BCSC Technology 2020-2022 COVID-19 Pandemic Story

Leadership:

Superintendent:  Jim Roberts

School Board President:  Jeff Caldwell (2020), Jill Shedd (2021, 2022)

Assistant Sup of HR:  Teresa Heiny (2020), Gina Pleak (2021, 2022)

Assistant Sup of Finance:  Chad Phillips

Director of Elementary Ed:  Laura Hack

Director of Secondary Ed:  Bill Jensen

Director of Special Ed:  George Van Horn

Director of Title Services:  Gina Pleak (2020), Charles Edwards (2021, 2022)

Director of Operations:  Brett Boezeman

     Director of Food Services:  Nancy Millspaugh

     Director of Transportation:  Bruce Lasley

     Director of Technology:  Nick Williams

          Coordinator of Instructional Tech:  Brenny Kummer 

          Coordinator of Administrative Systems:  Brian Trivett 

          Coordinator of Operational Services:  Eva Cagwin

Communications Coordinator:  Josh Burnett

District Details:

Student population:  11,499

68.9% White, 16.7% Hispanic, 7.4% Asian, 4.3% Multiracial, 2.2% Black/African American

43.2% Free/Reduced

11% English Language Learners

13.5% Students with Disabilities

Schools:  11 Elementary, 2 Middle, 3 High, 1 Alternative, 1 PreK

COVID-19 Timeline:

March 12th - All devices sent home with students (last day before Spring Break)

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 anounces 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 cancelled 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 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 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 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, 12-2 pm)

August 31st - Surge Intern first day to help prep devices 

September 9th - BCSC is awarded $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 preperation 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 Iniative (BCSC included in planning comittee)

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 COIVD-19 vaccines given in Columbus at Columbus Regional Hospital 

December 22nd - Staff surveyed about the posibility 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 second semester in 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 beings meeting regarding BCSC virtual school options for 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 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

2019-2020 Information Graphics:

Technology Infrastructure:

• 1:1 Student Devices
• HP and Dell Chromebooks for grades 1-8 
• HP and Dell Laptops for grades 9-12 (2019), 9th grade 360, touch Chromebooks (2020)
• Devices follow students and are replaced every 4 years
• Kindergarden families are given the opportunity to check out a Chromebook if needed (New 2020-2021 School Year)
• VOIP (Zultys) phones
• Rockcreek, Taylorsville, and Mt. Healthy and T&M
• Administration, Information Services, New Tech, and North (New 2020-2021 School Year)
• Northside, Schmitt (New 2021-2022 School Year)
• Used in call center and sent home with techs
• Hotspots
• 400 Verizon - unlimited data (2020-2021 school year)
• 100 Kajeet (Verizon) - limited data and filtered
• Staff Devices: Dell Laptops
• Mobile Filter:  Content Keeper
• Productivity Tool:  Google Drive or GSuite 
• Learning Management System:  itslearning 
• Student Information System:  PowerSchool
• Email:  Groupwise/Microfocus (2020), Gmail (2021)
• Video Conferencing:  Google Meet for student purposes and Zoom for business purposes (Zoom extended for 2020-2021 School Year)
• eLearning Building Staff Support:  Instructional Technology Teams or Tech Titans (Redesigned for 2020-2021 School Year)

Technology Staff:  Mona Adkins, Cathy Anderson, Cole Arnholt, Chris Bradley, Katie Carlile, Carla Clark (2019-2020), Julie Dobbs, Jayne Dornquast, Mark Doub, Shannon Gray, Marie Gregory, Joann Heathcote, Ken Hedrick, Jim Humpf, Anna Jacobson, Sonny Mitchell, Jon Pence, Dennis Pierce, Matt Shuter, Whitney Simpson-McGaha, Pam Smith, Andrew Taylor (2019-2021), Lynn Thexton, Amy Wentworth (2019-2020), Mason Phillips (2020-2021), Betsy Green (2020-2021), Samantha Weaver (2020-2021), Alyssa Kissinger (2021-2022), Asher Vallette (2021-2022), Anupama Panchwagh (2021-2022)

COVID-19 Community Task Force for Columbus/Bartholomew County

Indiana COVID Home

2019-2020 Technology Support Data

2019-2020 Technology Pictures