My name is Bryan Easter and I proudly serve as the assistant principal of instruction at Frontier High School and most recently have been elected to serve as a trustee for the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District. My campus has had empty hallways for nearly 10 months. Students, parents and school officials have had their educational environments turned upside down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we near a full year of students learning remotely through a screen, our local community continues to grapple with questions about why our students remain in a distance learning only format. Distance learning is heaping unprecedented consequences on the future academic achievement and lifelong wellbeing of our students, especially students of color.
At its meeting tonight, the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District board will swear in three trustees who will represent Area 2: incumbent J.P. Lake and its two newest members, Bryan Easter and Paula Van Auken.
Novemberâs school board election was a hot race that attracted eight candidates. Some of the candidates campaigned actively and lost. They courted endorsements, raised money, put signs up, maintained an active social media presence, met voters at drive-thru events and gave interviews about their views to local media.
Van Auken did none of this, and in fact said she had dropped out of the race. Still, she won a seat.
Rosedale Union School District is the biggest district in Kern County that brought general education students of all grade levels onto campus this fall. It has vocal support from its families, administration and board to bring students on campus as quickly as possible.
So the moment the district could, it welcomed students to campuses in person. The gradual rollout over the last six weeks was completed last week when the oldest students returned.
But it didn t last long.
Freedom Middle School closed its campus Thursday, a little over a week after opening, and the rest of the school district will switch back to distance learning next week.