District, union spar over reopening
The California Teachers Association recently sent a cease and desist letter to the Yuba City Unified School District objecting to the plan to have sixth- through 12thgrade students begin a hybrid instructional model on Feb. 1.
This week, YCUSD preschool through fifth-grade students returned to the classroom utilizing a hybrid model – which combines in-person instruction and distance learning.
During a meeting on Jan. 12, the board set a goal to resume in-person instruction for students in grades sixth through 12th with extensive safety measures in place.
“Quite unexpectedly our school board voted to resume in-person instruction for our sixth- through 12th-grade students despite the fact that we’re in the purple tier (and) that our numbers are quite worrisome,” said Dina Luetgens, Yuba City Teachers Association president. “The bicounty public health officer had
strongly recommended that schools remain on distance learning until spring and (California Department of Public Health) guidelines are clear that we should only open for sixth through 12th when we’re well out of the purple tier.”
According to a letter sent to the district by the California Teachers Association representing the Yuba City Teachers Association, resuming inperson instruction under the state of COVID-19 in the Yuba-sutter area is “more than gravely-ill advised. It is also in direct violation of governing CDPH guidelines …
The Blueprint for a Safer Economy provides ‘Schools in the Widespread (purple) tier aren’t permitted to reopen for in-person instruction.’”
Both Yuba and Sutter counties remain in the purple tier.
The letter states that the board’s actions also go against the advice of legal counsel, professional education staff (including administrators and certificated staff represented by YCTA) and Bi-county Public Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu.
Luu had sent a letter to Yuba County and Sutter County superintendents and principals in December “strongly recommending” that schools continue distance learning until spring of this year – with exceptions for special student populations.
“The Yuba City Teachers Association submitted a thorough explanation of why they believe the district cannot implement (the board’s) direction without violating state mandates designed to protect the health of students, staff and the community,” according to the school district. “The district’s legal counsel has reviewed the YCTA’S letter and will advise the board on the issues raised in it. The board will take this matter up in their next meeting on January
26. In the interim, our district will remain focused on providing the best education we can to the children of our community, whether that takes place online or in person.”
Luetgens said distance learning has been a challenge but teachers continue to learn and try new things to engage with their students.
“We all care so much about our community and
our schools … We need to be doing this together as a community, now is our time to work together to support our students and our families,” Luetgens said. “...We want to be back in our classrooms, but we need those classrooms to be safe and stable learning environments.”
Luetgens said the association hopes that the board will listen to both legal and medical counsel, along with teachers, staff and others involved.
“My greatest hope in all of this is that this is an opportunity for us to all model resilience, compassion and cooperation for our students and our community,” Luetgens said. “These times are difficult and how we respond to difficult times says a lot about our shared commitment to each other.”