|
"Putting Kids First"
February 3, 2021
Dear PVPUSD Parents, Staff and Community Members,
We are now firmly entrenched in the second half of the school year and our educational programs continue to evolve with this pandemic. Our teachers and support staff have done an outstanding job meeting the needs of our students during the most challenging time of their educational careers. We are also grateful to you, many of whom have sacrificed so much while having to balance work, family, and your children's education. At the same time, we have heard from struggling students and we are doing our best to address their mental health and their academic concerns.
VACCINATIONS:
Vaccinations are at the top of everyone's mind and PVPUSD has secured a partnership with the Beach Cities Health District to vaccinate our employees when their supply becomes available. While initial information from the LA County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) indicated that vaccinations for educators (Tier 1B) would occur in early February, supply issues at the state level have slowed down the availability of vaccine in LA County. As a result, educators have yet to be offered vaccinations, outside of a small number of school health professionals and staff 65 and older. It is our hope that the vaccination of people in Tiers 1A and 1B, along with a decrease in COVID transmission rates, will incentivize the county to reopen all schools as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Palos Verdes numbers continue to improve, with testing positivity and active cases in decline.
DISTANCE LEARNING ACADEMY:
Students whose families chose our Distance Learning Academies, comprised of roughly 25% of our total district population, are thriving. Diagnostic data shows that most of our students are learning at or above grade level despite this new way of learning, which is a tribute to our teachers, our parents, and most importantly our amazing students, who have adapted and succeeded in this very different learning environment.
SAFETY AND SECURITY MEASURES:
PVPUSD has implemented a myriad of safety measures to meet state and county health guidelines while providing a positive and nurturing learning environment for our kids.
HYBRID PRESCHOOL- GRADE 2:
By the middle of February, all preschool and TK-2nd grade Hybrid programs will have returned to campus for in-person instruction, under LACDPH protocols and the TK-2 waiver. Many started back this week. In addition, special education programs have returned for these grades.
HYBRID GRADES 3-12:
For many of our Hybrid families with students in grades 3-12, we realize the disappointment as the state and county have not permitted the return to in-person instruction. The current state policy dictates that county case rates must be <25 cases per 100K residents before grades 3-6 can return to school in the Purple Tier. This criterion further stipulates that a county must be in the Red Tier for schools to return grades 7-12, having case rates of <7 per 100K residents.
Therefore, in absence of policy changes at the state and local levels, our middle and high school hybrid programs will not be returning to campus until these numbers decline, which is why we are being as creative as possible in keeping kids engaged in learning and being ever vigilant in identifying students who need mental health support services.
In addition, a variety of high need programs and after school activities have returned to campus this week including special education programs 3-12, at-risk learning pods 6-12, and high school athletics programs. Extracurricular programs such as STEM, Music, Drama, middle school sports, and other site-specific programs are in process of either returning or considered for return as after-school school camp activities under the LACDPH health and safety guidelines.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
While we have worked continuously with county officials, as has our Board, many families have asked what they can do to advocate for school reopening. Although card rooms, restaurants, and malls have been allowed to reopen with restrictions, schools have not been prioritized. Additionally, all of LA County continues to be treated as one unit. We encourage you to reach out to our county supervisor, Janice Hahn, and let her know how important it is to reopen our schools (Supervisor Janice Hahn: [email protected].gov).
The District will continue to provide updates to you as information evolves. We hope that you stay healthy and thank you again for your continued support.
Respectfully,
Alex Cherniss, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
--
To respond to this message, please email: [email protected]
|