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On the heels of a historic year, the second annual Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation’s State of the District was undeniably different from last year’s pre-pandemic inaugural event, but the community’s show of support was as strong as ever last month.
The year 2020 was one “of challenges, of conflict, and of change,” said Superintendent David Haglund during the Jan. 27 event, which was livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube. “Yet, I have never believed more in the shared mission and vision statements that guide our collective work.”
“We were called on to look inward and focus our energies while, at the same time, reaching outside of ourselves and our personal comfort zones,” Haglund added.
PPIE Executive Director Steve McCoy-Thompson introduced the hour-long virtual event, which celebrated Pleasanton teachers and education staff and contrasted greatly with last year’s in-person event held at the DoubleTree Hotel on Johnson Drive shortly before shelter-in-place orders took effect in Alameda County and the rest of the Bay Area.
About a month later, the Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees closed all 15 sites and sent students home for remote instruction for the rest of the school year, giving the district and PPIE a sudden new focus on assisting staff and students while in distance learning.
“While no one’s fault and certainly outside of our ability to control, the responsibility for responding was thrust upon us,” Haglund said during his address. “It necessitated new thinking, new strategies and forging new relationships.”
Like other communities attempting to stop COVID-19 transmission, Haglund said “the closure of our schools presented significant challenges to the Pleasanton community.”
“We locked arms together and did what was required. In many ways, we became the best versions of ourselves. We found the ‘us’ in ‘PUSD’,” he added.
The district’s various efforts to continue operating during the pandemic were shared in a highlights reel during the event, including ongoing meal service for students, tech support for teachers, and progress updates on construction projects at Lydiksen, Harvest Park, Foothill and Amador.
Last year PPIE raised $725,000 from local businesses and residents, enabling the district to hire “a broad range of positions that make a real difference for our students,” McCoy-Thompson said, including interventional specialists, library support staff and high school support counselors. Funding also went to support the development of wellness centers at both Amador and Foothill high schools, as well as mock interview, business, and robotics programs.
Since then, the organization has also used funding for hiring librarian assistants and technology specialists to keep libraries open all day to support students, and create a new wellness counselor position “to develop a comprehensive district-wide program to address rising stress and anxiety in our schools.”
Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown gave remarks on the city and district’s collaborative relationship during the event, and said their close cooperation together “has been critical to serving our shared community.”
“It is a partnership and we have been able to accomplish much but we continue to foster development and growth in support of our school district,” Brown said.
Adding that Pleasanton schools “succeed because of the combined efforts of both the school district and the city, the parents and the students,” Brown said much has been accomplished “but there is still much ahead.”
“I look forward to the continued partnership and collaboration that we will work together and make Pleasanton schools even greater than they are already,” she added.
The annual event also featured the 2020 Pillars of Pleasanton Awards, which recognizes businesses in the community that support Pleasanton schools through sponsorship, fundraising, in-kind support, and more. Winners this year include Richert Lumber, Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare, State Farm Insurance (Agent Larry Damaser), Porky’s Pizza and Towne Center Books.
A recording of the event can be viewed online here.
