LCSD Board Minutes 12/23/2020

SPECIAL BOARD MEETING

MINUTES

DATE: December 23, 2020

TIME: 5:00 PM

PLACE: ONLINE VIDEO CONFERENCE

PRESENT: Barry DePaoli, Jeff Fehr, Lynda Foster, Kim Thorpe, Ken Brunner, Agustin Benegas-Garcia, Sarah Clarke, Brad Wilson, Laura Clinton, Jennifer Polley, Heather Jacobson, Jody Petersen, Katherine D’Orazio, Richard Uhlhorn, and Georgia Mashayekh

AGENDA ITEMS / PUBLIC REQUESTS – COMMENTS

• Call to Order

Jeff Fehr called the meeting to order at 5:00pm.

• Approval of Agenda

There were no changes to the agenda.

• Approval of Minutes – December 8, 2020

Kim moved and Ken seconded a motion to approve the minutes as presented; motion carried.

• Public Comments or Request on Non-agenda Items

There were no public comments.

DISTRICT UPDATES

• COVID19 transmission updates

Barry’s report focused on data involving current data, local data comparisons, current district case counts and the rational behind no longer using incidence rates as a metric.  Overall, COVID positive test numbers are down in the past week between Chelan and Douglas counties.  An outbreak was reported at Heritage Heights (long term care facility) causing an increase in local case rates.

Barry explained that incidence rates are no longer considered to be a valid metric for returning students to in-person learning. Based on evidence and research in our State COVID outbreaks occur when people do not follow the guidelines of Health Departments, therefore returning students to school should not be solely based on local incidence rates.

There was a question regarding bringing students back to classes full time.  Barry explained that social distancing is an extremely important mitigation factor.  It would be difficult to abandon social distancing without guidance from our local health experts considering the current state of the virus. Barry committed to researching schools and districts who have returned to full in-person instruction as we look forward.

• Return to In-Person Learning

Brad provided a short summary of how things went at the high school this past week regarding the return of HS students in a hybrid AM/PM model.  Overall, the week went extremely well, no COVID cases were reported and attendance was solid.  Through conversations with staff, he mentioned that students were subdued overall as they began the first week of in-person learning.

Jen Polley, MOE 2nd grade teacher thanked the board for providing an opportunity for students to be back in school.  The HS students were glad to be back in the building and following school protocol.  Although it feels a bit strange to be in the building with only half of the students attending at one time, it does provide a safe space given the district’s mitigation strategies.

ACTION ITEMS

• Payroll

Lynda moved and Kim seconded a motion to approve the Payroll as presented; motion carried.

• Payables (12-30-20) review in January

The Board will review the 12-30-20 Payroll in January 2021.

ADJOURNMENT

Jeff Fehr adjourned the meeting at 5:19 pm.

____________________________________________          _______________________________________

Jeff Fehr, Board Chair                                                                                      Barry DePaoli, Superintendent