By John Dobberstein, Editor
The Broken Arrow Public Schools plan to go back to in-person learning on Monday. Here is a message from BAPS Supt. Chuck Perry:
I want to start by saying “thank you” to everyone for their role in transitioning to distance learning. I have seen first-hand and heard from many others of the hard work that teachers have put in this week to ensure that our students are still receiving the quality instruction they deserve.
I want to thank our families for rearranging their personal schedules and juggling the demands of having their child home all day.
Lastly, I appreciate the perseverance of our students staying engaged with their teachers in such a unique and demanding learning environment. I want to fully acknowledge the burden this week has been on so many. I am so thankful that the BA family has stepped up and pulled together in the midst of an unimaginable staffing crisis.
In the interim, we are doing everything we can to get school back open, with in-person learning being the ultimate goal. Here are some steps we are taking to ensure a safe return to the classroom:
- Night custodial staff have been deep cleaning classrooms at various sites in the district, sanitizing classrooms and common areas with state-of-the-art equipment.
- Our partnership with TeamClinics has allowed us to expedite COVID testing of school staff at a central location. This has helped speed up test results, identifying the issue and providing a resolution to keep those who are healthy and COVID-negative to stay at work.
- The City of Broken Arrow passed a resolution at their regularly scheduled meeting this week, allowing City workers to become volunteers at school sites while still on city work hours. Governor Stitt also approved an executive order allowing state agency workers to also be allowed to volunteer at school sites.
But of course, being in a pandemic, we are also faced with a host of staffing challenges, even with the transition to distance learning. Our amazing human resources department has supplied me with the following stats from the week:
- There are 535 total staff out as of this afternoon. While that is a still a large number, it has come down significantly from the 700+ that were absent this past week. While it’s hard to forecast, we believe the absentee count for staff on Monday will fall around 350-400, barring any weekend rise in numbers.
- At this moment we have 120 teachers absent on Monday, but our fill rate is hovering above 70%. If you will recall, last week our fill rate was below 30% so I greatly appreciate those who have stepped up to substitute teach.
- Last weekend, we had 64 additional positive COVID cases that were added to our Friday numbers that were originally communicated. We will be monitoring those closely over the weekend.
- Transportation, child nutrition and Before & After care staff will have around 50 absences on Monday, making full service across the district difficult at times with very limited staff. That could mean longer lunch lines, late bus routes and some B&A sites not able to open, but we feel like it is well worth the inconveniences to have our students back in-person.
Weighing all these factors as well as the amount of time several of our school sites have been transitioned to distance learning, I have made the following decision:
All school sites will return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 24.
Our plan is to be in-person for the remainder of the week, but please realize that we will be monitoring numbers throughout each day to determine if any sites are not able to adequately supervise students along with offering quality academic instruction.
To further help with the shortages, we will be pulling all available staff members from the Education Service Center, Central on Main, and various other departments across the district to help cover classrooms. I have talked to many teachers and staff this week, and they have been in overwhelming favor of bringing students back next week if at all possible.
We appreciate the overwhelming support from the community, including the City of Broken Arrow Council and Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, as well as Governor Stitt’s office, as they have made a return to in-person learning part of their respective noble causes.
If you or someone you know is qualified and interested in becoming a volunteer or substitute at one of our sites, please reach out to hrdesk@baschools.org and we will get you on your way.
Your continued patience and understanding do not go unnoticed, and I promise to stay committed to the goal of in-person learning, because I wholeheartedly believe that is what is best for students.
The collaborative teamwork that has been shown by our teachers and staff this week has reminded me what an honor it is to serve as a member of the Broken Arrow Tiger family.
Respectfully,
Chuck Perry
Superintendent of Schools
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