The Cajon Valley Union School District approved a plan Thursday to re-open campuses, but as much as parents want their children to go back to school, not all of them are happy.
Parents would be given three options: distance learning, a hybrid of distance learning and online learning at school, and five days a week at school where students would do online learning.
Teachers would be “advisers” and students would be in “cohorts” with other students who may be in different grade levels and have different skill sets.
Parents say they understand there needs to be changes to accommodate social distance guidelines and ensure safety, and they want that, but they fear the district's changes could become permanent.
“We want to [eventually] go back to a traditional classroom setting, with a live teacher in front of them (students), just like pre-Covid,” said Leona Abbo, a parent with two children in the district. "Our kids are falling apart, they don’t want to do homework, they are mentally falling apart.”
Part of the fear of the new structure becoming permanent stems for claims the superintendent has an agenda to change education with the focus on online learning.
Before voting 4 to 1 in favor of the plan, the district board promised to evaluate the plan at the end of the coming school year to determine whether to move forward or revise the plan for the 2021-2022 school year.
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“I am actually very happy," Parent Charissa McCullough said. "The amendment they made and offered by the board really showed they were listening to us parents, and that they are willing to work with us to get back to a similar class and school structure in place pre-pandemic."
This, for us, feels like a win
Chasissa McCullough, parent
Parent Melissa Donegan said she does not believe the change will only be for one year and says the superintendent wants to implement his own plan.
“This is not about our kids, this is not about our teachers," Donegan said.
Superintendent David Miyashiro said “We want kids to get back in the classroom," but he also said districts have been directed to have distance learning in place and be prepared for further pandemic-related changes ---"as if we won't be able to use our campuses."
