MBUSD Considers Options for the Re-opening of School in 2020-2021 

Kimi Danaei

Period 4

6/5/20

MBUSD Considers Options for the Re-opening of School in 2020-2021 

 

Manhattan Beach Unified School District’s Board of Trustees begins to discuss different options for the fall of the 2020-2021 school year during the district’s board meeting on May 20th. 

MBUSD’s board members met via zoom on May 20th to begin discussing proposals for the 2020-2021 school year. During this meeting, board members proposed three options: a normal return to campus, a continuation of distance learning, or a hybrid model in which students may decide to return to school with a limited number of days and hours. They also considered feasible policies to be put in place next year in case of a return to campus. Since this meeting, surveys have been sent to parents and students regarding their experiences with online learning for this past quarter. The purpose of these surveys is to gain a better understanding of the needs of students, parents and staff before making a final decision for the set up of school, according to the PTA co-president Andrea Hynes.

“Parents, students and staff from K-12 must participate in these surveys to help the district and MBUSD take a closer look at the challenges and opportunities faced,” Hynes said. “These surveys will give more substantial data and information to help MBUSD take steps to pivot and propel if a distant learning environment is required in the future.” 

In an email from superintendent Dr. Mike Matthews sent on May 28th, Matthews stated that the ideal plan is to get students back on campus for the fall but as this is very unlikely, the backup plan is to continue online learning while also implementing the hybrid model.

“I would prefer the return to school option because I feel that it is beneficial to my learning, as well as the learning of other students to be in a classroom and to be able to interact with other students and teachers,” junior Samantha Lowery said. “However, this might not be beneficial in the context of health; for that reason, the hybrid model might be the best for students as it allows them to benefit from in-person learning while also keeping everyone safe.”

In addition to providing options for the setup of school in the fall, the board suggested various policies to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff if there is a return to campus in the fall. These policies include minimizing the number of classes students switch to throughout the day, separating students into smaller groups for breaks, and spacing students out in classrooms.  

“It is still premature in the pandemic to understand what the needs and guidelines from the state and country will be in late August,” Hynes said. “What I do know is that Costa students, parents and teachers possess the creative energy to come up with solutions to make whatever changes need to be made to accommodate robust learning and a sense of community.” 

The district has since been trying to develop a plan for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year by emailing parents and students surveys regarding their learning experiences during the quarantine. In a newsletter from Matthews, Matthews stated that steering committees, or advisory groups, made up of parents, teachers, unions, administrators, and students will be created to assess data from the surveys as well as to look at suggestions from the Health Department and other communities near Manhattan Beach. The committees will then present this information and further recommendations to the board about the plan for next year. In Matthews’ newsletter, Matthews also claimed that virtual town hall meetings will be held for parents, students and staff to ask questions.

“I think as long as [the committees] include all the stakeholders and it means that everyone who is impacted has a voice, it is going to be really hard to come to some kind of agreement because there are a lot of people with different opinions,” Costa teacher Rebecca Allen said. “I know there are teachers who don’t feel comfortable coming back in the fall and probably some students and their parents don’t feel comfortable as well so if there’s any way we could accommodate that choice I think that would be optimal, but it would probably be logistically really hard to accomplish.” 

In the board meeting on June 3rd, members reviewed the results from the surveys which stated that about half of the teachers would be comfortable to return to school. The other half of teachers are still undecided or would prefer another option and a little more than half of the students feel the same way. The board also further discussed virtual town hall meetings and spoke more about the creation of subcommittees and steering committees during this meeting. The final decision for the set up of school for the 2020-2021 school year will be determined around late July or early August, according to Matthews.  

“I honestly think that [the district] need more time to determine what should be implemented as far as learning goes for next year because we still have months before school resumes and we need to assess the current state of the nation before a decision is made,” junior Brenly Parker said.