AAPS Superintendent Jeanice Swift Update: Back to school edition

Update From Jeanice K. Swift, Superintendent of Schools

Everyone on team AAPS is busily preparing for the arrival of our students and the beginning of this 2022-2023 school year!

We are excited to welcome our students and families back to school on Monday, August 29th, and we look forward to the many upcoming back-to-school community events across our AAPS schools.

We are delighted to share that our AAPS schools will be fully open for academic, enrichment and community activities during this upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

We share more key updates about our preparations and information for the new year in this brief Welcome, 2022-23 video.

Transportation Update

We have worked diligently, without pause, over this past year, and at this time, our Durham transportation team is fully staffed and ready for the start of school.  This team includes 103 drivers and eight substitute drivers, with more drivers scheduled to complete the rigorous training in the next few weeks.

We have also worked to reduce the elementary walk zone from 1.5 to 1.25 miles and have notified the families of 88 additional students in a few neighborhoods who are now eligible for transportation.

The Bus Tracker parent app used to track student buses will be changed this year to Tyler System MyStop, and more information will be shared in October about this new and improved support tool for families.

Please see bus route information here, and for questions or concerns with transportation, please contact 734-994-2330.

The AAATA has resumed full-service operations for the fall, and eligible high school students have already received their bus passes to begin the year on Monday.

Driveline, the elementary student release process tool, has family IDs assigned, and schools have hang tags and labels to begin this popular support with pick-up time right away this fall.

Food & Nutrition Update

All school food service teams are staffed for the start of school. At this time, we have approximately ten critical positions still open, and interviews are occurring daily to fill those openings. The team has adjusted to ensure coverage, and these openings will not impact food service to students.

The Federal program to provide free breakfasts and lunches for all that was in place over the previous two school years has now ended, and we have been working diligently to get the word out for families to apply for food assistance at school. Families are highly encouraged to apply for Free and Reduced Lunch. The free and reduced lunch application is available on the website, is cell phone friendly and available in five translated languages. The application is straightforward, and we will assist with translators for other languages and with any additional assistance as needed.

As a note, ALL Mitchell, Pittsfield, Scarlett and Pathways students are eligible for free breakfast and lunch based on the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP is a USDA program based on the number of eligible Free and Reduced Lunch students compared to total enrollment.

Before and After Care Update

We have worked hard over many months to continue to attract, recruit and retain AAPS before and after care team members for our elementary/K8 schools. Steps we have taken include increasing pay and benefits, adding new full-time jobs, offering paid training and providing opportunities for advancement. These steps have attracted some new employees, and we have also experienced attrition of a few team members over the summer, which is customary.  We are continuing now to interview and hire, with more interviews set for next week. We continue the process of restoration with the intention of opening additional school programs as staffing permits.

At this time, we are pleased to be able to offer Before/After Care at five AAPS schools, with a sixth program opening in September, alongside the three locations served by longtime community partners. This places the AAPS at nine schools with before and after care programs, approximately half our elementary/K8 locations. We will continue this restoration work throughout this fall and share regular updates with our parents and families.

We invite all those who are qualified and interested in working with children in our AAPS neighborhood elementary/K8 schools to learn more and apply at: bit.ly/Hiring4Care

School Supply Clarification

It is important to clarify for our parents and families that all required materials and school supplies for learning at school are provided by the school/district.

Suggested/wish lists of non-required items that may be shared with families and the community via PTSO communications and school newsletters, on social media, etc., represent non-required items.

Our AAPS students will have all the supplies needed to participate fully in learning available in their classrooms at school this fall.

Staffing Update

We are grateful for the hundreds of individuals who have applied to join Team AAPS this summer. We have added impressive talent to the team, and we will continue to interview and hire as we move through late August and September, as is customary.

While we have made tremendous staffing progress across many areas, there are key areas where we continue to be challenged to achieve full staffing, including special education teacher and para-educator positions, in addition to a number of hourly employee positions across many areas of operation, including before and after care team, custodial, and food and nutrition teams. We will also continue working toward the goal of a counselor at each elementary school; since there is a shortage of candidates in this area, we will continue the ongoing work to recruit and hire quality professionals as we move through this school year.

As an extension of this short-staffing situation, the Balas State Street location will continue to operate as a service support center, with in-person meetings occurring by appointment, as our limited staff is strategically deployed to support our schools as directly and as much as possible. All central support departments will continue to respond daily, full-time, to phone calls and email inquiries so that all on our AAPS team and in the community are well-served in the AAPS.

School Buildings

The Physical Properties and Capital Programs team has been hard at work preparing our schools for the return of students, staff and the community. From the exterior site maintenance of our school campuses to the interior cleaning of our classrooms, AAPS strives to improve educational environments for students and staff.

This summer, the district has repaired sidewalks, parking lots, playgrounds and athletic fields while providing improvements to mechanical heating, ventilation, lighting and air conditioning systems at many of our schools. For more information on the Bond and Sinking Fund improvements underway throughout the AAPS, please visit www.a2schoolsbond.org.

As you are aware, a few of our sites have ongoing, significant construction projects. Still, we are ready to go as we continue to be in close communication with building administrators in preparation for the return of students, staff and the community.

All the classrooms are ready, the buildings have been cleaned, and we’ll be doing any final touch-ups this weekend!

Fall 2022 COVID-19 Health Guidance

The district COVID and Health Guidance page has been updated with fall guidance, the August 23 community webinar recording and slide show, FAQs, the daily symptom checker and a new one-pager on What to Do If You Test Positive.

Student and parent/family volunteer COVID cases must be reported to AAPS if the individual was on campus within 48 hours of their symptoms starting or testing positive (if no symptoms). Beginning Monday morning, there are new COVID report forms for families to use when reporting their student’s case and for staff/volunteers:

Student Report Form: bit.ly/StudentCOVIDCase22-23

Staff/Volunteers Report Form: bit.ly/StaffCOVIDCase22-23

As of today, August 26, Washtenaw County is in the CDC HIGH/RED Community Level. Link to CDC Community Level page here.

Please Note: The AAPS will adjust guidance as needed during the school year in response to changing circumstances, including increased cases, clusters or outbreaks,  concerns impacting health and safety, and to achieve the priority of keeping our schools fully open.

We are confident that by working together, we can support the health and safety of our students, staff and families and keep students learning in school while balancing the risks of illness and transmission among students and staff at school.

What Can We All Do To Keep Students in School

5 Actions to Take During all CDC Community Levels for Staff, Students and Families

1. Stay up to date with vaccinations and boosters

2. Stay home when sick or symptomatic

3. Know when to mask indoors

4. Be ready to test at home

5. Know what to do with a positive result or exposure

We continue to be grateful for family and community support and partnership as we navigate another year with COVID-19. With this new AAPS COVID-19 health guidance and in using an adaptive approach to adjust as circumstances change, we are taking definitive steps to care for each other and ensure a strong school year of learning and growth for our students.

Thank you for your partnership and support of our 17,000 beautiful students, our talented and committed school teams, and our 31 neighborhood schools that we are so fortunate to share in this Ann Arbor community we share.