Loveland Board of Education Passes Resolutions in Response to the Health Crisis

Loveland City School District BOE held virtual work session Tuesday, April 7 to address contingency plan for Ohio COVID-19 emergency response legislation

NEWS RELEASE: Susanne Quigley, Chief Information Officer, LCSD

Edited for publication by Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (April 8, 2020) – At the April 7, The Loveland City School District Board of Education passed several resolutions during their “virtual” work session held virtually Tuesday, April 7.

The resolutions will allow the school administration to comply with new emergency legislation, Ohio HB 197, signed by Governor DeWine in response to the COVID-19 health crisis:

The board adopted a contingency plan for the 2019-20 school year due to the extended building closure. The plan allows teachers to develop, and principals to approve, a sufficient number of online/remote lessons for the days and hours of the school closure to reach Ohio’s minimum hour requirement for the year. Under this contingency plan, new content will be integrated into the instructional plan, which will be reviewed and revised continuously based on parent and student feedback.

The board also adopted a resolution to alter the grading criteria for fifth through eighth grade for the fourth quarter of the 2019-20 school year, moving to a pass/not pass system effective on April 8, 2020. Loveland High School will continue the traditional grading system to maintain the foundation for students as they work toward attaining their post-high school plans, however, it will include a “no harm grading practice” to support students during the many challenges of remote learning. Learn more about these changes in the Remote Learning Q&A on the district’s website.

In acknowledgment of the social distancing ordered by Governor DeWine, the board passed a resolution declaring an emergency, temporarily suspending board policy related to public participation in the form of “hearing of the public” at regularly scheduled board business meetings. The resolution authorized remote meetings to be live-streamed to the public. Several future board meeting dates were amended as follows:

April 21 business meeting (changed to April 30, 2020);

May 5 work session (changed to May 12, 2020) and,  

May 19 business meeting (changed to May 28, 2020).

The board allowed the suspension of school employee evaluations if deemed impossible or impracticable to conduct due to the school building closure. They also approved reimbursement of full-day kindergarten tuition – 50% for March and 100% for April.

“The COVID-19 outbreak and social implications necessitate the urgency for the Loveland City School District to allow the administration to comply with the new legislation and become more responsive to the needs of our students, families, and the community,” said Board President Dr. Kathryn Lorenz. “Our priority is to make sure our students have the supports they need so that they can learn at this trying time. The district will strive to remain flexible as the situation continues to evolve.”

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