Return to in-person learning in jeopardy for some North County students
and last updated 2020-12-22 21:42:48-05
ENCINITAS, Calif. (KGTV)- School leaders in a north county school district are trying to figure out how to address a legal petition filed by their teachers union.
The San Dieguito Union High School District Board of Trustees held an emergency closed-door meeting Tuesday at Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach.
A few dozen students and some parents gathered outside the school to protest the district s plan to return to in-person instruction in January. Our teachers have taught us to stand up for what s right, and we see that the board is not listening to their needs, their concerns, they re putting their lives at risk, so we are here to support our teachers, said student Andrea Gately.
Return to in-person school headed for legal fight in North County Videos
and last updated 2020-12-21 21:19:32-05
ENCINITAS, CALIF. (KGTV) The return to in-person instruction for some north county students appears to be in legal limbo.
Friday, the California Teachers Association filed a legal petition on behalf of the union representing the teachers in the San Dieguito Union High School District.
The union wants the district s reopening plan blocked, saying, among other things, it violates the state s public health rules concerning the pandemic.
Last Tuesday, the school board voted to give students the option of returning to in-person instruction five days a week on January 27th. Previously, the board voted to return to campus one day a week beginning January 4th.
Students in the San Dieguito Union High School District will be returning to one-day-a-week instruction on Jan. 4 following the winter break. On Dec. 15, the board voted 3-2 in favor of a resolution that targets an expanded reopening to full-time, five-day-a-week school by the first day of the third quarter on Jan. 27.
At each school site, students have been asked to commit to coming to school one day a week or to remain in distance learning: 42% of students have opted in to return for one day a week at Torrey Pines High School and 56% of students will return at La Costa Canyon. At the academies, new classes start at the beginning of the third quarter so more students have opted to finish their current classes online. On Jan. 4, 31.28% of Canyon Crest Academy students have decided to come back one day a week and 39.3% of students will return at San Dieguito Academy.
The San Dieguito Union High School Board voted last week to reopen schools starting in January, despite warnings from district administrators, the teachers union and others that there won’t be enough staff and that the reopening violates state rules.
The board voted 3-2 late Tuesday night to offer all students one-day-a-week, in-person instruction starting Jan. 4, and five-days-a-week in-person instruction starting Jan. 27.
The board voted at 11 p.m., after receiving hundreds of public comments from students, parents and teachers arguing for or against reopening next month.
San Dieguito serves about 12,900 middle and high school students at 10 schools.
Advertisement
Many parents told the district that their children are suffering socially, emotionally and academically during school closures. Some said it’s not fair that other schools in the San Diego area have been open for months.
San Dieguito school board approves expanded reopening
New trustee Michael Allman addresses the board on Dec. 15.
(Karen Billing)
Print
The San Dieguito Union High School District board voted 3-2 in favor of a resolution that expands school reopening at the beginning of the third quarter in January, a resolution drafted by new board trustee Michael Allman. The vote came at close to 11 p.m. on Dec. 15, after a nearly six-hour-long meeting with new President Mo Muir, Vice President Melisse Mossy and Allman voting in favor.
The resolution states: “Unless specifically ordered otherwise by an applicable public health order issued directly to the district by the county or state, the Governing Board determines and directs that all district schools should be open for on-campus instruction for all students who desire to participate on a full-time basis beginning on the first day of the third quarter of the school year, January 27, 2021.”