board to board
January-February 2021
News from the Board of NWESD
A Note From Our Superintendent COVID-19 and the effects across our region, state, nation, and world continue to occupy nearly every waking (and not so waking) moment for educational leaders. As much as I’d welcome the opportunity to write on another topic, doing so would seem tone-deaf to the single biggest challenge facing educators in this moment. Despite rising community infection rates in recent weeks and regional districts dialing back their plans to expand in-person instruction, these developments give me hope that has too often been in short supply these past months. Perhaps we are starting to finally see glimmers of light at the end of the long tunnel we’ve been in since mid-March. And that gets me thinking about what our post-pandemic public education world may look like. I don’t profess to have a clearer crystal ball than anyone else, but here are my current “top ten middle of the night thoughts” about our post-pandemic new normal: 1. Widely reopening schools will be relatively seamless and welcomed for most students and staff, while very difficult for some. Grace, patience, and understanding will be key. 2. Some families will choose not to return to traditional school environments. Districts will need to expand – potentially permanently – new instructional delivery models to serve these families. 3. The pandemic has been traumatic for many, and while there will undoubtedly be pressure to dive headlong into academic content to make up for lost instructional time, primary attention must be paid to the social/emotional and mental health needs of students and staff. 4. Academic content will need to be prioritized to those concepts and skills most foundational to future learning. Educators will need to permission themselves to let go of some content that has unavoidably been short-changed during the extended period of remote learning. 5. Student academic growth has likely been more variable than typical during the pandemic. Great care must be taken to assess where students have grown, where extra support is needed, and how, when, and where to provide such support. 6. Athletics, activities, and the social rituals, celebrations, and rites of passage at all grade levels have been major losses for many students. Space for such “non-academic” pursuits must be generously provided and embraced. 7. A once-in-a-century pandemic also offers a once-in-a-century opportunity to rethink entrenched systems and structures such as grading, seat time, daily schedules, school calendars, and instructional groupings and delivery. A push to return to “business as usual” will fail to acknowledge that many students were already not being well-served by such systems and structures before the pandemic. 8. Widely reopening schools is all educators’ “Apollo 13 moment.” Failure is not an option, and all hands from the board room to the custodial closet will be needed to achieve success. 9. The pandemic has tested the bonds between communities and their public schools. Leading with transparency, humility, compassion, and integrity can renew and strengthen those ties. Leading differently could damage them for years to come. 10. The imperative to focus on equity in all its complex dimensions will be even more apparent and pressing. I’m sure I’ve missed the mark on any number of my middle-ofthe-night musings and am likely oblivious to others of potentially even greater significance. Regardless of whether this is the right top ten list, the post-pandemic challenges will be immense. But I firmly believe that the opportunities can be even greater if we Larry Francois choose to lean into them. NWESD Superintendent