AnonymousBy Brandon Priest
Hello to the 70 – 80% of Goleta Union School District (GUSD) families that want in-person classes to open.
GUSD continues to fail our children both educationally and socially. They have continued to ignore the CDC’s recommendation to open schools. I encourage you to PLEASE read: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/reopening-schools.html .
GUSD didn’t even bother to apply for a waiver while 30 other schools in our district jumped on the chance. Why not at least try? This signifies pure negligence from our administrators.
GUSD’s “robust” distant learning program is abysmal at best. Less than 2 hours of instructions by a teacher and the rest of the day is scheduled for “independent studies”. Good luck getting our younger children to work independently.
My child’s teacher told her entire Zoom class that “GUSD has no intentions of opening until January at the earliest.” Regardless of what the CDC recommends or what science is telling us? We just moved into the RED Tier which allows schools to open in 14 days under some modified conditions. Our administrators said they have been working on in-person modifications since March. Are they going to open Oct 13th? According to one teacher, NO WAY.
My child is a good student, above average on every assessment test since kindergarten, actively participates in class, received achievement awards every year and never missed a day of school or been late. Now, according to her schools “assessment data”, under their “ROBUST” online teaching program she has fallen below the 28th percentile in math and 16th percentile for reading. I will gladly take some responsibility for this drop as I try to work full time from home and teach during “independent work” time. But, as I’m not a teacher and I am working, I can only do so much of THEIR job.
In the meantime, they rearranged her daily schedule (ZOOM class time), without any notice and without consulting me first, to accommodate their time slotted groupings for underachieving students. smh! Just because I work remotely doesn’t mean I can change my schedule on the drop of a dime.
GUSD refuses to listen to their student families so our voices need to be louder. Make a difference and be collectively heard by boycotting Zoom for one day on Monday 10/5. Spend the day with your kids teaching or doing fun activities or going outside getting some fresh air and exercise.
Thank you for your time.
P.S. One of the reasons I like EdHat is that it allows comments/public discussion. Please voice your thoughts. I’m sure there is a lot more to add to this OP-ED.
Do you have an opinion on something local? Share it with us at ed@edhat.com. The views and opinions expressed in Op-Ed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of edhat.
We are one month away from an election. If you want schools to open anytime soon, voting is going to be the most effective way to make that happen. If we elect the right people at the federal, state, and local levels, we could end all the restrictions and get back to normal life at the beginning of next year. If the voters choose to keep schools closed in November, then you might consider homeschooling or a private school. If you can’t afford those options, I would look at moving to a state that still provides free in person public education.
CHIP – you’re out of touch on this one. Gavin Newsom (via his State requirements) is saying ALL schools can go back to in-person learning in 13 days from today. It’s the school districts that are refusing to do so. This is not a federal or state issue at this point.
Two months ago administration staff sent an email to our portal page asking our (parents) opinions, childs emotional and pros/cons to zoom. I think they said most parents preferred the school didn’t reopen.
If you are unhappy with the school. Home school.
Sacjon, the governor is also allowing schools to remain closed. Local elections are important, but the state and federal government also have the power to order the schools to open and/or cut off their funding if they don’t open. If the local officials won’t open the schools, force them to or cut off their funding at the state and federal level.
CHIP – “ordering” the schools to open won’t work. Teachers are refusing these orders all over the country. Stop blaming Newsom for this, blame the union and school district.
Brandon, I feel your frustration. I have kids in both school districts. The fact that both districts didn’t even want to apply for a waiver is a joke. Now that we are in in this red tier, schools can open by October 13th without a waiver, but I don’t see GUSD or SB making an effort to hit that mark. They have both said they going to wait til we get to the orange tier which means more of the pathetic 2hrs of remote learning. Maybe a boycott is what we need to get these administrators moving faster!
You all do have school board elections, as well as the overall county school board elections. Never a better time to hold the currently elected school decision makers accountable. Vote as if this matters. All school districts take ultimate direction from the the elected school boards, even the district superintendents. They are not just rubber stamps. They are the ones to put all these issues on the table for open debate and carving paths forward. Why else even have school boards? You have a good range of candidates to choose from, and a clear track record of what the current incumbents have offered you. Take a look at what the challengers and listen to why they stepped up at this critical time for our local schools. Continued K-12 failure is no longer an option.
People seem to keep forgetting that although children are seemingly not as badly affected by covid-19, that they are still carriers and transmitters of the virus, so those who use that argument seem to be forgetting about the health, safety and wellness of the broader community of teachers, custodians, school staff, parents, grandparents and other household members. Furthermore, there are many articles indicating that cases are rising as a result of reopening schools too soon: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/covid-19-cases-rising-us-children-schools-reopen-73318887
Seeing that the CDC is under Trump’s perview (and considering his track record of truth telling), I am not trusting of the guidance coming from that office.
Personally, I won’t feel comfortable sending my child back to school until we are in the yellow zone with frequent testing and vaccines available for all.
WEBGUYS – that’s 100% fine if you’re not comfortable. You have the choice to do full online learning (at least at GUSD we have that) or home school. Point is, some of us are OK with the hybrid model the districts have been touting all summer but are failing to implement. I want to know, what changed? We were all ready for the hybrid model, then Newsom said no school in the fall. Fine, but now he’s saying in 13 days we CAN go back. So…. where’s that hybrid model? What happened that they’re no longer pursuing what they spent all summer preparing for?
WEBGUYS – also….. you ought to read the article you shared.
“The CDC report did not indicate where or how the children became infected….experts also say many school-age children who are getting sick may not be getting infected in classrooms.”
“Just as cases in college students have been linked to partying and bars, school children may be contracting the virus at playdates, sleepovers, sports and other activities where precautions aren’t being taken, said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health specialist at George Washington University.”
So, when you say there’s evidence of an increase CAUSED by schools “reopening too soon,” you’re not really correct at all.
Brandon proves that Karen is a non-gender typology.
ha, ha. OP here. Thank you a-160151413. I Love this.
SACJON – Thank you for your continued feedback on this subject. good question. 2nd grader so maybe there are some differences but my child had a online 15-20 minute star 360 assessment and a 5 minute, read two paragraphs to the teacher, assessment. “xtra-math” daily assessments for half of the school year but it was changed to freckle…(?)
SBLIFE – I respect your opinion but “leveraging you kid’s education”? 1 hour and 30 minutes of ZOOM classes total per day doesn’t really qualify as education. Some education, yes. Adequate, no. Protesting one day? I think my child can get through it.
let me give you an example; yesterday afternoon Zoom class consisted of a “student teacher” surveying students on what their “favorite songs” and “favorite moivies” are. 20 minutes of a 30 min class.. Education value?
Agreed on calling school board and representatives. Trust me, I’m emailing everyone.
No one else cares? ok. I hope you are wrong.
We just made the choice to pull our children out of public school and put them in private. Seeing the joy it brought to them made it the best money we ever spent.
420722 – Thank you! Finally… ha. Please, SBUSD families, join us (maybe just me) in this boycott. I thought 1 day would be easier to swallow. I’ll keep pushing.
I know many teachers too, and have listened to many public comments at board meetings, and yes, they all want to be back in class with their kids, but none want to return until it is safe to do so. And we aren’t there quite yet.
Brandon – I’m with you in the frustration, believe me! But, the decision to not apply for waivers was more from a logistical and financial position, given the testing requirements and costs. So, for the waivers, I’m OK with them not having applied. HOWEVER, if the State’s extremely rigorous evaluation process has allowed us to re-open schools and GUSD refuses to even consider implementing the hybrid model they boasted about all summer, then I have a problem with that. My kid is still excelling during this remote learning, but it’s not enough. I worry about other kids who do not have the same support at home or who have attention problems and are unable to benefit from the 2+ hours of direct learning on zoom. This is not sustainable and, if the State is allowing us, we need to go back to school next month.
Question though – what assessments have your done at your school? My son is in 5th Grade and we’ve done no assessments at all yet. I’d be interested to know what else we’re missing out on!
This strikes me as a very strange and pointless response. Why are you leveraging your kid’s education, even for a day, to “make a point” that won’t be noticed or acknowledged? Your time is better spent writing letters or calling your school board and other representatives. Keep your kid out of it. I get that it seems like a big deal to YOU to “protest” school for one day, but no one else but you cares that much about whether your kid is in school. Harsh but true.
NJ has opened schools and while there have been 11 outbreaks, all were under control quickly and mitigation measures in place to prevent spread, etc. That’s a good result. Newsflash – there are going to be outbreaks. The important thing is, how severe, if they are caught quickly, if they are asymptomatic cases and how many get sick and how severely. Masks keep the inoculum numbers down – the amount of virus particles you inhale – which goes a long way to preventing a serious case, as the less you inhale the better your immune system can respond to prevent high replication in your system. Schools can and should reopen, safely.
Brandon – your first claim is negated as Goleta schools do not need to fill out a waiver if the county has been moved to the red, which it was today. Did the board actually state the school wouldn’t be open until January or just the teacher? If it was only the teacher you may want to clarify with school administration. Other than that, tiniest violin, sob story and drivel….
My impression is that GUSD has been relatively transparent about their strategy: the educator’s kids are on site now with aides, then small cohorts of special needs kids will come back, then at-risk students, and (maybe) then they’ll open to all students. I may be pessimistic but I think that most students will be online all year at GUSD as there is no benefit for the district to be proactive. The GUSD appear to respond mostly to arguments around mitigation of liability and/or the threat of litigation. Not so much to Op-eds. Look for the big decisions to be made by the district in April when the 2021/22 budget is set and layoff notices go out to staff. Good luck making the best choices for you and your children.
Yes, the board states they won’t open till January… at the earliest… and that January is quite optimistic and unlikely.
I won’t repeat much of what I’ve said in other forums here. But, I would expect GUSD and SBUSD to operate together. SBUSD Superintendent Maldonado recently released the plan for SBUSD last week. Her plan is to go to a hybrid model only when the County reaches the “Orange” tier and then full time school when the County is in yellow. For no good reason what so ever, the district has chosen to be more restrictive than the health experts. For anyone tracking the numbers like I do, understand it is highly unlikely SB County will ever reach yellow. If we’re lucky, we may hit Orange before the end of the year. The list of science based facts that dispute this reasoning is too long for me to even list here (geographic/demographic distribution of cases, limited community spread, hospital capacity, limited health impact to children, masks, cohorts, outdoor learning, social distancing, etc.) It’s unbelievable at the lack of common sense within a supposedly educated and trusted group of leaders. The only logical answer is that it is political.
* TYPO (easy to make mistakes on this stupid 3″ phone screen that I stare at too often of late because of insane GUSD school board actions are sending me to EDHAT constantly)! It should obviously say
“but not public schools”
DUKEMUNSON – During an airborn viral pandemic that spreads asymptomatically in which over a million lives have been lost in 7ish months, YES!!! I absolutely look to my conscience when I leave the house. Every. Single. Time. I’m dismayed to read that you and so many of our community members seem to lack such a conscience! Shame on you for being a part of the problem and contributing to the spread of this virus rather than being a part of the solution and wanting to stop this thing and SAVE LIVES!
So you look to your conscience…and then still go get a coffee, grab groceries, hit the park and then go out on the funk zone? You deeply ponder the world and your role…and then enjoy the fruits and labors of EVERY OTHER INDUSTRY THAN TEACHERS???!!! This thing is here to stay. It’s a bummer. We have to be smart. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. But life goes on. And enjoying anything and everything has to offer, while drawing in the line in the sand about public schools doesn’t speak to your conscience, it’s telegraphs your hypocrisy.
WEBGUYSB – First of all, yes, I am practicing safety and wearing masks everywhere, distancing, washing, etc and even condemning family that don’t do the same. That’s not the point. The point is, we have to live with this. We can’t keep shut down forever. The schools had a plan for hybrid learning. What happened to that? Why can’t they do it now, after they were planning to do it in August before Newsom shut downs schools?
As for the “the scientists, doctors and virologists” you claim to listen to… well, they’ve all told Newsom that it is safe to allow a return to school if we’re stay in this tier for 12 more days. Why do you ignore them when they allow schools to re-open?
Finally, the fact that they’ve allowed all these services and places to re-open indicates that it is SAFE TO DO SO. You can’t live in fear forever. We’ve got kids and adults out there all over town doing modified sports, eating in restaurants, etc etc etc and there have been ZERO massive spikes in our numbers. In fact, our numbers have gone down despite all these things being open, hence the reduction to the red tier. If our numbers are going down, why can’t we do what GUSD planned to do when our numbers were even higher? THAT is what I want to know.
SACJON and DUKE, as you may or may not know, my students are in SBUSD, not Goleta. I am well aware that Goleta schools are smaller, have more money, and hired 21 new teachers. (They also have offered independent study, I assume with some of that money).
I am telling you that not all districts have that kind of money. And I never said “it couldn’t be done”, I have said that I have ACTUAL EXPERIENCE in the trenches (but not in schools), trying to implement changes like this WITHOUT ADDITIONAL STAFF and it’s a frigging nightmare. I ALSO have experience in schools trying to figure out how to use your tiny budget and even tinier PTA additions to figure out how to get test scores up.
NEVERMIND all of the state requirements for testing, cleanliness, etc. WITHOUT ADDITIONAL STAFF.
It’s not just “cleaning the bathrooms more”, when you only have one person on staff. It’s hiring additional staff…for every single school. It’s also keeping a list of who uses the bathroom and when. Making sure there’s only 1 or 2 students there at a time. Recording that, so that if someone later tests positive, you can do contact tracing. OH, but then you end up with a sign up sheet for the bathroom. And… bathroom monitors, I guess? To make sure that there aren’t too many students at a time.
Finally, the ONLY reason I sit with my 3rd grader all day is because I have a small house with four people working/going to school and only 3 rooms. It sucks. I get maybe 50% of the work done. I take conference calls in the car. But I have sat down and worked out, how, exactly, you implement “hybrid learning”, masks, cleaning, and cohorts. IT’S COMPLICATED.
You should go volunteer your time at the school. If every parent volunteers to monitor students 1 day a week, it would be easy peasy.
Baby steps. Small cohorts, work out the kinks, then hybrid, work out more kinks, then back full time.
I am shocked (not really) at all the complainers with these great “BIG IDEAS” who haven’t actually sat down and worked out a detailed plan for how every little thing is going to be addressed. Or haven’t offered to do so at the school level. (The bathroom example above is just ONE example.) There’s also: bussing, lunch, contact tracing. Nevermind high school when students have 4 different classes and cohorts. I haven’t even gone there…
I look forward to hybrid opening as much as everyone else. Sharing an office with an 8 yo sucks. But SBUnified, for one, LITERALLY just started the testing required to do so, a couple of weeks ago.
MM. Everything what you listed is being done by many other schools around the world. No one ever said it’s easy. But it can be done. What I want to see is the district at least try. Lay out the plan and ask the community for help where needed. If my school’s Principle came to the parents and said “we need this, this, and this from the community in order to open”. We would try and rally the resources. If that means me spending a couple hours a week being a bathroom monitor than so be it. The district continues to take the easy way out. Better to try and fail than to not even try at all.
Dukemunson-
A) The virus does not discriminate between public and private schools so they can get sick
B) Students number in Private school is much smaller where public has larger class numbers
C) School population in private is smaller as compared to public
D) Just because private is open it doesn’t mean all kids are going back to school
E) MONEY- private schools have more money to spend for PPE and safety on less people
where has Public school do not have the fund to provide PPE and testing for all kids
G) MONEY, private school parents pay anywhere from 35,000 ( per child) and up for their children to attend school
H)Private school get private funding as well as Government Funding
If you want to complain, talk to the President of the USA or you can vote in a new President who will not create Chaos every day…Remember this isn’t the last pendemic
This was all preventable if the virus had been contained.
Jared Kushner Reportedly Convinced Trump in March That Coronavirus Testing Was a Bad Idea…https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/jared-kushner-reportedly-convinced-trump-161700863.html
A Kennedy who worked on Jared Kushner’s COVID-19 task force said he was asked to distort a coronavirus prediction to make the outbreak seem less bad
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-kennedy-who-worked-on-jared-kushner-s-covid-19-task-force-said-he-was-asked-to-distort-a-coronavirus-prediction-to-make-the-outbreak-seem-less-bad/ar-BB19iwSE?ocid=uxbndlbing
Don’t take it out on the teachers, take it out the current President, he caused this chaos.
MM1970 – I get all that, I do, but GUSD prepped all summer and was ready to go hybrid in the fall. It was already figured out. They hired extra staff. They did survey after survey and we all said “yes” to hybrid. Then, Newsom shut it all down. OK, fine. Now that he’s opening it back up, why can’t we go back to the plan they had ready to go? THAT is my question.
Sun –
You lose all credibility when you say “This was all preventable if the virus had been contained”. Look around SUN…other than a few quite desolated spots, Covid is everywhere. Trump has made a myriad of mistakes, and deserves condemnation, but this sickness was coming no matter who was in charge. We can chastise Trump, Newsome, Murillo and every politician in between…but it was still coming. This was not preventable. Look at Europe right now, flare ups will continue everywhere…for quite some time…this thing isn’t going away. That’s the frustration with the close school crowd. Everything is open because life goes on. Why are we drawing a line in the sand with public schools. And to nitpick your post further (though again I think you completely lost all objectivity and capacity for abstract thought by blaming a singular politician for a pandemic) your first statement is wrong. The virus does discriminate…it discriminates horribly and insidiously. It goes after our old and weak. And we must do a better job of protecting them. We must continue with masks and hand washing. We must stay vigilant and smart. But we cant give up on life till a miracle vaccine arrives…that day may not come for quite some time…if ever. And life does go on…
Unfortunately, you lose all credibility …You need to understand that the virus does not discriminate. Young, healthy people die as well, elder are more susceptible but they are finding the young are becoming as well. Each day cases increase and Science learns more about the virus. Science does not fully understand the virus. Do you know who is asymptomatic or a super spreader?
You lose credibility as you do not understand, finance and health. If a school does not have the resources to provide every child PPE and Testing, how do you propose to protect human health? Must a Teacher die because enough testing and PPE is not available. This has already happened, and continues to happen!!!
You loose all credibility, because you claim to fully understand this VIrus but you don’t!
You insist public schools open, even if they don’t have the money to protect people, the community and the medical community…this is irresponsible. It’s not you who will
comfort the dead, it is not you who will comfort a child when they accidently spread it to the family, it’s the community who will suffer.
So don’t pretend to know how this Virus and how it works because you don’t!!! And yes, Containment prevents spread! And Yes, the current president has done a horrible job
with this virus, he holds the worst Death rate record of the entire Globe with 20% of the worlds death from covid-19 https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html If teachers feel they do not have enought PPE and Testing to open the schools, it’s not up to you to tell them otherwise. You are not a member of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, you are no Dr. Fauci, you are a frustrated parent who wants their child in school no matter what the cost or harm it does. Pandemics are Not Fair, so you should
not expect life as it was, you Need to be “patient” and follow the Science. And right now,
Science demonstrates going to school is not in the best interest as it is mainly spread in doors where school is held.!!! Good luck,!
I don’t support protests of this nature. It seems like there are more constructive ways someone could communicate sentiments with our elected officials and the school district.
Also, a lot of comments on here are highly critical of our GUSD and SBUSD workers. I’m sure the last six months has not been a pleasant time to be a GUSD or SBUSD employee. As I have often said “It is much easier to be on the sideline than the Quidditch pitch!”
Any recommendations on “e more constructive ways someone could communicate sentiments with our elected officials and the school district”?
Sun – I never said I understand everything about this disease…I obviously don’t, no one does. Dr. Fauci has recommended kids get back to school, as have health experts around the world when the situation is safe to do so. We are at a point (and really at a point when you remove Santa Maria) to safely do so. Do you leave your house? If so, have you not noticed all the people that are out and about? Everything is open. Realize that the GUSD said they can open. It’s not a financial issue. They have the money, resources and ability. They have confirmed this. They have flat out said it would be disruptive to the teachers and administrators. This isn’t a health issue at this point…the health officials are saying we can open!! Every day the case load goes down in Santa Barbara county…in fact way down. The community is open…as everything else is. That’s the crazy thing! Unless you think everything should immedietely close and we go full China on our lockdown and people aren’t allowed to leave their houses, how can you justify everything being open, including over 30 schools in SB…just not the public ones. Taking it a step further…do you realize that THE TEACHERS KIDS ARE IN SCHOOL RIGHT NOW! This isn’t a health question…it’s really not. Unless we decide to close everything, what is the possible rationale to let everything open except schools? Please Sun, follow the science, I think it will lead you the opposite direction.
I see your movie reference and I counter with probably the best R rated puppet movie about the war on terror to come out of the early 2000’s…
The Teachers union is basically replicating the scene from Team America World Police and demanding that nothing bad ever happen to anyone ever again before anything could ever happen again. (Or at least from a personal/professional level…I’ve seen many teachers out and about in Santa Barbara living life and enjoying all the other “essential workers” labors…and that’s great!).
A safe hybrid open has to happen, because if it doesn’t…when are we ever possibly going back to school again? If we don’t at least try RIGHT NOW (and by trying right now that would realistically mean January) then when…make it a full year and start back in March 2021? June 2021? August 2021?
Brandon, heads up that your post is being read by a lot of GUSD administrators and staff. Well done and good luck.
Hopefully, it is also being read by SBUSD admins, including the Trustees Board, with three incumbents in their first race, looking for votes of confidence from the voters.
Brandon, we need more people like you.
MCINSB, you very eloquently described the long list of requirements and details that most complainers on this page miss. They just want schools to “solve it” without caring, or wondering, how much time and money it will cost. The devil is in the details. The districts are working on the details. “Oh at our preschool…” One entrance and 90 kids? Try one entrance and 400, 500, 600 kids in elementary schools. Not. The. Same. Requirements for cleaning, testing, contract tracing, bathroom use…
This all requires more STAFFING. We don’t have that. There isn’t money for that. It all comes down to money. SB Unified is going through baby steps and it’s fine. You want faster, volunteer your time to monitor cohorts on campus, measure temperatures of kids arriving, etc.
(Gyms more hands on than junior high, have you seen kids in junior high???) Gyms are limited to 10% capacity…
SBUSD is currently rolling out special ed teachers bringing back special ed students to the class room setting. Bat at the same time, SBUSD hiring even more personnel to handle a new layer of non-teaching “learning center” settings, over and above the regular grade teachers who currently are zooming their regular classes. Since SBUSD refuses to fire any later redundant positions, this new layer of hires to monitor these new non-classroom “learning centers” will only add to the already growing deficit SBUSD faces due to its heavily over-staffed free food delivery program. All because public school teachers unions refuse to go back to the classroom nor cooperate about making classrooms safer. SBUSD thinks of itself only as a full employment program, and not an educational institution. Same attitude took down the Detroit school system – raid the treasury and hire the relatives. (View the Dan Rather multi-part documentary investigating Detroit schools – demand this does not happen at SBUSD.)
MM1970 – Re: the staffing you say we don’t have. GUSD hired 21 young teachers over the summer for the specific purpose of helping out with covid-era difficulties. They have the staffing and the money.
Our Goleta school has under 300 kids, and the average class size is 20. Their facilities are exponentially nicer than any pre-school…so you are right, it’s not the same. IT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER TO OPEN A GOLETA ELEMENTARY AT REDUCED HOURS THAN A PRESCHOOL THAT IS OPEN FROM 730AM TO 530PM! And a note about staffing. The goleta School district had 164 teachers last year. They added another 21. Interestingly enough, in addition to that 185 teachers, they have 291 administrators! Let that sink in for a second. They have tons of staffing…a legit question though is what the heck that staffing does every day…
So I get it MM1970…you can sit with your kid for hours of screen time every day…and it’s working for you, awesome! But every business (Including all the schools open) had requirements for “cleaning, testing and bathroom use”…it’s embarrassing that our schools dont think they can handle cleaning the bathrooms a bit more and figuring out how to get 287 kids into a classroom for at least a couple days per week. You don’t have to go 815 to 3pm…stagger and shorten the days/week! Your defeatist attitude is just appalling…
Excellent and well said, if the safety is not in place then covid19 will increase. It is selfish to force schools to open when it is not safe to do so.
It is also not fair on the medical community Who have to expose themselves to this deadly virus. Maybe if you were a ER or a iCU worker you would have a better appreciation for how serious the pandemic is. You are comparing grades to life and death, seriously, how selfish online boycotter. Go work in the hospital and see the death, maybe than you will understand.
DUKE – I agree 100% – we have the staff and we don’t need 5 days a week, full time school. All we want is the hybrid program that GUSD boasted about ALL SUMMER! What happened to that plan? Why can’t we do that now that the State of California is allowing our kids to return to school in 12 days from now? They said that’s what we’re going to do and now we’re not??? How is it all of a sudden not a viable option when it was the go-to plan all summer long? The teachers were “thrown off guard” when Newsom banned in-person school at the end of summer. That means, they were prepared and ready for the hybrid program. OK, so now you can do it…. so DO IT! It is completely defeatist to throw their hands up and say nah, too hard now. I can’t keep repeating this: GUSD do what you had planned to do all summer! Let our kids back for even a few hours a week! THEY NEED THIS!
Sun –
You do realize everything else is open, right? Why have you, along with a few other posters of whom I’m now convinced are Goleta School District Administrators who just dropped their kids off at school, have drawn a line in the sane with public schools. Everything is open! Most people are out and about. Kids are all out and about (except of course the thousands in school in SB right now!). Sports are going…life has, is and continuing to go on. If we take out Santa Maria we drop down another tier. But you want to keep everything open, except schools. It’s insane! To be honest I’m in for a much longer boycott…why not a week? In fact, I’d say getting our kids off the computer for a week would probably be the best thing we could do for them right now… it’snot healthy to sit at a computer at 7 years old (or really any age) for this many hours. I do it because, well bills, but a boycott and log off for a day or week would actually be healthy for the kids.
Dukemunson, you are wrong… I do not work for the GSDA and you are wrong about the pendemic and safety. I am just a reasonable person. School is indoor with poor ventilation for long periods of time, exposing children, teachers and then people and the community to the virus. Instead, maybe go out side and spend some quality time with your children during this difficult time for everyone. Children have the option of online education. Pendemics are not fair, to ANYONE that is why we have to do everything to contain the virus, only then can we get back to school and a normal life.
SACJOHN – You ought to research more, read more and apply more critical thinking.
Here’s more information for you:
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200908/Research-suggests-school-reopenings-contribute-to-rise-in-COVID-19-cases.aspx
You’re right, I am free to have my child in the online only option and he is and I will not remove him from this option until the consensus from the scientists and virologists is that it is completely safe to do so for NOT ONLY THE CHILDREN, but everyone else at the schools and throughout the community.
Seriously… Have you never seen how a common cold can spread through a city like SB and Goleta? Schools and children are vectors for sickness and although you may be comfortable sending your sick kids to school to spread their germs, I am comfortable keeping my child home safe where he can’t be rubbing his snot everywhere (as little boys and girls often do).
Look into your conscience and ask yourself if you’re okay with your child surviving covid, but spreading it throughout the community and inadvertently killing your neighbors. Think of more than just yourself and realize that we are all in this together and the best way to defeat this is to hunker down and remain clean, socially distant and wear masks.
Do you look into your conscience every time you go to the grocery store? Into the hardware store? What about when your kids play with other kids at gymnastics class? Teachers and pretty much seems to feel OK with restaurants and bars being open. We’re about to open Churches, gyms and movie theaters (as per health officials recommendations). Our teachers and administrators, who in your estimation are protecting us by keeping kids, are SENDING THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL!!!! I can see where you want to go with this, and draw a line in the sand and claim this is a health and safety issue, when it’s just not. The teachers kids are in school…because to work they need their kids in school. JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!!! So look into your conscience WEBGUYSB…and when you see everything open that you use, and all private schools and rich kid schools and teachers kids schools open…what does your conscience say about that…?
WEBGUYS – no need to get unhinged, I just pointed out that the article you rely on for your assertion does not really support it. I’m not the one who needs to work on reading. It’s woefully clear you read nothing of my post 😉
Yes, sending kids to school puts them at risk of catching all sorts of things. Nothing new there. As for the covid risk, GUSD had a plan to do a hybrid model, that’s all I want. I don’t think it’s safe for full-time “normal” school, just the hybrid, carefully planned model. We can’t keep the kids home forever! They’re already out playing modified sports (look at the hundreds of kids playing soccer at Girsh everyday), they’re in pre-schools and daycares, they’re in camps, they’re at grocery stores, they’re playing in small groups outdoors at the parks, they’re now allowed INDOORS at restaurants, retail stores, etc etc etc…. and in 13 days they’re allowed to go back to school. Your argument that kids get sick at school is flaccid. We all know that, but sometimes, the risk is worth it, especially when GUSD has put so much time and money into the hybrid model that they found to be safe enough to implement.
And again, enough with the simple “it’s selfish” rag… This is about what’s best for our kids, NOT ME. It’s getting old, try a new one.
So, as a reasonable person you are OK with all private schools being open, Montecito schools being open, teachers kids schools being open (to go along with EVERY OTHER THING IN SANTA BARBARA)…but not private schools? How is that in any capacity reasonable? Kids are all out doing sports, camps and school (well school if you are rich, live in Montecito or have a parent that’s one of the 300 school administrators). The zoo is open. Museums are opening. Movie theaters are opening. Churches are opening. EVERYTHING IS OPEN/OPENING…except public schools. The online school is a joke that long term unhealthy for the kids (parking 7 year olds in front of computer screens all day…perfect!). Give me a reasonable answer…please. Unless you are in favor of closing everything completely, it’s wildy hypocritical.
OK, this is a step in the right direction! But, now how about youth sports too? Why can’t kids be out there playing baseball? The game is based on social distancing for the most part! I see at least 50 kids playing soccer is close proximity groups, most without masks, every time I drive past Girsh (2x a day/4 days a week). Why? Why are the baseball fields being used for soccer, but the baseball players are not allowed to go hit balls? A friend was told to leave a field at Girsh while throwing some balls to his son ON the baseball field at the same time the other baseball field was covered with soccer players. What is the deal with that??
It’s tough enough for kids to deal with no school now (and thanks for doing this boycott!) but to keep them from practicing their sport, while other kids are on their field practicing their sport is just not right. Not talking games or tournaments, just let ALL kids use the sports field!
edhat needs to remove this user, the user name alone is enough to tell me they only have one agenda here on edhat. and they dont care about the community and discussing anything.
How is this shooting yourself in the foot? I’d say getting kids off the computer screen for a day is the healthy thing to do. Use the day to hit the beach and get the kids outside…sitting inside on ZOOM all day truly isn’t healthy. In fact We’re shooting ourselves in the foot by doing this many zooms!!
PSTARSR – Maybe quit telling a community forum what they “need” to do. Are you seriously saying we shouldn’t be allowed to comment if we have strong opinions? So what if they have an agenda? We ALL do! We either want our kids back in school when it’s safe or we don’t. You’re being ridiculous.
If it were safe, you might have a point. But it isn’t. Even the narcissistic germophobe White House isn’t.
News Flash A-1601678039 – No place is 100% safe. Not the grocery store…not the beach…not the bar…not the gym…not the church…not the coffee shop…not the car dealership…not the bus station…not the taco shop…not the donut shot…not the, well, you get the point, NOT THE ANYTHING! We can give up or we can figure out how to live with it. It’s here to stay…so hopefully the school district realizes that at some point. We cant give up on our kids…and the ZOOM’s are the equivalent of “giving up”.
It’s OK kids. Play on the freeway if you want to, since life isn’t safe. Why bother with doctor visits, either? Seat belts in the car? No, we want to be singing Born Free!
The doctors are recommending kids BE IN SCHOOL! That’s the medical consensus for the tier we are in…HAVE KIDS IN SCHOOL! Are you seriously suggesting we ignore health experts advice?
As they go out the door, don’t forget to hug your kids, and tell them how eager you are to volunteer them for the small but nonzero and unnecessary risk to their future health, or lives. In fact, you’re so committed to their education that you want them to boycott it.
Please, point out my hypocrisy! I’m advocating (OK ranting) for medical experts advice to be followed…which right now is point blank saying that when you are in the tier we’re in, schools should be open as it’s in the kids best interest. Correct me though and point out my hypocrisy. Because the only hypocrisy I see is people out and about living and doing everything, then turning around and saying public schools should be closed. If you personally are in the camp that says CLOSE EVERYTHING AND HIDE/SHELTER IN PLACE then I’m not calling you a hypocrit. But if you are saying schools should stay closed while everything else is open and you are enjoying/utilizing said EVERYTHING than yes…you are a hypocrite.
Quit making these claims without backing them up with evidence. You’re just pushing an agenda and potentially spreading misinformation.
Here is a link that says that it is still not safe to open schools: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-29/when-can-schools-reopen-under-new-state-rules-its-all-about-color-tiers-and-waivers
Please provide your own links that come from these medical experts of yours that indicate otherwise.
IT LITERALLY SAYS IN THE LINK YOU JUST SENT THAT WE CAN OPEN!!! We are in the red tier. We’d be in yellow without Lompoc and Santa Maria.
WEBGUYS – do you read the articles you post as “proof” that’s it’s not safe to go back to school? “K-12 schools can open only after their county moves to the red tier” — OK, we’re in the red tier now and in 11 days, we’ll be able to send our kids back to school based on rigorous science and data that Newsom is basing his decisions on. No, it won’t be full time, but hyrbid is better than nothing and IT IS ALLOWED.
I mean seriously, every link to “proof” that you’ve provided says EXACTLY what we’re saying: When the State allows us to send our kids to a hybrid and safe learning model, why can’t we? Your “science” is saying the same thing we are, but you don’t seem to get that.
I applaud your bravery. Many will suffer in silence due to fear of offending their children’s teachers. I have attempted to engage the School Board , PTO, and my principal to no avail. The lack of an elementary waiver application due to cost and size were just excuses as there was NO effort to engage the parents nor community, but instead the 2/3 teacher lack of support that drove this decision. This would have allowed the elementary schools, with our young and early learners whom need in person interaction, to get back into the classroom and off their iPads. SBUSD Board members have ASSURED all of us, like the good politicians they are, that they will follow State and Local Public Health Guidelines and get kids back in school. Both CA and SBPHD says this is 100% allowed October 13th with NO need to shut down schools for higher community tiers unless there are SPECIFIC criteria met at schools. There are NO REQUIREMENTs from SBPHD/CAPHD for PCR Covid testing of teachers outside an elementary waiver. SBUSD has received over $10million in CARES Act funding and invested millions in PPE for teachers. SBUSD/GUSD were very quick to follow CA orders to go remote but are NOT following recommendations to get back into the schools! Find a way to WORK TOGETHER instead of MAKING EXCUSES. Get our kids back into school. If some teachers are scared, educate them or let them take a leave of absence or pair them with those families requesting on-going remote learning. The long term repercussions of this will be felt by ALL in society for YEARS to come and every single day beyond October 13th our children are not IN CLASS is on the School Board and our Governor (whom should make a similar ORDER to get kids BACK into classrooms if necessary). This IDENTICAL fight is happening all over California public schools. Vote your School Board Members and Governor OUT. Send a clear message.
WEBGUYSB – Please, read your articles and listen to what we are saying. It’s quite simple. Now that we’re in the red tier, if we remain there for 14 days (11 more now), then schools are allowed to re-open as long as they have safety precautions in place (see your own “proof” – “Schools that do reopen must have COVID-19 prevention and response plans in place” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-29/when-can-schools-reopen-under-new-state-rules-its-all-about-color-tiers-and-waivers). That means a hybrid model with many many other precautions, just as GUSD has implemented this past summer (or at least what they told us they did). So…. the doctors, the scientists, the Governor are saying it’s safe to go back if we keep our numbers where they are. You’re beating a dead horse here with and your “evidence” is contradicting your arguments.
WE ARE NOT THERE YET!
Not Where? It was obvious we were going to red weeks ago…school board should have booked emergency weekly meetings to plan for reopening…instead…crickets. Next meeting is scheduled for end of the month.
The zoom education is more harmful than helpful. Plopping 5 year old’s in front of computer screens for hours and hours of Zooms is crazy. You will keep ignoring all the experts…though I do wonder what expert are you waiting for?
That’s pretty funny from the guy who’s got a great habit of sending links that directly and completely contradict the point he’s trying to make. I applaud it and am thankful for you…your posts are performance art.
WEBGUYSB – 1) We ARE there – we’re in the red tier. In 11 days, we will be able to go to school. 2) I’m the one who needs to go back to school? That is a joke. You’ve been unable to present a coherent argument in 2 days. You post “evidence” that repeatedly contradicts your points. Yeah….. I’m the one needing school. Already have a doctorate, but thanks!
Well, you seem to lack the ability to apply sensical critical thinking in the face of an ongoing pandemic. You don’t understand that by rushing to open up schools, you’re furthering this problem and not making it better. You don’t seem to get that this thing spreads asymptomatically and thrives in indoor environments in which people spend a greater of 15 minutes in. Furthermore, you lack the understanding of how children are vectors for spreading viruses and also the compassion to want to spare unnecessary sickness and deaths of so many teachers, staff, grandparents and other community members… All because you are so eager to get your children out of your home and into an environment in which they can catch and spread the virus and further this pandemic.
You also insist on dismissing the validity of the arguments I present, you fail to cite reliable sources and you resort to insults and divisiveness. I don’t care for your claims, I look at the evidence and it speaks for itself.
I’m done arguing with people like you. I am grateful for the virtual academy that my son is enrolled in and will not be sending my son back to school amongst peers whose parents have the attitudes that you people have.
Well, I could listen to WebguySb or I could listen to The medical experts… it’s a tough one… webguy or fauci… the cdc or a guy on Edhat. Some choices are brutal! Going with my gut though on this one…let’s hope they think as critically as webguy!! One follow up… maybe schedule an eye exam… every piece of evidence you share, reference and link says the opposite of what you say… maybe an eye issue! Good thing is eye doctors (like everyone except Public school teachers!) are open, working and ready to help you!!!
WEBGUYSB – you are not reading anything I say, so I have nothing further to say. You’re not posting evidence yet you demand others do so. The fact that we’re allowed back to school is all I need.
Best thing about all the criticism that the teacher’s union is taking here is that it doesn’t matter to them at all. They know extremists will never support them so they make sure their contract with the District protects them. They have the political power to do this in our democracy. I don’t blame them for not wanting to get the virus one bit. I had it, and it is no picnic.
There are some great teachers and staff that will be significantly impacted by the recent decisions of the union and the board. Every person working in public education is extremely nervous about the 2021/22 budget. Local K12 are expected to be hit hard, but UCSB will be hit harder, especially admin and support staff, if the dorms and most onsite teaching remain closed. You’re right: this doesn’t matter to the unions. Good luck to all.
My wife works in the Hospital with and around COVID patients. I am fully aware of the risks of COVID. There have been many times during this pandemic that the hospital has been extremely nervous about a surge. So far it has not materialized. There have been some resource issues and Nurses and Doctors working very hard through this. However, our healthcare system has managed even through the peak in July. Healthcare workers will tell us all to be smart, wear masks and socially distance. But they will also say we can manage small outbreaks and minimal community spread (it’s their job). They understand the reality is it’s not going away. Schools are only a sliver of community risk and if done properly (like they’ve planned) can be controlled. Regarding the healthcare community, speak with a pediatrician about the damage currently being caused by no school. That is a self inflicted health crisis created by the school district.
I find it rather humorous that you label the people who want the teachers to teach as “extremists”. There certainly is an extreme position being taken…crazy that you think it’s the parents and not the union. One would think that the best interests of our children would be the prevailing decision making force here…. instead it’s a power flex from the union. I really don’t understand how anyone can support the teachers and police unions…their job is completely at odds with those who they are “serving”.
Brandon Priest, 1) I am wondering how, if you are juggling your own job and “teaching” your child, you had time to listen (and watch) a 30 minute Zoom lesson. Please explain. Along those lines, there are a lot of ways a survey such as the one you described could be used academically. I wouldn’t think a credential would be needed to recognize this.
2) I read the 2 1/2 month old article you cited, and A) yes, we all know the benefits of an in-person education (no one is denying this, so…?) B) The “safety” you referred to is one of the benefits of synchronous (Zoom, etc. face-to-face) learning, as apposed to the asynchronous learning families can sign up for when other students return to the classrooms (did you think of this? Clearly not.) C) The “nutrition” that it addresses is being covered by districts. Many districts have extended the age for those receiving free food, making it even more impactful. D) As for “socialization,” are you aware that in-person education will be at arms-length, at best? Safety measures, such as no masks, no-touching policies, and limited cohort sizes are all inferior to the maskless, larger cohort that Zoom platforms can provide. I thoroughly advocate for returning to in-person teaching as soon as it is ABSOLUTELY safe.
3) Are you aware that if the county slides back to purple, there are no mandates for putting in-person teaching on hold?
4) As for your child and her academic standing, I am appalled by your willingness to throw your child’s information out there. You give your name on this forum, state your child’s district and grade, and don’t expect that many would know who she is? I can’t imagine doing that to a child, let alone her teacher.
5) Speaking of which, through discussions with fellow moms and dads about your post, not only was this information readily available, but it turns out that many parents in your child’s class are incredibly grateful to the teacher. This does not surprise me, given the incredible hours both teachers and admin are putting in. Are you aware that the district admin has been working through scenarios since the early days of remote-learning? We’re talking still in meetings, on phone calls, or exchanging emails until the wee hours of the morning kind of commitment.
6) I have one more question; if your child had only received the Star 360 (ELA, by the way – and also by the way, if your child completed it that quickly, she unfortunately rushed through the test, something a teacher cannot mitigate in person or remotely) and a quick fluency assessment (all fluency assessments are quick), how did you get her percentile score for math? This does not add up at all. You can’t say your child only received ELA assessments, then state her percentile in math.
I hope you are able to address these questions, specifically about how you were able to attend a 30 minute Zoom lesson when you can barely keep up with your job and “teaching” your child, and how you were able to provide your child’s current math percentile when you stated that only the STAR 360 (ELA) and a fluency test were administered.
Open up the SCHOOLS. If its ok for truck drivers, cashiers at Von,TJ’s, liquor stores, dispensaries, gas station attendants, trash pick up, mail carriers (carrying all your PRIME pkgs) to work then it is certainly ok for the TEACHERS go back to work. Are they some protected class versus all the others??
GET BACK TO WORK!
I hope this comment isn’t offensive its just an opinion. Hopefully not censored as Edhat loves playing god with the comments….
But the this is not about the Children, its anout how almighty and powerful the teachers union is and how they get what they want. They dont care about the children just money
Unfortunately I believe you are correct Just a Voice. That and our
governor cares more about his political ambitions than our current lives and livelihoods.
Yes oops, they are. The governor mandated they’d be paid through summer 2021 no matter what. Anyone else here able to not go into work and still get paid, still have a job?
I’ve had several emails/conversations with the board. It seems they trying to achieve perfection with their reopening. My problem with this 1) since when has perfection been a requirement, not for test scores, reading comprehension, attendance, bullying, etc., 2) in that push for perfection they’re not factoring in the negative consequences of keeping school closed, why covid safety above all else? 3) they have no appetite whatsoever (probably due to the unions) to push back on county and state public health and the governors office and say NO, this is not what’s best for our community. Due to an arbitrary line on a map we’re not allowed to open. Currently there are 13 active cases in the GUSD attendance area. 13! MY GOD WE CAN’T OPEN SCHOOLS….
Teachers have been working around the clock, including throughout the summer when there is no pay.
You are so very ill-informed and out of touch. Again, teachers have been working at least 60 hours a week, and working through much of their unpaid summer as well.
OOPS:
Teachers have been at work, and then some. They have essentially had no free time. Your comment shows how ill-informed and out of touch you are.
As for comparing teachers to the other professions you have mentioned, it is apples and oranges. While our delivery drivers should be held up for all the extra hours they are working, (they get overtime, while teachers don’t, by the way), they are in a truck by themselves and on empty porches for the most part. Teachers, on the other hand, are in front of sneezing, coughing, nose picking students all day. I’m sure grocery store clerks rarely have their customers yank down their masks to sneeze because they think it’s too gross to sneeze directly into their mask.
You have really compared the situations within a classroom to professions that are no where as close.
As for restaurants, I don’t have the budget to go out, so I may not have the correct information, but aren’t they all outdoors? Are you suggesting that having students outdoors all year, with their mouths covered up? (Again, you are so out of touch. Students need to see their teacher speak and teachers need to see their students speak, something Zoom classes can provide, while in-person teaching doesn’t.)
OPENOURSCHOOLS:
FYI, no boycott happened. Also, to you and anyone else who thinks that teaching is comparable to other opened services, and those of you who think teachers are wanting a free ride:
Teachers have been at work, and then some. They have essentially had no free time.
As for comparing teachers to the other professions that have opened, it is apples and oranges. While our delivery drivers should be held up for all the extra hours they are working, (they get overtime, while teachers don’t, by the way), they are in a truck by themselves and on empty porches for the most part. Teachers, on the other hand, are in front of sneezing, coughing, nose picking students all day. I’m sure grocery store clerks rarely have their customers yank down their masks to sneeze because they think it’s too gross to sneeze directly into their mask.
You have really compared the situations within a classroom to professions that are no where as close.
As for restaurants, I don’t have the budget to go out, so I may not have the correct information, but aren’t they all outdoors? Are you suggesting that having students outdoors all year, with their mouths covered up? (Again, you are so out of touch. Students need to see their teacher speak and teachers need to see their students speak, something Zoom classes can provide, while in-person teaching doesn’t.)
Think about the in-person model.
– no interaction with anyone else at school
– quite possibly an AB cohort model, meaning your child will only interact with 1/2 of the class.
– masks so that no one can see each other smile, laugh, or model how to say new vocabulary, etc
– With the Zoom model, students can interact with a variety of students, they can see each other smile and laugh (and their teacher(s) as well. Students are not challenged trying to learn new vocabulary (especially how to pronounce the words) because they can’t see the teacher’s mouth.
ANNPS – I can’t sit here and not say anything. I have more than one teacher in my immediate family here in SB/Goleta and I can tell you from first hand experience, they are NOT all working all summer, with no free time, or over 60 hours a week now, as you keep saying. That’s simply not true. Not only do I know this from those in my family, I have multiple friends and acquaintances here in the area that are also elementary and secondary teachers. NONE of them are working the hours you continuously say they are, it’s not true. Yes, they do work hard and I admire and respect them, but please stop making it sound like they’ve all been working around the clock for little (no overtime) to no (working during summer) compensation. It’s false. I’ve spent a lot of time with them since COVID hit and talked a lot about this.
ANNPS – I don’t know about anyone else but your comments make me wonder what the hell your perspective/angle is. Paranoid, teacher, district player, what? Do tell…
ANNPS – As you can see, these people who don’t care about the safety of school children will not respond with anything substantive, and merely pour out more low-information logorrhea.
Wait… are you Calling the CDC and dr Fauci “low information logorrhea”? Interesting take!!!!!
Guess you missed, or didn’t comprehend, that he said opening in an area with a positivity rate above 5% would be problematic, and lead to outbreaks. By the metrics, we’re still clasisified RED, which is 5% to 8%. Our rate today is below 5%, but we have to keep it there for a while before we transition to a safer tier.
Call us back when you have a plan to isolate those parts of the county from Goleta.
Kellog school is 58 miles from Santa Maria… 50 miles of which is pretty much completely empty… so… by definition the Kellogg 8 year olds are isolated from that. Unless you are a teacher or admin (and there is no incentive to go back!!!) Why hide behind that? We’re at the numbers that science and the experts say we should open… that we NEED TO OPEN for the kids… how can you with any credibility hide behind the arbitrary county line that includes Lompoc ?
What’s your porn? I mean, How much interaction is my 8 year old having at school with commuters from Santa Maria? I’m pretty sure the school district lines are a little tighter around Kellogg than say betteravia and Santa Maria way…
*point!!!
Your point/argument could have some merit regarding the sea center and natural history museums planned reopening this week… which will get visitors from la, Santa Maria and Lompoc. Our elementary schools Though are bubbles of kids who all live within 2 miles of campus… so your point (from a GUSD perspective) literally makes no sense
Who works in the school cafeteria? Where do the janitors live? Where do the teachers live? Do you think that schools are stovepiped enclaves that only consist of people living within 100 yards?
Luckily for us, there are rational adults making the decisions about when schools may be reopened safely.
Who are those rational adults again? Because if everything is open, from hotels to museums to restaurants to bars to camps to Private schools to rich public school to clubs to… well… literally Everything else… how are you justifying keeping this one thing that everyone agrees is absolutely necessary, closed? Schools are open… just not the ones with no incentive to open. Tell me macpuzl… why? And what makes this one thing staying closed a good rational thing?
Well… we hired 21 new teachers and are currently paying everyone to not work. We Could continue paying the Lompoc based janitor to just not come… I guess, right? Then again, do You really want to keep thousands of kids out of school because of the Potentially handful of out of town school staff??? I mean that’s the most embarrassingly defeatist and just lack of reality comment possible. Have you ever problem solved in any capacity? Or did you get the long bar in Tetris and just immediately gave up? Can’t figure it out… Lompoc janitor… long bar that doesn’t immediately make a Tetris line… I quit !!!
That’s it, start deflecting. Those rational adults work at SB PHD and the school districts. If you haven’t noticed, everywhere that societies have opened up, worldwide, cases are surging. Let’s be lemmings, too! Of course, we’ve already thoroughly botched our response so much, that even very limited openings will be much tougher for us, given the prevalence of the virus and the behavior of our freedumb lovers.
DM doesn’t realize that until those problems are solved, reopening is not safe. And those are just the simple examples. Obviously a case of not thinking things through befor engaging the keyboard. Armchair experts always think that there’s a simple answer.
To all those who think teaching with your lower face covered while all your students have their lower face covered is better than Zoom teaching… think again. Seeing a student’s mouth as they are speaking and vice-versa is incredibly important. And what about having teachers constantly having to remind them of the need for social distancing and correct mask wearing? How much learning time will be lost to this? How will children be affected by only seeing masked faces all day?
To all those who think going back two days while students sit around the other three days sitting around at home possibly ignoring the asynchronous work the teacher prepared for them is better… think again. There are going to be a whole lot of students sitting around at home doing nothing all day, and a whole lot of the people here advocating for a 2 on 3 off model will start whining about having their children home for three days straight with absolutely no teacher contact. Let that sink in…
To all those who think these professions are equal in safety to a teacher working with young people who will pull down their masks and sneeze on them for a million reasons… think again.
Teaching in a closed classroom is NOT the same as:
… selling groceries from behind plexiglass in a large, high ceiling grocery store to adults.
… taking orders and delivering food outside, again to mostly adults.
… working at the zoo outside.
… working in a clothing store where most of your clients are adults, and the square feet-to-person ratio is easily 30 times higher than that of a classroom.
… private schools and higher-reserves schools and much smaller classroom space to student ratios.
And to those of you who equated “support staff” with admin., you might want to get a dictionary, or at least have some kind of personal experience with how children are taught.
If you think GUSD has a lot of support staff, you should see private schools! My sis-in-law is a grade-school teacher and she has a full-time teacher aide who does all her filing, a lot of her grading, runs all her school-related errands for her, and all the while the students are mostly taught using worksheet-filled workbooks.
I know a whole heck of a lot of GUSD teachers. Many (a majority) of them continued Zooming throughout the summer with their 2019/2020 students. This was apparently fairly commonplace. The majority of them also started working with their teammates during the summer long before they were contractually obligated to do so. I can easily ask them to make a ballpark guess as to when and how many hours. However, since it was done through phone calls and Zoom, they would have the actual hours.
Oh, by the way, SB Unified is going back in a hybrid model beginning Jan 19th, 2021.
Oh, and by the way, this was in response to the PARENT survey they sent out, not the teachers’ requests.
Fearful people are not leaders.