PARENT NOTIFICATION: INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM
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July 23, 2021
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):
We are excited that Campbell Union School District schools will open with full-day, in-person learning for all grades on August 19th. We follow all required public health protocols in order to maintain safe learning environments for students and staff and are committed to educating students to their highest potential.
Under late-arriving legislation—AB130—we are required to also offer an independent study option for the 2021-2022 school year to students whose health would be put at risk by in-person instruction, as determined by the parent or guardian.
This letter is your official notice of the option to enroll your student in an independent study (I.S.) program if in-person instruction presents a health risk to your child.
The law allows the district to provide Independent Study in any of three ways: by contracting with another school district, the County Office of Education, or by the district itself. The I.S. program will meet all of the legal requirements for educational progress, grade-level standards, synchronous instruction, student engagement, and transitioning back to in-person instruction within 5 days if the parent/guardian determines that the health risk is no longer an issue.
Published on July 12th for school districts to process, this new law has created a very tight timeline for planning. However, we are able to share the following information with you.
ENROLLING, DISENROLLING & RE-ENROLLING
Your student will have rights regarding procedures for enrolling, disenrolling, and re-enrolling in independent study. The independent study option will include:
- An agreement between the district and the student’s parent/guardian which must be signed no later than September 17, 2021.*
- Students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) shall not participate in independent study unless the student's IEP specifically provides for such participation (Education Code 51745). **
- When it is determined that a student is no longer at health risk for in-person instruction, the parent must notify the teacher and the enrollment department. The student will be assigned to in-person instruction within 5 school days of the notification, and school placement will be subject to space availability at the time of the transition. We cannot guarantee the student will be placed at the school they were assigned to prior to I.S.
Moving from in-person instruction to independent study
For students assigned to in-person instruction whose parent/guardian later determines that their student needs independent study due to the child's health risk, the parent/guardian must inform the child’s current teacher, school principal and enrollment department. Enrollment department staff will contact the parent/guardian with information about next steps for the Independent Study placement and agreement.
REQUESTING A PARENT-EDUCATOR CONFERENCE
It is your right to request a parent-educator conference prior to enrolling your student in Independent Study in order to inform your decision and ensure that it is appropriate for your student. To request a parent/educator conference please contact Dr. Pamela Cheng, Director of Teaching and Learning, at pcheng [at] campebllusd.org ().
INSTRUCTIONAL TIME
The goal of our independent study program is to provide an alternative to in-person instruction to students whose health is at risk by attending class face-to-face. As such, independent study is an educational program that provides instruction based on the state-adopted content standards by certificated teachers. There are specific requirements for instructional time that may include both synchronous and asynchronous work. These expectations will be outlined in the students’ written Learning Agreement, which should be signed prior to enrollment and no later than September 17, 2021.
Your student will have asynchronous and synchronous instructional time as follows.
- Grades TK-3: Daily synchronous for all students
- Grades 4-8: Both daily live & weekly synchronous
| Instructional Time |
Description |
| Synchronous Instructional Time |
Classroom-style instruction or designated small group or one-on-one instruction delivered in person, or in the form of internet or telephonic communications and involving live, two-way communication between the teacher and student. Synchronous instruction shall be provided by the teacher(s) of record for that student. |
| Live Interaction |
Interaction between the student and school classified or certificated staff, and may include peers, provided for the purpose of maintaining school connectedness including but not limited to: wellness checks, progress monitoring, provision of services and instruction. This interaction may take place in person or in the form of internet or telephonic communication. |
| Asynchronous Instructional Time |
Forms of instruction that do not occur in the same place or at the same time. The term is most commonly applied to various forms of digital and online learning in which students learn from instruction—such as prerecorded video lessons or game-based learning tasks that students complete on their own—that are not being delivered in person or in real time. Yet asynchronous learning may also encompass a wide variety of instructional interactions, including email exchanges between teachers, online discussion boards, and course-management systems that organize instructional materials and correspondence, among many other possible variations. |
I hope the information provided here will help families as they weigh their child’s health risk against the benefits of in-person instruction. I understand that there is a short timeline for making this determination. Unfortunately, this law was just recently adopted, and we are adapting as quickly as possible..
Sincerely,
Dr. Shelly Viramontez, Superintendent
Campbell Union School District
* For those parents/guardians who determine in-person instruction would be a health risk for their student, a Written Agreement must be signed no later than September 17, 2021. This agreement will outline the student’s general information, the frequency, time, place and manner for submitting the student's assignments, reporting the student’s academic progress, and communicating with the parent/guardian the academic progress. The specific resources that will be made available to the student and determination of access to internet connectivity and devices to participate in and complete assignments that best suit their child’s needs.
** Students with an IEP cannot be placed in I.S. unless/until the IEP indicates this placement is appropriate for the student’s individual needs.
P.S.
If you have not already done so, please respond to our survey about the independent study option as soon as possible.
As the summer break began, 50 faculty members arrived at 7AM for four days to attend an institute focused on preparing for when their students return in August. The RTI Institute was streamed to school districts in Oregon, Utah, California, and other locations.