Safe Return to In-person Instruction and
Continuity of Services Plan

Addendum Guidance

2023

District Needs Assessment for Esser 3.0

DISTRICT: Hamblen County Schools

Public Plan - Needs Assessment for ESSER 3.0

Students & Enrollment

Mission & Vision: The mission of the Hamblen County Department of Education is to educate students so they can be challenged to successfully compete in their chosen fields.

Grades Served: PreK-12

# of Schools: 18

Total Student Enrollment: 10,175

Race/Ethnicity

American Indian/Alaska Native .6%

Asian 1.4%

Black/African American 7.1%

Hispanic 29.2%

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander .7%

White 60.9%

Economically Disadvantaged 37.6%

English learners 14%

Students with Disabilities 14%

Foster .6%

Students Experiencing Homelessness 4%

Students in Military Families .2%

Migrant .7%

Students with High-Speed Internet at Home 80%

This needs assessment for ESSER 3.0 is built to be a summary of the major elements to consider in strategic planning for effective resource

allocation for those funds. The department also encourages updates to ESSER 1.0 and 2.0 spending plans to align with needs as they are updated and develop. Local plans and those submitted through InformTN for the comprehensive district plans will likely be more detailed and thorough, with specific call-outs by individual school need. The state template is intended to provide the public with a data snapshot to inform community engagement related to the needs of the district that ESSER 3.0 dollars may support.

Summary of Key Priorities

For each of the sections below, list the top 3 investments your district will make to address the data indicated above and accelerate

student achievement.

ACADEMICS

1. Personnel positions (temporary) focused on learning loss and student acceleration

2.  Professional Development (TNTP and Solution Tree) focused on curriculum implementation and student acceleration

3. Intervention, tutoring, and Learning Loss resources

STUDENT READINESS

1. Social, emotional, and mental health supports for all students, particularly students who were virtual most of the 20-21 school year

2. College and Career Readiness

3. Supports for special populations

EDUCATORS

1. Stipends for all staff

2. Classroom Technology

3. Professional Development

FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS

1. Infrastructure/Facilities

2. Technology

3. Environment and Community

Academics

Kindergarten

Topic: 50%+ School Year Remote

Provide information on any increase in the number of students whose “first time” experience in a formal school setting will be 2021-2022.

Response: We project 698 students will enter Kindergarten for 21-22. Approximately 45% of those will have attended a PreK. program. For 2021-22, we will have 40 incoming 1st Graders who completed Kindergarten entirely virtual.

Instructional Days

Topic: Days In-Person

Total number of in-person days in the 2020-21 school year (number of days and percent of the year) for elementary, middle, and high schools in your district.

Response: 175 days, 100% all schools

Topic: Days Virtual

Response: 175 Days, 100% all schools offered virtual learning if the student met certain criteria.

Topic: Quarantine Closures

Summarize the number of days or weeks schools were closed due to quarantine and how that varied across the district. Differentiate between elementary, middle and high schools and only provide summaries in the context of broad impact (number of students impacted, on average).

Response: No schools were closed due to quarantine.

Topic: Additional Impacts on Instructional Time

Response: None

Topic: Overall Impact

Response: K-5:  Our virtual teachers in this grade band were hand chosen for their abilities to connect with students and use the technology effectively. These teachers were not synchronous. They worked only with virtual students. This included our Tier II and III interventionists who were key to keeping virtual students engaged. These teachers also engaged and worked closely with parents to ensure they understood how to use the technology and what our expectations were for virtual students.

6-8:  Three of our middle schools provided synchronous instruction for virtual students while one chose to use teachers whose only focus was virtual students. Both models were effective in engaging students, as attendance rates show, but the virtual only model was more effective. It is simply easier to engage virtual students when you do not have in-person students in the classroom.

9-12:  All of our high school teachers provided instruction using the synchronous model. There was no other feasible model of instruction for them. CTE teachers, in particular had challenges with virtual students because these students were required to come in frequently for hands-on learning. The majority of our high school teachers were successful in engaging students and keeping them active. Our EOC participation rates, over 95% at both high schools, is a good indicator of successful student engagement. Attendance rates, also at or above 95%, is another indicator. Early indications for graduation rates at both high schools (Class of 2021, indicates that teachers were successful in sustaining relationships with virtual students. We anticipate our district graduation rate, normally 94% to 95%, to not drop below 93% for the Class of 2021.

Student Achievement, Instructional Materials and Interventions

Topic: Benchmark Data

Provide the district average for beginning, middle, and end-of-year

diagnostic/screener data comparisons. Provide overall data as well

as by student group.

Response:  Data for the diagnostic/screener includes projected proficiencies based on district benchmark assessment.

Grade 2 ELA

• Beginning = 29.5

• Middle = 34.4

• End = 33.9

Grade 2 Math

• Beginning = 30.2

• Middle = 33.6

• End = 36.0

Grade 3 ELA

• Beginning = 28.0

• Middle = 27.4

• End = 24.6

Grade 3 Math

• Beginning = 31.3

• Middle = 28.8

• End = 32.6

Grade 4 ELA

• Beginning = 24.1

• Middle = 25.2

• End = 22.1

Grade 4 Math

• Beginning = 26.1

• Middle = 34.3

• End = 33.2

Grade 5 ELA

• Beginning = 30.7

• Middle = 26.6

• End = 26.4

Grade 5 Math

• Beginning = 43.7

• Middle = 40.0

• End = 42.2

Grade 6 ELA

• Beginning = 23.5

• Middle = 24.9

• End = 27.2

Grade 6 Math

• Beginning = 35.3

• Middle = 31.7

• End = 32.3

Grade 7 ELA

• Beginning = 27.6

• Middle = 30.2

• End = 25.8

Grade 7 Math

• Beginning = 29.3

• Middle = 26.7

• End = 30.2

Grade 8 ELA

• Beginning = 20.7

• Middle = 18.2

• End = 22.2

Grade 8 Math

• Beginning = 10.2

• Middle = 11.6

• End = 14.7

The ability to disaggregate this data by subgroup is a feature not yet available on this assessment platform.

Topic: Literacy

Summarize the impact of early reading compared to previous years.

Provide overall data as well as by student group.

Response: Early reading was affected during SY20-21; however, the impact of the pandemic was not as severe as anticipated.  A longitudinal comparison of early reading screener data and the percentage of students identified as at-risk in early literacy revealed the following:  Kindergarten SY19-20 Early Literacy • Fall = 73.0 • Winter = 40.5 • Spring = n/a  Kindergarten SY20-21 Early Literacy • Fall = 59.0 • Winter = 36.6 • Spring = 22.6  Grade 1 SY19-20 Early Literacy • Fall = 60.4 • Winter = 38.6 • Spring = n/a  Grade 1 SY20-21 Early Literacy • Fall = 56.3 • Winter = 45.7 • Spring = 44.0  Grade 2 SY19-20 Early Literacy • Fall = 56.6 • Winter = 39.3 • Spring = n/a  Grade 2 SY20-21 Early Literacy • Fall = 50.1 • Winter = 39.2 • Spring = 36.9  The ability to disaggregate this data by subgroup is a feature not yet available on this assessment platform.

Topic: ACT

Summarize ACT data for your district (participation and outcomes)

compared to previous years. Provide overall data and by student

group.

Response:                          Year  Part. District Composite

                                                      2016  92%   20.2

                                                      2017  99%   20.2

                                                      2018  99%   20.5

                                                2019  98%   20.1

                                                      2020  99%   19.8

                                                      2021  TBD   TBD

-Junior ACT for the Class of 2021 was cancelled last spring due to the pandemic

-Vouchers were provided to the Class of 2021 students this past summer and fall

-Senior Retake for the Class of 2021 was completed in Oct. 2020

-The Junior Test was completed in March 2021 for the Class of 2022

Topic: Interventions (Above and Beyond RTI)

Response: Our district and school teams were very proactive in keeping our RTI2 programs on track and effective in the midst of extraordinary disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Topic: School Activities and Enrichment

Response: Extracurriculars and off-site enrichment programs were almost all either modified or cancelled as a result of the pandemic. All were impacted by infection rates, quarantines, school closure (19-20), state policies, local policies, TSSAA policies, and Dept. of Health guidelines.

Student Readiness

Transitions and Pathways

Topic: Transitions into Middle School

Response: The transition to middle school required a great deal of parent communication in July and August of 2020. Orientations were held for incoming 6th Graders and parents with strict COVID-19 protocols. Additional parent and student trainings were held in July and August specifically for parents who opted to be virtual to begin the school year. This complicated the transitions further but it also provided additional opportunities to meet with parents and students which did facilitate the transition.

Topic: Transitions from Middle School

Response: The transition process into 9th Grade for the 2021-22 school year has taken place under relatively normal conditions. The process followed our normal procedures with very few students remaining virtual by April. High School Guidance Counselors were able to visit each middle school and work individually with our 8th Grade students. Scheduling and orientation events were held as they normally would be.

Topic: Transitions into High School

Response: Much like our students transitioning into middle school, parent communication was critical to creating a smooth transition into 9th Grade. Scheduling was a challenge, as was training students who were opting to be virtual to begin the school year. Despite the fact that schools were closed in the spring of 2020, the scheduling process had begun which helped facilitate the process in July and August. Delaying the school start date for a month to September 8th allowed students and counselors time to complete the scheduling process. Orientations were held with strict COVID-19 protocols and training for virtual students was completed prior to the start of school. It is important to note that the district implemented a new learning management system for the 2020-21 school year that required all students to be trained in its use.

Topic: Graduation Rates

Response: Over the last 5 years, the district has consistently posted graduation rates of 94% to 95%. For the Class of 2021, we believe that rate will go down significantly due to pandemic related circumstances, perhaps as much as 2 to 5 percent.

Our main concern is for those students who, lacking daily in-person engagement with teachers and administrators, used the pandemic as an excuse to drop out, go to work, seek HiSet/GED, or just avoid school. We have a high population of immigrants in our district, many of which were seniors this school year. A number of them signed up for virtual and never participated. We suspect they obtained jobs outside the area (we tried to track each student) and did not return.

Topic: Dropout Rates and Disengagement

Response: Drop-out rates for the Class of 2021 went up but we do not know yet by how much. There is no question that, for virtual students, engagement suffered. Our synchronous and virtual teachers worked hard to keep students engaged and it is, and continues to be, a priority for the district. Because of challenges around attendance and student engagement, the number of middle school and high school students in credit recovery has doubled since the 18-19 school year.

Topic: CTE

Response: CTE programs of study are intended to have a majority of the instruction based on hands-on application of skills garnered in the general education program, and also in the student's coursework. As we entered a school year that was centered around virtual hybrid settings for our high school courses, the ability to offer these hands-on experiential learning opportunities was hindered and minimized at best. Courses such as welding, nursing, engineering, machining, coding, automotive repair and many other programs rely heavily on the ability of students to have a first-hand experience where they manipulate tools, machinery, and other equipment to obtain the high tech skills necessary to compete for the jobs and careers in our region. In addition, Hamblen County relies heavily on Work Based Learning WBL experiences that provide students with paid internships solidifying postsecondary and career plans and goals. A large percentage of the 2020-2021 WBL placements were cancelled due to COVID-19 health and safety measures. In 2019 WBL experiences totaled over 200 student interns. In the 2020-2021 school year that number decreased to 43 placements. The combined impact of fewer students being in person for our CTE program of study courses and decreased participation from our business and industry partners in providing Work Based Learning placements to our students created a deficit in our ability to provide students with high impact learning experiences. This deficit impacts student learning and the student's understanding of the skills needed in the workplace of today and tomorrow.

Topic: Course Availability

Response: The pandemic did not prevent any courses from being offered.

Special Populations and Mental Health

Topic: Special Populations

Response: Students in Foster Care have a greater risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, behavioral disorders, suicidal ideation, and depression compared to non-foster peers. Migrant students are at risk of presenting and developing psychological problems with the main problems encountered being PTSD, depression, anxiety, and conduct disorders. Homeless students are significantly more likely to have delayed development, learning difficulties, behavioral problems, and mental health problems.

Topic: Mental Health, Behavioral and Other Supports, Interventions and Staffing

Response: The district employs three Licensed Clinical Social Workers and one Licensed Master Social Worker to address mental health issues with our students.  Two of the LCSWs work specifically with special education students while the other works with students in both high schools.  The LMSW works with students in the four middle schools.  The district contracts with TN VOICES and The McNabb Center to provide a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in four of our elementary schools.  There is a need for services in the remaining seven elementary schools for school-based behavioral health that we are addressing in ESSER 3.0 by creating two additional positions for mental health professionals. 

While the online environment during COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines allowed counseling relationships to continue, it inhibited mental health services by limiting the counselor’s ability to be a physical/emotional presence.  Students were less likely to discuss personally significant issues due to the presence of family members in their home environment.  The online environment inhibits the counselor from reading important visual and verbal cues as well as the nature of the online environment being detached and less comforting to troubled students.

Topic: School Nurses

Response: We did not experience a shortage of nurses for our schools. We used ESSER funds and funding from our general budget to hire additional nurses. Every school building in the district had a nurse on site the entire school year.

Educators

Topic: Staff Retirements

Response: The district had 14 certified staff retirements and  14 noncertified staff retirements for 2020-21. Retirements for certified staff were lower than the previous 3 years (2019-20 had 16, 2018-19 had 16, and 2017-18 had 23 to retire). Retirements for the noncertified staff was on the higher end (2019-20 had 27, 2018-19 had 11, 2017-18 had 9 to retire).

Topic: Staff Resignations

Response: The district had 93 certified staff resignation and 80 noncertified staff resignations throughout the 2020-21 school year. Resignations for certified staff were lower than the previous 3 years (2019-20 had 127, 2018-19 had 135, 2017-18 had 106 resignations). Resignations for noncertified staff were higher than the previous 3 years.

Topic: Extended Quarantines

Response: 14 or 0.017% of certified staff were faced with more than two quarantine periods of 10 days or longer. 2 or 0.003% of noncertified staff were faced with more than two quarantine periods of 10 days or longer.

Topic: Classroom Vacancies

Response: The district had 8 vacancies for the teacher of record in the district during the 2020-2021 school year.

Topic: Other Vacancies

Response: The district had a shortage in substitute teachers since staff had to quarantine for longer periods of time.

Foundational Elements

Topic: Access to Technology

Response: 0% of students did not have access to a device when learning in a virtual environment. The district started the year 1 to 1 in Grades 9-12, 1 to 3 K-8. We were 1 to 1 in Grades K-8 by January. No school was closed during the school year so any parent who chose optional for their children had access to a district-provided device.

Topic: Access to High-Speed Internet

Response: Internet access was a concern, especially at the beginning of the school year. It was a focus of how ESSER 1.0 was used. Less than 80% of the students in Hamblen County had access to high speed internet. Parent surveys during the summer made it clear that the district would need to provide internet access to many virtual students, and a few teachers. That was accomplished with ESSER 1.0 funds and funds from the Connectivity grant. No student or staff member, who needed high speed internet access, went without during the 2021-22 school year.

Topic: Facility Constraints

Response: Social distancing has been a challenge in many of our schools due to the number of classrooms and the size of many classrooms. Having 20% to 25% of our student body virtual much of the year helped alleviate this concern. We also reduced student interaction by moving teachers, where feasible, instead of students. We believe our strict mask mandate, in place throughout the school year, also helped reduce the infection rate. Our infectious disease prevention measures were clearly effective according to the data. Active cases in the school district were half that of the county at large (7% vs 14%). Our schools were the safest facilities in the county.

Our greatest concerns moving forward are our schools with open classrooms, the age of many of our HVAC systems, and our inadequate school nurse facilities in a number of our schools. Both of these concerns directly impact student and staff health an safety. Specifically, these concerns are around social distancing, air quality, infectious disease prevention measures, and classroom square footage.

Interim Final Requirements from the U.S. Department of Education:

LEA ARP ESSER Plan Meaningful Consultation

“COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the Nation’s education system. In addition to disrupting teaching and learning, it has exacerbated existing inequities in our schools and school districts. Every aspect of student life has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: students’ classes and courses of study have been interrupted and/or delayed and students’ social, emotional, and mental health have been negatively impacted by the isolation and anxiety of living through a pandemic and quarantine along with the additional associated stresses placed on their families. As students and teachers continue to return to full-time in-person education, they will have important insights into how schools should approach prevention and mitigation of COVID-19, and into what may be needed to support student success. For this reason, in developing their ARP ESSER plans, LEAs will be required to meaningfully consult with students; families; school and district administrators (including special education administrators); and teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their unions. Additionally, an LEA is also required to engage in meaningful consultation with each of the following, to the extent present in or served by the LEA: Tribes; civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations); and stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities, English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, migratory students, children who are incarcerated, and other underserved students. An LEA’s decisions about how to use its ARP ESSER funds will directly impact the students, families, and stakeholders in their school district, and thus the LEA’s plans must be tailored to the specific needs faced by students and schools within the district. These diverse stakeholders will have significant insight into what prevention and mitigation strategies should be pursued to keep students and staff safe, as well as how the various COVID-19 prevention and mitigation strategies impact teaching, learning, and day-today school experiences. With regard to addressing the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, particularly those most impacted by the pandemic, we believe that it is critical that LEAs solicit and consider the input of students and their families to identify their most pressing needs. Close coordination with Tribes is critical to effective support for Native American students, so LEAs need to consult Tribes, as applicable. In addition, the Department understands educators and students’ families will have important insights into and observations of students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs garnered from their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stakeholders will similarly have critical insights into how best to address the academic impact of lost instructional time that LEAs are required to address with at least 20 percent of their ARP ESSER funds. For all of these reasons, through this consultation, LEAs will be better positioned to fully plan to use ARP ESSER funds to adequately respond to the needs of all students, particularly those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Please note who you engaged, as applicable, and the strategies used to engage those groups (ex. public meeting, request for comments, survey, etc.).

Any additional information related to the public engagement you would like to share:

Supplemental Responses

We have, and will continue to engage, our stakeholders through the following programs, many of which have been in place for a number of years.

-Community Forums

-Parent Advisory Group: Monthly

-Student Advisory Group: Monthly

-Teacher Forums

-Student Forums (High Schools)

-Early Literacy (K-2) Working Group

-Principal Meetings: Monthly

-School Board Meetings: Monthly

-Social Media Postings Soliciting Parent, Community, and Advocacy Group feedback

-District Web Site Postings Soliciting Parent, Community and Advocacy Group Input

-Meetings and interviews with Advocacy Groups

-Virtual Community Forum: 8/30/21

-Virtual Staff Listening Tour: 8/31/21

There are no Tribes located in Hamblen County. Our largest underserved group is our Hispanic/EL population (29%/14%). Their most influential advocacy group, HOLA Lakeway, has a number of members who are Hamblen County Schools employees and we have worked closely with them on the development of this plan. They advocate for all of our Hispanic students and families, especially those who are ELs and SWDs.

We have no SWD advocacy groups or disability rights organizations in the county. The most active organization in our region is STEP (tnstep.org) which has a regional office in Greenville. We did interview the executive director, Karen Harrison, who provided valuable input for our consideration and implementation.

The public forums and School Board Meetings have been essential to receiving quality stakeholder input. The discussions between members of the community, board members, and district staff have been invaluable in formulating policies and guidelines that address stakeholder concerns and needs for the coming school year. Our approach in soliciting feedback for ARP ESSER was to talk to as many people in our community as possible rather than depending on a blanket survey. We have reached out to the community in general on our web site and on social media and received some feedback. We will continue to do so as we move through the next school year.

ESSER 3.0 Public Plan for Remaining Funds
Addendum Guidance

2023

Local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to update the ESSER 3.0 Public Plan every six months through Sept. 30, 2023. Each time, LEAs must seek public input on the plan and any revisions and must take such input into account.

Each LEA must complete the addendum and upload it to ePlan in the LEA Document Library (March 1 and Sept. 15). The LEA must also post the addendum to the LEA’s website. Like the development of the plan, all revisions must be informed by community input and reviewed and approved by the governing body prior to posting on the LEA’s publicly available website. The plan intends to provide transparency to stakeholders.

Please consider the following when completing the addendum:

• On the summary page, the amounts should total the carryover amount for FY24 for each relief fund: ESSER 2.0 and ESSER 3.0.
• The LEA must respond to all questions in the document.
• The stakeholder engagement responses should closely align with the stakeholder engagement in the Health and Safety Plan.
• The LEA should ensure it uses multiple models of engagement offered to stakeholders. Examples may include surveys, in-person or virtual committee meetings, town hall meetings, or other inclusive engagement opportunities.
• LEAs should engage all applicable groups noted in meaningful consultation during the crafting of the plan and when making any significant revisions or updates to the plan.
• The number of stakeholders engaged should represent the composition of students. For example, if students with disabilities make up 15 percent of students, then 10-20 percent of respondents should represent this subgroup.
• Ensure the stakeholder engagement happened prior to the development/revision of the plan.
• Plans require local board approval and public posting.
• LEAs must update the ESSER Public Plan at least every six months through Sept. 30, 2023, seek public input on the plan and any revisions, and take such input into account.
• The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act requires LEAs to post plans online in a language that parents/caregivers can understand, or it is not practicable to provide written translations to an individual with limited English proficiency, be orally translated. The plan also must be provided in an alternative format accessible, upon request, by a parent who is an individual with a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  

ESSER 3.0 Public Plan for Remaining Funds

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief 3.0 (ESSER 3.0) Fund under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2, was enacted on March 11, 2021. Funding provided to states and local educational agencies (LEAs) helps safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s students.

In the fall of 2021, LEAs developed and made publicly available a Public Plan - Federal Relief Spending. All plans were developed with meaningful public consultation with stakeholder groups. Like the development of the plan, all revisions must be informed by community input and reviewed and approved by the governing body prior to posting on the LEA’s publicly available website.

The following information is intended to update stakeholders and address the requirement.

General Information

LEA Name:  Hamblen County

Director of Schools (Name):  Arnold W. Bunch, Jr.

ESSER Director (Name):  Brantley Smith

Address:  210 East Morris Blvd, Morristown, TN 37813

Phone #:  423-581-3118                                                                           District Website:  https://www.hcboe.net/

Addendum Date:  September 15, 2023

Funding

Budget Summary

Academics

1. Describe strategic allocations to accelerate Academic Achievement, including how allocations support the investments identified in the district’s needs assessment.

2. Describe initiatives included in the “other” category.

Student Readiness

1. Describe strategic allocations to support Student Readiness and the School-Related Supports necessary to access high-quality instruction, including how allocations support the investments identified in the district’s needs assessment.

2. Describe initiatives included in the “other” category.

Educators

1. Describe strategic allocations to Recruit, Retain and Support Educators and School Personnel, including how allocations support the investments identified in the district’s needs assessment.

2. Describe initiatives included in the “other” category.

Foundations

1. Describe strategic allocations to Strengthen Structural Expectations, including how allocations support the investments identified in the district’s needs assessment.

2. Describe initiatives included in the “other” category.

Monitoring, Auditing, and Reporting

1. Outline how the LEA is continuing to actively monitor allocations; conducting interim audits to ensure an appropriate application of funds; collecting and managing data elements required to be reported; and reporting this information to the community.

2. Describe how the LEA is meeting the requirements to spend 20 percent of the total ESSER 3.0 allocation on direct services to students to address learning loss, or indicate participation in TN ALL Corps.

Family and Community Engagement

1. Describe how the LEA has continued to engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders in the development of the revised plan.

2. Describe how the LEA engaged at minimum 10 percent of the total stakeholders engaged vs. responses received in the development of the revised plan.

3. Describe how the LEA engaged a representation of a diverse population of stakeholders.

4. Describe how the LEA used multiple modes of engagement (such as surveys, scheduled in-person or virtual meetings, and town halls) to gain input from stakeholders in the development of the revised plan.