School, and School Board Meeting, From a Distance
The April 13 Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board meeting was held on Zoom. Photo: Rachel Pastan
On April 13, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board (WSSD) convened (over Zoom, due to the COVID-19 outbreak). Board president David Grande opened the meeting by thanking parents, teachers, and students for their efforts in adjusting to online learning. “Our community and our children are going through an unprecedented challenge right now,” he said.
Denise Citarelli Jones, WSSD’s director of secondary education, gave a presentation about the district’s process of adapting curriculums to online platforms, which it has undertaken in response to Governor Wolf’s directive that schools remain closed for the rest of the school year. She lauded the collaboration among teachers and staff as they put together a “flexible instruction” plan for remote teaching. “I am moved by how passionate people are about making this work,” she said.
Citarelli Jones said that the district is using the Google Classroom platform for third- through twelfth-grade students, and the Seesaw platform for kindergartners through second-graders. School-board member Jennifer Lentz asked whether platforms other than Seesaw would be considered if remote learning becomes necessary again at some future date. Citarelli Jones replied that such a decision would be made with input from a new director of technology when that position, formerly held by Mark Finlayson, is filled. “People are inventing things nonstop,” she noted.
Later in the meeting, the board discussed whether to approve spending an amount not to exceed $5,000 to continue using the Seesaw platform in K-2 classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year. (The platform had been made available free of charge to the district for the current school year.)
Jennifer Lentz raised concerns about making this decision right away. She noted that the board was still receiving feedback about Seesaw from teachers and parents. “We’re not really sure what the current most attractive platforms are for kids in that age range,” she said. “It seems as though we’re missing a lot of information right now.” She wondered if the vote could be put off.
Business Administrator Martha Kew said that the current free access the district is getting to Seesaw had been provided with the understanding that WSSD would continue to use the platform in 2020-21. Lentz then moved to table the vote until more information could be obtained. Her motion failed 2-7.
The board then voted to approve the use of Seesaw, along with several other finance measures that had been proposed, 8-1. (Lentz voted no.)
Citarelli Jones also:
Highlighted the district’s efforts to make mental-health resources available online. Both individual and group sessions are being offered. Counselors have received training in how to recognize at-risk behavior in the context of an online meeting.
Applauded the “Herculean effort” of the district’s technical team, which is supporting the virtual learning program and has distributed hundreds of Chromebooks — including some that they arranged to have delivered by school bus to families who were unable to pick them up.
Reported that the WSSD Nutrition Group has been distributing approximately 300 free meals per day, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and has distributed more than 6,500 meals so far.
Several school-board members applauded the hard work of teachers, administrators, and staff.
Graduation, Grants, and AP Exams
Superintendent Lisa Palmer announced the formation of a committee to discuss the best way to honor graduating seniors, since a traditional graduation ceremony will not be possible.
She also announced the awarding of two School Safety and Security grants from the commonwealth. One award, of $40,000, will be used to continue the electronic lockset project. A second award, of $195,000, will fund mental-health services over the next two years.
The board unanimously voted to remove from the 2019-2020 Silver Guide the rule that students who are enrolled in Advanced Placement classes must take the Advanced Placement exams that are administered by the College Board.
Retirements and Appointments
The board approved the retirements of John Lynch, Anita DiDomenico, Mary Costello, Martha Lambertsen, Kathleen Gemberling, Donna Ranere, Stephen O’Keefe, Candace Pirie, and Theodora Psitos, all effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
Public Comment
The board had arranged for public participation in the meeting via telephone. Only one public comment came in before the meeting. Bill Foster of Swarthmore urged the board to consider the dangers of resuming on-site school before COVID-19 testing becomes more widely available.
To view a video of this or any other past WSSD school-board meeting: swat.ink/school-board.
The next WSSD School Board meeting will be held on Monday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. This and all future virtual meetings can be seen live on WSSD’s YouTube Channel.
To offer comments, call 610-892-3470, ext. 1102, and leave a phone message of no more than three minutes – before, during, or up until the end of the meeting. Phoned-in comments must include the commenter’s name, full address, and phone number.
