Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
• Agency Response
Cold Spring School District*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 9 findings
F1
In-Person learning is more effective than remote learning both academically and emotionally. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree The Cold Spring Elementary School District believes that In-Person learning is far superior to distance learning or independent study. Cold Spring was the first public school district in Santa Barbara County to return to a five-day per week In-Person instruction model on September 22, 2020. The District applied for and received a waiver from the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health as soon as the waiver process was opened in Santa Barbara County. In addition to the re-opening of the campus to in-person instruction in September, the Cold Spring School District also recognized the importance of serving its Special Education population in-person. The District served its special education population in-person beginning on March 16, 2020. The needs of special education students were served on campus as a small cohort (as that term was defined during the initial period of the Pandemic). Cold Spring provided special education services without interruption. Cold Spring School District has been a strong advocate locally and at the State level for continuous in-person instruction throughout the Pandemic. The District has been opposed to school closures. The District has also strictly complied with the guidance from the CDC, the California Department of Public Health and the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health. The District is pleased to report that as of the date of this response, there have been no known cases of transmission of COVID-19 on campus. With this said, we recognize that there are a number of high achieving students who perform well in remote learning. These students are usually self-motivated. Notwithstanding their ability to perform in a remote setting, these students nevertheless require social interaction and social and emotional school support.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
For student achievement, especially for low performing students, in-person learning in small classes or small groups is preferable to large classrooms. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree The Cold Spring School District's Local Control & Accountability Plan (LCAP or Strategic Plan) has placed the highest priority on small class-sizes. The District believes that both low performing students and high performing students benefit from smaller class size. Small class size provides the teacher with the ability to individualize instruction to the specific needs of each student. í The District maintains an average class size ratio of 18 students to one teacher and one instructional aide. During the Pandemic, the District further reduced class size to an average of 14 students to one teacher and one instructional aide. The purpose of this class size reduction was to minimize any potential instructional loss resulting from the Pandemic. The early attention to class size paid off in that Cold Spring did not experience any learning losses in the 2020-2021 academic year.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Remote learning exposed the importance of outreach efforts to provide coaching to parents on creating a positive home learning environment. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree Certificated Teachers have always stressed the importance of providing a positive learning environment at home. Remote learning, particularly in the instance of multiple siblings attempting to engage simultaneously, presented numerous challenges to student learning, placing added burdens on the teaching staff to effectively work with students remotely. This was further complicated by households where parents were also working remotely or simply absent during the remote learning experience for younger children. The Report barely skims the surface of the various and numerous challenges faced by teachers and schools trying to implement an effective remote learning experience.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Santa Barbara County school districts did not use one common test throughout Santa Barbara County, making it impossible to compare countywide testing results. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Disagree, Partially The State of California requires all school districts to assess all third grade through eighth -- grade and eleventh grade students using the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) test in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. This is a universally applied summative assessment. Each local school district, based on local preferences, has the option of implementing additional formative and summative assessment tools. Notwithstanding the State's waiver of the CAASPP in 2019-2020, the Cold Spring School District opted to have all of its students assessed using the CAASPP instrument. 2020- 2021, the State gave school districts the option to either administer the STAR, the CAASPP or the NWEA Assessment instruments. Cold Spring voluntarily administered both the STAR and the CAASPP assessments. The STAR has a high correlation coefficient to the CAASPP. In addition, the District regularly implements the STAR Renaissance assessment tool to inform teaching and learning, motivate students toward their individualized learning goals, and to monitor student performance and growth throughout the school year. The District would strongly oppose any effort to add yet another set of County assessments on ١ those already mandated by the State or those that are optional under principles of local control.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
That the Santa Barbara County school districts and the Santa Barbara County Education Office work together to develop a common summative testing program to be adopted for all Santa Barbara County school districts for the 2022-2023 school year. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Has been implemented. See explanation provided above in response to Finding 4.
F5
Students with the greatest learning loss will require a concerted effort to bring them up to Federal and State grade level standards. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
That Santa Barbara County Schools outline their plans to attain Federal and State grade level standards for math and English language arts. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Has been implemented. The Cold Spring Elementary School District disagrees with this recommendation in so far as the recommendation fails to recognize the various levels of planning that already occur within public school districts. In addition to the comprehensive Local Control & Accountability Planning that takes place each year, school districts have been asked to develop in excess of ten additional planning instruments each tied to the various Pandemic related funding .14 allocations and grants. The plans all require school districts to identify efforts to mitigate learning loss and attain Federal and State grade level standards in all core subject areas. Requiring yet another level of planning would not further this effort and serves only to distract educators from focusing on mitigating the learning losses. Cold Spring School District experienced no learning loss during the pandemic. This is credited to the fact that the District returned early to In-Person instruction. The following table illustrates the academic gains of students in the 3rd through 6th grade during the Pandemic: Schoolwide Student CAASPP Data Over Time ELA: % Meet/ Math: % Meet/ Cold School <b>Exceeds Standards</b> Exceeds Standards School Year 2021 97% 95% N/A 2020 N/A 92% 91% 2019 2018 92% 90% 2017 84% 80% OUTSTANDING! CAASPP Results 2020-2021 102 Cold Spring students took the CAASPP in grades three through six; five students opted out (95% participation rate) ELA Summary 97% of students Met/Exceeded the ELA Standards 65% of students Exceeded the ELA Standards 100% of students Met/Exceeded the ELA Standards in Grades 3, 4, 6 MATH Summary 95% of students Met/Exceeded the Math Standards 70% of students Exceeded the Math Standards 100% of students Met/Exceeded the Math Standards in Grades 4 and 6 As noted in the tables above, the District experienced substantive growth in all areas with many grade levels achieving 100% proficiency. The District was also successful in moving students from the "Met Standards" to the "Exceeded Standards" categories. The Cold Spring School District, recognizing the importance of In-Person learning, focused on returning to In-Person instruction/learning and avoided experiencing any significant learning loss. The early planning proved to be effective. The District has already incorporated plans for maintaining grade level standards across all grades in its LCAP. No additional planning is required at this time.
F6
As the 2020-21 school year wore on, remote learning and teaching techniques and students' computer skills improved. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Federal and State COVID relief funds cannot be counted on indefinitely. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
That the Santa Barbara County Education Office schedule a series of meetings prior to the 2022-2023 school year with Santa Barbara County school districts to establish spending guidelines and review budgets' post COVID relief funds to ensure that mitigation efforts continue. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Will not be implemented. The Cold Spring School District disagrees with this recommendation. This is outside of the scope of authority of county offices of education and would require legislative action. California public schools are run by locally elected governing boards. Those boards are charged with authority and responsibility of setting locally developed policies, goals and objectives. Furthermore, with each grant there is oversight and reporting obligations to the State and Federal agencies responsible for each grant. The Santa Barbara County Education Office has been reviewing some COVID related plans and has been providing school districts with feedback. No additional oversight is required or desired.
F8
Community organizations provided critical assistance to the Santa Barbara County public school districts by expanding their efforts to bridge the learning gap between the home environment and school. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
That each Santa Barbara County school district develop plans by the start of the 2022-2023 school year to encourage community organizations to continue to provide critical academic and emotional support. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Will not be implemented. - 1 The Cold Spring School District is a one-school school district that simply does not have the staff to dedicate to the various additional planning activities recommended in the 2021 Grand Jury Report. The District is aware of the various activities of several organizations throughout the County. However, Cold Spring received support directly from the community and a handful of community organizations focused on certain unique needs of our school and our students. The District does not need an additional plan to plan for, or access, this community support. Each District should have the option of incorporating these elements into their LCAP, if needed. Furthermore, Cold Spring has included these elements in its Remote Learning Plan and its Re-Entry to School Plan.
F9
Internet services were critical to remote learning and, in most cases, Santa Barbara County school districts filled the gap for homes that did not have them. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Agree
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
That each Santa Barbara County school district maintain adequate internet services for all students if distance learning or an emergency should again require remote learning. Cold Spring Elementary School District Response: Has been implemented. The District has confirmed and will continue to confirm that each student has access to internet services at home. Furthermore, the District has an adequate supply of computers and iPads to allow each student to take home a computing device for remote learning, if required. Again, the Cold Spring Elementary School District thanks the 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury for its thoughtful work in compiling the report on "Remote Learning During COVID-19". Sincerely, Dr. Amy M. Alzina Amy Alzina, Ed.D. Superintendent/Principal Cold Spring Elementary School District
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.