Beckie Gomez and Nina Boyd told the anti-safety coalition of the OC Board of Education that it was unacceptable to ask for public comment and refuse to make them part of the public record. Now The Voice of OC has started working to archive all of those comments.
These residents told the anti-safety coalition of Orange County ENOUGH! 60,000 more people told the anti-safety coalition of Orange county to follow State mandates. Orange County IS about safety! The anti-safety crowd is louder and more organized but those of us who want to bend the curve are not alone! https://voiceofoc.org/2020/07/oc-board-of-education-releases-previously-silenced-comments-on-starting-school-without-masks/? fbclid=IwAR1vNfF4msjkVF8xXMbE4BP0Pa9LWxBXctgP0cHeOo7fgJB44hIKAMjTNos https://airtable.com/shrmNuZgUOHdMV5Mp/tblnHKHbNAfIUrHP8?backgroundColor=orange&viewControls=on
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Dear Orange County Board of Education,
I have been a teacher with Tustin Unified School District since 1996, and I am very concerned about your recommendation regarding “Opening Schools in Orange County.” First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Tustin Unified School District for their commitment to the health and safety of students, staff, and our families in their recommendation to begin school with either a hybrid plan or distance learning. I feel that it is safest to ensure that students and staff are physically distanced according to the recommendation of at least 6 ft. of space between desks by both the CDC and the AAP. The information in the White Paper about the American Academy of Pediatrics is already outdated, as they released a new statement on July 10, 2020. This statement was in collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the School Superintendents Association. Here are a few highlights from this statement that I believe are worth mentioning: “Educators and pediatricians share the goal of children returning safely to school this fall. Our organizations are committed to doing everything we can so that all students have the opportunity to safely resume in-person learning.” “Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue re-opening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers and staff. Science should drive decision-making on safely reopening schools. Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics. We should leave it to health experts to tell us when the time is best to open up school buildings, and listen to educators and administrators to shape how we do it.” And finally, “Reopening schools in a way that maximizes safety, learning, and the well-being of children, teachers, and staff will clearly require substantial new investments in our schools and campuses. We call on Congress and the administration to provide the federal resources needed to ensure that inadequate funding does not stand in the way of safely educating and caring for children in our schools. Withholding funding from schools that do not open in person full time would be a misguided approach, putting already financially strapped schools in an impossible position that would threaten the health of students and teachers.” I am both a teacher and a parent in Orange County. While I know it may be inconvenient to go back to work full time with my children in school only part time, I don’t believe it is worth the risk to my children, my husband, or my own health to insist that we send children back into overcrowded classrooms when even the experts do not know the extent that children can catch or spread this virus. Sincerely, Sharon Frazier-Verpooten Elementary Music Teacher Tustin Unified School District My name is Leighanna Sears and I am both a resident of and teacher in Orange County. I am incredibly concerned over the recommendations stated in the White Paper for today’s meeting and I implore of you to NOT approve of or endorse them.
I am not sure which CDC guidelines you are referencing in the White Paper for today’s meeting, but the most recent CDC guidelines state the following: “The more people a student or staff member interacts with, and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread… Highest Risk: Full sized, in-person classes, activities, and events. Students are not spaced apart, share classroom materials or supplies, and mix between classes and activities.” The CDC goes on to explain that, if we must go back to school, this is what we need to do to help reduce the spread (NOT stop!): “Staying home when appropriate… Develop policies that encourage sick employees and students to stay at home without fear of reprisal … Cloth Face Coverings… Face coverings should be worn by staff and students (particularly older students) as feasible, and are most essential in times when physical distancing is difficult… “ The list goes on and on; I have included a copy of the most recent CDC recommendations for each of you to look over yourselves. Do I want to see my students again? Absolutely. Do I want to get back to normal or a form of it? More than anything. Do I want to throw caution to the wind and pretend that we’re in a non-Covid world? NO. Please understand that teachers love, care for, and miss their students like crazy. While virtual or hybrid learning is not ideal it is leagues better than the potential of students, families, colleagues, and members of the communities we love getting sick, or worse, dying. I beg of you; if you really want to get us back in the classroom, if you really want to do what’s best for our kids; you NEED to require face coverings, social distancing, proper sanitization, and proper SUPPORT for our teachers and students who WILL get sick from Covid, and sadly who will DIE from Covid. You need to ask yourself, when kids, teachers, and families get sick or die from a Covid outbreak at school… Are you ready to have that on your conscience? We have the opportunity to help stop the spread of this horrible illness; why wouldn’t we take that opportunity and help our communities stay healthy and safe? Sincerely, Leighanna Sears Music Teacher in Orange County Resident of Orange County Members of the board,
I have had the honor of teaching in the Brea Olinda Unified School District for 36 years. In 2013, I was named the Brea Olinda Teacher of the Year. I'm passionate about education, and I've loved every minute of it and have loved every child who has passed through my classroom door. I received my BA from CSU Fullerton and my Masters in Education from Azusa Pacific University. I'm the mother of two wonderful adult children who attended public school in Fullerton at Laguna Road Elementary, Parks Jr. High, and Sunny Hills High School. My son graduated from CSU Fullerton and is now an officer in the Marine Corps and stationed in Quantico, Virginia. My daughter is attending Fullerton and Cypress colleges and plans to transfer to a 4 year university program. I'm writing to you in response to the June 24th Special Community Forum on Reopening Schools at which health and policy experts were invited to speak. I'm alarmed to learn that the "experts" invited, for the most part, argued against the use of face coverings and social distancing measures. As a teacher and as a parent, I'm truly appalled that this could be such a one-sided affair. The CDC has laid out clear guidelines for safely reopening schools - or in the worst case scenario - continuing with remote learning. Covid-19 cases are on a precipitous upswing in Orange County. We need to take our cues from infectious disease experts and look to countries that have successfully controlled the spread of this deadly virus. The countries that have succeeded have one thing in common - social distancing and wearing face coverings. The myth of "herd immunity" is just that, a myth (as we've seen in Spain and Sweden). We will never be able to fully reopen businesses and get our economy running as long as this virus continues unchecked. It is NOT the job of educators to sacrifice themselves for the economy. As educators, we've already been asked to take a bullet for our students, spend our own income each year to prop up lackluster curriculum and supplement scarce supplies (about $1000 per year for me), and now we are being asked to sacrifice our health and safety to "quickly and beautifully" reopen schools. If you truly care about students, teachers, and staff, safety MUST be the priority. None of us should be sacrificial lambs for an ill-advised full reopening without stringent safety measures in place. None of us are expendable to our families. Last school year, I had 33 children in a fairly small classroom. There is simply no possible way to practice distancing with that many bodies in the room. I can't begin to tell you how many times students have sneezed or coughed directly in my face. Our HVAC units are, in many cases, old and dirty and don't allow for good air circulation. Most classrooms don't have windows that can be opened. Unless the OC Board of Education members are willing to come into our packed classrooms themselves, without PPE and without students being required to wear face coverings, we should not be fully reopening. I strongly believe that you, as the Board of Education for public schools in Orange County, should be recommending the following: 1. Opening schools to a hybrid model which allows for social distancing in the classroom until our Covid-19 numbers have declined substantially. 2. Giving parents the option of remote learning if they do not feel comfortable sending their children to school. 3. REQUIRING ALL students, teachers, and staff to wear face coverings when indoors and not eating or drinking. 4. Recommending financial help to districts to provide PPE for school sites to ensure the health and safety of their students, teachers, and staff. As a military mom, I know how seriously the military is taking the Covid-19 pandemic. We have not been able to visit our son in VA, nor has he been allowed to travel to us here in CA. Please take your cues from the DATA on this deadly virus. This is not a political issue. It's a medical issue. Now is NOT the time to perform a deadly experiment in our Orange County public schools. Sincerely, Linda Cook Cornejo, M.A.Ed. Brea Olinda Unified School District Board Members:
I wish to address the Board’s proposal to accept the White Paper Special Community Forum on “Opening Schools in Orange County” dated June 24th I find it confusing why this group would break with the majority of health, infectious disease, and education experts and support a full and immediate opening of all public schools without the added measures outlined by the CDC. Indeed, your White Paper seems to be flawed as the information presented is outdated or lacking in legitimate science. The paper quotes the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) statement in late June calling for every effort to be made to get students back to school this fall. Your paper includes their quote, “Policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families, and the community by keeping children at home.” The key word here is balanced. Why would a body of elected officials who are charged with over-seeing the well-being of all students, cherry pick scientific information from dodgy conspiracy theorists and risk the health of millions of children and their families? Furthermore, your paper fails to include the AAP’s most recent statement. That, "Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics." The statement also said that "science and community circumstances must guide decision-making." It wasn’t until I got down to the 4th bullet point in your summary that my question of “why would you do this?” was answered. It states: ” If a school district is unable or unwilling to reopen schools in a manner that resumes a typical classroom environment and school atmosphere, parents should be allowed to send their children to another school district or charter school that will provide that preferred education.” Why would you do this? Because allowing public schools to offer hybrid or all online learning opportunities, puts them in direct conflict with the charter schools who back your reelection campaigns. The public schools will be offering flexible and innovative online or hybrid instruction with the needs of public-school stakeholders put ahead of charter school stock-holders. With the passing on AB 1505 & 1507, your puppet masters are scared. Why else would the charter school PAC give hundreds of thousands of dollars to some of you? Their options are becoming more limited. And as you and I both know, what you do here tonight is non-binding on any Orange County Schools, as it is the individual school districts with state guidance that will determine how schools will open up. It is clear that if you fail to revisit the scientific inadequacies of this white paper and pass it at the risk of the majority of Orange County school children, that you will fail in your fiduciary duty to represent all students, including the poor and disadvantaged. You will bring into the light the corruption that comes from politicizing what should be a unifying event. Surviving a pandemic should be one thing that transcends politics. I believe that in your heart of hearts you understand that. What is disgusting is that some of you don’t care. I graduated from La Habra High School, CSU, Fullerton, and Pepperdine University (a Christian based school.) I have taught in the Garden Grove USD for 26 years and live in the City of Westminster. In all my years as an Orange County resident I have never had reason to put the OC Board of Education on my radar as a group primarily made up of career politicians using this platform as a political stepping stone and to push their narrow agenda to the detriment of its constituents. You are on the radar now. Making a lot of noise about adopting this white paper as is, may have unintended reverberations. It has awakened the majority of Orange County voters that regardless of their party affiliation, think independently and do not aspire to a prescribed platform. Most Orange County families want to see schools open, but with common sense measures. Servant leadership puts other people’s needs ahead of personal gain. Your vote on this tonight will define you. Sincerely, Holly Johnson Holly Johnson Members of the Board,
I can say with absolute certainty that in nearly 25 years as a member of the faculty of a campus under the umbrella of your organization, I have never been as appalled or embarrassed to be part of the overall organization as I have been these last few weeks since the working paper was first released. I speak both as a faculty member of a district in this county and a parent of a student in a neighboring county. Decisions made by guiding bodies of schools should always have the best interests of students and all stakeholders in mind. Instead, the county was given a highly politicized document that treated science as something to pretend to examine, and instead ignored the growing concerns over the novel Coronavirus. Simply put, to follow this guidance would put countless students, classified staff, and certificated staff at risk of completely unknown complications, for which the risk is growing exponentially along with the number of cases in the county. It flat out should not be done. The proposal treats theoretical science as something that is proven and accepted, and to be honest, the supposed facts stated in that paper have already been shown false by many examples throughout the country. The proposal states that children really don’t have issues related to COVID-19. Tell that to the parents who have lost children over the last few weeks or who have children in the hospital. The proposal completely ignores that children who have been exposed to COVID-19 have been shown to suffer from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Simply put, the true effects on children are completely unknown as of this moment. The paper states that the American Association of Pediatrics fully endorses students going back no matter what. The Association has, in the days since your statement, rescinded that concept, instead stating “We should leave it to health experts to tell us when the time is best to open up school buildings”. The consensus of health experts is that the state and the nation have opened far too soon and we are risking the lives of our children as well as those of our adults. The proposal currently under consideration ignores these developments. The proposal also acts as if there is some sort of switch in young adults that goes on the moment they are finished with schooling and turns them into a potentially at risk adult. Science does not work that way. The paper also claims that faculty failed at distance education. What that statement completely ignores is the fact that, especially at the high school level, students were well aware of the “do no harm” policy, and who could possibly blame them for not engaging while experiencing an extreme unknown and knowing they could finally sleep according to their circadian rhythms? This statement completely ignores the countless hours faculty put in to shift to a new reality with zero support from the county, and whatever equipment we had handy. This proposal also ignores the reality that it is not merely the faculty and students involved, but a full system of personnel, for whom those in some of the riskiest areas (maintenance, secretarial, transportation, food services, etc) are also in the age groups most at risk currently. The local state university system, along with many counties and cities, are taking a full distance or flexible schedule to accommodate those who are forced by circumstance to send their children in what is a risky at best situation. Why is this board so set upon ignoring evidence and science? Please, stop with the politics. Please listen to the science. There is far too much unknown. Do not risk the lives of multiple thousands by demanding all go back to business as usual. As it is your faculty has to beg parents to provide disinfectant wipes because they are not provided. Most districts don’t have enough substitutes available if teachers are forced to quarantine by these short sighted proposals. All of these things put the real lives of thousands of real children at risk. You could choose to act like those who thought polio was no big deal. Or, you could choose to do the right thing and not adopt this paper, instead, halting the in person opening of schools unless a district deemed it necessary for a portion of their population. While there is much more I could say to these points, I feel it is essential you hear from as many voices as possible. I implore you all to do the right thing by our children. Thank you for your time Brenda L Silvertooth, M.A. Ed. Additionally, as it concerns my district (HBUHSD): Their survey to staff was an insult at best. Here is what I would have finished the survey with, followed by what I sent to them. There is no way my physical classroom setting can allow for distancing. The fence outside my door is not wide enough to allow for 6 feet between students entering and exiting. I spaced my room, one of the largest on campus, and I cannot fit more than 15 students at most with spacing to CDC guidelines. Honestly, it is simply foolish for the district to think that faculty will be willing to return with things the way they are. Over the last 20 plus years, we have never been provided with adequate supplies. Student furniture and storage that was promised nearly 18 years ago was never delivered. How are we supposed to believe that adequate distancing will be maintained, let alone the proper PPE? We can't get basic classroom supplies without providing our own or begging. Thinking this extremely limited survey will give a full picture of what your dedicated faculty will be able to tolerate during a very odd school year is optimistic at best ad terribly misguided. Our rooms aren't cleaned regularly. Are we supposed to sterilize them between classes? With what time? And what distance? And how are we supposed to monitor students between periods or at lunch? Expecting anything akin to normal is ridiculous. Dear Dr. Harwick and Esteemed Board Members, I am fairly certain that all of your email inboxes have been flooded over the last few days with messages from certificated staff who have seen the survey sent by Dr. Crosby, and many of those messages are likely filled with definite opinions. I know there are many who have expressed their outrage at the poor quality of the survey formation both publicly and privately. Being perfectly honest, this survey is one of the worst surveys I have seen offered, and that includes two years of research students and over 200 Advanced Placement Research papers from training sessions and the exam reading. It was quite embarrassing to see this instrument released in an official capacity. Even more embarrassing was the response from the district office when the problems were pointed out to them. The researcher bias in the survey was completely blatant, and even my least prepared AP Research students know to avoid questions that are overtly leading or excruciatingly vague. The survey sent to the certificated staff contains both survey errors. Any results from this survey should be treated as invalid as a result of the construction of the survey. I’ll begin with the first section of the survey, the "Instructional Delivery" portion. The first question begins with "Student learning is most equitable in a" but then fails to give any necessary time context for the question. Does this survey mean a typical year, this last year, a full pandemic year, or a myriad of other options. There is zero clarification about the meaning of “most equitable”, leaving the individual to guess which student group is meant to be covered in the question. As I am sure you know, there is no one size fits all answer when it comes to student needs in education. The answer for students who are high achieving/AP could easily be vastly different from those considered at risk, and so on. Additionally, if a hybrid experience is NOT equitable, why has it been offered for the last couple of years on our campuses? The question itself is too broad and does not contain enough clarification to have any merit. The next three questions also suffer from a lack of clarity, additionally, some of the items are contractual (bell schedule for one), and some of the items will be determined by the state and or CDC, so asking our preference is about as useful as asking our favorite flavor of ice cream. Once again, these questions do not provide data that can be used. Additionally, the tone is leading after the murky “equitability” question. If the “traditional” option is selected in the first question, then the morality of preferring any other option is immediately brought into question. The second section of the survey suffers from the same issue of lack of clarifying information. Was the assumption of the authors that all teachers were using a single method of virtual instruction, or that all teachers were using all methods listed in the third question? Someone who posted exclusively on Canvas may well express the same comfort level as someone who posted instructional videos and used live instruction. The sheer number of ways potential respondents could interpret the questions renders the questions, and their answers, invalid. Finally, there is the most egregious issue with the survey, the final section, “Maintaining Healthy Operations”. This section is written in a forced choice/ranking style, which is perfectly valid for getting responses to things like “which dessert should be kept on the menu”, or “which additional features are most important to you in your next vehicle”. This chosen method, requesting teachers to rank in order of importance safety measures, is both unfair and invalid as a way of finding out what measures are considered important by the faculty and certificated staff. Additionally, this question is asking respondents to pick and choose from a list that is actually not even within their control, as the various Departments of Health and CDC will be making the decision of what needs to happen. Finally, if the goal was finding out how significant staff feels each measure is overall to the safety of the schools, a Likert Scale question should have been used. This method would have allowed the certificated staff to choose the relative significance of each concept on the merits of that concept alone, and also allows for the perception of equal significance or insignificance. The only question of real merit was the final question, the free response, asking for additional comments. Sadly after the rest of the survey as it stands that question feels like an exercise in futility. While I completely recognize the extreme pressure the District is experiencing in these unprecedented times, the survey sent as it was, gave the appearance that it was created merely to placate the certificated staff to make them feel as if their input was valued, when in reality the opposite is true. The entire HBUHSD community, from site administration, to faculty and staff, and families are waiting for communication that is clear and regular after hearing that campuses would close five minutes before the end of the school day on March 13, after many students had already finished for the day. Instead, we received a survey that would receive a 1 or 2 on the AP Research exam due to a complete lack of replicability, and is frankly insulting. Please rescind this survey and send one that will provide actionable information. Please honor our voices. Thank you, Brenda Silvertooth Statement to Staff: You may have heard that the Orange County Board of Education members are hosting a meeting today to propose the full reopening of school without recommended safety protections (face coverings or physical) distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These recommendations do not align with any official guidance by the State of California (California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Department of Education or even the OCDE’s own “Orange County Together” issued by the Orange County Department of Education and Orange County Health Care Agency: https://ocde.instructure.com/courses/669 While we encourage staff to express concerns regarding their proposal directly to the OCDE Board, we wanted to reassure you that the Orange County Department of Education only offers technical support and resources to school districts. The OCDE Board of Education does NOT have jurisdictional governing authority to direct school district action, including reopening and health/safety measures. Health mandates and guidance for safe school reopening are issued by the California Department of Public Health and Orange County Health Care Agency. GGUSD is following the guidance of the CDPH and OCHCA in planning for reopening of schools. Please see below a statement shared with us from the Orange County Department of Education to help clarify this issue: There has been some confusion, understandably, over the role of the OC Board of Education and our agency, the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE). OCDE and County Superintendent Dr. Al Mijares has worked with local school district leaders to develop “Orange County Together: A guide to safely reopening schools in the COVID-19 era.” This resource, available on our website, is in alignment with the California Department of Public Health, which stresses the importance of social distancing and face coverings when social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. The five-member OC Board of Education, which has separate responsibilities, is hosting today’s meeting to discuss a white paper with alternative recommendations. The board majority’s recommendations are not binding. Locally elected school boards and superintendents will approve and implement plans specific to their districts based on the needs of their schools and communities. Our department — OCDE — is working to support districts in that effort, and we remain 100 percent committed to following and sharing the guidance of the California Department of Public Health and the Orange County Health Care Agency. Abby Broyles Public Information Officer 714-663-6503/[email protected] Garden Grove Unified School District
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