• October 1, 2020

    Dear Alhambra Family,

    This is a message from Superintendent Yslas to our staff and families regarding Alhambra’s reopening plans.

    As we strive to do our very best to educate our students while keeping each other safe and healthy during this pandemic, it is imperative that we communicate, work together, and recognize that everyone is important.  It is also necessary that we consistently behave in a manner that best exemplifies the slogan we created for our district in the Summer of 2015: Everyone Matters. This pandemic can pull us apart or bring us together, and I'm proud of us all today.  

    Thank you to everyone who filled out our Learning Models Survey.  Both the parent and teacher survey asked for our community to indicate a preference for On Campus-In Person (OCIP) Learning or Distance Learning (DL).  Everyone’s input is necessary and valuable as we move forward. It is important that everyone knows that three factors had to be in sync in order for us to offer the OCIP model. 

    1. We had to have enough teachers at a particular school site that chose the OCIP model. 
    2. We had to have enough parents that chose the OCIP model for their kids.  And 
    3. Other variables such as the amount of OCIP teachers available in a school, a particular grade level, or a specific content area, etc. had to all balance out to make the scheduling puzzle work. 

    When we looked at all of our survey data and we disaggregated it per school community, we came to the realization that we could not find a way to make the OCIP option work at any of our schools. 

    In the spirit of transparency, I am sharing our SURVEY PROCESS and our SURVEY RESULTS.   

    SURVEY PROCESS:

    The process of gathering staff and family input was essential in determining whether or not OCIP learning was possible at each site.  The chart below shares the following information:

    • the percentages of teachers for each site who selected DL or OCIP 
    • the percentages of students for each site who selected DL or OCIP 
    • the final determination for each site

    When the percentage of students choosing OCIP was significantly greater than the percentage of staff available to support that option, it was determined that the site would continue in the current DL model.  At schools where the teacher and student OCIP percentages were more closely related, the decision to offer OCIP was presented to the school staff to determine the final learning model.  

    Staff discussed many factors at these sites as they contemplated the possibility of offering the OCIP Half & Half Model on their campus.  One significant factor considered was the amount of change that each student would have encountered. Sites offering OCIP would have experienced a significant number of student schedule and teacher changes and a reduction to the number of direct instruction hours provided to each student.  When considering the amount of change AND the input and concerns shared by our families regarding the models, it was determined that even at the sites where our percentages were close, the amount of change that a student would have endured by offering OCIP was too significant to move from Distance Learning at this time.

    SURVEY RESULTS: 

    AESD has about 6600 families district-wide. Over 5000 families, about 76%, participated in our Learning Model Parent Survey. Parent survey results represent over 8,400 students. Of those surveys completed, over 1400 families provided comments about the different learning models.  A summary of the comments is shared below:

    • 27% of the families who commented did not want to move to OCIP because they did not feel safe enough having their students come to school in person
    • 9% did not like the half-day model and believed that it was either too disruptive for learning to have students going to campus for half a day or that it was too challenging to schedule half days for working parents
    • 4% understood that change could be coming with the different models and shared that they did want change...they wanted to keep their child's current teacher.
    • 14% wanted to stay in Distance Learning
    • 17% wanted to go back in person, sharing comments like "the kids need to be in the schools"

  • Our overall district data indicated that 48 percent of parents wanted the on campus model and 52 percent preferred to remain in distance learning.  I sincerely apologize that we could not find a way to make the OCIP option work. Please know that our staff remains committed to exploring and crafting different models and schedules for providing an OCIP option later this school year. Throughout the second quarter we will continue planning and collecting information from staff and families as we do our very best to meet the learning needs of our students without compromising the health and safety of our entire Alhambra family.

    In the coming weeks, you may notice other school districts in our state working to provide in-person learning options for their communities.  In fact, Alhambra and Phoenix Union may be the only districts in Phoenix who do not offer a first semester option for students to return to campus.  Alhambra will continue to work on our options while standing firm in our commitment to protecting our community from this pandemic to the best of our ability.

    It was important to our staff that we communicate that they miss our students very much. Many of our teachers really wanted to come back, but it was just not possible at this time. In the meantime, and while I still have the authority, I will do my very best to keep people safe and healthy, and I will give students, families, and teachers a voice and a choice on how Alhambra supports teaching and learning during these challenging times.

    In summary, the entire ALHAMBRA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT will remain in DISTANCE LEARNING for the remainder of the semester, which ends on DECEMBER 18th.  Third-quarter begins when Alhambra returns from Winter Break on January 4th, 2021 per our district calendar.  Your child will continue with their current Distance Learning model with the same teachers and the same schedule.  Our Meals to Go program will continue with the same distribution days, times, and locations.  Connectivity support for families will remain available. We encourage staff and families to reach out to their school administrator by phone or by email with any questions. The district is actively working on redrafting our plans for reopening and will continue to communicate regularly with staff and families. 

    Thank you for your continued support and patience.  

    Sincerely,

    Superintendent Yslas

     

    Phoenix Public Schools Joint Superintendent Statement 10-01-20