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The Pleasanton school board unanimously agreed on Tuesday to reopen all 15 elementary and secondary schools within several weeks of each other, as soon as Alameda County is officially back in the red tier of the state’s COVID-19 case monitoring system — though nobody knows when that might happen.
At their final online meeting of 2020 (and the first for newly elected Pleasanton Unified School District trustees Mary Jo Carreon and Kelly Mokashi, who were sworn in earlier that evening), the board established a timeline for students returning to school when public health officials give approval, but without a specific fixed date.
“We are not allowed to open school until we are in the red tier for two weeks, so whatever date that is,” Board President Joan Laursen said.
Plans to move forward with an original return date of Jan. 7 for pre-kindergarten through fifth-grader students were unanimously approved in late October, but the county’s shift backward into the purple tier before Thanksgiving and ensuing statewide shelter-at-home orders forced PUSD to postpone reopening.
The board approved a tentative timeline on Tuesday that would start with pre-K through second grade returning to campus as soon as the county is in the red tier for 14 days. Grades 3 through 5 would come back for in person learning within a week.
Secondary grades would be rolled out the following week, but the district will discuss those details — including whether to reopen all middle and high schools at once or use a staggered approach — at the Jan. 14 board meeting, “because the chances of us being in the red tier for two weeks before then are pretty slim,” Laursen said.
The timeline will also figure into negotiations with the Association of Pleasanton Teachers and California School Employees Association, who the district is meeting with this week, and again in early January, according to assistant superintendent of human resources Julio Hernandez.
“APT and I will need to sit down and figure out what does that mean and how do we craft language to be able to satisfy the board’s direction,” Hernandez said. “Hopefully we can come to terms again as we did before clearing the way to open school.”
The decision to wait long before reopening secondary sites met resistance from some parents and students during the public hearing.
Amador Valley High School sophomore Elysa Hockaday said lately “it’s been a little bit hard to get as much attention from teachers or ask questions.”
“I understand that younger students need to go (back) before older students because they have more need but … the motivation of students has been a little bit on the down-line,” Hockaday said. “I would just really like to know your opinion on knowing when we’d be able to go back to school.”
Parent Erin Haubner said nine months is “too long for kids to be out of school with no date for possible return, especially for secondary.”
“If we’re already looking at a hybrid model, with those wanting to stay remote doing so, why would we tonight be suggesting a staggered re-entry?” Haubner said.
Despite adjustments to grading policies to accommodate unforeseen circumstances, Haubner called the school year “an even bigger challenge” to both teachers and students that is “not only hurting grades” but also “how our children feel about themselves at the core, and school in general.”
About 40 residents held a rally on Tuesday evening, before the board discussion, in support of reopening schools. That was three days after a rally about double the size, also organized by parent group Open Pleasanton Schools, took place at the corner of Valley Avenue and Hopyard Road.
Following public comment Tuesday, Carreon said she observed “a disconnect between what we’re doing behind the scenes and parents” and advocated reconvening the district’s reopening task force.
“We need to be involving our community in making some of these decisions as we move forward,” Carreon said.
As for when the likelihood that vaccines will be available for education essential workers including those at PUSD, Superintendent David Haglund said they will be distributed by Alameda County in two phases.
Haglund confirmed the district’s essential workers “are in the early tiers of that rollout of the vaccination, and that gives us some hope.”
“In Phase 1, there’s Phase 1A and Phase 1B; the essential workers in the school system are in Phase 2,” Haglund said. “Once the county gets through Phase 1A and Phase 1B, then it moves to Phase 2 and the dates would be driven on how quickly additional vaccines are approved.”
“So, if the second vaccine comes online, their ability to vaccinate more people comes with the additional vaccine,” he added.
Child care and small cohort programs are still permitted to operate in all tiers, and any educational institution already providing in-person before the state order took effect may also continue doing so.
PUSD “can, however, continue to expand our small cohorts, and we hope to do so in January,” at which point Haglund said the board will revisit the topic of reopening.
“With regards to the elementary schools, we want to continue planning to begin hybrid learning after the shelter-in-place expires and 14 days after entering the red tier. We do not anticipate that will happen over Christmas break,” Haglund added.
School principals have been advised by a risk mitigation team on health and safety and social distancing protocols in preparation for reopening. The district’s school reopening task force has also weighed in while staff finalizes site specific logistics for cleaning, eating and food service, as well as fully remote and hybrid teaching assignments.
PUSD is also finalizing assigned student cohorts that will receive on-site instruction on specific designated days of the week. Families who wish to continue remote learning will still have the option.
When students return will be affected by several factors, including COVID-19 data trends (PUSD said the “Thanksgiving spike is just now materializing”), the county’s tier status and the state shelter orders that will remain in place until after winter break, the availability of substitute teachers, the state of labor union negotiations, and the availability of testing and vaccinations.
