FULTON – The Fulton Board of Education met virtually last night, September 22, and discussed what the beginning of the academic school year has looked like and other updates within the school district.
Superintendent Brian Pulvino gave a presentation that highlighted updates in enrollment, what teachers’ and students’ days may look like, meal distribution, health screenings,and athletics, among other topics of discussion.
“We’re in a better place than we were, obviously, in the spring, but I think we’re all trying to find our way through and our teachers are getting better and better by the day,” Pulvino said.
Pulvino said since school has started this month, the district has improved every day. At the time of the meeting, out of the district’s 3,273 students, about 32% are enrolled in the online only option and 68% are enrolled in the hybrid option, which includes in-person and online learning. The enrollment is broken down as such:
Pre-K: hybrid – 69; online only – 31; total – 100
K-5: hybrid – 959; online only – 458; total – 1,417
6-8: hybrid – 521; online only – 231; total – 752
9-12: hybrid – 689; online only – 315; total – 1,004
Total: hybrid – 2,238; online only – 1,035; total – 3,273
Some families decided to move to the online only option the first week of classes and so the district is making some internal adjustments to support the shift to online only sections.
Around the sixth or seventh week of the academic year, the district will start to reach out to families to see if they would like for their student(s) to stick with their current choice or to move to the other option for the second 10 weeks of school after the first 10 weeks are complete.
Executive Director of Instruction and Assessment Daniel Carroll and GRB Principal Donna Parkhurst explained what happens on Mondays when students do not come to school in-person.
On Mondays, a guided teacher (like in a guided study hall) reaches out to each of their students, which consists of around 15, to check in on them and see how they are doing.
Parkhurst said students who are enrolled in hybrid and online only learning receive the same proportion of synchronous and asynchronous learning days. Synchronous learning can include instruction in real time and asynchronous can include working on a project.
“Just in our first week, kids are engaging much better than they did in the spring,” Parkhurst said.
Samuel May, a student representative for the BOE, said, he believes students are receiving help with emotional support and when he is in school, the classes are largely the same as last year in that he gets all the information he needs, and when they are online, he gets a lot of help.
For the district’s meal distribution, Pulvino said on Friday, they distributed 3,871 breakfasts and 3,630 lunches. Meals are available at each of the distribution sites at the schools.
The board also discussed health screenings for both staff and students. Staff members must fill out a screening before arriving to school and students have daily temperature checks before boarding the bus or entering the building. Pulvino said they have learned that the cold weather can affect the temperature readings and are considering strategies to solve the issue. Students also have a SchoolTool form for health screenings.
For athletics, the district made the decision to postpone fall sports until March 1, otherwise known as “Fall 2” just before spring sports begins.
To better serve the fall athletes who are losing the ability to play this season, Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics Christopher Ells, is working with students, including May, to come up with an opportunity for student athletes to participate in an alternative athletic program.
“The plan is to have intramural activities three times a week or two times a week and team practices two times a week as well so kids can stay engaged in activities and still get that kind of team bond feeling and kind of just stay active,” May said.
Ells said the intramural concept would include different sports units. One week may be soccer and another week may be yard games to cater to the students who are not as strong in a particular sport.
“The kids just want to play,” Ells said. “They want to be with their teammates and they want to be practicing the sports they love.”
He said when the fall sports begin in March, there will be some overlap with the spring sports, which are slated to start the third week of April. However, the students who play both fall and spring sports will be able to do so. With the issue of snow to consider, Ells said they are looking at the possibility of plowing the turf, which is due to be replaced soon.
He said within the Section III schools, there are seven or eight they could compete with. Fulton and Sandy Creek are the only two school districts in Oswego County who are not playing this fall.
Until March, Ells said the coaches and student-athletes are excited to get started with an intramural program. The details of the program are still being worked out.
To see the full BOE meeting, view the video below. The agenda can be found here. The next regularly scheduled BOE meeting will be Tuesday, October 13, at 6 p.m. live streamed on YouTube.
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I have 3 grandchildren in the high school and one in Junior High. Their main complaint is the food. I saw some of it over the summer and I don’t blame them. Also my Grandson in Junior High keeps getting broken Chromebooks. First one letters T and Y did not work and the next one would not charge. Kudos to all the had work everyone is doing to make sure the kids are being taught amid the pandemic. THANK YOU,