School Reopening Plans Met With Skepticism From Teachers, Parents
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- Over the next few days, several Bay Area districts are going to be rolling out their plans for what the next school year might look like. Will students go to class? Maybe some, not all? Whatever it looks like, the implications for families are huge and the stakes are very high. So who makes the call?
"We do not want teachers and students returning to school," said Oakland teacher Mark Airgood." We should turn our attention to doing the best we can with distance learning for the next period."
Teachers who say the next school year should not bring a return to the classroom participated in a caravan in Oakland on Wednesday.
"The experience I had with my daughter, she didn't do good with distant learning," said Oakland parent Harifa Winston. "My son did okay, but my daughter needs to be in the classroom with the teachers. But, if it's not safe..."
So many questions for parents, teachers, and students. And then, how should these decisions be made?
"A big part of our problem is we keep on handing the buck to each school district, to each city," said Airgood. "That is not going to work."
"We're providing the flexibility, based on local conditions," Governor Gavin Newsom said again Wednesday when asked about school reopening plans. Newsom is sticking with his mantra of local control, and that means local districts are trying to figure this all out right now.
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious that school will not look the same when it gets back into session this August," said Marcus Walton with West Contra Costa Unified. "What that looks like, we're still working out details and we're getting input from our community. We will be releasing a framework of our plan tomorrow."
Walton says one central element of the district's planning is being ready to ditch "Plan A."
"The health experts are telling us that there will be a second wave," Walton explained. "We have to expect that when and if that second wave hits that everyone will be again doing remote learning. This time it's our hope that we will be more prepared for that."
