Prioritizing student learning has never seemed so relevant or significant to the success of our children as it does now. Months of this catastrophic pandemic have proven that we must work together more expeditiously to support our youth, their emotional well-being, and their education.
Across the country, but especially in California, student learning has been greatly impacted. This Live Map of Student Learning depicts current school instruction by county in California. As the map demonstrates, although some districts are currently supporting in-person instruction at the elementary level, far fewer are doing so for secondary students.
Just recently, we are beginning to see a shift in the outlook for our middle and high school students. As the number of vaccinations increase and the test positivity rate drops, we get closer and closer. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released a statement that LA County’s daily case count is below 7 per 100,000. If the cases and test positivity rates remain at or below the metrics for two weeks, Los Angeles County will move to the Red Tier on March 17th, allowing on-site learning for grades 7 through 12. In addition, once 2 million vaccine doses have been administered statewide to communities with the lowest score in the Healthy Places Index, the necessary case rate will move from below 7 to 10 per 100,000, accelerating our move to the Red Tier.
As indicated in Dr. Matthew’s message on Tuesday morning, MBUSD is currently working on the plans for these grade levels to return to campus. These plans will be dictated by the guidelines provided by the LACDPH for in-person learning. For those seeking more information, potential schedules for the middle and high school were included in the presentation on MBUSD Schools in 2020-21 in the MBUSD Board meeting on March 3rd. A survey regarding student plans for returning also went out this week to help determine the number of students planning to be on campus. To learn more about next steps, tune in to the next MBUSD Board meeting on March 17th at 5pm via livestream.
Advocating for specifics in the guidelines, such as allowing for students to switch periods during the day or desks to be spaced less than 6 feet apart, should be directed to local and state officials.
State Contacts:
State of California Governor’s Office Online Portal
Senator Ben Allen
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi
County Contacts:
LA County Health Department Online Portal
LA Board of Supervisors Fourth District Janice Hahn
Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer
It has been a long wait. We are confident that our administration, teachers and students will welcome the upcoming shift and fully embrace learning in person once again.
