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Update: At a town hall on March 17, Superintendent Stephens said that he does not expect any substitutes to be teaching students who remain in distance learning.
Update: At a town hall on March 16, Superintendent Brent Stephens said that he thinks distance learning students will be taught by BUSD teachers and substitutes will be used for in-person classes. “W
e may here and there have a substitute working in distance learning, but by and large I think our substitutes will be working in-person,” he said.
This is a change from what Stephens told Berkeleyside on Monday, that he would “prefer to have a mix of substitutes for in-person and distance learning.”
Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, board members unanimously approved a motion to rename Jefferson Elementary School after Ruth Acty at a special meeting Wednesday.
As the district’s first Black teacher, Ruth Acty was chosen by BUSD’s name advisory committee from options that were proposed based on their popularity among students, parents and faculty. According to Natasha Beery, director of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Program, Acty always wanted to be a teacher but faced many obstacles, including the death of her parents.
“As a woman of color, she expands the type of BUSD school names, and she would be the only Ruth Acty Elementary School in the world,” said Grace Kong, former name advisory committee chair and BUSD parent, during the meeting. “As an incredible educator, she really exemplifies what we’re trying to lift up in public education.”