Getting Staff Input on Safety Procedures to Get Them Meaningfully into the Game
School District of Cudahy Superintendent Dr. Tina Owen-Moore
Reopening relies on having all staff meaningfully bought into plan creation and implementation. Leaders are developing practices for ongoing staff engagement and feedback to build and offer clarity on plans. Two leaders share their strategies below. Common to both? A commitment to open engagement, setting clear boundaries, and inviting teachers into the process.
Cudahy, WI Superintendent Dr. Tina Owen-Moore reflected on the importance of bringing team members in around shared pillars, and then having them define concrete plans:
“We didn't absolutely tell teachers and school leaders what to do. We identified our pillars (Health and Wellness, Leaps in Learning, Connection and Consistency, Equity and Access) and gave them the science and the principles of what we needed to collectively do to prevent the spread of the virus, and gave them some space to build. They built things that were even more beautiful and meaningful than we could have imagined - learning spaces, plans for teaching and learning, policies, virtual environments, a tech camp, and more.”
In addition, Dr. Owen-Moore developed weekly sessions to engage directly with questions and concerns:
“I held weekly Zoom briefs for every staff member in the district (365 - we are small!), and I answered every question I heard throughout the week on those calls and answered questions that came in during the call until the time ran out. I was honest, vulnerable and said I didn't know when I didn't know. I think this was critical in reducing anxiety amongst staff, especially since I am new to this place.”
Milford, MA Principal Joshua Otlin knew that it would be critical for teachers to feel like policies would keep them safe. Milford had delayed the start of the school year in order to give schools more time for professional development. He gave the majority of the time to teachers to plan and set up their classrooms.
“Our theory of action was if teachers don't feel like we can keep them safe and if they see these new operations not planned in a way they believe in, they are going to rightfully rebel,” Otlin explained.
To accomplish this, Otlin dedicated the time they had as a whole staff entirely to getting staff input and iterating on safety procedures to co-develop a final version of Milford High School’s Return to School Plan. To do this, Otlin’s team engaged teachers iteratively and openly, running a serial set of document review, commenting, and Zoom session discussions.
School administrators shared the draft of the return to school document that had the early forms of procedures for arrivals, bathrooms, etc.
Staff marked up the document with suggestions and questions.
Staff shared questions, concerns, and suggestions in virtual breakout rooms facilitated by school administrators.
School administrators reviewed this input and iterated on processes.
If needed, school administrators reached out to district leadership. This would sometimes result in the superintendent calling for a principals’ meeting to hash out policies.
The principal shared answers updated processes and what was still not known at the next staff meeting.
Staff reviewed the document again and provided suggestions and questions; this was done 5 times over the course of 10 days.
The final meeting was held the day before the school building reopened with students, and the entire staff went over every procedure from arrival, dismissal, lunch, bathroom, duties, etc., until there were no more questions on the table.
Check out the final version of Milford High School’s Return to School Plan.
Resource Highlights from the Parabola Project and Beyond
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