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With cases of COVID-19 recently slowing in Alameda County, a group of health workers with children enrolled in Pleasanton Unified School District urged the Board of Trustees on Monday to reopen local schools as soon as possible, ahead of a related presentation at the board’s regular online meeting on Thursday night, starting 7 p.m.
In a Feb. 8 signed letter, several dozen PUSD parents working in various parts of the healthcare field asked the Board “that you make every effort to open our public schools to full-time in-person education as soon as the public health officer permits.”
“We implore you to make every effort to reopen schools now, with the clear goal of having kids TK – 12 back before the end of the school year,” the group wrote.
The Trustees voted at their Jan. 28 meeting to begin gradually returning students to school in a hybrid model — starting with pre-K through grade 2, then continuing through secondary school — once the county has been in the red tier of the state monitoring system for two weeks. Families will have the option to remain in remote learning, as required by state law.
As of Feb. 10, the average adjusted case rate was 18.1 per 100,000, according to the Alameda County Public Health Department website.
Early in the pandemic, many “assumed that children would be primary drivers of the virus,” making school closures seem “prudent,” the group said. “This assumption was later disproved, and it is now clear that, with the appropriate safety measures in place, schools can in fact safely provide in-person instruction.”
“Many schools across the nation and the state have been open for months and we have the opportunity to learn from their experience,” they added.
Since December, PUSD parents and students have held two reopening rallies, and continue advocating for a return to the board’s prior reopening plan. The group urged the board this week “to reconsider the timing for school reopening to align with (the) county’s guidance,” which largely informed their original plan.
That plan called for grades K-5 to return while the county is still in the purple tier, after the case rate is below 25 per 100,000 for five days, and grades 7 to 12 to return after the county is in the red tier for five days.
The group “by no means underestimate the risk that children and teachers may face from leaving their homes,” but said “for the vast majority of students, the benefits of in-person school greatly outweigh the risks.”
“The learning losses, the negative mental health sequelae, the increasing inequity, and the social breakdown our children are living through are no longer a questionable future prospect; they are a stark current reality,” they said.
As required by the county and state health departments, PUSD is also submitting several COVID-19 safety and protection plans for approval so they can reopen.
In other business
* The trustees will review the district’s annual student enrollment report on Tuesday, which notes a decline of 414 students districtwide from last year.
According to the report, 14,442 students are enrolled for the 2020-21 school year, compared to 14,856 the previous year. Overall, there are 299 fewer students than in 2015.
Census Day enrollment by level in October showed the biggest decreases at the elementary level, with 239 fewer students than last year. Middle school enrollment dropped by 129 students since last year, while there were also 46 fewer high school students this year — however, a five-year comparison shows high school enrollment jumped by 240 since 2015.
Enrollment by race and ethnicity found the largest populations of PUSD students are Asian (47.54%), white (32.93%), and Hispanic (9.98%), followed by students of two or more races (5.44%), Filipino (1.81%), and African American (1.41%).
Students identified as American Indian, Alaska Native or Pacific Islander each comprised less than 1% of the total, and another approximately half-percent declined to state their race or ethnicity.
* High school seniors experiencing academic hardships during the pandemic may get a reprieve, should the Board approve temporary revisions to the district’s community service requirement for graduation on Tuesday’s consent agenda.
Staff is seeking “approval of the temporary revision of the community service graduation requirement for high school seniors who were unable to complete their service hours in spring 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.”
The revision would allow students in the 12th grade this spring to “fulfill their service requirement by either completing their service hours in progress or by passing their 12th grade civics course.”
Seniors normally complete 20 hours of community service “through successful completion of course work in their civics course, or through approved alternative methods.” However, not all students have had the same access and opportunity to complete community service during remote learning,” staff said.
“As a result, the district desires to provide students in grade 12 with an alternative opportunity to meet the community service graduation requirement,” staff added.
Another related item would also grant PE waivers for high school seniors “who were unable to complete their final athletic or marching band season needed to earn a PE waiver in winter 2020 and spring 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.”
Oh rett, where to begin with your comments….
First, not all teachers will take the vaccines. And to add their families?? The other “Essential” workers haven’t been allowed that privilege, heck they even went to work without such protections. (and you know kids don’t get vaccines right?) It makes sense to open the schools not out of expediency, but out of necessity. Our kids are suffering in numerous ways, and if you read the data, not the data put out months ago, but the current guidelines, none of it supports your claims to increased infection rates. It’s science, remember? In-person schooling is either safe, or it’s not, there’s no in between. And thousands of schools are open, just not here in some select counties unless you submitted your application in time, in which it is then ok to be open, like the private schools have been. If this argument seems dumb, it’s because it is, just like the reasoning kids can’t play organized sports. And to say residents haven’t supported teachers is just plain incorrect. But my future voting status will certainly be paying close attention to how this school year plays out.
well, from the board meeting last night, there’s 46 teachers that don’t want to come back and almost every other profession, even healthcare, has people that don’t get the shot even when offered. There are too many other essential services to list if you needed more concrete examples, all working in various conditions without the accomodations the teachers have been provided for safety measures. No, the windows aren’t sealed shut or painted shut…the classrooms have been undergoing many safety renovations per the safe schools guidelines. And if the surveys are correct, roughly half the 20-24 kids would be in class, so your area calculations are flawed. Speculation and BS are rooted in the facts, CDC guidelines and safety measures I have heard from the school board meetings. Nothing cavalier, I believe in taking precautions, masks, etc. But I also see mental health problems were on the rise prior to the pandemic, and are even worse now. How many more anecdotal stories about children suffering do you need to hear? The only people advocating to delay the return to school last night were our very own PUSD teachers (2-3 of them, and I didn’t buy their argument either). And I haven’t put anyone’s health on the line, sorry I hurt your feelings. Show me that scientific literature you are talking about that contradicts what the CDC issued regarding opening schools TODAY.
OMG, one of the commenters is channeling Gavin Newsom- and we know how that worked out. Let’s apply the same ‘thoughtful’ and ‘following the science’ (whoever that is) and let the cops stay and home, because they have close contact all day long, many times in closed small areas without ventilation. Let’s not look at the Republican states that have opened the classrooms, but then this is a ‘smart’ virus and it knows it’s boundaries.
Do the schools close when there is a bad flu going around? No, and we have had enough of those to reflect on. Put three masks on everybody, I guess as flip flop Fauci demands, and add a skull cap with horns for extra protection. At this point I would suggest parents to home school, join a private school, band together with reasonable like minded parents and hire teachers for pod instruction. Education is changing before our eyes as to the way it will be delivered. Heck, instead of screaming ‘defund the police,’ how about defunding education. There’s a start.
Remember, the Teachers Unions are in control now, and you didn’t vote for them.
First the “science said “Masks aren’t necessary for anyone but frontline healthcare workers”.
Then the science said that “everyone needs to wear masks”.
Now the science says “everyone might need to wear TWO masks”.
Don’t you get the feeling that the so-called “expert scientists” really don’t know what the hell they are talking about?
Anyone want to explain Florida?
Sincerely.
Dan
@DKHSK
I’ll take that question Dan for a million dollars: Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Common sense, bright, fearless, and a great leader. Do we have anybody in California that is of his caliber?
Kathleen,
“this is a NEW virus, and it is mutating.”
My question SPECIFICALLY was, “explain Florida”.
And its a “manufactured” virus from China. This is unquestionably true.
My over-arching point is there is no science that is solid. The infectious rate is very low at .025%!
They (the “experts” and politicians) don’t know and now its turned political and will stay that way to keep people scared. That a significant part of the population is complying is the scariest part of this whole mess.
So no thanks.
Vaccinate teachers and their families living in their household before forcing them back to classrooms. Some teachers and some of their family members have pre-existing conditions that they have been avoiding social and employment activities in order to protect themselves, their families and their students. It makes no sense to have complied with shelter in place orders for a year in order to avoid contracting and spreading the virus only to open the schools now for expediency purposes. In the face of evidence that when cities and counties open up, the contraction and hospitalization rates go up. In the past 10 years Pleasanton has not shown support for teachers or education by rejecting bond or tax measures placed on the ballot. Now, all of a sudden, individuals in Pleasanton want to put lives and health of others at risk (including long term effects caused by exposure). Wait and vaccinate.
Rett, I agree with you. Going to the classroom for back-to-school night it’s really unclear to me how the schools can set up a model where the kids all return to school full-time with the ability to socially distance to a reasonable extent. I would note that other essential businesses such as grocery stores and restaurants have worked hard to limit the number of customers in a store at one time and keep customers separated. Looking at the current CDC guidelines at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html, and recognizing that Alameda County is still in the purple tier, continuing online school seems quite reasonable from a risk perspective.
A paper by CDC scientists also stated that they recommend that if schools re-open with primarily in-person instruction they should have improved ventilation, “de-densification” of classrooms and common areas, hybrid models when necessary, and improved COVID-19 screening measures. They also stated that contact sports increase risk and that a community re-opening schools should commit to implementing other policies in the community that reduce the risk of transmission when COVID-19 incidence is high. I think it would be valuable for our community to discuss how we move forward with some of these recommendations, which are costly, take time and resources, and may require other sacrifices in other sectors.
Oh Paine: you are full of speculation and bs. Name any teacher that has indicated that he or she is unwilling to take a vaccine in order to return to school. Your ridiculous presumption is idiotic at best and not relevant to the conversation. There is no need for every teacher to be vaccinated, only the ones who want to return to the classrooms safely. You have not identified the other “essential workers” to whom you are referring by trade. If you are speaking of grocery store clerks, delivery persons, government employees, then you are not following the expert opinions regarding safe accommodations. Unlike delivery personnel and grocery clerks, the rooms teachers perform their work in are small, confined spaces with upwards of 20-24 other humans occupying that small area. Requisite distancing measures of 6 feet are not viable (please return back to 3rd grade to learn how to calculate area). Further, there is not proper ventilation (windows painted shut or sealed shut) and the occupants of the room remain in the same confined space for as much as an hour to two hours at a time. Also, given that the weather is still cold and windy, leaving doors open is not a recommended option. I know its not your life or your family’s life at stake and you can be as obtuse and cavalier as you wish, but if teachers become ill (or their families to whom they spread the virus become ill) then you will not have teachers teaching at all. Instead you will have substitutes that are not typically prepared to take on a full curriculum for a classroom for an entire half a year. You really aren’t as clever and smart as you think you are and you need to be a little more thoughtful next time you are putting other people’s health on the line when it is not necessarily your own. You strike me as exactly the selfish type who doesnt vote for taxes to improve schools anyway. Actually read the scientific literature for once and turn off your Fox News.
Just fire them all. Faster to start over. Ridiculous.
Not willing to work with the community within all expert and cdc guidelines. Fine.. goodbye
As I said on another story/thread…Catholic schools are open and private schools are open (Newsom’s kids). If union teachers are the problem, then eliminate the union teachers. If these private schools have no problems then what is wrong with the public schools. I grew up during the polio pandemic that attacked young kids and they NEVER CLOSED THE SCHOOLS.
Dan, this is a NEW virus, and it is mutating. Science can tell us what they know WHEN they know. So they say two masks. I am likely to wear two when I shop, but otherwise, I use one (outdoor dining) or none (outside walking our dog).
So science says, wear two masks, you’ll wear two masks. Science says, open schools……well hold on a min….
Do you see the problem?
I think schools should be open, PP. I also believe they should be open to all who are willing to send their kids to school. The staff is letting the school board down. I already said I have grandchildren who have been in school since January 3.
@PP,
100% agree. We should be following the science and opening schools.
wear a mask wash your hands socially distance
If you want to wear a mask, wear one. If you do not want to wear a mask then do not. Just remember, it is like no shoes, no shirt, no service. If you do not wear a mask you are not allowed in places that require one. If you see someone without a mask just avoid them Life is full of choices. Make your choice and live with the consequences.