Superintendent's Update Supplement, January 21, 2022
For More In-Depth Information: Superintendent Update
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Highlights
We very much appreciate the celebrations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day across the AAPS. Students and staff across the district engaged in lessons and activities that honored the Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. and his non-violent approaches to ensuring equality and justice for all. Celebrations included virtual assemblies, guest speakers, interactive read-alouds, virtual tours of the National Civil Rights Museum and interdisciplinary lessons focused on Dr. King’s speeches.
A symposium/virtual presentation recognizing and celebrating MLK day also occurred for high schools last Friday. Across all five high schools, students and staff participated virtually in the annual MLK event, and Rep. Yousef Rabhi was the keynote speaker.
Ongoing AAPS Equity Development
The AAPS school leadership team participated in the ongoing Leading for Equity professional development series with Dr. Emdin last Tuesday, January 11, focusing on 28 strategies and concrete moves we can make to become more equitable across our system.
We are also excited to continue our equity learning together as we welcome Dr. Sealey-Ruiz who returns next week to lead our 4th session of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning development with all AAPS staff on Wednesday, January 26th, 2:00 pm- 4:00 pm.
Semester 1 Wrap Up
This week in the AAPS, we are coming to a close of semester 1 for this 2021-22 school year.
Semester 2 begins Monday, January 24, 2022.
High school student teams at Community, Huron and Pioneer participated in final exams this week and school teams on plans for make-up exams. We anticipate a higher than the typical number of students needing make-up exams and will need the better part of the week of January 21st to address and support students with make-up exams.
Schools are publishing information on the make-up procedures and options to students and parents. We have also extended grading timelines to accommodate the work teachers have to do to store grades.
Our Current Reality
Cases remain high, both among our AAPS staff and in our Ann Arbor community. As a result of this January COVID-19 Omicron surge, staff shortages continue to directly impact every part of district operations; we continue to average 20% - 30% of our work teams short-staffed, both across infrastructure and in-school teams, including transportation, food and nutrition, custodial and IT staff.
Steps We Are Taking to Keep Our Schools Open
We continue to monitor COVID-19 cases and related staff/student impact around the clock. Our priority remains to keep our schools open as long as we can provide enough staff to operate safely for in-school learning. We understand that in-school learning is critical for our students and families in our community.
Over the coming weeks, we will continue to mobilize every tool and resource available to meet the emerging challenges we face and to maintain our schools as open for in-school learning, including:
- day-by-day monitoring of AAPS COVID data and related staffing and student impact,
- around-the-clock monitoring of attendance data to confirm coverage and mobilization of available staff,
- continue ‘winter increase’ in daily rates for guest teacher/employee pay through March,
- continue mobilization of members of the central team, including Superintendent and team members, to support and ensure position coverage across our schools for safe, in-school operations,
- continue delivery of professional learning sessions in a remote/virtual setting to reduce staff exposure, and
- continued scheduling of essential meetings for central leaders outside of school hours, when needed.
Modified Operations Continue: Transportation Service
Currently, we are operating on-time operation of 75 of 97 transportation routes each day, including all special education and preschool routes. We continue the strategic reassignment of personnel as needed to cover these essential routes.
Due to additional positive cases among transportation staff along with other COVID impacts reported this week, some of the 22 transportation routes that are currently suspended will need to be extended for one additional week. Parents are being notified separately as to when their specific route is anticipated to be restored.
We will continue to vigilantly monitor this transportation situation daily and will restore full transportation operations just as soon as we can mobilize staff to take this critical next step.
AAPS Vaccination Events
We have completed ten AAPS vaccination events, with approximately 1,500 student vaccines administered and 200 boosters for staff. Special thanks to Jenna Bacolor, Liz Margolis and the team who have consistently worked these events to serve our AAPS students, staff and families.
We have hosted testing events, and yet the current reality is the concern continues and is around the limited state and federal supply of tests coming into the AAPS and all school districts.
Overview of Updated School Guidance
AAPS continues to prioritize in-person learning while implementing available prevention measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our schools. We have a solid track record in the AAPS of minimizing the transmission of COVID by following our in-school health and safety steps.
In this new year, we have transitioned our practice and have updated AAPS COVID-19 school protocols for students and staff based on new guidance from the Washtenaw County Health Department and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. AAPS school nurses have been implementing the new guidance with students and staff while consulting with the WCHD on specific changes, and this week we are sharing more detailed information.
As before, the AAPS uses a responsive and layered approach to COVID-19 mitigation strategies. The updated AAPS protocols show a general response to student cases. Each case will be considered and managed based on the individual factors involved. The district response may be adapted as necessary based on the number of cases impacting a school or other factors.
Please note: Public health guidance and related implementation protocols are subject to change based on a number of factors, including case trends and new research findings.
Highlights of protocol changes
The new guidance represents a shift from identifying and quarantining close contacts based on most types of in-school exposures. The intensive efforts to reach every close contact of a student or staff who tests positive now will focus specifically on situations identified as ‘high risk.’
What does this mean in practice for students and staff?
- Vaccination status continues to matter for all staff and for students ages 5-18
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals are more likely to become ill and more likely to be placed in quarantine based on exposure to a case at school or home. - For students and staff who test positive, a possible reduction in isolation days may occur
An option for five-day isolation with the earliest possible return on day six is available if criteria are met: symptoms are resolved, agreement to wear a high filtration mask and continued monitoring. A negative rapid antigen test is strongly recommended but not required. - Significant reduction in the number of students who are placed in quarantine
With contact tracing limited to specific ‘high risk’ situations, we anticipate fewer students will be required to quarantine. In certain situations and as AAPS resources allow, “Test to Stay” will continue to be offered as an option instead of quarantine. - Case notification and response process
Case notification will continue in adherence to MDHHS guidelines to notify parents within 24 hours. Notification letters will be sent to classroom/school communities no more than once per day and include all cases reported for the school in the last 24 hours.
Individual case response will look different -- in most situations, case response will not include contact tracing nor individual phone calls to parents regarding quarantine.
AAPS Nurses and the COVID Response Team will focus their efforts on supporting healthy and safe practices in schools, including patient education for students and staff who test positive and offering Test to Stay if staffing allows and additional school testing supplies are received.
Critical Actions for Parents
In keeping our shared goal of our AAPS classrooms and schools open to in-person learning and maintaining the safest learning and working environments possible for students and staff, AAPS strongly urges parents to partner in preventing COVID transmission.
Parents must follow these critical steps to prevent the spread of COVID in AAPS:
- Monitor your student(s) for COVID symptoms every day using this updated screener.
- Keep your symptomatic student home until you can get them tested. See the flowchart in the full guidance document for more detailed information. Students or staff developing symptoms while at school will be sent home.
- Immediately contact your school office if your student tests positive.
- If anyone in your household tests positive for COVID, keep your student home according to the guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated students.
- Get your student(s) age 5 - 18 vaccinated and boosted. Unvaccinated students automatically will be required to quarantine in some COVID exposure situations.
- Be ready to provide consent for your student to be tested at school as part of a Test to Stay program or in case your student develops symptoms at school.
Student Attendance
We continue to closely monitor student attendance, and evaluate for achieving the continuity of learning during this January time and the omicron disruption.
We experienced a strong attendance during the first four days back from winter break virtually (Jan 5-7 and 10th), with 89% - 91% attendance overall and 86% - 92% across grade levels.
As we have returned to in-school learning beginning for most schools on January 11th, we have hovered around 87% overall attendance with:
- School buildings on virtual are generally attended at a higher rate than face-to-face buildings, and
- An increase in the attendance rate for each building at the point when a transition from in-school to remote/virtual was made.
Please note: items A and B referenced are observations only.
When checking these attendance rates over year-to-year analysis, research from the Enrollment team shows - from a check of three dates each in January 2019 and January 2020 including:
- the Tuesday following New Year’s Day,
- the Wednesday the following week, and
- the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
In all cases, the number of absence codes was very similar to the number of daily codes we have experienced during these previous two weeks. Student attendance so far during this January 2022 is similar to January 2019 and January 2020, both pre-COVID.
Given all that we are currently experiencing with COVID/Omicron-related challenges just now, student attendance continues to be strong this January.
When students do need to miss classes, a reminder that the AAPS Quarantine Learning Program is available to support them.
Quarantine Learning Program (QLP) learning facilitators continue to provide live help for students K-12 who are out of school for short-term illness. We are seeing an average of 50-75 students in the QLP each day. While we are not allowed, per state attendance audit requirements, to consider attendance in the QLP as ‘present’ for school attendance records, the most important priority, continuing care, connection and continuity of learning, is the benefit of participating in the QLP. Students and parents wishing to learn more about the QLP may do so here.
We continue to make progress together. Thank you for all the steps you are taking every day to support our students, staff and the Ann Arbor Public Schools community.
Jeanice K. Swift
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools