Classrooms to Open Soon … Hopefully

Parents gathered outside Lincoln Elementary School on Tuesday morning to voice their frustration at not having in-person class for most of the students.

The journey back to the GUSD classrooms is not as easy as just opening a door.

By Mary O’KEEFE

“It’s having an effect on our kids,” said Braden Barty, the parent of a child in the Glendale Unified School District.

He, along with other parents, was protesting on Tuesday morning outside Lincoln Elementary School that the majority of students are still learning remotely. He pointed out that several organizations have stated it would be safe to return kids to in-person learning, as long as safety protocols were followed.

The CDC has released guidelines for schools to reopen but does not state that all schools should reopen, instead leaving that decision to each school district.

Barty and a growing number of parents feel that it is now time to bring students back onto school campuses.

“Opening schools generally does not significantly increase community transmission, particularly when guidance outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is followed,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Barty said other areas have opened for in-person teaching and the District and teachers should look into those.

“It’s safe if you follow the rules,” he said.

His frustration was not with the District as much as it was with teachers.

“I know some teachers want to go back but they are scared to say anything because of the [Glendale Teachers Association] union,” he said.

He added he understands the fear teachers may have but is very concerned about the statistics that are being released on how virtual learning is affecting students.

In a recent study by the CDC released in November 2020, it found that emergency department visits relating to children’s mental health increased significantly from January to March 2020 when compared to the same time period in 2019.

Barty said he was happy to hear that the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health (Public Health) announced the County has met the threshold to reopen schools for grades TK to six. Barbara Ferrer Ph.D., director of Public Health, on Tuesday laid out the requirements for schools to return to in-person teaching but also said it would be up to the districts to make that call. Each district has to complete and submit an application to reopen that includes a safety plan, which needs to be approved by Public Health.

The subject was covered in great detail at Tuesday’s GUSD board meeting when Superintendent Vivian Ekchian explained what the District has done to prepare for this moment when in-person learning would be allowed and how the District is moving forward. Ekchian said it was very important to recognize that the District works with information from the CDC, LA County, local, state and federal governments. She added she heard when the general public heard of the news that elementary schools had met the criteria for reopening. That information was part of a PowerPoint presentation to the board.

The plan to reopen the schools is a hybrid schedule, i.e. a block schedule that divides students into two groups with one group attending school on specific days and the other group attending on alternate days. A block schedule was the clear choice of parents, according to a District survey.

The Power Point presentation included the “Next Steps for Reopening Schools,” which had information on returning TK to sixth grade students to school as quickly as possible, expanding on-campus services to include secondary clubs and advisory events, scheduling orientations and welcome events, like school tours, and working with the City of Glendale and LA County partners to offer more outdoor activities on campus.

Ekchian reiterated that students who do not wish to return to in-person classes could continue with virtual learning.

She said schools have been preparing for reopening. They have had 17 visits from Public Health and each time they have met all criteria. New guidelines are continuing to be reviewed. Students will need to be six feet apart and maskwearing is a requirement. In some cases partitions may be used to separate students.

The District will be sending out an important form for parents to complete asking them if their child will be attending in-person classes or continue with virtual instruction. This information will be used in determining classroom size and schedules.

“The survey [form] is not just your opinion but a [commitment],” she added.

Although, according to data, testing for COVID-19 does not prevent the spread of the virus it does add a significant comfort level for both staff and parents. GUSD will continue its testing of staff.

The big question is what will the teachers union ask for in order for teachers to return to in-person instruction.

“I am eager to work with [the Glendale Teachers Union] to come up with a plan that will allow us to bring our TK through grade six students back as soon as possible,” Ekchian said.

She sent a letter to the GTA asking for a meeting to discuss the return; however, don’t expect that return to be before March 12, the beginning of spring break.

“I made a commitment to our teachers that until March 12 we would continue their experience of working from home or voluntarily coming to school to teach from the classroom. I maintain that commitment,” she said. “We cannot do this work without our educators.”

She invited parents and caregivers who are concerned about reopening to email their questions to her at vekchian@gusd.net and she will respond.

The return to elementary school is in response to a significant threshold being reached by LA County – a case rate of under 25 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people for five consecutive days.

“Los Angeles County’s adjusted case rate is now 20 cases per 100,000 people and our seven-day average daily test positivity rate is 7.2%. The average daily cases, adjusted case rate, and positivity rate are steadily declining after peaking in January,” according to Public Health.

The return of secondary (middle and high school) students to in-person classrooms is determined by what color tier the County is in. At present the County is still in the purple tier; it needs to be in the red tier before secondary students can return to the campus.

Below is a statement from the GTA on the possibility of returning to school.

“The Glendale Teachers Association acknowledges the importance of returning students to classrooms, but doing so now – without adequate teacher training,  transparent information being shared with families about how different in-person instruction will look vs. pre-pandemic classroom instruction, and without the collaboration with its teachers in the process – will create instability and uncertainty without providing the benefits that could be achieved through thoughtful collaboration between the GUSD and its educators. 

“We know from other school districts where hybrid instruction has recently begun or has been continuing since the fall, that a number of elements must be in place prior to a successful transition to hybrid learning. In GUSD none of these elements has yet occurred. 

Prior to opening up classrooms, school officials must:

  1. Communicate with all community members about their reopening plans, and invite meaningful collaboration from educators as they develop these plans.
  2. Candidly explain to families how hybrid learning is not the same as pre-pandemic instruction. Hybrid instruction may get their children back on campus at least part time, but the instruction will look very different from what children have been used to in schools pre-pandemic.
  3. Communicate to the public that students in hybrid instruction may need to return to remote learning from time to time due to COVID-19 exposure. In fact, since the beginning of the school year, more than 25 percent of people reporting to [a] GUSD campus have been quarantined at some point.
  4. Work in collaboration with educators to make careful decisions about instructional schedules and instructional tools that foster equitable and high-quality education for in-person and remote students who will be engaged in learning at the same time.
  5. Ensure all educators receive meaningful professional development in hybrid learning strategies and have the time necessary to transition between remote instruction and in-person instruction, while addressing social emotional needs that are exacerbated during this time. 
  6. Consistently enforce all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of masks and the use of social distancing while on campuses. Educators must have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated before returning to in-person activities. At this time, educators are not yet eligible for their first dose.  
  7. Make accommodations for specialty programs such as FLAG, CTE, and the Fine Arts to ensure that no student will lose the opportunity to safely continue in an academic program during the pandemic.  
  8. Collaborate with GTA to sign a contract which spells out in writing the health and safety protocols as well as the expectations for hybrid instruction.

“Please sign up for our community newsletter, Ask a Glendale Teacher, and subscribe to the GTA YouTube channel to find out more information about the GTA perspective on reopening of schools. 

“GTA Educators want nothing more than to return to the classroom as normal. Hybrid instruction is not normal. GTA is eager to work collaboratively with the District to establish the best plan for the next phase towards reopening campuses safely.”