Emergency Remote Instruction Plan
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts in New York are required to have a plan for how children will be educated if a school or schools must close under emergency conditions. These Emergency Remote Instruction Plans (ERI Plans) are included as part of the district-wide school safety plan, which is reviewed annually by district and building-level emergency response teams, adopted annually by the Board of Education and submitted to the New York State Education Department.
Communication and Engagement
To help inform our Emergency Remote Instruction Plan, the district completes an annual Student Digital Resources data collection report to better understand the level of access students have to devices (e.g., laptop, Chromebook, cell phone) and the Internet. The survey is sent to new families as they enter the program. Annually, the survey is sent via our mass communication system in the fall to all families with follow up phone calls and a second mass communication release.
The purpose of this survey is to ensure that, to the extent possible, students can access the Internet and receive remote instruction, if necessary, under emergency conditions. This survey is conducted on an annual basis. Students and families may update their access information at any time by contacting the student’s school. It is our goal that this plan is aligned with the information provided by families in the Student Digital Resources data collection.
The district has also developed a plan for communicating all necessary information should a school or schools need to close. The district will use existing internal and external communications channels to notify staff, students, and families/caregivers about remote learning schedules with as much advance notice as possible. This communication will include information about how computing devices (e.g., computers, hot spots, etc.) are being disseminated to students and families who need them. Initial communication will be sent via mass communication system if it impacts all classrooms. If it is only a singular or small number of classrooms the principal contacts families. Follow communication by the principal and teacher will be through the means established in each building ex. Google classroom, Parent Square, email, phone calls, etc.
The district will provide students and their families with multiple ways to contact schools and teachers during remote learning, including Google classroom, Parent Square, email, phone calls, student management system, etc.
Device, Internet and Platform Access
To support remote learning, the district will make computer devices available to all students and families who need them. In classrooms where students have their own device, it will go home with them or be delivered. In classrooms where students do not have a personal device, the district will work with the home district to ensure that a device is delivered to each student.
To the extent possible, the district will also support students and families with accessing the Internet at home. Where that is not possible, the district will work with community partners to secure Wi-Fi access points for students and families so that they may participate in remote learning. The district, based on survey results and parent/ guardian communication, will deliver hot-spots to families that are in need of Wi-Fi access.
There will be those students in our community for whom remote learning through digital technology is not appropriate or possible. For these students, the district will assess each student’s individual needs and whether in-person learning is an option. Other methods that will be considered include instruction by phone and/or the delivery of hard-copy materials to the student’s home. In cases when a student, due to their documented needs, is unable to access instruction through digital technology, teachers will work directly with guardians to determine the best way to deliver instruction, whether it be through packets and phone calls, teletherapy, individual/small group video conferencing, or in person at a mutually agreed upon public space if no other option is available.
The district will also take steps to ensure that school staff members have the necessary tools, i.e., computing devices and Internet access, to deliver emergency remote instruction from their place of residence. The district provides all teachers and related service providers devices and provides hot-spots as needed.
To ensure high-quality remote learning experiences, the district has standardized the use of a single online learning platform, Google Classroom, to the extent possible, and developed a common, coordinated set of guidelines for teachers to follow when using the platform with students. Along with a cover sheet of expectations, instructional how-to videos are available as needed.
Teaching and Learning
Our district has developed an emergency remote instruction plan that would support all students. When a remote learning model is necessary, certain groups of students will be prioritized for in-person learning to the greatest extent possible, depending on the nature of the emergency. This includes, but is not limited to, special education students, English language learners, and students with technology or connectivity needs.
Acknowledging that the typical content in each grade level or course may need to be adjusted, content will be prioritized to ensure that students receive instruction for the prioritized learning standards, key understandings, and skills necessary for students’ success in future study.
Instruction will focus on “core” subject areas; however, elective courses will continue to be offered in a remote learning environment. All instruction will continue to be aligned to the New York State Learning Standards.
Virtual learning schedules have been developed by grade level. If an emergency requires the district to move to virtual learning, these schedules will be shared with students and families in accordance with the communication strategies outlined earlier in this plan. Students will be given opportunities to engage with teachers and classmates through live instruction, question and answer periods with teachers and group work (i.e., synchronous learning). Teachers will ensure that their students are directly engaged with them and their class peers in experiential learning on a regular basis. Supplementing this time will be self-guided projects, readings and other age-appropriate assignments that can be completed by the students remotely (i.e., asynchronous learning).
Special Education
Based on the learning model we have developed, the linked document details learning expectations for our special education classrooms. The following is a sample schedule:
Monday
- ELA: 40 minutes
- Math: 40 minutes
- Science: 20 minutes
Tuesday
- ELA: 40 minutes
- Math: 40 minutes
- Social Studies: 30 minutes
Wednesday
- ELA: 40 minutes
- Math: 40 minutes
- Science: 20 minutes
Thursday
- ELA: 40 minutes
- Math: 40 minutes
- Social Studies: 30 minutes
Friday
- ELA: 40 minutes
- Math: 40 minutes
- Science: 20 minutes
Daily
- Individual/Small Group Meetings- Virtual Session: Small groups or individual student live meetings daily and should be 15 – 30 minutes in length: scheduled with families
- Other small group IEP Goal Work and progress monitoring: Small groups or individual student live meetings daily and should be 15 – 30 minutes in length: scheduled with families
- Office Hours: Scheduled, Daily and Mandatory
- Delivery of Materials as Needed: For students that do not have access to wifi, materials will be delivered and if possible, alternate locations for instruction will be identified
Career and Technical Education (CTE)
CTE classroom will function during their traditional times with the following schedule as an example of the delivery model:
Monday
- Synchronous, Direct Instruction: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
- Additional Synchronous Instruction (may include: Group and Individual work:-break out rooms, project work, simulations, teacher office hours, videos of other extension of instruction etc.): Auto 1 (90 minutes)
- Asynchronous: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
Tuesday
- Synchronous, Direct Instruction: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
- Additional Synchronous Instruction (may include: Group and Individual work:-break out rooms, project work, simulations, teacher office hours, videos of other extension of instruction etc.): Auto 1 (90 minutes)
- Asynchronous: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
Wednesday
- Synchronous, Additional Synchronous Instruction, and Asynchronous: Academic Integration
Thursday
- Synchronous, Direct Instruction: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
- Additional Synchronous Instruction (may include: Group and Individual work:-break out rooms, project work, simulations, teacher office hours, videos of other extension of instruction etc.): Auto 1 (90 minutes)
- Asynchronous: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
Friday
- Synchronous, Direct Instruction: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
- Additional Synchronous Instruction (may include: Group and Individual work:-break out rooms, project work, simulations, teacher office hours, videos of other extension of instruction etc.): Auto 1 (90 minutes)
- Asynchronous: Auto 1 (30 minutes)
*Examples of synchronous instruction: live video classes, virtual labs and simulations; virtual guest speakers; virtual field trips; breakout sessions for small group project-based learning; job coaching; virtual internships or job shadowing
**Examples of group and individual work: interactive videos; online discussion board; pre-recorded lessons; online readings; simulations; break out room activities; real world cases studies related to work based learning experiences; online industry certification credentialing (i.e. OSHA 10); portfolio development
The district recognizes that there will be students for whom remote instruction via digital technology is not appropriate. In an emergency, as the district is assessing which students need devices or access to the Internet, the district will also assess which students may require additional support. Depending on the nature of the emergency, this may involve some level of in-person instruction for these students either at a school building within the district or at a community location, as appropriate. These decisions will be made in partnership with local health officials and emergency personnel, as applicable. Other instructional methods that will be considered include instruction by phone and/or the delivery of hard-copy materials to the student’s home.
See details within the Device, Internet and Platform Access information above.
Teachers will be trained on best practices for synchronous, blended and asynchronous instruction. Focus will be on engagement, delivery of content, assessment, feedback and any other identified need areas.
Support Services
Based on the learning model we have developed, students with disabilities and/or an Individualized Education Plan will continue to receive support services in accordance with their individualized education plans (IEP) should remote learning become necessary. It is the expectation that all service providers (e.g., teachers, paraprofessionals, related service providers) will sign-on to the remote learning platform to support students as needed. This will include large classroom settings in the remote learning environment, as well as the use of breakout rooms or one-on-one virtual meetings as necessary.
RS Providers Remote Guidance for Therapy:
- Regular school frequencies will be delivered via live videoconference, with fidelity to the IEP, with specific identified frequencies for TEACCH students
- Social Workers, in coordination with the teacher, will work to maintain biweekly phone contact with families in support of social/emotional support and home learning initiatives and to identify the need for any other supports
The district will follow its existing engagement and communication protocols with parents regarding the provision of special education services for their child.
- Attendance must be taken daily. Present will be recorded for engagement in assignments, live, or recorded sessions.
- Documentation needs to be kept: Create a google doc for documentation of parent contact
- Related Services: We will stay the course with remote therapy guidelines that have been developed and are linked above. Documentation will continue in IEP direct related service logs: Medicaid is applicable.
- Please remember that we must implement IEPs as written with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction.
- If there are individualized variations from the schedule above, the rationale needs to be documented. We need to assure that what we are providing adheres to the IEP and is reasonable, appropriate, and considers the individual and family and FAPE in the remote setting