CVUSD schools won’t reopen until January at earliest
Schools in CVUSD will remain in distance learning until at least January, as was decided by the CVUSD School Board on Oct. 14. After listening to several parents, community members, and teachers speak, the board members ultimately decided to wait to reconsider reopening until their first meeting in January.
In an email sent out to families on Oct. 15, Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi wrote that the number one priority was the safety and health of all students and staff.
“Working closely with the Alameda County Public Health Department, we will monitor developments related to COVID and continue our discussions with our bargaining units to ensure a successful school reopening,” Ahmadi wrote.
This decision was not met with happy responses from all sides, as several parents voiced their concerns about online learning.
“Daycares are open and so are parks, malls, barbers, gyms and stores … open the schools!” parent Hilda Zuniga commented.
“Open up the schools! Make it a choice if some people are fearful of sending their kids. Those parents can teach their kids from home,” said grandparent Alicia Villa. “Not all parents can afford to stay home with their children. I’m especially concerned for lower income parents who had to quit their jobs or depend on others to teach their kids because they have to go to work. Please give parents more choices. This is not working for every household!”
In the meantime, the Alameda County Health Department has allowed CVUSD to create support hubs, which are groups of 14 students and two adults which stay together to help with students struggling with distance learning.
“The hubs are basically there so that students that have huge challenges accessing distance learning could actually do that in school because we have excellent internet and there are also adults who can support them,” Ahmadi explained. “We want to make sure that students who really need support and can’t do that at home are supported in school.”
When the time does come for schools to reopen, the first to do so will be elementary schools, followed by the middle schools and CVHS if everything goes smoothly.
“The possibility of younger children versus older children carrying and transmitting is a lot less and that’s why the county health department said we can open elementary school. They have not allowed any other school districts to open even middle or high schools,” explained Ahmadi.
The reopening process won’t be easy but hopefully we will all be together again soon, once it is safe to do so.
“I know that as a community at large we have resources and it’s been amazing to see lunches available and corner pantries open up, but there are so many families that are still hurting and students that are not having their basic needs met,” said social studies teacher Jacqueline Stone. “I know that I’m a better teacher in a classroom and I want to do my job well.”
I am just so tired of the lockdown to the point where I feel like antimaskers should get charged with murder with one charge for each and every single person who has died due to COVID be given not just a little 250 dollar fine, but they should be given a much worse penalty, they should in fact be given LIFE in prison. The only exceptions to this idea would either be for the disabled, and for the people in extreme poverty – assuming they do not have enough money to buy a mask. I know this sounds extreme, but it is a possible thing that we could do to quickly get back into school and work again, and to give fairness justice to everyone, including all of those that got COVID or died of COVID. That is how sick and tired of lockdown I am.
Although I am extremely sad about not being able to go to school for my senior year, I know that it is the safest option. It is hard for students to focus on school at home because of distractions, however going to school would make you more likely to catch the virus and pass it to your parents and elders. It doesn’t seem like we will be able to go back to school in January or even Feb or March because of the covid outbreaks from the holidays.
I think that the schools are doing a great job in trying to keep us safe from COVID-19. I agree that schools should not open until early January or maybe even a little later next year. I think this because the COVID outbreak might peak again and it can comeback even worse than before.
I think that if we do open schools again, we should have a half or less of students at school in a given day to lower the risk of infections in class. Everyone probably remembers the 5 minute long lunch lines in the cafeteria, and the fairly short 35 minute long lunch period that encourages everyone to buy food within the first 25 minutes to have enough time to eat. The lunch period should be extended to give students enough time to eat without everyone crowding at the lunch lines, which I think will be where most transmissions of COVID-19 will take place, such as if someone coughs in the front of the line, then everyone will have to walk through the area that they coughed in to get their food.
I am glad that schools are taking precautions on safety of the people on campus. Even though we are “100% SURE” that we ourselves as individuals are not carriers of the virus, we cannot afford to gamble on this and risk the safety of the people by letting them back on campus.
I’m sad that school isn’t going to be opening until at least January. I got some really awesome teachers this year and I really hope I can meet them before this year ends. I hope people can wear their masks, self quarantine, and social distance to help us get through the pandemic faster.
I personally think it is a bad idea to open schools in january. Covid cases are on the rise again and scientists have said the winter will bring more cases with it. We are looking at a second wave rising in California, and we are at an all time high in the country.
If you want schools to open, please, either stay home or wear a mask. We do not want or need any people refusing to wear a mask. The last thing we need right now is to have antimaskers. Our country and the world and everything in it begs and pleads for us to help stop this virus.