Rapid Response Team Frameworks for Independent Schools
The Rapid Response Team Frameworks serve as helpful checklists to guide stakeholders to make key decisions about independent school reopening. Each framework focuses on a separate topic for reopening, including:
- Choosing Reopening Schedule Format
- Enforcing Health and Safety Measures
- Finding Roles for Medically Vulnerable Teachers
- Implementing Fall Retention Efforts
- Designing a Crisis Relief Fund
By reviewing these frameworks in cross-functional teams, schools can make sure that they have considered all of the critical decisions necessary for reopening campus to students amid the pandemic.
Choosing reopening schedule format
Team Charter
Choose optimal independent school reopening schedule balancing health, academic, enrollment, and practical family considerations (e.g. childcare). Create modified daily and weekly course schedules to accommodate smaller class sizes and time-consuming screening and hygiene policy.
Suggested Cross-Functional Team Members
Head of School, Assistant Head of School, CFO, Head of HR, Director of Enrollment and Financial Aid, Division Heads, Department Chairs, Head of Health/Wellness/Counseling, Athletic Director, Board Chair
Key Decisions
This is not an exhaustive list of questions Rapid Response teams must answer, but it does include fundamental decisions that are important, time sensitive, and require local analysis of capabilities and culture. Don’t let the 1,001 other questions that will arise distract from getting consensus on these issues.
- Designate a monitor for state public health guideline metrics for transitioning between reopening stages, and update leadership weekly
- Calculate safe building capacity (students + teachers + staff) under preferred social distancing guidelines (e.g. using the Rosner Model)
- Identify indoor and outdoor spaces that can be repurposed for instruction if needed
- Consider on-premises “bubbles” or satellite locations for physically vulnerable special needs students
- Assess and select general reopening strategy
- Full reopening
- Lower school in-person, middle school hybrid, and upper school remote
- A/B days (alternating days or two-day blocks)
- A/B weeks
- Fully remote
- Assign students to cohorts, ensuring siblings can come to school the same day
- Assign entrance/exit doors for student cohorts, and evaluate need for staggered entry/exit schedules to preserve social distancing
- Adjust class bell schedule to allow time for hand washing, temperature screening and onsite COVID-19 testing policies
- Choose meal service strategy: grab-and-go, staggered dining times, lunch delivery to classroom
- Collaborate with department chairs and teachers to modify course schedules (i.e. course content, pacing) toward minimizing exposure in the classroom
- Ensure adequate device, WiFi and screen availability for livestreaming in classrooms
Enforcing health and safety measures
Team Charter
This group’s most important goal is to minimize student and faculty contact by managing common area traffic patterns and group size, and ensure there are materials, training, and cultural reinforcement for hand washing, social distancing, and mask-wearing. Avoid the mistake of promising more health and safety measures than the school can realistically afford and enforce. Students and faculty are healthier and feel safer if a smaller number of proven effective measures are solidly observed.
Suggested Cross-Functional Team Members
Head of School, Assistant Head of school, CFO, Head of HR, Division Heads, Head of Health/Wellness/Counseling, Athletic Director, Board Chair
Key Decisions
This is not an exhaustive list of questions Rapid Response teams must answer, but it does include fundamental decisions that are important, time sensitive, and require local analysis of capabilities and culture. Don’t let the 1,001 other questions that will arise distract from getting consensus on these issues.
- Masks for students: no mask, plastic masks, cloth masks
- Masks vs PPE for teachers, coaches, bus drivers, custodial, and dining hall staff
- Temperature screening policy: at building entrance, in-class. Consider model impact on class schedule
- Designate team member to monitor availability of point-of-care COVID-19 test kits. Plan necessary number of test sites for desired student and staff testing coverage at 3 minutes per person per test. Create HIPPA-compliant site for communicating test results
- Teacher to student ratios per classroom based on state or community public health guidance
- Feasibility of grade-specific entrances and grade-restricted building zones
- Corridor and restroom traffic management: one-way corridors? Cohort bathroom breaks?
- Operationalize every-hour hand washing: in-class? Cleaning stations across buildings?
- Signage and other cues for hand washing, limited touching and distancing. Consider polite “call-out” etiquette words for students and teachers to help each other follow guidelines
- Procedure for isolating and tracing students and staff exhibiting symptoms based on state or community public health guidelines
- Triage school buses for deep cleans. Note that buses that idle more than 30 days do not need cleaning
- Ensure adequate PPE for bus drivers and choose Plexiglas vs. plastic curtain driver protections
- Create bus schedule ensuring same driver, same vehicle, same students each school day
- Athletics and performing arts social distancing: determine which team sports and extracurricular activities will meet, if any. Make different determinations from lower-risk (swimming, golf) to middle-risk (baseball, tennis, band) to higher risk (wrestling, dance, choir). Consider whether competitions or performances will take place, with/out spectators
Finding roles for medically vulnerable teachers
Team Charter
Estimate the number of teachers, administrators and staff members who need or want to stay home after independent school reopening and match them to roles aligned with student and teacher support needs.
Suggested Cross-Functional Team Members
Head of school, Assistant Head of School, CFO, Head of HR, Division Heads, Department Chairs, Head of Health/Wellness/Counseling, Athletic Director, Board Chair
Key Decisions
This is not an exhaustive list of questions Rapid Response teams must answer, but it does include fundamental decisions that are important, time sensitive, and require local analysis of capabilities and culture. Don’t let the 1,001 other questions that will arise distract from getting consensus on these issues.
- Administer survey asking teachers and staff about intention to return if school reopens for fall term
- Evaluate feasibility of on-demand PPE for teachers who want to teach in person but desire protection stronger than cloth masks
- Determine which non-classroom roles best align with instructional capacity needs. Some suggested roles for medically vulnerable teachers include:
- Online-only instructor
- Virtual class co-teacher
- Virtual 1:1 tutor
- Distance learning coach
- Family customer service/support
- Write job descriptions for new roles, specifying skills, additional training, and required household IT capabilities
- Schedule training and orientation for new roles for remote teachers
- Schedule training for in-person teachers about how to work with remote teachers
- Determine re-entry points in schedule for remote teachers ready to return
Implementing fall retention efforts
Team Charter
Identify important levers for retaining current families to ensure sustainability during the pandemic and related recession. Recognize that some families may only require short-term support, while others may need aid longer term.
Suggested Cross-Functional Team Members
Head of School, Assistant Head of School, CFO, Director of Enrollment and Financial Aid, Director of Marketing and Communications, Board Chair, Parent Ambassadors
Key Decisions
This is not an exhaustive list of questions Rapid Response teams must answer, but it does include fundamental decisions that are important, time sensitive, and require local analysis of capabilities and culture. Don’t let the 1,001 other questions that will arise distract from getting consensus on these issues.
- Consider and implement financial levers to retain families, including offering bridge loans, pushing back lock-in/commitment dates, modifying payment plans, among others
- Identify families that may be a greater retention risk based on the industry in which they are employed; use data for enrollment scenario planning for fall 2020 and engage in tailored follow-up with families as needed
- Consider whether tuition modification (e.g. credits for meals, field trip fees, boarding component, or more) is right for your school community based on how much in-person learning will take place; this option may be more important for preschool and younger grades
- Find ways to virtually engage current and incoming students and families to reinforce a sense of school community by hosting virtual game nights and parent happy hours, offering individual and group virtual welcomes for new families, and mailing gift bags and yard signs for incoming students, among other ideas
- Be deliberate in communications with families to proactively share news and updates related to COVID-19, school health concerns, and modifications related to independent school reopening; be sure to tailor messaging for new families to build excitement for the upcoming school year
- Take the time to reach out to all current families to ask if they require any additional support from the school community and hear more about individual concerns they may have—use this sample script as a starting point
Designing a crisis relief fund
Team Charter
Determine how a crisis relief fund will best serve the school community by making key decisions about communication, donations, and logistics surrounding the assistance. Be sure to read EAB’s 9 essential considerations before you begin the process.
Suggested Cross-Functional Team Members
Head of School, Director of Enrollment and Financial Aid, Director of Advancement
Key Decisions
This is not an exhaustive list of questions Rapid Response teams must answer, but it does include fundamental decisions that are important, time sensitive, and require local analysis of capabilities and culture. Don’t let the 1,001 other questions that will arise distract from getting consensus on these issues.
- Design communication with the school community to clearly indicate:
- Why the creation of a fund is a priority for the school
- How the establishment of a relief fund relates to the school’s mission
- How the relief fund relates to broader fundraising efforts
- What the assistance can be used for
- How families can apply to receive assistance
- How the assistance will be distributed
- Who to contact with questions
- Designate a donation location on the school website, separate from other giving opportunities, that includes suggested donation amounts
- Determine the type(s) of assistance the school will offer:
- Tuition assistance
- Housing
- Groceries
- Medical bills
- Select who will be eligible to receive assistance:
- Faculty and staff
- Current families
- Newly enrolled families
- Alumni
- Create an application process that outlines deadlines, accountability measures, and paperwork required
- Develop a consistent approach for calculating assistance.
- To ensure families receive non-tuition assistance aid quickly and efficiently, determine the best way to help with living essentials
- Determine how long assistance will be available
What K-12 “Return to Learn” plans are getting wrong
Watch our on-demand webinar exploring the most important questions school communities have to get right and learning lessons from other independent school reopening reopening experiences to inform your spring and summer planning.
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