“People are assigning us a lot more power and influence than we actually have, said Kisha Borden, the President of San Diego Education Association, the union representing teachers in the district.
Borden said the district creates the reopening plan and the union bargains on the impacts, and it just so happens both sides agree that it is not safe to reopen schools, especially now with the surge in cases and the new variant.
“The public is getting frustrated with the education system, even if they don’t want to go back to school and they like distance learning, it’s still hard,” Sorenson said parents could take out their frustration at the ballot box when voters are asked to pay more taxes for education.
San Dieguito resolves to open when county moves to red tier
A teacher workstation at La Costa Canyon High School.
(Courtesy)
The San Dieguito Union High School District believes they are prepared to safely bring students back when the county is out of the purple tier. For San Dieguito schools to reopen for in-person learning, the county must be in the state’s red tier for five consecutive days. Currently the county is “deep into purple” due to COVID-19 case numbers and the percentage of positive tests.
“The district strongly desires for all students who wish to return for in-person instruction be given the opportunity to do so and is prepared to immediately bring all of those students back to campus as soon as the district is legally able to do so,” stated a resolution passed by the board on Jan. 21.
Carlsbad middle and high schools, previously set to open this week, will remain closed in compliance with a new state health order, the school board decided Wednesday.
“We had approved the middle and high school (reopening) but new (California Department of Public Health) directives changed that,” Superintendent Ben Churchill said, explaining that the district’s secondary schools cannot open until the county reaches the “red tier” of COVID-19 restrictions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new health order last week, which established new requirements for face coverings, distance between students’ desk and “stable cohorts” of students. It also clarified what qualifies as a reopened school, defining it as a a school that has offered in-person instruction to all students in at least one grade level.