Superintendent McDonald to Recommend Date for Reopening Schools at Special PUSD Board Meeting

During a special joint meeting Monday of the Pasadena Board of Education and the City Council, Pasadena Unified Superintendent Brian McDonald said he would make a recommendation for reopening schools during a special meeting later this week.

“I do have a date and I will recommend it to the board on Thursday, if that meeting is scheduled,” McDonald said.

A district survey regarding parent’s opinions about distance learning and in-person learning will also be finalized at that meeting.

“I would say that we have certainly responded well as a school district. I have to commend teachers and staff,” McDonald said.

“They have worked extremely hard to make sure families are well served. We will not reopen until it is safe to do so. We have worked diligently in collaboration with our labor partners. We believe now we are ready.”

Although McDonald said the district is ready several teachers said in correspondence that they did not believe schools should reopen for distance learning.

“As teachers, we are passionate about teaching and we love serving the community with our skills,” said Cassandra Williams. “However, we aren’t sure all safety precautions are ready to be implemented. Knowing that this virus could be deadly causes an insurmountable amount of fear. Knowing that one could also infect their own family is concerning.”

So far the district has vaccinated 280 PUSD employees. An additional 140 school district employees could be vaccinated this week.

As of Monday, teachers and other essential workers, such as food service workers and law enforcement officials, are eligible for shots and more vaccine doses will be put aside for teachers. On March 15, everyone 16 and over with a serious underlying health condition will become eligible.

“One of the things we want to put in place is a fully online program for students, but that may not be possible for next year,” McDonald said.

McDonald said it was on the district’s radar, but had not been fully discussed.

“Currently in LA County schools TK-6 are permitted to open because the case rate is below 25 per 100,000. Right now we are looking good,” said Dr. Ying-Ying Goh.

The district must submit a COVID-19 safety plan, a state application and a CAL OSHA plan. PUSD has submitted those documents according to Goh.

Local requirements include several additional protocols. A checklist of compliance to those protocols must be submitted. So far that has not been submitted.

“At the beginning of COVID, a lot of things were done based on emotion and fear,” said Councilmember Tyron Hampton. “We are one year into this and we’ve spent millions upon billions of dollars understanding this virus, and we know a lot more than we did in the beginning. We cannot govern from fear. Data suggests schools could open responsibly. The data also suggest the children that missed days of school are less likely to graduate on a proficient level. All I’m saying is give parents the choice to send their children to school or not. You could also give the same choice to teachers to go back to the classroom or not. The health department is also taking away barriers and prioritizing educators for vaccinations. If I have the choice to go to the nail salon, get my haircut, or  spend three hours in a Walmart, we should give our parents and children the same opportunity for mental growth and health.”

For high schools to reopen the case rate must fall to seven cases per 100,000 residents in Los Angeles County.

The district will slowly implement plans to put students back into classrooms.

Three weeks before schools reopen, there will be three days of asynchronous instruction to prepare classrooms for social distancing requirements.

Two weeks before schools reopen, the district will begin acclimating back to the classroom while distance learning continues.

A series of orientation sessions will be held with students and parents to prepare for in-person instruction one week before schools reopen.

The district will reconfigure classrooms to maintain social distance, and install air purifiers, filters and plexiglass in classrooms. Every room in every school will be cleaned and disinfected. A school-based COVID-19 testing and contact tracing program will also be created.

The district will offer COVID-19 vaccines to employees as a service. The vaccine is not required for reopening.

“I will make a recommendation, but ultimately it is up to the board to decide if we will reopen for in-person learning,” McDonald said.