By Mary O’KEEFE
Glendale Unified School District elementary schools have already reopened its doors for in-person learning and now it is the secondary schools’ turn. On April 26 middle and high school students can return to in-person class for hybrid instruction.
There have already been small pods of students that have been attending in-person school for a couple of months but the reopening will allow schools to accommodate more students on campus and offer a hybrid type of schedule.
CVW has followed the return to school safety measures that have been installed by the District, including touring schools and seeing firsthand the protocols that are now in place. In the article, “The Force Behind Schools Safely Reopening” [April 8] CVW highlighted the safety measures made to schools, which included hand-washing stations and new air filters.
“Glendale Unified implements the same health and safety measures across all school and district facilities. Our health and safety measures meet, and often exceed, guidelines implemented by state and local departments of Public Health and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” said Superintendent Vivian Ekchian.
As with the return of elementary school students, secondary grade students have the choice of in-person learning or continuing with distant learning. In a survey given by GUSD to school families regarding the return to campus by middle school students, 26% of students at Roosevelt planned on returning, 37% of Rosemont students stated they would return, Toll stated that 21% of its students would return and Wilson expects 27% of its students to return to in-person learning.
For high school students, the survey indicated that 16% of students would be returning to in-person learning at Clark Magnet, 29% would return at Crescenta Valley, 16% at Daily, Glendale reported 26% would return and Hoover stated only 9% would return to in-person learning.
Those who chose not to return to on-campus learning would continue remote, or distance, learning.
Sports teams and clubs have already returned to school meetings following LA County Dept. of Public Health guidelines.
“A distance learning option will continue to be available for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. The district will work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop plans for the 2021-22 school year that best meet the needs of our community,” said Ekchian.
The guidelines of how and when students can return to in-person learning come from the Dept. of Public Health and follow the state tier system. Although schools are reopening and some events are planned, this year’s prom and graduation ceremony will still be affected by pandemic restrictions.
“Los Angeles County recently moved to the Orange Tier for COVID-19 transmission, allowing the County to expand permitted activities including outdoor live events. With this new change, high schools will have the opportunity to host live, in-person graduation ceremonies. Our high school administrators are gathering input from students and families to organize graduation events based on current Public Health guidelines,” Ekchian said. “Traditional proms are not allowed under current Public Health guidelines. However, high schools may organize spring events as long as they align within current Public Health guidelines.”