ECS Flexible Instruction Plan
BACKGROUND
With the passage of Act 64 of 2019, section 1506 was added to the Pennsylvania Public School Code ("School Code"), 24 P.S. § 15-1506, enabling public school entities the opportunity to develop a FID program to meet the 180 instructional day requirement of section 1501 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code, 24 P.S. § 15-1501. The FID program may be asynchronous, synchronous or a combination of the two. While ECS has an extended school year and has 187 instructional days in our school calendar, FID programs can support the district in cases when circumstances prevent the delivery of instruction in its customary manner or location for any of the following reasons: hazardous weather condition, an epidemic, the interoperability of school buses, damage to a school building, or a temporary circumstance rendering any portion of a school building unfit or unsafe for use. If ECS is approved to implement our FID program, the number of FIDs instituted may not exceed five (5) days per school year. A public school entity electing to institute a FID program must develop a FID program that meets the assurances outlined in the application. The FID application must be approved by the public school entity's governing body prior to acceptance by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
PDE Required Components
1. Describe the procedure for notifying all students, parents, and professional staff prior to a flexible instructional day being instituted.
Throughout the school year, different circumstances arise that might result in closure of any number of our four buildings. These are often times related to inclement weather during our winter months but could also be at times of extreme heat, damaging storms or due to a safety issue at a building. It is the Environmental Charter School’s goal to provide students with the least disruption to their school year as possible and as such, might use a flexible instruction day in lue of closing a building.
At the start of each school year the community receives an email with both the procedures for potential school closure notifications and directions for the implementation of our FID plan. Once decided upon, our method of communication for either scenario is via both email and automated phone call. As a backup to those communications, we also utilize our website, social media and local news outlets (WPXI, WTAE, CBS). Staff receive both an email notification and a robo-phone call prior to parent/guardian notification. Parents and guardians will then receive both an email notification and a phone call or text message depending on their preference. The use of both an email and phone message allows for redundancy in case of power outages and loss of internet connection.
The executive team (CEO, Superintendent, Communications Director, and Facilities Director) monitors the weather and prepares for any closures in advance if possible. It is our goal to alert the community the day before a closure or use of a FID prior to 9 p.m. or before 6 a.m. the day of the change. Once the initial notification is received by staff and families, each grade level sends a personalized email to families with links to the Google Meeting times and any specific instructions needed for the lessons for the day. In addition to the regular communications, if a family needs to contact any of our ECS staff members during a FID, we all have RingCentral phone numbers that allow us to communicate through our school-issued devices from any location.
2. Describe the procedure for instituting a flexible instructional day, using your primary plan, which should allow most, if not all, students to participate on an equitable basis for a single day as a result of one of the reasons cited in Section 1506, such as severe weather.
ECS’ CEO in collaboration with other central office administrators, will consider all circumstances prior to making a determination on using a FID. ECS believes in out-the-door education and makes an effort to preserve some snow days for families. We believe there is value in the time students spend outdoors playing with their families during such events. When situations arise where we have used multiple snow days in a year or there are other types of disruptions that may cause schools to close, the CEO may make a decision to use a FID.
The primary mode of instruction during a FID for our elementary and middle school students is asynchronous work with both office hours and live virtual check-ins with teachers. The primary mode of instruction for our high school students is a mix of synchronous classes and asynchronous work time. The difference in modes of instruction is due guaranteed access. We are a 1:1 school, however, only our high school students take their devices home each night. For our middle school students, we send a message to families each year asking if they would like to borrow a device for the year to have at home if they do not have access. Our social workers also work with families that need to gain access to internet services for our 6-8 students as needed. Our K-5 students are not expected to use computers for homework and are not provided devices for home use. While all families will be able to participate in the virtual meetings in some capacity, having a dedicated computer for each student is more reliable at our high school level. As a district, we use Google Meetings for all of our synchronous meeting times. Google Meetings provide both a video conference link and a phone number for a call in option. If a family does not have access to a computer or internet connection, they may still join a morning meeting or office hour time via their phone.
K-5
For our K-5 students, learning packets are provided at the beginning of each month to keep in their take home folders. The packets include work that aligns with the unit of study they are currently working on or provide additional review from previous units. All subjects are included in the work packet and it is collected and refreshed each month. In the event we need to utilize an FID, each homeroom teacher will send an email to their parents/guardians with a video (Google) link for their virtual office hours and synchronous homeroom meeting. At a designated morning time, all K-5 students will meet with their homeroom teacher for a morning meeting and receive instructions for the day. For one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, teachers will host office hours for students and families in the event they need support completing any of the assignments in their packets. For the remainder of the day, students will complete their work asynchronously. Work will be turned in when they return to in-person instruction. Attendance will be taken during the morning session and any student not present will be marked absent. In addition their submission of completed work will count for their participation in each of their subject area classes.
6-8
Our middle school teachers use Google Classrooms as a LMS. In the event we need to use an FID, all work will be posted to each teacher’s Google Classroom prior to 9:00 the morning of the day. In addition, each homeroom teacher will send an email to their parents/guardians with a video (Google) link for their team’s virtual office hours and synchronous homeroom meeting. At a designated morning time, all 6-8 students will meet with their homeroom teacher for a morning meeting and receive instructions for the day. For one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, teachers will host office hours for students and families in the event they need support completing any of the assignments in their packets. For the remainder of the day, students will complete their work asynchronously. Work will be turned in via Google Classrooms when they return to in-person instruction. Attendance will be taken during the morning session and any student not present will be marked absent. In addition their submission of completed work will count for their participation in each of their subject area classes.
9-12
For our high school students, grade level or homeroom teachers will send an email to students and families with their synchronous schedule for the day including links to each course’s Google Meeting. Students will participate in a condensed version of their schedule synchronously in the morning and use the afternoon to complete assignments asynchronously. High school teachers use Google Classroom for assignments so all materials will be available online for students to access at home. Students will be responsible for logging into all courses for the morning and submitting any necessary work when it is due.
3. Describe the responsibilities of professional staff during a flexible instructional day, using your primary plan.
During FIDs, all staff members will be required to work remotely if the roads are impassable or in buildings if the roads are passable and buildings are safe to remain open. Staff are required to remain available via email for students and families that need support. We also use RingCentral for our phone system so all staff have access to their school phone extensions through the web based application. Students and families will also have links to open virtual office hours where they can video conference with teachers and principals if needed. Our tech team is reachable via a helpdesk ticketing system over email. Our student services team (counselors, nurses, social workers, etc.) remains available via email and will send individual links to families for any video conferencing that needs to remain in a confidential space. When staff are online with students, we require them to be in a video conference with either multiple children or another adult. Students and staff should not be 1:1 on a video call. All modifications and adaptations remain in effect on FIDs.
For K-8 students, any asynchronous work is modified according to a student’s specially designed instruction or IEP and all special education teachers provide office hours for students and families if they need support on their assigned work. For High School, in the event a student requires small group instruction or pull-out minutes per the IEP, those remain in effect during FIDs modified schedule. If a separate break out room is needed, students and families would receive Google invites for their child’s classroom. If a student requires the support of a one on one aid, that paraprofessional would join the student in any live sessions and would be available via email and during office hours for the family and student to access as needed throughout the day. Related services are offered to families and can be provided during the FID. However, sessions will be made up if they are unable to occur. Special education teachers will offer additional one-on-one office hours upon parent or student request.
4. What procedure will identify student participation during a flexible instructional day to enforce attendance under Article XIII, for your primary plan?
In our K-8 classes, attendance will be taken during the morning meeting. Additionally, teachers will collect student assignments upon return to school. If a family experiences technical difficulties and cannot log onto the morning meeting, the family must send the assignments into school when we return and email the teacher with a description of their challenges logging on. In 9-12, teachers will take attendance during each class and check assignments as they are completed. Families will be provided information regarding attendance procedures in the beginning of the year overview communication. Any student that does not log on and turn in assignments will be considered absent for the day. A note from the family or doctor will be required to be considered an excused absence for the day.