By Mary O’KEEFE

Glendale Unified School District held its first of two town hall meetings at 11 a.m. on Wednesday; its second meeting was at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to hear opinions and concerns from parents, teachers and community members regarding the upcoming school year.

For several hours parents and teachers shared their worries and suggestions of how – and if – the district should approach reopening school campuses in the fall. There were basically two positions: Those who felt remote learning is the safest decision and wanted to keep their children home, and those who wanted a hybrid approach that included in-person classes.

There were several issues shared including that of teachers who are at high risk of contracting the virus. They were concerned for their health if they return to school and how the district would enforce social distancing and face coverings for students of all ages. There were also questions about what type of cleaning would be done and whose responsibility it would to clean classrooms between classes.

There were three recurring issues voiced by parents: 1) Not penalizing those who want to remote learn by forcing them to withdraw from their neighborhood school and enroll in Verdugo Academy, the district’s independent study program; 2) Notifying parents of anyone who tested positive with COVID-19 on the school campus. This would be similar to the notices sent to parents when a student has head lice; 3) Providing equal studies in the FLAG [Foreign Language Academies of Glendale] program for those who chose in-person teaching and those who chose remote learning.

There were many points made about the hybrid teaching models that have been proposed by the district. These models include having half the number of students attending in-person classes for half the day then remote learning the other half; having students attend school every other day then learning remotely for the balance; having students attend classes every other week and learning remotely the other weeks.

Parents cited the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County as among the reasons they were against having their children attend classes in-person. A few parents stated there were more numbers of younger people testing positive for COVID-19 and were worried that there is not enough data regarding children and the virus to warrant sending them to school.

Parents who wanted their children to attend some type of in-person class voiced their concerns about the mental health of children who have been isolated for months. They feel the data has shown that it would be safe for children to attend school with protocols in place regarding social distancing and face coverings.

The district did not respond to any of the comments on Wednesday. School board members and the superintendent were collecting and analyzing the opinions shared on Wednesday, along with results from parent and student surveys that were distributed and emailed comments, to help determine their decision that will be announced at the GUSD Board of Education meeting on July 14.

For those who would like to participate in the surveys, visit www.gusd.net/returntoschool. The deadline to return completed surveys is July 10. For those who would like to submit comments and questions email ReturnToSchool@gusd.net.

  Leonard Coutin, Mary Okeefe