W6PSPO Meeting Agenda – November 16, 2020

Dear Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization members,

There’s a lot going on, and I’m doing my best to capture it!

1. The W6PSPO meeting will be on Monday, November 16, from 7 – 8:30 pm (please note we’re moving our normal Tuesday meeting to Monday).  A zoom link will be sent out before the meeting.  On Monday, we’ll share experiences on the walk-throughs that have been held to see if schools are ready for in-person instruction.  We will be joined by Councilmember Charles Allen to discuss school reopenings.  We’ll also share what schools are planning to do for holiday gift giving for staff and teachers.
2. DCPS just announced the schools that will be opening CARES classroom(s) on Wednesday, November 18.  You can see the list here.  Seven of the 34 schools are in Ward 6.  The number of classrooms and grades will vary by school.
3. Councilmember Silverman introduced the COVID-19 DCPS Reopening Emergency Act of 2020.   This legislation hasn’t passed, and we are looking into what we can do to support Councilmember Silverman’s efforts to ensure plans for in-person learning are developed collaboratively and transparently.  More to come on this.
4. DCPS is holding a FY22 budget hearing on Monday, November 23, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.  You can sign up to testify here.  The deadline to register to testify is 3 pm on Thursday, November 19.
5. EmpowerEd is holding a Virtual Summit on Community Voice in DC Education on Saturday, December 5, from 10 am to 12:30 pm. This is a teacher led summer that will be a public conversation on re-envisioning our education governance system- how to ensure that the voices of students, teachers, parents, principals and community members are heard and that broader checks and balances are in place to improve transparency, accountability and equity in our system.  At the virtual summit, there will be a community panel on mayoral control where teachers will present proposals for reform, and a community brainstorming session for needed reforms. You can register for the summit here.