PublicCommentforJuly9,2020LBUSDBoardMeeting

To all members of the LBUSD governing board: I have a five year old daughter who is set to attend Kindergarten at Grasslands Elemetary School this fall. During her first year of school in TK at Miano Elementary, I watched her social and independence skills blossom and her confidence in her education shoot through the roof; she very much loves to learn. She is also an only child so being able to go to school and interact with her classmates and develop friendships was very exciting for her. Sadly, her first year of school was tainted at the end and she was unable to celebrate the fact that she had successfully completed her first year of school with flying colors. This time is confusing and full of questions for all of us. But it mostly affects our kids, especially the younger ones who are unable to understand why life is so different. I feel terribly for my daughter and between myself and my parents who care for her on a daily basis, we do our absolute best to keep her learning as best as we can. However, I must say that I am disappointed in the way distance learning was handled for our younger kids. Paper packets were sent home for them to work on at their own pace but there was never any virtual check ins, virtual class time, or any responsibility as far as deadlines go to be sure students are completing work. Aside from the educational issues, one of the most important aspects for our younger children is simply LEARNING how to go to school. Social, emotional, and mental skills are developed by simply learning this daily routine and interacting with other kids on a daily basis. I believe the District should very much consider school commencing in the fall as normal but to have certain monitoring measures in place such as temperature checking each morning. Masks are not ideal, especially for the younger kids, but it’s not a safety measure I would scoff at as I have to wear masks at my workplace on a daily basis as well. They have proven to be a sharp tool in avoiding the spread of the virus. Perhaps the track system should be reintroduced to prevent the schools from being at full capacity at any given time. I’m sure there are more discussions that need to be had in exploring safety measures, but the distance learning idea will cripple the educational success of our students and this crippling effect will follow them throughout their lives. Yes this virus is serious and it is scary. But there is no visible light at the end of the tunnel and no prediction on how long this will last. Our kids and their educational and social well-being cannot wait around. I would absolutely feel comfortable sending my child back to school if certain safety measures were put in place including the frequent washing of hands, social distancing as much as possible in enclosed areas, and not sharing common educational tools such as crayons and pencils. Please make the right choice for our children. Thank you for your time, Sara Blevins

PublicCommentforJuly9,2020LBUSDBoardMeeting

For parents who want to keep their students home, would it be wiser to refer those parents to K12 online school? Distance learning cannot be successful unless parents are aware of their part in ensuring their child's success. Christina Jones

To the Board of Education I would like to take this opportunity to communicate some of my concerns about the fall school schedule. I understand that we are in a very confusing time and that we don't know everything that is going to happen. At this point I feel like we are all taking it a day at a time and that's honestly the best we can do. When it comes to my child's education I feel the need to express my concern. My child will be in 5thgrade this upcoming school year. He is a great student and loves school. When we were put on distance learning the last few months of school I found out how much my child needs in person teaching. No matter how much I was there to try to help him it was not the same as having his teacher explain things to him in a way he understood and that can't be done over the computer. I work full time and by the time I got home it was difficult to get him back in learning mode. I understand we need to social distance but there has to be ways to do this without cutting back on the in the classroom days. I've heard of the hours getting cut back to morning classes and afternoon classes but still 5 days a week to be able to have the teachers still teach the children in person and help with the questions they have from the day before. If we go 2 days on 3 days distance learning I know personally my child will have more difficulty remembering what he learned and not be able to get the help he needs. My child does not learn well over a computer he needs to interact with the teacher to help him understand the concepts. I am a mom who will try to help him every way I can but I am also a single mom who works full time and cannot give him the instruction that he needs. Children need social interaction. My son had a hard time without being able to talk and play with kids since March. He is a very active child and is usually non stop. He became very quite and sluggish no matter how many times I tried to get him to go outside with me and ride bikes it was not the same as having another child around. Kids feed off each other it is mentally healthy for them to be around other kids. I respect that many people are not ready and do not feel it is safe for their child to go back to a regular daily schedule. That is why there should be an option for those that feel that way to do a full time at home learning program. Just like Dos Palos is doing they can choose to do the at home for the full semester or go to regular days. O.L.F is going back 5 days a week and taking an early winter vacation to make sure school is not in session during the worst part of flu season the kids are still getting 5 days a week of teacher student learning. I have spoke to several parents who have talked about taking their kids out of the LBUSD and putting them where they feel their children will learn more because they feel as I do. They don't think the distance learning will achieve the success that in classroom teaching will. Most school districts are going back to regular 5 days with safety persuasions and I hope the our school district will

PublicCommentforJuly9,2020LBUSDBoardMeeting

take into account how much learning the kids will miss out on if they don't go back 5 days a week. Thank you Stacy Brehm

THIS LETTER WAS RECEIVED FROM AN ANONYMOUS SORUCE Dear honored board, I am a concerned citizen and wanted to share the latest CTA letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent yesterday. This letter resonates with me because I also agree that a hybrid model is too risky right now if we are truly making safety our number one priority. I urge you to please do distance learning 100% until California is not spiking and is starting to go down in regards to covid-19. Letter dated July 8, 2020 from the California Teachers Association. Link http://image.cta-mailings.org/lib/fe8a1574766d017b7c/m/2/2167fb86-b25b-4ce3-9bc7-4248b105a80d.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2QqpANyH9HwsSJJjE1-1NyK_r8bxIcrqucygKKV1ehQ-i_JYCwt3kksZg Hon. Governor Gavin Newsom Hon. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon Hon. Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins Hon. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond Honorable California Leaders, We write on behalf of the 310,000 members of the California Teachers Association and the more than nine million students we serve regarding the pending reopening of schools and colleges throughout the state. We appreciate your leadership and efforts in meeting this extraordinary challenge. We understand the dramatic impact of the pandemic on the state budget and appreciate all efforts to protect public education, while recognizing that the budget relies on $13 billion in deferrals and additional federal funding. It is why, looking forward, we believe the state must have additional revenues to address the growing needs. Since schools closed in March, CTA has said that the health and safety of our students and educators must always be our top priority and our guiding principle during this crisis. Much is still being learned about the COVID-19 virus. The recent surge in the infection rate and the closure of indoor activities in 26 counties gives us pause around the state’s preparedness for safe in-person school

PublicCommentforJuly9,2020LBUSDBoardMeeting

instruction in a short six- to eight-week time frame. In this current situation, we believe that the “Precautionary Principle” should guide us. This means taking the most preventative action in the face of uncertainty to protect students, educators, and our communities. Simply said, California cannot reopen schools unless they are safe. Unfortunately, many local districts and communities don’t have the necessary resources or capacity to maintain even the most basic prevention measures of six feet physical distancing and limiting contacts, much less the other important preventative actions such as personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and tracing, or adequate ventilation and cleaning supplies. While no one method of prevention by itself is 100 percent effective, layered strategies boost prevention with each measure knocking off some percentage of exposure and potential infection. This includes a clear and manageable plan to implement measures like physical distancing of six feet, reducing the number of contacts, face coverings, handwashing, daily health screening, support for sick and at-risk people to stay at home, robust testing, good ventilation (with absolutely no recirculated air), and cleaning and disinfecting. 2 We should be clear-eyed about this reality. How can we physically reopen schools with lower thresholds of safety than we currently have for restaurants or hair salons? Safe school reopening will require the state to coordinate consistent public health department operations that offer a uniform symptoms checklist and safety protocols; data transparency and accessibility; increased testing dedicated to schools for students and staff; rapid case notification and contact tracing; isolation support and medical care for our most vulnerable students and families; and health monitoring of students to serve as early understandings of transmissions in schools and warnings of any school-based outbreaks. We also ask the state to direct the California Department of Public Health to coordinate with CalOSHA to develop and implement training for all school districts on safety protocols and to direct that Illness and Injury Prevention plans be updated and adopted prior to the first day of in-person instruction. As educators, we too want to be back with our students doing the work that we love, but we cannot ignore science, facts, and safety. Absent a specific plan for each school that includes a clear line of responsibility and accountability we have two options: 1. A high-risk in-person opening, even under a hybrid model. 2. Start the new school year under robust distance learning protocols until the virus is contained in local communities and proper safety measures can be put into place. It is clear that communities and school districts have not come close to meeting the threshold for a safe return to in-person learning, even under a hybrid model. In fact, with recent health orders issued in 26 counties impacting nearly 85 percent of Californians, we are going backwards. How can we reasonably expect hundreds of students, and in some cases more than 1,000 students, to come together on one campus for an entire day without putting their health and the lives of every adult on that campus at risk? Federal and state guidance regarding a phased reopening have focused on a sustained downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases for 14 days or no more than 1 COVID-19 case per 10,000 in the past 14 days. From a public health perspective, the best course of action would be to focus on improving our ability to provide robust, quality distance learning until the virus is marginalized and safety measures are addressed. Just yesterday, on July 7, President Donald Trump implored the nation’s schools to physically open amid a new wave of

PublicCommentforJuly9,2020LBUSDBoardMeeting

COVID-19 diagnoses. In doing so, he pointed to other countries’ abilities to reopen their schools as evidence that America’s schools needed to do the same. President Trump ignores the fact that these other countries invested heavily in PPE, health and safety protocols for education and testing – the very resources that he is threatening to withdraw. We have joined you in lobbying the federal government for more money for California to aid in the COVID-related budget impacts. We are deeply concerned that politics are being played with the lives of children and the educators who serve them. 3 Safe school reopening and equity for our communities requires funding. While the recent budget agreement certainly buys a bit of time, it is not the investment needed to meet this critical crisis. California remains in the lower tier of school funding in this nation. At best, the billions of dollars in deferrals and structural deficit simply put off the day when our school budgets are slashed. We are a state of great innovation and wealth with the fifth largest economy in the world. We should not have to put our students and staff in harm's way. We should not compromise on funding or school safety in the home of the greatest number of billionaires in the country, who have increased their net worth by 25 percent during the first three months of the pandemic. We encourage you to adopt additional revenues, such as suspending corporate tax credits and exemptions or imposing a tax on the wealthiest billionaires to help our communities survive. We need safe, equitable, and well-funded public schools and colleges – this is what California’s students deserve. Sincerely, CTA President CTA Vice President CTA Secretary-Treasurer E. Toby Boyd David Goldberg Leslie Littman