Pasadena Unified to Hear Suggested Plan for Return to In-Person Learning

Pasadena Unified School District leaders are slated to hear a presentation Thursday on plans and options for a gradual return to in-person instruction.

The preliminary plans call for students with special needs and students learning English as a second language to begin returning to campus in “cohorts” of no more than 12 students each by as early as the end of the month.

They also outline different options for the cautious return of the wider student body through both online and hybrid online and in-person learning.

The PUSD Board of Education is scheduled to receive a briefing during their meeting on Thursday afternoon.

The proposal “Allows Pre-K-12+ grade students with current placement in moderate-severe classes the opportunity to receive additional face-to-face support with a small cohort of their peers in strict adherence with cohort guidelines,” according to the staff presentation.

“Teachers will provide instruction remotely while students are supported by instructional assistants and one substitute teacher per cohort,” the report said. The program would gradually increase from 40 to 200 students, beginning with elementary schools, and the students would receive instruction at their normal home campuses.

Up to 75 English-learning students broken up into cohorts of 12 would return to school under the Blair Viking Scholars program at Blair High School.

The report suggests filing an application with the Pasadena Public Health Department and beginning the enrollment process on Oct. 12, although it could take several weeks to be reviewed and approved. Officials were targeting Oct. 26 as a possible return date for the cohorts.

At least for the start, regular PUSD teachers will not be on the campuses.

The cohorts for students with special needs were to be staffed by instructional aides, substitute teachers, office support personnel, credentialed site leadership personnel, and security officers, according to the report.

The cohorts for English-learning students were to be staffed by instructional aides, office support personnel, credentialed site leadership personnel, and security officers, according to the report.

Conversations with the district’s bus provider were already ongoing, with hopes of having a system in place to provide pupil transportation by mid-August, said PUSD Board of Education Vice President Scott Phelps.

Contract negotiations between the PUSD and the union representing its teachers, United Teachers of Pasadena, are ongoing.

Meanwhile, the California Teachers Association authored a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, demanding the statewide implementation of safety measures at schools prior to a return to in-person instruction at the state’s schools.

The staff report described two possible forms of learning that could take place once the county moves into Tier 2 under the state’s COVID-19 framework.

One involved students being split into online and in-person groups, which would remain separate during the course of a semester. A simultaneous option was also proposed, in which whole classes would remain intact, but with half of the students participating online and half of them taking part in-person each day. An online-only option is also described.

Thursday’s PUSD Board of Education meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. It will be broadcast on Charter Cable Channel 95 and online live.boardmeetings.info.

The staff report can be viewed online at pusd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=15&event_id=424&meta_id=119334.