PE TECH WANTED AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL February 14, 2019 Dear Superintendent Dr. Kelly Bowers, Assistant Superintendent Michael Biondi and the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board: ‘As The Multi-Tiered System of Support is rolling out district wide, the Elementary School Community believes a piece is missing for our students, the physical education support. Hiring a Physical Education Tech for all elementary schools would have a positive effect ‘on students, staff, and family bonding outside of school hours, all helping to increase leaming and improve the learning environment. This proposal is in no way all- encompassing. That would take much more paper! It does hope to showcase a need and some of the benefits P.E. is Powerful Education and a program with a dedicated instructor will help reduce the well-known increased stress and anxiety students are experiencing, decrease behavior issues on the playground, increase classroom focus, and create games every student will know how to play. This would also serve as another inclusion avenue during class and recess time for students with special abilities. There are many other additional proven benefits for elementary school-aged students such as strengthening peer relationships, setting personal goals, moral development, improved self-confidence and self-esteem, and motor skill development. Quality P.E. helps students get a good night's rest and promotes an overall healthy lifestyle. Healthy food, quality sleep, and dally exercise all help students in their core academic learning as well as reducing the stress and anxiety they carry to school each day. Itis a positive life-long habit that is best started young, like all good habits. Physical education programs can only provide these benefits if they are well-planned and well-implemented. Our teachers do their best, but a Physical Education Tech will have the time and extra specialization to maximize the students’ physical activity during school. Physical Education has a specialized P.E. teacher at every other school level except Elementary in Livermore. However, knowing elementary schools in Livermore once did have a dedicated P.E. Tech, we hope we can see this become equitable over all grade levels again. Each student is required by the state to have 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days. Planning quality P.E. instruction proves a low priority at the Elementary level where teachers have had to learn and roll out English Language Arts curriculum, Math curriculum, integrate Choose Love, and move forward the MTSS program that Michael Biondi has admitted takes a lot of teacher learning. Providing a dedicated P.E. teacher district-wide will allow an additional prep time of about 3 hoursper week for core teachers to do just that. It may also provide teachers time to collaborate to further meet the needs of students who are both struggling and students who are excelling beyond grade level, thus improving individualized learning and increasing teacher happiness in the workplace. It is a positive domino effect. This proposal in NO WAY is a call to give our current teachers additional resources to teach P.E., nor do we want to see any current services cut. We do not want to require more new curriculum learning for our valued staff “Those who think they have no time for exercise will eventually have to make time for ILLNESS,” says Edward Stanley. When students are receiving quality P.E. instruction they will want to become active at home with their families, also. Increased time being physically active decreases time spent in front of video games, phones, and other known addictions. A student can become the family leader to a healthier home when, excited about a new skill or game they have learned. Taking family walks, shooting baskets, kicking a ball etc. creates positive family bonding opportunities, improves. healthy habits in the Livermore community, and provides an additional opportunity for families to become involved in the education process. As we know, involved families give students higher success rates. Funding a P.E. Tech through the PTO has been explored for over two years at Jackson Avenue Elementary School. We talked with HR, who does not advocate hiring staff through fundraising each year. We met with Sunset Elementary as their school provides aP.E. Tech, but the Sunset teaching staff do not receive prep/collaboration time. We researched grants for individual schools, finding either small dollar amounts or a large time/data requirement, or both. For a full time P.E. Tech position, a school must show it can pay for the highest paid, most qualified person at the cost of $63,049.25 per year. Each school has different priorities and raises different amounts, but the results are the same. Il is easier to use funds to purchase things and build community, but hiring for new positions is nearly impossible. We need the district's support, Jackson Avenue Elementary is spearheading this effort, but all the elementary schools. and the Special Needs Parents group are joining together in backing this request! Collectively, we have supported Livermore elementary education with about $800,000+ per year the last few years, and represent countless volunteer hours ‘supporting the education of the 6,000+ students in TK - 5th grades. We are officially requesting a full time P.E. Tech be provided to all elementary schools beginning August 2019, to provide equality throughout the district and allow for the additional prep time for the teaching staff.We kindly request your thorough consideration when approaching this large request before officially responding, Hiring P.E. Techs will positively impact EVERY SINGLE ELEMENTARY STUDENT. That is an exciting opportunity! Sincerely, Allison Rodacker and The Elementary School Parent Community Represented by < PB We Cita Ko We CAD AL AU tw AK ee, ‘Angela Butherus. Mdlissa Cottingham Karrie Mosca Altamont Creek Arroyo Seco Croce — jtherspoon Stacy Thorpe Joe Mitchell Junction Avenue GMa PAY) Ldic:!y/ Eileen Weed Ebony Bains {/" Andrea Gozzo Lawrence Matt Aves Rancho Las Positas Wwepu )iiunOn - ; bho (lk ‘Angela Dempsey Liz Heaney Deborah Fields ‘Smith ‘Sunset Special Needs Parent Group CC: Livermore Elementary School Principals and Staff, Elementary Parent Groups