BCSC Technology COVID-19 Pandemic Story
COVID-19 Timeline
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March 12th - All devices sent home with students (last day before Spring Break)
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March 13th - BCSC suspends all school activities through April 3rd
- March 18th - Information regarding building access, eLearning resources, hotspot applications, food resources, and crisis information is released
- March 19th - State closes all schools through May 1st. BCSC announces eLearning Tues-Thurs starting on March 24th. K students completing work offline, 1-12 students completing work online
- March 19th - Special School Board Meeting to approve pay for all staff during pandemic
- March 23rd - Schools open for two days so students can get materials. Call center, device exchange, and food sites start
- March 24th - First eLearning Day
- March 25th - Maps of external WiFi at schools published
- April 2nd - School is canceled for all Indiana schools until June 30th, and BCSC releases a statement
- April 9th - First Verizon hotspots go out
- April 13th - First Virtual School Board Meeting - Zoom/Facebook Live
- April 13th - First week of having calls go to voicemail and techs calling back from VOIP phones at home
- April 16th - First Kajeet hotspots go out
- April 20th - End-of-year plans, including graduation and drop-off and pick-up, announced
- April 20th - All of the technology works remotely except for device exchange
- April 30th - Kindergarten Device Committee established
- May 4th - State of Indiana moves to Stage 2 of Back On Track
- May 14th - End-of-year procedures (May 18- June 20) when on school property, released by Dr. Boezeman. This includes designated points of entry, face masks, cleaning, and potential temperature checks
- May 18th - Secure advanced video conferencing tool (Zoom)
- May 21st - Last eLearning Day of the school year
- May 25th - Summer eLearning Support announced
- June 1st - eLearning Improvement District Committee established
- June 10th - Summer Professional Development from Technology released (Brenny Kummer)
- June 26th - 1st Reopening Statement
- July 6th - Reopening Executive Summary Statement
- July 13th - Extended Reopening Statement
- July 20th - School Board Meeting to discuss and approve plans for the 2020-2021 school year
- July 27th - State of Indiana mask mandate
- July 27th - New Teacher Orientation (Virtual training options)
- July 27th - First publications of COVID-19 indicators released
- July 28th and 29th - UDL Virtual Summer Instutute
- July 31st - The start of school is moved back to Monday, August 10th
- August 5th - First teacher day for the 2020-2021 school year
- August 10th - First day of school. Options included in-person (70%), Online/Bridge (25%), Columbus Virtual Pathway (5%)
- August 13th - First Chromebooks start arriving from the spring order
- August 17th - COVID-19 metrics move to Community Task Force
- August 20th - First COVID-19 numbers released by BCSC via The Republic
- August 21st - Distributing 9th-grade devices at New Tech
- August 21st - First live streaming of football games by BCSC
- August 31st - First day of Bridge Hotline (Call back model with two shifts, 8-10 am and 12-2 pm)
- August 31st - Surge Intern's first day to help prep devices
- September 9th - BCSC is awarded a $98,000 Digital Learning Capacity Grant from the DOE (Brenny Kummer) The Republic 1 The Republic 2
- September 14th - Distribution begins for 9th-grade devices at East
- September 18th - Bridge commitment survey sent to parents for 2nd 9 weeks
- October 1st - BCSC Tech launches a system status page
- October 19th - School Board accepts addition of a Hybrid option for Elementary and Secondary
- November 5th - BCSC announces that all buildings will start eLearning from Monday, Nov. 9th, through Thanksgiving Break
- November 6th - BCSC holds a press conference, remaining hotspots are distributed to families, more hotspots are ordered, and devices go home in preparation for eLearning
- November 9th - First day of eLearning and will continue through Thanksgiving. C4, PreK, Legado, and some dual credit and students needing special services still attend school in person
- November 10th - More hotspots are ordered for distribution
- November 20th - BCSC announces that eLearning will continue through January 5th
- November 21st - Bartholomew County starts the Bartholomew County Broadband Initiative (BCSC included in planning committee)
- December 11th - Survey sent to Elementary parents for Bridge or in-person options for 3rd Nine Weeks
- December 14th - School board approves 3-year calendar, which has eLearning days replacing snow make-up days
- December 17th - First Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines given in Columbus at Columbus Regional Hospital
- December 22nd - Staff surveyed about the possibility of vaccine administration
- December 22nd - BCSC releases statement regarding Elementary coming back in-person and Secondary in a hybrid model on Jan. 5th
- December 31st - BCSC releases statement confirming school will start with Elementary in-person and Secondary in hybrid on Jan. 5th
- January 4th - Optional teacher work day with compensation for those who do work
- January 5th - First day of the second semester in the new model
- January 12th - BCSC announces that any school closures this school year will be eLearning Days
- January 14th - Secondary announces that they will continue in a hybrid model for the next two weeks
- January 22nd - Committee begins meeting regarding BCSC virtual school options for the 2021-2022 school year
- January 28th - Secondary announces that they will continue in a hybrid model for the next two weeks
- February 1st - eLearning day due to weather
- February 3rd - C4 has a virtual open house with live Zoom check-ins (over 1,800 unique visitors). Other buildings organize virtual open houses.
- February 9th - eLearning day due to weather
- February 11th - The Republic releases data from a survey given by the Bartholomew County Broadband Initiative
- February 11th - Secondary announces that they will continue hybrid for another week. Middle Schools will start back 5 days a week starting on the 22nd, followed by high school after Spring Break on March 22nd
- February 15th - eLearning day due to weather (all buildings closed)
- February 16th - eLearning day due to weather (all buildings closed)
- February 18th - eLearning day due to weather
- February 24th - BCSC moves to Gmail from GroupWise
- March 1st - School Board approves Josh Giebel as the K-12 Virtual Director
- March 4th - Indiana teachers open to get vaccines
- March 22nd - High school students return to school 5 days a week
- April 6th - Prom plans are announced
- April 9th - BCSC announces that North and East will be vaccination sites for students later in the month
- April 16th - North hosts Pfizer vaccination clinic for students 16+
- April 19th - Graduation plans are announced
- April 23rd - East hosts Pfizer vaccination clinic for students 16+
- May 1st - Prom is held outside at Northside. Seniors given ticket priority and no after prom.
- May 13th - Children 12+ are able to get Pfizer vaccinations in Indiana
- May 27th and 29th - New Tech, East, and North hold outdoor graduations in the football fields - live-streamed
- July 1st - Columbus Virtual Pathway (CVP) opens in Clover Center
- July 8th - BCSC asks for reopening plan feedback
- July 16th - BCSC releases reopening plan
- July 26th - New Teacher Orientation for 90 new teachers - funding help from ESSER
- July 27th - 28th - Virtual UDL Institute
- August 2nd - BCSC launches a knowledge base for anytime, anywhere help
- August 6th - First student day for the 2021-2022 school year
- August 10th - Masks required for all students and staff - statement
- September 27th - School Board Meetings go virtual - statement
- January 5h - BCSC changes isolation from 10 days to 5 days for positive tests or close contacts
- February 2nd - BCSC changes quarantine protocols - statement
- February 17th - BCSC revises mask protocols - statement
Archives
COVID-19 Community Task Force for Columbus/Bartholomew County