Berkeley school board discusses reopening, graduation plans
Sunny Shen/File
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education met Wednesday go over school reopening plans and graduation plans. The Office of Family Engagement and Equity provided an update as well.
The Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, Board of Education met Wednesday to hear public comments, go over school reopening and graduation plans and receive an update from its Office of Family Engagement and Equity, or OFEE.
During public comment, fifth-grader Samya Van Valer and sixth-grader Violet Kessler encouraged the board to support clean water funds and utilize reusable resources rather than single-use plastics in BUSD schools.
School board surprised by recommendation to expand police presence in Berkeley high schools
School resource officer program wins over committee but school board members still question if police are needed to keep schools safe.
The Berkeley school district is considering what role, if any, police should play in its schools.
At a board meeting on Wednesday night, school board members debated the role of the School Resource Officer (SRO), a single officer employed by the Berkeley Police Department who is stationed at school campuses.
Since 2019, Geoffrey Mitchell has been the district’s sole SRO. He works on the campuses of Berkeley High and Berkeley Technology Academy, the district’s continuation school, four days a week. He also tutors students on Berkeley High’s football team.
Black, Latinx community members reflect on impact of COVID-19
Multicultural Institute/Courtesy
The pandemic has disproportionately affected racial minorities, with Black individuals having the highest death rates from COVID-19. The pandemic has also highlighted the discrimination and inequality that racial minorities face.
For Daniela Gonzalez-Perez, the day labor program assistant at the Multicultural Institute, the COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified the struggles that have confronted racial minority groups before the country shut down in March 2020.
Racial minorities have historically experienced discrimination and inequality, with the pandemic reproducing those struggles in the form of disproportionate COVID-19 deaths, case rates and access to resources and information, according to Gonzalez-Perez. She and other members of the Latinx and Black communities shared the impact of the pandemic on their communities and what it has meant to them.