Dr. Tom Henderson – Superintendent of Centerville City Schools

Thanks to President Greg Griffin

Today was the last regular noon meeting for Greg Griffin as President of CNO. We know it was not an easy year being president with COVID-19 in the world for half of his term. Thanks, Greg, for your leadership for the 2019-2020 year.

Community Events

Nancy Lehren, the chair of Childhood Health and Wellness, announced that 58 bears were handed out for TOP Soccer at the Build-A-Bear event on 9/20/2020 at Oak Grove Park. Many of the parents communicated that the kids were very excited to be able to receive their bears.

Debe Dockins announced that she is looking for volunteers for the Halloween Hop and Howl. CNO is partnering with the Centerville-Washington Park District. The events will be 10/29/2020 and 10/30/2020 from 3 PM to 5 PM at Forest Field Park. Contact Debe Dockins if you would like to volunteer. Volunteers should arrive no later than 2:30 PM.  We need 12 Optimist volunteers each day (10 treat stations and two people at a Welcome/CNO Tent/Table). CNO volunteers are welcome to decorate the treat stations. Volunteers will be handing out bouncy balls, Halloween candy, tops, spider rings, etc. Children dressed in costume will walk between treat stations. At each station a sign will direct children to perform a challenge like “howl at the moon”, “walk like Frankenstein”, “cackle like a witch”, “hop like a bunny” or something else. Adults and children aged 10+ are required to wear a mask or facial covering.

Ohio District Convention and Conference

Greg Griffin announced that the Ohio District Conference and Annual Convention will be 10/23/2020 at Embassy Suites in Dublin Ohio. If you plan to attend send Roland Rapp your completed registration by Friday 9/25/2020 to qualify for early bird pricing so he can send the check and completed forms. The two meetings were combined since the Annual Convention in August was postponed. CNO will reimburse you for your registration fees if you sign up for early bird pricing and attend the convention.

Dr. Tom Henderson, Centerville City Schools

Greg Griffin introduced Dr. Tom Henderson, the Superintendent of Centerville City Schools (CCS). He has been a member of CNO since 2009

You can view the slide deck here

His presentation was titled “Elks Back to School, Centerville City Schools 2020-2021”.

He remembered on 3/11/2020 he was at a convention and the participants watched the Governor’s announcement on TV that K-12 schools would be closed for 4 weeks.

• On 3/16/2020, CCS started classes again using Google Classroom and the Zoom platform
• They deployed 125 wireless hotspots and approximately 2000 Chrome Books
• They continued to support families who qualify for free and reduced lunch and breakfast
• They were assisted by Centerville Police Department and Washington Township Sheriff’s Office

It became evident the online classes would be longer than 4 weeks and that the school’s buildings would be shut down.

• Buildings were shut down until the end of June and all staff worked remotely from home
• All Spring activities were cancelled
• There was a remote Graduation
• There was a very popular Class of 2020 Parade that took place

There were a few people in each building making sure the buildings had no issues and to make sure maintenance issues were handled. Large buildings are meant to be occupied. The water systems need to be periodically used as an example of maintenance chores that need to be done.

Input from Community & Experts

• More than 5000 surveys from students, parents, and teachers were completed
• Collected input from building principals and teacher advisory teams
• Collaboration with area school districts and Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County
• Guidance and considerations from ODE Ohio Department of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics and more

Guiding Principals

• Safeguarding the health and safety of our school community
• Ensuring effective and equitable teaching and learning opportunities
• Supporting the emotional well-being of students and staff
• Providing an essential service to our community

Learning Options

The district decided to provide students with two learning options.

Option 1 would be some combination of In-Person, 50/50 blended or Fully Remote.

Option 2 would be a 100% online learning model. Even when in person learning is offered, some families have issues with students and their families not wanting their kids to be in school with other students. There can be several types of concerns; health conditions of the student or family members is common.

There are several slides in the slide presentation that detail the expectations and steps for the students, educators and administrators with each option. Most of those details are not in this blog article.

You can view the slide deck here

With either option the district needed to provide every student with a Chromebook. To purchase most of the additional Chromebooks required, they were able to use a federal grant. The school already owned enough Chromebooks to share, but that is an issue with a pandemic and for access outside of school properties.

The 2020-2021 school year started online only for students on 8/24/2020. Staff and teachers reported on 8/17/2020. Staff and teachers spent the initial week receiving training to handle the new year. Currently 80% of the teachers are teaching from their classrooms at their respective schools.

Quarter 2

• Beginning on 10/19/2020 they are recommending an in person teaching model
• Continue to balance educational options with health and safety protocols
• During remote learning we have had some students attend in person including special needs students and some Career Education and Elementary students for MAP Assessments
• Total remote learning will still be an option for Quarter 2 for those families who still desire this mode of instruction
• Additional details will be released by the district the week of 9/28/2020

The district has spent almost $3 million on cleaning machines and supplies. They hope to get $2 million back in federal grants.

Henderson was asked how the community could help by volunteering. He said school looks different right now and in person volunteering is currently limited. If you have an idea, feel free to contact him to discuss volunteer opportunities. Financial donations are welcome to help provide reduced price or free lunches and to offset some of the extra expenses the district has had and will have.

Henderson said, “It has definitely been a journey. Trying to figure out the right answer has been challenging.”

Thank you, Tom Henderson, for joining us to educate CNO about how Centerville City Schools is coping with the challenges caused by the COVID crisis.