Unique Needs Workgroup

The Unique Needs Workgroup is looking at the unique needs of those students and staff members who have been most greatly impacted by the disruption of COVID-19. This workgroup is charged with identifying the student and staff groups who have or will have unique needs that could present a barrier in continued engagement in learning or work.

Workgroup Responsibility:

Plan for various scenarios of working and learning for next school year that is inclusive of the strengths and needs of our staff and students who:

May be at higher levels of health risk due to COVID-19, or
May have experienced greater disruption to their learning or well-being this spring than most students or staff due to COVID-19 and the subsequent school closures, or
May be unable or less likely to access learning in the fall as a result of the various constraints placed on schools due to COVID-19.

Workgroup Tasks:

Identify student and staff groups who have or will have unique needs that could present a barrier in continued engagement in learning or work.
Identify student groups that have most lost out on learning opportunities and therefore may be at greater risks for adverse impacts in the future.
Generate ideas that will help address the needs of these students and staff members.

Workgroup Membership:

Leads: Matt Gillingham, Associate Superintendent of Student & Community Services
Gloria Henderson, Director of Opportunity, Equity & Inclusion
Dr. Shannon Hitch, Director of Special Services
Parents, students, teachers, staff members, building administrators and central office administrators.

Timeline:

Workgroup Meetings Through June

June 2 and 4:

Brainstormed specific groups of students or staff that were at greatest risk of being adversely affected by the fallout of COVID-19
Explored the experience, needs and assets of these groups
Reviewed data and brainstormed additional data sets that could help inform planning and monitoring efforts
Generated underlying interests to be taken into consideration when planning for the 2020-21 school year.

June 9 and 11:

Generate potential options for planning groups to explore that may address or mitigate some of the needs that the workgroup had identified and reviewed this report using a consensus protocol