Local salons, restaurants take another shot at reopening
An employee of Essence Salon in Mountain View shampoos a customer’s hair Sunday.
It took repeated shutdowns for Sarah Zebb, owner of Therapy Salon in Los Altos with her husband, Todd, to fully understand the popularity of her industry. Since the most recent shelter-in-place orders were lifted earlier this week, allowing personal care services to open at 20% capacity, Zebb’s phone has been ringing off the hook.
“I never knew hair was so important,” she said, joking that the personal care industry will never be taken over by robots.
Zebb’s salon has been closed more than six weeks, since the Bay Area shut down again due to the winter COVID-19 surge. Even when she opens next week, things will be different. Eight of her stylists have left; only three remain. Zebb can’t book too many people, because she has to sanitize the stations, and capacity restrictions limit the salon to having six people inside at a time,
CUSD board set to vote on parcel tax this week
Town Crier File Photo
Montclaire Elementary School, above, is the one school in the Cupertino Union School District located in Los Altos.
The Cupertino Union School District Board of Education is set to vote Thursday (Jan. 21) on whether to place a parcel tax before voters this spring.
The proposed measure would levy a $398 tax on each parcel of land within the district, which would raise roughly $14 million annually for eight years. The board is scheduled to vote on whether to put the measure on a May 4 ballot.
The new tax would replace the existing $250 Measure A parcel tax, an increase of $148 per parcel. The new $398 parcel tax would take effect July 1 and expire in eight years. It would require two-thirds voter support to pass.
LASD board hears from parents and teachers after union opposes reopening
Zoe Morgan/Town Crier File Photo
The Los Altos School District currently has students in fifth grade and below back on campus.
In an emotional meeting Monday night, the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees heard from teachers and parents about whether the district should continue with its reopening plan, after the teachers’ union sent the district a letter last week advocating against in-person classes.
LASD currently has students in fifth grade and below back on campus for part-time, in-person classes. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are slated to return Jan. 20. Families also have had the option to choose an all-virtual model for their children.
A teacher talks with a student at Covington School last fall.
The Los Altos School District reopened campuses and resumed in-person classes today (Jan. 11), despite the teachers’ union asking the district to stay remote.
In the fall, LASD had resumed part-time, in-person classes for students in fifth grade and below. That reopening was paused in December, when the district reverted to being fully remote, due to a high number of staff absences. Students and staff complete a COVID-19 symptom tracker every day, and are required to stay home if they report any possible symptoms.
The district reopened campuses Monday for students in fifth grade and below, as scheduled. Sixth- through eighth-graders are slated to return Jan. 20.