some countries have safely reopened schools China south korea and israel have all had to reverse course after reopening It bears noting that these countries all reopen schools after community virus spread was significantly more contained than is the case here And my 10 minute timer is up. I'm I apologize if I read that quickly I was just trying to get um as far through the comments as I could Um And I I did get through the bulk of it. So there's a little bit to the final comment, but I think Um as indicated we're we're going to move on with the agenda. Right. Thank you paula appreciate it So the purpose of our our meeting this evening is to continue our dialogue surrounding the return to school This board of education Superintendant had had everyone in this room certainly continues to prioritize safety For all of the students staff and family members of the st. Brain Valley school district The goal at the end of this meeting is for the board of education to express support for a plan For a return to school one that is informed by local conditions and local experts and not any political agenda or position I do want to thank everyone for being here this evening and I do recognize based on all of the We've received hundreds of of public comments and emails through various platforms I don't expect this evening to come away with a plan that will please 100 of the people who've reached out out to us I don't know that there is an absolute perfect plan But I do believe with certainty that we are going to come up With an excellent safe plan for our return to school With that I would like to introduce steve villarreal who is the president of the education association Jeff zayac who is here jeff you are the executive director of boulder county public health And then heather crate and heather can you please i apologize can you remind me i can't see that well Sorry, I wish I could I'm serving as the school liaison officer for boulder county public health Great. Thank you. And then dr. Urbino Yes Welcome don. Do you want to open the meeting or would you like to jump in with Reports from our guests what what? What do you think works best Yeah, no, I definitely Share I've got a report and then I will turn it over After that to to jeff zayac we can go from there Super first thing I want to do Just remind everybody that we have our graduation ceremonies coming up this saturday Very very proud of our graduating seniors And of our teachers, you know, even though they're seniors and high school was their last experience The graduation is a culmination of work that began in preschool And beyond so it's a it's a tribute to all of our teachers and staff And to our parents and to our administrators and to our community And there was an outstanding salute to seniors in the Times call that I would encourage everybody to read. It's got pictures of our students a wonderful story on the front page And uh, just could not be more proud of our kids and our teachers and our staff I also shifting gears want to acknowledge the challenges that Accompany this global pandemic It's something that obviously none of us have experienced in our lifetime And it's something that impacts All of us not only here in longmont and our St. Brain Valley schools and all of the communities in which we serve but our state our nation and our world And to say that it's a complex issue would be an understatement And so I appreciate and i'm extremely grateful for the the way in which our community has responded They have reached out In a kind and caring way and they have offered their suggestions They have offered their support and they have shared their questions and they have shared their concerns And we have conducted literally over 200 meet 200 meetings and probably over 250 now And we have gathered quite a bit of feedback through our websites through our emails through meetings that we've had with teachers ars Our association president health care professionals And so many more It's one of those things where you realize after you read The documents that are submitted to us You literally move from one opinion to the next And they are varying and so what we have to do and what we've made a commitment to do ever since my very first communication Was to stay closely aligned to the health care professionals And within what the health care professionals Say to us and how they guide us and how they direct us. We are also very Very very supportive and interested in providing choices for our families and for others our staff So it's a combination of the science the medicine the experts that we receive our guidance from And also working with our families and our teachers and our staff to provide the safest environment and options within those environments In terms of communication, you know, you mentioned a little bit joey We've had about 37 000 Users have accessed our website 130 000 page views for our coronavirus plan and information. So We've got quite a bit over a thousand submissions of feedback and questions And comments and as you can imagine, um, we've gleaned a lot from them We've read them all and there are just a wide variety of thoughts and opinions and concerns and questions But I am absolutely grateful. I've always viewed This community as a team and everyone's voice matters And so I would encourage people to feel free to call me directly or to communicate through our other channels When we first started and we got to that June 30th date when I sent out my last communication In each one we always talk about this being A pandemic that's going to evolve and that we have to be ready to pivot And if you recall our last plan Included all elementary school students attending five days a week All sixth graders and then all ninth graders and seventh and eighth and tenth eleventh and twelfth would be on a hybrid model At the time that we communicated that plan and worked with our healthcare partners That plan seemed to be The best plan that we could identify at that point in time to address a lot of Concerns we have seen this virus evolve and so we have a a new plan that we're going to recommend this evening But we looked at that current model. We also know that there's a model for full in person for everyone We also have a full online model. So any family K through 12 and actually preschool as well That decides that in-person learning is not the best option for them. We have a comprehensive Launch dead online program that is open to any student who chooses it And it will be taught by st. Brain Valley schools And it is a florida virtual program But taught by st. Brain Valley schools and it is comprehensive in nature And it is available and open to any student who chooses it and in my communication that goes out tomorrow There will be information In terms of how you register And so we're we've got that Where we are tonight is presenting A hybrid model k through 12 Which would do a few things The first thing that it would do is it would cut class sizes in half across the board And that reduction in class size would be significant for a variety of reasons We would be able to socially distance at a very effective level We would also have fewer kids in the building. We would be able to cohort Easier and we would be able to keep kids connected Two days and three days a week and then the other days they would be at home And they have options at home with synchronous learning through our online programs and jackie capuchin Dr capuchin will be sharing a little bit of what that model looks like at home So that hybrid model is What we're going to discuss Tonight and ask for the board's support and approval The other thing that I would want you to know is that there are many sources that we have been closely in contact with Obviously boulder county health Has been our primary source the colorado department of public health and we were most recently on a Comprehensive call with them yesterday getting an update with them along with the colorado department of education The metro denver partnership metro denver area partnership for health, which includes all of the local and metro area Health departments. We've also gleaned quite a bit of information from the american academy of pediatrics the center for disease control The harvard school of public health the national academies of science engineering and medicine In terms of reopening k through 12 schools during the covet 19 pandemic And one thing is for certain that this information evolves and we continue to learn more about the virus And that's why we've made a commitment to stay closely connected to our health care experts And work in partnership with them I also want you to know that along with the Hybrid model we have a series of things that we would be doing to mitigate risk and there's never a full 100 guarantee of Mitigating and eliminating all risk no matter what the topic is But we believe that we've put a number of protocols into place which will diminish significantly In terms of protective Equipment we will have masks the schools have all been provided with gloves and our specific teachers who are working very closely with some of our students Will have face shields and gowns We've ordered hand sanitizer for all of the schools and The masks we will be asking families to provide Because it's important that a student feels comfortable putting on their own mask and it is comfortable for them and then teachers and staff as well, although if somebody has a hardship Acquiring a mask we would certainly provide one for them So we have our equipment and we've got a lot in stock Most of it was purchased with the Funds that were provided for us from the federal government in terms of grant money We also have hired additional custodial staff Which will enable us to provide cleanings During the day and sanitization as well as again at night And so we'll double up on the cleaning efforts and we'll be using disinfectant that is approved and Assigned and aligned with COVID-19 as well as safe for children and teachers and staff And so that additional staff will help us immensely in keeping the buildings clean and sanitized We've also done extensive work with our HVAC systems, and I'll just Read a little bit about some of the things that we've done with those Reviewed all of our buildings to understand how much fresh air above the ash ray standards our building systems can successfully Treat while maintaining a comfortable educational space And currently testing our systems to operate at twice the established fresh air standards Replace all air filters in the district to ensure optimum air flow in our equipment Extending air handler run times before buildings are occupied each day Manually checking the proper operation of building exhaust fans and in the coming weeks a visual verification that outside air dampers are operating correctly To ensure that outside air is delivered into the classrooms In many of our buildings programming was adjusted to increase outside air positions on all units with just one override To the percentage determined for the best operation So we can easily increase the outside air flow into a building And some of the schools have a program feature that controls outside air based on co2 in the space And a local engineering firm is working to provide the district with the ability to override this programming sequence That allows us to go above the ash ray prescribed conditions And we continue to work on all of these things, but we feel very comfortable with the work that's done with our hVAC We also know that by Significantly lowering class sizes, which we've done And i'll give you an example if you had an average elementary school class of 25 And there are some that are at 30 and some that are at 18 and some but let's just look at 25 Immediately that class would be cut to 12 or 13 And then from there we would take the enrollment for our launch debt program and Reduce those students even further so we look to see You know eight nine ten eleven twelve kids in a in an elementary school classroom And that not only enables us to socially distance really effectively But it enables the air flow systems to become even more effective In bringing in fresh air the other thing that We've done is we've contracted out with gary community gary family community foundation Where our teachers and staff can have access on a voluntary basis to two COVID-19 tests per month At no cost to our teachers and our staff members and then there would be a 48 hour Turnaround time for the results and that information would then be shared with us and we could If there were a situation with a positive test We would be able to work with an epidemiologist who has been assigned to the st Rain Valley school district from boulder county public health along with three contact tracers And so they would be able to work with us to guide and direct our next steps around Any type of positive test We also have been working closely With our county health partners on closure protocol whether it might be a classroom Whether it might be a school or whether it might be the entire district We're hoping that that does not happen, but protocols will be finalized along with Steps to take but in any instance because each instance would be looked at based on that specific situation It would be driven by the epidemiologist boulder county health And all of the professionals in terms of giving us guidance on what the next steps would be I'm going to stop for just a second and turn it over to dr. Capuchin because in the event and not just in the event but Specifically if we needed to move to remote and blended learning We have a very strong and comprehensive capacity to do that and Dr. Capuchin if you would share a little bit of that along with the professional development that teachers and staff would be receiving And have received at some level already Sure So if at any point in the school year our classrooms or our schools have to close and go completely online Our teachers will use their st. Brain valley adopted unit plans The curricular materials that have been board adopted as well as the supplemental resources that they're familiar with To deliver instruction through a blended approach This means that teachers from home Would provide live lessons to an entire class on a synchronous schedule Uh, additional equipment has been purchased for every every classroom to enhance the synchronous experience through hide powered lenses microphones and stands for the teaching ipads Additional devices have also also been purchased for students if those are needed We will post assignments and projects through schoology and seesaw Our students our teachers and our parents are all now really familiar with with seesaw and schoology, which are our online platforms We will provide one-to-one and small group Instruction as well as needed from from a virtual setting We will be grading assignments and projects using our normal grading systems That are outlined in our board policies Infinite campus will be used again from the beginning of the year for teachers to post grades and for parents to monitor student attendance and student progress and in this scenario Should we have to shut completely down a school? Or a classroom it may be that teachers could still go to the school And teach from their classrooms so that they have all of their materials close To them and we may be able to still bring in small groups of students through Office hours with teachers so that at least weekly a student could come in and get some face-to-face support from their teachers Overall, this is going to be a much more structured approach than we saw in the spring Where much of the learning was less scheduled much of the lessons were less scheduled or asynchronous And we did that to allow families a lot of flexibility as they were working to Manage the new demands that they were faced with at home So we just we believe that we can offer a fully online Program to students temporarily or even long term if our school or district had to go completely online Or if class individual classrooms needed to do that We have an entire plan That's differentiated by level by elementary middle and high school To really do some pretty deep work with our teachers when they come back in august Around the blended approach So we will show them how to use all of the new equipment and we will also work With them around best practices related to Blended and fully online learning so that they understand developmentally what makes a lot of sense for students who are in first grade As well as students who are in 10th or 11th grade And we have that ready to go most of our principals will be trained in that on august 4th And then after that when staff are in for staff professional development days Our principals and learning leaders will work with all of our staff staff members around blended best practices Thank you, and a couple things just to reinforce We do have an iPad for each and every student So parents would not have to double up with their their children at home and that would be all the way through our system And then we wanted to ensure that there's full equity of access And then also I know that we had I think was 900 teachers this summer that were engaged In blended learning and training. So they've got a great head start and I think we feel very comfortable with that Speaking of our teachers, you know their safety and well-being is paramount. I You know, they're part of it is The priority of their safety is and our student safety is really at at the heart of everything that we do To make sure that That they not only feel safe, but that they are And there are some teachers that will have needs for for accommodations based on Health issues and we have worked with the association And we will be accommodating teachers who have pre-existing health conditions Where they would have an opportunity to be among the online teachers With the florida virtual We also know that we have some teachers who are primary caregivers And we are committed to doing everything that we can to provide them with that option as well And then depending on the enrollment of our overall online program We may be able to go into another tier If if the numbers allow for that But I want our teachers to know that This and our classified staff as well that the decision to recommend this and cut classes Not only in half, but by more than in half with the enrollment Into our florida virtual is designed to create optimal social distancing The masks that would be worn Small class sizes Great ventilation systems all of those designed to ensure to the best of our ability Their health and their safety I want to share with you just a little bit about what other districts are doing We had a conversation with our colleagues in the metro area And jefferson county shared with us today that they would be Going to a all in at the elementary level five days a week and a hybrid at the middle and the high school level We also learned something similar for brighton Thompson indicated that they would be going all in and these could all change But these are as of today that we learned greeley will be going all in at the elementary level all in at the middle level And then a hybrid at the high school level We also know that Douglas county was scheduled to go all in aurora is scheduled to go all in Littleton is scheduled to go all in when I say all in that means k through 12 We thought about that and decided to be a little more Cautious, and that's why we're looking to cut those class sizes in half And then reduce them again with the online so that we can have a a strong preventative approach And not just a responsive approach The other thing that I would share with you is we have set aside approximately three million dollars for additional FTE if needed to reduce class sizes because there are certain circumstances where you might see a class jump to 35 kids And even cutting it in half would be 17 and we would want to do better than that And so we've got that resource available to us We will be partnering with our parents And really really emphasizing to our parents the importance of screening their children at home. We talked to the The colorado department of education and the colorado department of public health officials yesterday And they strongly encouraged us to have that temperature check done at home Prior to the student coming to school and then also visual checks when they get here And so we're going to be talking about that we have purchased A number of thermometers for each school a number of those Thermal thermometers, and we will be distributing a number of those to the schools prior to the start of the school year We also have in my communication that will come out tomorrow a series of protocols health procedures For parents and students, but also for teachers and staff And so I would encourage everybody to look at that along with our safe with seven campaign We have daycare available that will be available at 12 sites for our teachers and for parents who Need that facility to support daycare during the day And that information will also be in my communication tomorrow My letter on thursday will include Links to preschool schedules elementary school schedules middle school schedules High school schedules all of the information for the full-time online option As I read some or I listened to some of the comments today And people were indicating some that they didn't feel safe and some that they did Any parent who chooses to have their child online will have that option and that information is all in my letter tomorrow that will be going out the list of Health and safety measures will be included Research links will be included information about masks about screening about precautionary measures about our hVAC system about our custodial plans and disinfecting about social distancing about a confirmed case protocol And then follow-up communications I want to state something very clearly that I've talked to Steve Villarreal about and to our entire team and to the board These are the plans that we have for Today and as this continues to evolve We may have to pivot and go to a different plan And we will let people know that as soon as possible if that becomes necessary But Steve Villarreal and I will be meeting on a regular basis as we have throughout this process Boulder county health will be meeting with us on a regular basis and we will continue to monitor this And we ask for people's patience if we have to shift from a k through 12 uh hybrid On our website, we have uh, it's been fully updated We have reopening plan web content that will include everything you need to know about preschool students elementary students middle school students High school students students with disabilities English language learners health and safety measures home screening checklist will be provided So parents can use that at home to check off the list every morning All of the information for registering for our launch dead full-time online instruction Attendance and grading policies transportation procedures. We are going to be providing transportation for our students I know that some of the surrounding districts have eliminated that for the majority of students For an equity purpose. We are going to continue to provide transportation Uh nutrition services information about how lunches will be handled Parent community visitor and volunteer policies information regarding state funding innovation center information career development Center information athletics and activities I will also be sending a letter to teachers and staff tomorrow That will include specific information about class size reduction How to request an accommodation through our hr human resources department face coverings information attendance grading The professional development plan for the synchronous learning and safety and our online learning format There is quite a bit of information. We have been working on this Diligently for months and we'll continue to do so. This is our top priority Our students and our teachers and our staff have always and will always be our top priority And we will put the resources in necessary. I want to acknowledge The anxiety that exists I appreciate that I have a tremendous amount of respect for our teachers and our community and our students And we are listening. We are also paying very close attention to our healthcare professionals There is no plan That will be met with Full approval we know that and there are complications with each plan What we are trying to do is create the best plan in terms of safety and health And also one that continues to support a quality education for our children And we will continue to listen and we will continue to make adjustments as necessary I also want to thank uh our board and I want to thank our team And all of our teachers and staff many of whom have been working hard this summer and our students and parents for their patients and their support So having said all that I'm going to at this time with your permission joey to turn it over to Mr. Jeff say act and he is the executive director of the boulder county health department and has been an outstanding partner for with us And jeff will be working in partnership with uh heather In their presentation and then dr. Irving as well. Thank you Thank you don and thanks board members for inviting us to be here. It's much appreciated And I will note that with the governor's new mask order We are allowed to take off our mask to talk when we're doing a presentation. So I just wanted to name that The first thing I want to do is just Thank don don has been a committed partner from the very beginning of the beginning of this from the very First time that we were starting to see the concerns To closing schools all the way through to planning for the fall. So st I talked to don sometimes two or three times a week So we stay in close contact with each other and the district has been Working really diligently to address these issues. The other thing I want to do is make sure everybody knows that Um, dr. Irvena is my chief medical officer So he is here to advise and and advises me on any medical issues that I have And he has uh previously in his role. He's been with us for five years But previously was the director of the carer apartment of public health and environment So I feel very fortunate to have dr. Irvena as our chief medical officer and appreciate Him being here and I want to thank heather Because heather is the one who's been leading all these planning sessions We've been doing planning sessions with both school districts and with our private schools Uh from again from the very beginning continuing through with graduation to to fall planning So so thank you heather and heather is the one who's who's definitely in the weeds on all of this So I appreciate all of her expertise Um, I also want to say that we've been as don mentioned We've been working really closely with the metro denver partnership for health And that's the counties of adams arabahoe douglas brimfield boulder Denver and jefferson and several of those counties include medical directors who are directors of public health We've also been meeting with pediatrician who's representing the colorado american academy of pediatrics So the local chapter has been has been meeting with us directly and has been advising us We've also been talking with the public health and hospital physicians In addition to epidemiologists, we've been talking with the color department of public health and environment We've been talking with the color department of education And we have been meeting with researchers from this colorado school public health as well as their affiliates So we're spending a lot of time Really looking at this issue. This is obviously we all know this is a very significant Issue it has lots of implications and we're taking all of this very seriously As don mentioned, we've also been researching the latest guidance I'm not going to go through and list all of what don said before but we've been looking at all those We've been paying attention to the national news to see what's coming out with the latest research We're following up on those things. We have people who follow up on specific studies And then we've been supporting each other across the metro area To continue to do this work along with the color department of public health and environment We also provided our own metro level guidance because the color department of education just put the guidance out This week and schools were needing to make decisions Quite a while ago. So we had come together along with that pediatrician And looked at the research and then put our own guidance in place Which actually aligns very closely with everything that's come out at this point We also had two local public health directors As well as representatives from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that participated In developing the Colorado Department of Education guidance. So Public health has been very involved in this and is going to continue to be very involved in this as we move forward Before I talk more specifically about school opening and some of the things that don mentioned I want to talk about local conditions because Before we move forward we have to look at what local conditions we have in front of us So I just want to spend a few minutes talking about what are all our local conditions in boulder county look like So our average case counts in numbers of new cases Are as follows and I'm just going to go through these. I don't have it in the graph I'm sorry, but all of the things I'm going to talk about here are on our website And although we're seeing we're not seeing a steady 14 day decline Which is something you heard mentioned earlier in cases We we do have a manageable case load at 12.2 average cases per day Um, and the case counts for the last seven days have been Since july 14th, uh, we were at 18 the 15th. We went to 29. That was our highest day The 16th. We were at 20 cases the 17th. We were at 11 cases the 18th 11 19th 12 20th 12 and then Yesterday we were at 13. So our case numbers are low when you look at the metro area Cases and you look at the metro area hospitalizations or any of the indicators that we're tracking Boulder county is consistently in the various lowest portion of those metro areas. So we are doing Really well in boulder county and we're continuing to do really well The only thing that we had is i'm sure you're all aware In the last month and a half was an outbreak that had occurred on the hill And that challenged our system a bit, but it was contained to the hill and to some of the cu students So we were able with support to control that and and that has now dropped off We also have uh, we we're one of the only counties that has An mou with the university of colorado to do Contact and case investigation. So that cu as we move forward, they will be able to do their own investigations They will be able to do their own contact tracing Any of the isolation or support for enforcement things Would have to come back to boulder county public health, but that's a lot of support and help that we're getting from cu as well So i'm more excited about that in terms of the ability of the state to help and support us The state has roughly 400 americorps volunteers at the state level Those volunteers are trained. They get trained in a statewide system In addition, uh, the carow school of public health has trained 50 students from the school and those students were the ones who actually helped us On the hill outbreak when we had it So there is a fair amount of capacity at the state level that we can step in and get support for And lastly, uh, we have mutual aid agreements agreements with all of our local public health agencies in the front In the front range as well The second thing that is really important is testing capacity and our current five day positivity rate is 3.2 percent And the goal for a five day positivity rate is five percent or less and without going into a lot of detail If we're less than five percent, it means we're doing well in testing It means that we're identifying virus in the community and we are not having active spread So we are remaining at at less than five And that's something that we continue to track not just in boulder county, but also across the metro region We also have capacity to easily meet our testing threshold So one of the requirements is that we are able to test all symptomatic people in boulder county As well as now asymptomatic people associated with positives that have been identified And we have the ability to readily do that in boulder county The bigger challenge has been at the state level where there is more of a turnaround Time lag that makes it difficult for us to then do those contact tracing follow-ups and To be able to quickly respond when we do get a positive, but as you heard don mentioned Same rain valley school district is addressing that directly By working with gary community investments of 48 hour turnaround is exactly what we aim for And it's great that you've been able to to work out in arrangement with them to support that Also a summary of where we're seeing our cases come from and I think this is one of the most important things So if we have widespread community transmission Similar to what we saw early on in the virus Spread that's when we have concerns. So because we can't identify where the cases are coming from It's spreading so fast that we don't have the ability to contain it That is not the situation that we are in right now Most of our cases are coming from workplace exposures We have some restaurants and gathering exposures And we are starting to see as was previously referenced by someone Some more exposure related to travel as well But we are able to to effectively manage those cases that we're seeing In our county and we expect it will continue to be able to do that as long as we don't see another surge like we saw With the hill and boulder our hospitalizations, uh, which is Uh, the other key that's important for us have consistently remained low in boulder county We are one of the lowest rates. We are a much lower rate than the state So if you look at the cumulative hospitalization rate for boulder county specifically for covet cases It's 55.2 per 100,000 population If you compare that to the states the states is 106.3 per 100,000 And the and the nation this was as of a couple days ago is 113.6 nationally per 100,000 So we have uh, we have low hospitalizations We track, um, our hospitalizations with multiple indicators So we're watching multiple parts of our hospital systems And we meet with our hospital systems on a weekly basis To validate the data that we're tracking just to make sure that We're we're not seeing something or hearing something differently than what we're tracking on our indicators Um, so More about what we heard don talk about and and what I heard in some of the comments that were submitted And I want to start with a summary from the harvard school of public health work group That I think catches the sentiment of most of what you're hearing from public health directors across the nation And it's and this is not news to anybody in this room I know that nor anyone who's probably turning in or tuning in tonight But it's we know that keeping schools closed comes with massive Long-term individual and societal costs We know that many children can't effectively learn and grow and that even by having schools closed as long as we've had We we have children who have lost probably more than a year So we're all aware of that and we know how important it is And that that's why there's been a strong focus on really looking at Can we bring kids back to school and do it in a way that really reduces risk in the schools themselves And that's that's been the goal of the expert organizations that you heard don mentioned Earlier that we've also been paying very close attention to is to do just that look at what do we know about cases with kids What do we know about what's happening in schools that have opened in other places? And what kind of strategies can we use to reduce risk to the maximum extent possible and still allow kids To be back in a learning environment And I I think this is extremely important That we don't know for sure what's happening with this virus right? We've we've been learning about this virus ever since it first appeared here It is novel and it is changing and I know that's been difficult for the community And for the public because it because information changes and then strategies have to change And I think what don said is really critically important that we're going to continue to watch that we're going to watch the studies We're going to pay attention to the research Most importantly, we're going to pay close attention to what's happening within each of our districts There's been a commitment both from st. Rain Valley school district as well as boulder valley school district to work really closely As don mentioned we hired an epidemiologist that is linking to both of our school districts as well as the university of colorado So dedicated person to be on the ground making sure that we're paying close attention to what's happening And to make adjustments as necessary as we move forward And we're going to continue to share that information with our public as well So as we see new things, we are going to be sharing new things and we'll make sure that it's transparent But at this point we have the best information in terms of what the research looks like now We know specifically as I also heard someone mention earlier that The kids who are 10 years older and less There is less transmission and that age group And we know that above that age group. It looks like there is more transmission And that's why part of the recommendations you're seeing split between 10 years old and less And kids who are older than that and I think what What don has presented with st. Rain Valley school district and creating the space With the social distancing by splitting the grades makes makes really great sense and it allows us to be As lowest risk as possible. So I appreciate the approach That you've taken and and the amount of time that you spent really listening to what we're talking about I also wanted to talk about just briefly don had mentioned that the color department of education yesterday had been releasing the guidelines and The statement from dr. Early who is with the color. He's the medical epidemiologist with the color department of public health and environment And I want to read this because I think again, it really captures the importance Of why we need to move forward He says it's a truism in pediatrics that children are not just tiny adults They respond to disease differently in all sorts of ways. He said in the case of covet 19, especially for children under age 10 Kids tend to get infected less They have less extreme symptoms and are less likely to transmit the virus to others So again, what we're seeing is pretty consistent messaging and pretty consistent research From across the world that's helping us reinforce that for the age group at least at this point for 10 and under we're seeing less transmission We also know that covet 19 is different than influenza We there's been a lot of public information about how kids Can spread influenza and it's different with this virus So I want to make sure that I call that out and say that because we've worked hard to make sure that we have kids Who are less than 10 not spreading flu and we know that it is different with covet at this point So kids are reacting different differently to this disease and again, we're tracking it very closely as we move forward I also wanted to talk about a denver health model that's that's coming out in the next week to two weeks So denver health has been working with the colorado health institute to do a prediction model looking at Pulling data from department of education and then looking at what predictions might we see associated with COVID spread across districts in the state of colorado And they're able to put that model together and to look school by school and district by district to do some predictions It's it's got to be taken with a grain of salt. There's a lot of different things at each level I mean each district in each school that are going to vary But it will allow us to to use that tool to to be able to help us predict and make some planning Assumptions moving forward in the future. So when we have that model available We'll be sharing that model with all of you and don will certainly have that as well And as don had mentioned there's definitely No perfect plan for reopening schools, right? It's going to depend on the local jurisdiction It's going to depend on what the infection rate in that jurisdiction is How big those schools are what their individual situations are And it's going to be it's going to be as we move through this. We know it's going to be difficult We know that compliance may be imperfect. We know that learning is going to be different For kids. We know that we know the stress that's on teachers and the worry that's out there And we also know that there'll be disruption as we go through this We're not planning like we're not going to have outbreaks because we know We will have outbreaks But we're planning to make sure that we contain and do the best we can To reduce the number of outbreaks and the disruption to both kids Families and the school at the same time And again, I believe the plan that st. Rain Valley school district has put forward at this point meets that reduction of risk The last thing I'll say is just that I am very appreciative because Don did not have to follow all of the recommendations that we made He has the ability to make some decisions at the district level just like others do that are superintendents But we have been in this as a partnership From the very beginning and I will continue to be there 110 for the district because the district's been there 110 with us So he's actively been listening to the recommendations that we're making Both districts are asking great questions And they're not They're not going out on their own and saying we're going to do this It doesn't matter what it means for you. This is really complex as you all know Some of these decisions are decisions that we've never had to face before and I hope we never have to face again But they are complex and information changes quickly and the fact that both Don and rob with bvsd have been there 100 behind us is is really appreciated and it demonstrates the commitment To the kids in the district from from my perspective anyway So I I want to thank Don for that and I will stop there and I know heather wants to add some additional information and then see after that if chris has comments that he wants to make Thank you, jeff um, and thank you don and board members for having us here tonight I did want to talk a little bit about Just the relationship that we've been able to build over the last several months. Um, I've worked very closely Almost on a daily basis. I would say in particular with um, dr. Capuchin with jackie And with other school staff closely with don to talk through all of The mitigation strategies that I know don outlined for you all this evening And feel really confident in the district's ability to reduce the risk of disease transmission as much as possible As jeff said the district has gone above and beyond a lot of our state recommendations Looking at masks requiring that for all ages The state does say that they recommend that for the under the age of 10 And I know the district has taken the step to protect everyone by requiring that Reducing the class size with the hybrid model to allow for more space for social distancing is going to be really key All of the upgrades to the HVAC all of the importance And stress on hand washing and hygiene and sanitizer This partnership with gary community investments and providing those testing opportunities for staff Doubling the custodial staff And then also providing online options and other Learning opportunities for students as well as options for staff and teachers who need them In addition to that, I just want to reiterate for all of you and for the public for our school communities That as we move through this as everyone has said we need to be adaptable We're gonna have to see what's happening make adjustments Decisions around what we do won't have to be made in a silo We do have an epidemiologist and a team that's being assigned to support specifically our school partners To talk through what we do if a case comes up. What do we do if we need to close a building or Excluded classroom and so those are all steps that Really help us as boulder county public health to feel really confident in the plan as it stands today So those are the pieces I would like to add And christ do you want to add anything? Thank you don't thank you for members of the board of education that for allowing us to be here I greatly appreciate it I have very little to add to it jeff and heather point out But I wanted to hit some highlights that I think are important to emphasize I too wanted to be complimentary to don and his team who who I believe have paid attention to the science To look at the most available guidelines To listen to teachers staff and parents To accommodate people who have special needs as well as give options and flexibility To both staff and students because I think that's critical for our success going forward As I was listening to your comments don and your presentation I kept on checking out while that he covered that he covered that he covered that he covered that And and I really I couldn't find a spot where I think that don and his team have not Folk emphasized and and the fact that he's flexible And is going to continue to work with us in terms of of looking at our data and looking at the available research Is refreshing And exciting and I think the board should feel very comfortable with that parents and and teachers and staff And and students should feel excited about this opportunity to come back to school because I think don is has crossed all the teas And dotted all the eyes And so I wanted to say hats off to you and hats off to the board for considering this proposal I think it meets Basically all the questions I heard in the comments earlier as well as it makes it as safe as possible You know we and don and I were talking about this earlier Nothing is 100 safe and as a healthcare provider a family doc for 40 years and a public health person for as long as that is That's as good as you can get In my mind and I think you should be reassured that I think don has done and his team have done an excellent job And our partners ship going forward will ensure that we can pay attention to those details and and mitigate the problems as we move forward And I'll be around to answer questions if there are particularly comments that the board wants to make or Questions about the science. Thank you Thank you Dr. Urbina you and a power I want to apologize to you for mispronouncing your name at the beginning of the meeting my apologies So thank you very much for all of your contributions Steve I think at this time if you're you're prepared it would be appropriate for you to share Thoughts and and comments and information that you have and then at that point I have a few comments I'd like to make and we can certainly open it up for additional questions Okay, thank you. Joey great. Thank you. And first of all, I'd like to thank everybody here I think that we have conducted ourselves in a professional team manner and I appreciate our guests being here I think that's important that science and medicine is driving this and I think that's going to be something That's going to be very reassuring to not only our public but to our teachers I want to add a little humanity to this because I am a teacher at heart. I taught for over 22 years I've been the president of svva for this is my third. It feels like the 15th after this year, but Needless to say it's been a challenging year. It's been a challenging year for parents it's been a challenging year for our school system for teachers and for everybody and Throughout this entire journey that started back in march. I just want to first of all commend our educators They stood up They pivoted they did something that you know, we were having a fantastic year, you know without a whim without any kind of You know real care in the world and then suddenly in march. We were online We were in the middle of a pandemic and our teachers Met the occasion and they stood up They did everything they needed to do and I know there are a lot of doubters out there who are saying that the online model wasn't that great I Challenge that I challenge that from the standpoint that our teachers did the best they could I've seen some of the lessons I actually went to a couple houses to watch them conduct these lessons And they were putting their hearts and soul into this and I think that needs to be recognized And I know it's been recognized by district leadership, but I also think that all of the parents out there and our teachers need to hear that But as we've been moving forward over the last couple months needless to say it's been challenging I hear from teachers on a daily basis. I hear their stories. I hear their concerns I hear their fears And one of the reassuring things that I've been able to tell them particularly with our ones who are vulnerable Is that we will take care of you we will help you we will do everything we humanly can I've heard from teachers who have caregivers for 93 year old parents I've heard from teachers who've literally sent me pictures of their children Who are you know vulnerable in the emergency room or in the intensive care unit The nice thing about this and I know that doesn't seem like something that you can really be positive about But from my perspective it's provided me the humanity that sometimes I think we forget That our teachers have fears That they have anxieties and more importantly they're human And so it's opened my eyes to the fact that you know what sometimes it's not about more plan time Sometimes it's not about always having more lunches or whatever the problem is Right now we're dealing with situations that are literally life and death And I'm grateful for the partnership that we have created with saint brain and trying to help our teachers And trying to get this situation to where we're back in the classroom Doing what we do best and that's teach our students now I do want to say this and this has been something you know as we've gone through this journey I've had to reach out to other members or other uh locals and other school districts You know because I was beginning to think is this just a saint brain thing are our teachers the only ones who are feeling this anxiety And I've reached out to several local presidents And it's everywhere. It's something that's valid and it's something that we need to be very cognizant of And as I was sharing stories with them and they were sharing their stories with me It would get emotional because there are serious, you know situations out there But one of the things that really brought something to light Was that when we began to start talking about our plans when we began to start talking about what will the fall look like They kind of looked at me and said I don't know we haven't really had that discussion And so we began to discuss things and we began to start saying what when state brain, you know We have a group of teachers that are working with the district. We have this we have that I'm in constant communication with our district leadership We're doing this and we're doing that and they're kind of looking at me like I had three heads on my shoulder And I think that that has been the key element that has given me a lot of faith And not only what we've created here and you know the experts who validated this But also just in our district and our partnership Now this has not been an easy journey By no means and like I said, we've had a lot of starts. We've had a lot of stops We started these discussions back in april And I think the complexity of all of this is going to be a challenge and we have to be adaptive as you know I've heard several times in this room, you know, it's the virus that's dictating what we're doing as it should be And so I just want to reiterate and I know we have a lot of teachers out there who are listening I think they crash the internet on this so Um, I want to you know reiterate to them that this Collaboration is going to continue. It is a continual process And next week you'll be getting this plan from all of your administrators And hopefully you'll be engaging it. You'll be asking the right questions. You'll be problem solving And if we still have questions, please make sure that you're engaging your ars So that we can problem solve it because we'll be meeting with dawn and jackie and other, you know members of You know the leadership team to begin to start talking and answering these questions and looking at this entire plan And again, nothing is neat. Nothing is easy But I think when we have such a complex issue like this That there's not going to be an easy answer and I told this to jackie earlier And I think I keep hearing that over and over again And finally the last point I would like to make is I'm greatly appreciative to have medical professionals and scientists here I think unfortunately, and I'm not going to blame anybody. I think both sides are to blame politically This has become an issue and it shouldn't become an issue and so I'm extremely grateful and Really, it's given me a lot of solace in knowing that our decisions are being based on science Are being based on medical, you know, the best medical practices and I hope and I expect that to continue and again We're going to continue to engage this issue and if we have to make changes we'll make changes If we have to make recommendations, we will make recommendations But from the bottom of my heart, I truly sincerely Want our teachers to understand that we're out there and we're going to engage this so that they have the most safe and productive classroom that they can possibly have this fall And um, I thank everybody here and especially you guys I like I said It's given me a lot of peace of mind to see that a lot of our decisions are being driven by medical professionals and scientists. Thank you Steve I just want to say thank you for not only your words, but for the partnership and for the collaboration And I have shared with you on multiple occasions and I'll share with you again My 100 commitment is to making sure that our teachers and our staff and our students Have the resources they need and the accommodations they need and we will continue to talk I know you and I talk almost anymore. It's almost daily, but But our full commitment is there and I appreciate everything and and I hope that our teachers who are listening know that I share your sentiment. This is a very difficult time And I understand that fully and it's uh It's a challenge and we'll just keep working through it together and all of you You know Jeff and Heather and Dr All of you I really appreciate doctor you being here and Heather you being here and Jeff you being here as well. So Thanks Jackie, did you have any comments before I I launched into mine? You know, I don't have any comments other than to say that um, truly over the last three or four months Everything that we have done here in st. Brain has been with the Health and safety and the wellness in mind for our students and our staff and it really is an incredible team It has been a a great team effort. We've had a lot of support from the board. Our superintendent has worked Hundreds and hundreds of hours along with many others on our team and you know, I I don't believe there's probably something we haven't thought about or worried about I'm sure there there may be but We have gone through the lists and we've gone over these things Many many times and we have aligned them next to the protocols And the advice that we've been given from the medical community and you know, I think we have a tremendously solid plan in place And we really look forward to having our students back And I think when that happens, it'll be a really great day for both our students and our staff Absolutely. Thank you. Thanks Jackie Don any comments that you would like the board to hear prior to Me making a few comments and opening it up for questions No, just a reminder. Well, there I go. I say no and then I go with a comment But everybody does that so I'll take a pass. But I just want to remind everybody teachers and staff You'll be receiving a letter tomorrow and many links to our website with lots of information And families you will all be receiving a letter from me that's comprehensive with all of the things we've talked about And so please look for those and and thank you for that. Great. Thank you, Don Do want to Take just a moment to Make a few comments and and to recognize Jeff and heather Dr. Urbina and steve. Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing science I do one thing. I do think While we're all in leadership positions and I know that I've not walked in your shoes I do believe that we share one common goal and that is safety I think we all understand that I know as a district our mission, you know If that can't be fulfilled to help every student achieve their fullest potential without prioritizing safety And I believe you share that that common belief. So thank you Um You know in listening to to all of the comments and i'm gonna Get this out out first I absolutely do support don Your suggestion of a hybrid model. I think that reaches the goal of balancing the need for student teacher and staff safety With student well-being and and learning quite honestly Um What I heard from from all of you Is you know, steve I want you to hear that I recognize That teachers and I recognize that staff across the district they're stressed And there's anxiety and there's there's fear and I hear that and I recognize that And I know that I and the sport of education don we support you in your commitment to supporting Those people and ensuring that that their needs are met and they're supported steve. Thank you Jeff what I heard you say and pardon me. I had to take notes. You guys shared so much information Jeff what I heard you say is that local conditions absolutely matter And our local conditions You consider them to to be the best information that you have right now That our plan is the lowest risk possible Uh, you recognize that there's no perfect plan, of course But that st. Brains plan absolutely meets the goal of reducing risk as much as possible Agreed Yes, yeah, you don't have to take it off. I just want to make sure that I'm hearing I want to make sure I'm making my decision based on accurate information if I say something wrong Throw your hand up And that's also taking into account, you know accommodations interventions To checking all those boxes Heather I heard you say again Also that you're confident that that you're appreciative of the relationship that you're confident In the district's ability to continue To decrease risk as much as possible with all of the current strategies And interventions that are in place and that you'll continue to meet in liais and make sure that All of those those boxes remain checked and and and I recognize that all of this is fluid And it may change as we move through the process, but I hear confidence from you as well in in the hybrid plan Yes, great. Thank you. And then dr. Urbina something you said and I I guess I copied you a little bit and I was doing the same thing I also watched Dr. Early and the presentation with cde on the guidelines for reopening schools in Colorado And I took notes during that and dr. Urbina you are an expert. I could never compare, you know, to all of your knowledge and expertise However, I also checked all the boxes that they stated were important in in those guidelines And so you also believe it's safe as possible not 100 i don't want anybody to believe that i'm saying that But the plan is is as safe as possible Yes, great. Thank you. Um, you know I I think that um While it is impossible to come up with a perfect plan at times like these Times like these can pull communities apart Or they absolutely can pull them together And I do believe that that as a board and a district we're committed to finding As we always have been the most common ground possible That will prioritize safety and continue to act in the best interest of the children For whom this board and school district are responsible and based on the information presented this evening I do believe that the hybrid model meets that criteria Uh, I'd like to open the floor up now for questions from board members. I would ask you You know limited maybe to two or three of of what you consider to be your top priority questions Um, I would also ask that those questions remain strategic at the board level and if you do have a question You know that goes goes a deep into operations or management. It might be best to save those to talk with don At a later time So at this time I'll open up the floor We can go around the horn or board members can simply jump in Any takers? Oh paula. Sorry. I'm just looking around the dais. I apologize paula Go ahead. That is okay. Um, can you guys hear me? I'm Yep, we're good. Okay. Um, thank you all so much for coming. Um, This is incredibly complex and all the other adjectives everyone has Has used all evening long. Um I'll just jump into a couple of pieces I the reason I am home tonight is because I was in florida a week ago Um, so I'm being responsible and kind of keep all of you safe But I was there and you know when it was it was scary We were getting we were getting the same numbers that you were getting and I was in the middle of it um, and we've also been getting that kind of um Our teachers and our parents have done a lot of research on their own. They're paying attention. They're watching the cvc Um, they're watching other countries and and don as you know, they've been sending us a lot of information. So it can be overwhelming as As the governance board of the school district. So I thank you so much From boulder county health for being here and giving us the local perspective, which is really what we need to be laser focused on Um, while all the rest of it is certainly happening out there in the world We need to know what's happening on the ground Here, so I I feel so much better hearing from you um And really understanding what are we working with and knowing that you are the professionals that are looking at all that worldwide data and sharing it Fluidly with us so we can make the absolute best decisions possible For our students and teachers If I could just ask a couple of quick questions Given what we know we're in now and again We're hearing the media from all around the country Why if you could just kind of walk me through in march, we did a 24 hour shutdown when the numbers weren't where they are today and now um We're we're working with these hybrid models. I am trusting that I do believe that we're being as safe as we possibly can be But can you walk me through why we made a decision in march in that context? And why we are supporting hybrid models now in our current context? Sure. I'm happy to answer that question and uh We had this question last night from the boulder valley school district board of education When we decided to close schools in march We did that because you have to remember it was brand. This is a brand new virus We didn't know how the virus because it was going to act in our community We were on the upswing of cases We know a lot more now even being four five months later than when this started So that's the difference between why we are where we are right now I think now we have guidance that is respectful of what we know about the virus And it represents what we know about the virus And we're just going to have to keep an an eye on the virus in any changing research as we move forward But that that's the really the big difference Heather chris anything else to add Yeah, I think I would just add that we also now have better understanding of how the virus behaves in children And in march, we didn't know that. Um, I think we many people expected the virus to Act the way that flu does among children and just spread really rampantly And so that felt like the appropriate response at that time and now We better understand or we're starting to better understand what this uh how this impacts especially young children One other piece to add paula I do think we were able to watch what was happening Internationally, and so we were watching not only the research but what other countries were doing So that we learned from that So that even though we had a a handful of cases and we still still have a handful of cases We were truly able to put into place Specific actions that flattened the curve that actually made a difference in stopping the spread We didn't have that information We were successful and all the things that don has put into the plan have continued those same actions That we know prevent the spread of this infection that heather talked about So i'm much more reassured than I was in march when Jeff don and rob and I stood up in the press conference room at the public conference said we need to close schools Now I know how we can prevent Outbreaks and I know that we can make a difference by listening and and and putting these pieces into place Thank you One other follow-up question if I may In the event and this may still be evolving, but what are the triggers as you understand them today? for quarantining a classroom Quarantining a cohort shutting down a school Is that work in progress as far as when those triggers are are are met and if so What are your thoughts on that how that would be managed? Sure, so we um are currently partnering with uh colorado department of public health and environment They are working on a comprehensive outbreak management Matrix and step by step process of what to do if we have a positive case or a probable case the steps to take We are expecting that out either later this week or next week In addition to that we're working very closely with our epidemiologists within boulder county public health To talk through those pieces Even to the point of defining what constitutes an outbreak who are all the high-risk contacts all of those pieces That would look at who we're needing to exclude given a case And I think you know, I just want to assure people that that those types of decisions won't be made in isolation Similar to all of our communicable disease protocols. There will be steps to follow People will know who they're supposed to contact. We have an on-call epidemiologist So all of those pieces are just important for folks to know as well Agreed Thank you. It sounds like I know you mentioned the epidemiologist assigned to the school districts as well as the contract tracers It sounds like we have all the staff in place necessary for those events When they happen and we pretty much know they will happen But as we if we can pounce on them and get the resources on them As soon as possible that's we're going to keep everybody as safe as safe as possible My last comment. I don't want to dominate the discussion time. Um is for steve Thank you steve so much for being here. Um, you are you and the teachers Are a pivotal part of this trifecta. It is public, you know, it is public health It is the school administration and it is the teachers students and families The fact that you're you're here And in supporting the teachers For me and I shared this with don earlier. Yes, we want to follow the science Yes, we want to make as evidence-based decisions as we can as far as state safety for teachers and students and creating The best learning environment we can in this reality. We're living in But there's the safety and then there's the feeling of being safe Um of of really knowing that the supports are there The models are there the transition is there and I really want the teachers to to feel that it's that it's there And um from what I hear you saying steve, it's Nothing's perfect. Everybody's nervous for sure Well, I guess you share with me like how how what is your perception of that is the perception of the safety there as well Well, I I think As you know, we're moving forward and I think tonight, you know The hope is is that people are going to see what is going to be in place And that it brings down those anxieties. Um, and again, I think it's a perfectly natural response to something like this I think we've seen a lot in the news. We're getting a lot of different information And you know, obviously a lot of people are on the internet and I probably should maybe Reduce that just a little bit because there's a lot of bad stuff out there But I'm hoping and I you know telling, you know, our teachers right now that I feel like this is a good place to be at Given everything that is in place given the people that are Working, you know with the district given the leadership and given the cooperation that we've had And the collaboration that we have I feel like we're in a good place Um, my hope is is that you know, the people who are watching tonight or will be watching later Is that they're going to be reassured that um everything that is being done can be done And so yeah, I I think that That's my hope and that's my aspiration I think that you know, everyone's going to be a little nervous I think that's a perfectly natural response And I think it's something that we have to honor and something that we have to keep cognizant of Because you know, this is a unique situation. I mean, this is my first pandemic and hopefully my last and Nothing has gone the way it's supposed to but again I I think that hopefully tonight has gone a long way to at least quell some of these fears but also to You know reassure everybody including parents and students that you know, we're in a good place Thanks. Thanks, Steve. I um again, I really appreciate your you literally being at the table tonight as well as the um public health people My understanding is you have surveyed teachers, you know, we are we we've received Um a lot of input from teachers and parents. So I am very comfortable that we're we're doing the kind of outreach necessary to Collect that input and and to make the best decision we can and um, lastly, I'll just close with I really appreciate Don and Jackie The incredible amount of work you and your staff has done and I think the communication piece you already mentioned on Is really really critical now that we're you know within a month of starting school I know it's coming. You talked about the announcement tomorrow. You talked about the principal messages Um, I know, you know, the the training that's coming up. I'm hoping as we step into this You know, everybody will kind of understand where where the decisions have been made with the best interests of everybody in mind And um, we all have to work together as Joey said, we we have to come together and not come apart for the Best interests of our students in our community. So thank you everybody. I I so appreciate all the work that's being done Thank you, Paula Other board member comments or questions chico? Yeah, um, just one one question But first I also want to thank everyone For being here tonight and more importantly along the way with us and helping guide us through this and And to don and the the rest of the staff who have been involved in this work every day for the past few months um Jeff you mentioned a report harvard. I missed the name of of the report, but I wonder if you can Um, mention that again and also um reiterate the point around that um point, I think that's You know, really important as far as why this is so complex, right and that balances um So hard to find and and why this plan aligns well with that But I think if you can reiterate that point for me and and tell me again what that what that report was Absolutely, it's uh, thank you for the question It's the harvard school of public health and its risk reduction strategies for reopening schools And i'm just going to mention the other three because they're more specific than just what don said american academy of pediatrics School reentry guidance the national academy of sciences engineering and medicine reopening k through 12 schools during the covet 19 pandemic and then obviously the centers for disease control recommendations and uh, the the intention with the and the The summary was from the harvard school of public health and i'll just go through these bullet points again It's keeping schools closed comes with massive long-term individual and societal costs many children Can't effectively learn grow engage socialize be active eat healthy Food or get the support until school reopen school closures can be especially hard And most of our vulnerable populations, which we all know It's difficult for parents and caregivers to go back to work until children get back to school And those were some of the key things that harvard the harvard experts that worked on this We're finding and again why they came up with strategies That are aligning with the the recommendations that we've made and are definitely in alignment with what st brain valley school district has proposed Great. Thank you. And and again just with what you said along with Um, everything else that's been laid out there. Just I just you know for me that goes to the the complexity of um Why we want to bring kids back has always been the goal, right and and the precautions that we have to take otherwise so That's just the point want to reiterate and and thank you all for being here. So Thank you chico Karen, did you have any questions or comments this evening? Great. Thank you John Thank you. Um you know more of um, just really appreciating the um The outreach. I've known st. Brain to be a great um gatherer of collaborative efforts and to um Have a non-linear approach where they're really listening to all the cohorts and I think that's a strength that has Really propelled st. Brain to to finding the best Outcomes um, but now to see it outreach to the community and and I thank you so much for being here We do have to base our decisions on science Along with comfortability and there is a lot of questions by our community out there right now in terms of You know how we get the steps back to Where we were and and I don't know when that's going to happen But we need to get our students back into schools I mean we know that education is probably one of the greatest Assets that a community can have and we do have to look at our community not communities that are In california or florida or texas or anywhere else I mean the information is critical to to make our decisions right here and now um, I I have outreach to our teachers and our administrators and and uh I think the plan that is then there to now have classes smaller to do an ab schedule to do a um A piece which will minimize the Amount of contact that is important and we need to realize that No one's going to be happy with every plan, but this plan seems to be one which will Have the most girth in terms of making people comfortable um, I want to point to a One of the good aspects and and that was st. Vrain was well prepared In their technology efforts to really face these challenges and I feel Honored that that's the case and I feel sorry for the districts that did not have that advantage. Um, I think this is something we need to um Work on in a world And well at least in the country and probably along the world to make sure that our students have access to technology one of the um One of the aspects which will I think we're going to learn a lot right now in terms of what we can do with technology We're going to have students that are well versed in Grasping online learning and others that won't Fair as well But having the ability to identify those strengths and having the teachers be able to reach out to the students that need more One on one contact is is going to be Something that we may not have gotten if we had just Pursued other methods of building our schools up too quickly. I think this slower Um introduction is is important. Um, so I'm happy to see what's what's taking place and I and I have Reached out as I said to many people but um The the as joey mentioned today that those boxes were checked off. I really hope that There were many people listening to the discussions that took place tonight. I I think it was laid out well and and I appreciate Everything you have brought to the table. It's great to see save rain Working with the sciences and it's great to see all of you here So I I I learned a lot myself tonight I've been doing more reading in the past week in months than I think I ever have It's it's tough and and I hope that The comfort level for our teachers our parents and our students Is at a point where we can excel with education and get back To to the learning that needs to take place and is that such an important characteristics for our community And I thank you very much for being here. Thank you john Jim do you have any comments or questions this evening? Actually, I do in my best effort to be redundant. I want to thank everybody for being here But you need to hear that because we really do appreciate the work that you have put in I know the hours that our staff has put in And the hours we put in and through reading all the emails we received and all the The text that came into uh where the emails that came in for the board questions that we weren't able to read all tonight That we'll be able to read them when they're in the record I had a whole list of questions and much like joey as Don was speaking and you all were speaking all those questions got answered So i'm really looking forward to the document tomorrow and um I'm going to recommend strongly that everybody who's listening tonight everybody who's watching tonight and those who Watch tomorrow when it's posted Make sure they get a copy of that document and go over it thoroughly because all your questions Are going to be answered. I'm sure in a document because it's covering Everything we're going to do to go back under hybrid everything. We're doing to give them The launch head those options all the issues around taking care of the special needs students and That answers a lot of questions from all the teachers probably who are anxious as as steve said are anxiety of what are we going to be doing? How are we going to be doing it? um and and You know and john said it it's it should have Set up a position where people are going to be very comfortable Or more comfortable and relaxed by approaching this and more aware of what to look for to make sure If something's going on that they know how to respond to it and and nib it in the butt So that's what we all have to say. Thank you. Thank you jim dick I will come back. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, karen has a couple questions and a comment. So I will go back to her after After dick you make your comments Thank you joey I guess My fellow board members have said much of what What I was going to say I think that in principle The thing that I am most encouraged by Is the willingness first of all the commitment of both our health agencies bolder county And the district leadership to work closely together And responsibly responsibly Deal with the changing conditions as they arise For me that's a A signal in fact it's it's a A lighthouse moment in in terms of Identifying for us not only First of all the current plan being responsive to the current conditions But the commitment on the part of our district And the commitment on the part of bolder county health To to work together and ensure over time That as conditions change our responses will change We will continue to listen to the science as we have And we'll continue to respond at the district level With plans that are In tuned with the best information that we have At any particular time going forward So reliance that the partnership is the source of great encouragement to me And I deeply appreciate Your presence here and the information you've provided Not only in this meeting but also in the other meetings that you've had with our Leadership I guess I want to also point out the flexibility that With which Don Haddad and his leadership team have Responded to the Input that we got from our community partners From our parents Input that we've received from the From bolder county health and others In that the plan that we're proposing tonight is or that's under consideration Is different than the one that we had under consideration As the first draft It's a direct response to changing conditions And I think it is I think it is a very Thoughtful and Well, I think it's a very thoughtful and Responsive plan that that enables us to On one hand Demonstrate that we're listening to comments from our communities Demonstrate that we're not only doing the minimum that's required from or recommended from our health agencies, but we're Leaving no stone unturned in order to Provide an excellent education and a health in a safe learning environment So that part the flexibility Is of great encouragement to me Because it provides us with an opportunity to continue to be To continue to ensure ourselves as well as our public and our students That we will at every moment do what is best for the education and safety of our students And the the other part that I'm encouraged I I want to say something if I may about Steve's presence here that That I highly value, but the other thing that I heard in dawn's report was that We will see the written plan that outlines the The specific steps that we plan to take But that plan will be implemented with flexibility. It will be implemented with responsiveness to the Needs that arise that we may not that are details That will respond on a case-by-case basis as they arise We have a solid system of plan within which those that The solid plan allows us to be responsive to individual needs And that is a great encouragement To me In my own work, I've Always The best advice I ever got from actually was the former assistant secretary of the army Elvis J star He said when we first met and talked Um Never allow yourself to be put into position where you will Be forced to substitute rules for brains and this this plan is a plan that positions us to Within a solid framework to Use our brains and to be responsive to Accommodate the changing conditions. So I I think in terms of a plan And an approach that's right for this moment That I wholeheartedly endorse this I just wanted to say Recognize the role that steve has played and the voice Voices of teachers throughout the district that we hear through his input And Steve I I thank you from the bottom of my heart for Advocating for our teachers to helping us make even better decisions than we might otherwise do and to keep us Attuned to and sensitive to those changing needs as our experience informs what is best As we get back we will learn more About what's possible and what's not what buildings work how they work And it will be the input that we have from our teachers directly but also Through us our representative that will allow us to be Continually A responsive to doing what's best for our students at all levels. So thank you steve for your presence here All right. Thank you dick Karen Thanks Joey Um, I just want to say I have tremendous appreciation for um leadership Everyone here. Um, Joey Dick, I'm sorry Joey don and um dr. Capucin especially. Thank you It's such a chaotic time and you're providing so much soundness to all of us. So thank you for that um, you know the information from national news channels platforms dr. Google Our political climate are so unsettling and it's just um It's really nice to hear the focus on facts and science and all this flexibility and thinking Through how the various aspects of this pandemic are going to affect us here locally where we really need to make the decisions Um, thank you so much heather jeff and dr. Abina for your partnership and this information that you provided tonight And your tireless ongoing research Thank you so much steve um for being there for our teachers and for working with us to ensure that we recognize those real fears and I mean, we all feel them. I don't think anybody can deny that And um, and for really working so well with us to address and um those concerns Um, efficiently and effectively Um, I am also supportive of this hybrid model and I'm confident that the plan will have I'm I'm almost sure the plan will evolve And I'm confident as it does Because of the strength in our community that we've been building for so long That our teachers and our students and our community will embrace and continue learning And staying connected um in the various ways that that will look um as we get to know them Um, I reiterate dr. Martyr's recognizing the importance of flexibility and responsiveness at this time um I am also interested as paula asked in learning more about the confirmed case outbreaks and So thank you heather for working on that over the next few weeks. I'll um be interested in finding out more And i'm really looking forward to seeing the students this weekend at the graduation ceremonies Thank you so much for making that happen because it's going to be so cool And it will be unforgettable for those kids, which is really what matters. That's why we're here. So, thank you Thank you. Karen, uh, steve. Jess. Jeff, uh, heather dr. Urbina any parting comments you would have before We get ready to adjourn the meeting this evening. Yeah, joey. I have a question for For jeff and uh, I've been getting questions popping in so forgive me if i'm doing double time here from teachers I think one of the concerns or I don't know if it's really a concern But we have schools that are located in weld county So are those numbers going to be monitored during this time to make decisions if you know, let's say Weld county is having an outbreak while, you know, welder county is relatively settled It's a great question and uh, weld county has a new director I think most of you probably know So we have just made contact with the new weld county director And we will have to make sure that just like we are with the metro denver partnerships For health, we're in very close connection that we'll need to be in close connection with the new weld county director to do that as well Great. Thanks, steve. Anything else? Good When you're done, I wanted to share something too. Um, what? Um, I don't care. I'll go first. Do you can go first? What do you think? All right, I just want to make a couple closing comments on I do want to thank everybody who is in attendance. I want to recognize also You know, we we received a lot of comments and questions from families Also, and just as with the teachers we understand With those families that there is a lot of anxiety. There's fear. There's questioning We understand that this board of education Has either currently has children in the school district They have families or loved ones who are teachers or employees in the school district We have had children who have graduated From this school district I want to make it clear that I would never support this plan Unless I would be willing to send my children and be comfortable with my loved ones going into those schools and teaching And I absolutely am and so I want just everybody to understand that we recognize that Don I want to just take a minute. I know that I say this to you I say that no idea why this is happening. I'm sorry everybody I say this to you personally a lot, but I want to thank you for your leadership And jackie, I want to thank you for your leadership We wouldn't be here right now without that and with all of The wonderful partners that we have in the room and also the partners who couldn't be here this evening And so I don't want that to go unrecognized. Thank you very much for that. I know that When you go to sleep at night and when you wake in the morning that your first thought Is the safety and well-being of everybody in this district. So thank you My last parting comment, you know don I know that you're going to be in touch with with everyone here and with principals and teachers But could you just one more time lay out the communication plan when people can expect when teachers and everybody can expect to get information Absolutely, and thank you for that and it's a it's a good segue because One of the things that I wanted to also do in addition to you know express my Just my sincere appreciation to everyone. I wanted to you know, thank dr. Capuchin who is uh you know Takes calls at 10 at night 11 at night 12 at night emails And then we have You know this constant Conversation going on about what about this and what about that and you call this person I'll call this person and I look in the back there and I see carry mcgermit When you ask about communication Uh, I think sometimes Jennifer says give me your phone. You're not calling these people anymore Because she's another one that's just tireless and Brilliant in her work. So I appreciate people who have said thank you But I also want you to know that uh, there's a team and these two ladies are just phenomenal And steve I feel the same way about the work that you do and appreciate you always being There to listen and to advise and to guide and you're just your tremendous advocacy for our teachers and our staff And what I would want everybody to know is something that you said too is I make these recommendations It's always with the uh, the thought in mind would I send my child into this particular situation? and that's you know and as I Lead in this situation It's always with my head and my heart and I want people to know they can contact me anytime and have any conversation and share any thought and We will be meeting regularly to talk about the environment and how things are evolving And if we need to make adjustments we'll make adjustments and To your point we have a system, but we will work within the system where our people always come first So thank you for that and then to your question tomorrow Kerry will be sending out my letter that will go out to all families And it will be The letter with all of the links into a pretty extensive website with all of that information That anybody can access I will also be sending that to teachers and staff And then I will be sending a separate letter to our teachers that will articulate things very specific to their work And then uh, our principals will be working To present a video that will go to that will be presented at their school that will walk parents and everyone through What it will look like in their particular school I will be meeting with the steve and the ars I think we've got it set for wednesday Because our principals are going to be meeting with their staff on mondays and tuesday this monday and tuesday and then People will come with more questions and we'll have that meeting with all of the representatives for each of the schools And it'll just be constant communication And if we need to pivot we'll pivot in partnership with our teachers and our staff and our parents and our students and obviously the board and Our critical partners in boulder county health I think that's it jackie or kerry, do you have any other information about communication Okay, all right, right and then dawn if parents if people do have questions there is a A form they can access on the district website specifically For questions to surrounding Coronavirus return covid return to school all of those things correct correct and that information We'll go out in the letter that they can log in and they're also welcome to email me directly or call me That was my next question is everybody can access your your information All right, so, uh, you know, I'm humbled and privileged to sit here this evening. Thank you. Thank you to everyone in the room We wish you a safe rest of the summer And with that I'll entertain a motion for adjournment joy. Yes. Are we going to vote on it? No, we are not dick. We are just Voicing our support. We are not we're not going to vote. No Well, I think there's unanimous support among the Among the board members so oh, they're absolutely is yeah I was noting as we went around the room that they're they're absolutely is support and You know, I trust on to move forward as appropriate with the plan But no, we are not going to do a formal vote this evening. I would entertain a motion for adjournment, please So moved by jim and a second by karen all in favor Hi, great. Thanks everyone. Have a safe evening