WHS Associated Student Body present at WUSD board meeting
With talk of soon meeting in person, the Willits Unified School District (WUSD) held its monthly School Board meeting over Zoom on Feb. 10.
Willits Teachers Association (WTA) President Tessa Ford provided the WTA monthly report. She said that most teachers would be receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within the next couple of days. WUSD had received approval to conduct sports in the Purple Tier, including golf, tennis, cross country and swimming.
Ford also reported that two teachers had lost family members due to COVID-19 in the past couple of weeks and another WTA member has been hospitalized due to the virus. She said, “So, there is some anxiety, sadness and grief happening.”
The Union Report and Demand of Bargain Conditions for teachers to return to onsite instruction had been submitted to WUSD superintendent Mark Westerburg, and a meeting was set for Feb. 11 to include the Negotiations Team and Westerburg. Ford explained the Negotiations Team is made up of WTA members and is, “designed to reflect the perspectives of all the grade levels at all the sites. It includes teachers, counselors, people who teach core subjects, people who teach multiple subjects in contained classrooms. So, there is hopefully going to be a lot of concerns and ideas represented in the discussions. The purpose of that meeting is to negotiate the conditions, the terms, the policies and the practices for a return to the classroom in a specific, detailed document that follows State and County Health Guidelines and everyone can agree and abide by.”
In other news, Ford stated that 15 students are graduating from Sanhedrin High School this week.
WUSD Board Member Diane Mcneal said that ninth-grade test scores have dropped to the 25-30th percentile, which indicates these students will not likely graduate or attend college. She said the likely cause of the lower test scores is the pandemic. She said, “I want to see kids back.”
Board President Alex Bowlds urged community members to, “Please take a deep breath, we are definitely exploring options for bringing the kids back into the classroom. Think of it as nothing more than an exploration at this point, because we are not in a position to open.” He said that he would like to have a plan in place so the district will be ready to reopen when the time is right. He said, “It’s very possible we won’t be able to make all these pieces come together but that’s not a good reason for at least attempting it.”
The Willits High School Student Body gave a slideshow presentation to the Board titled “WHS 2020 Recap” with commentary from Claire Case Brackett, Kristen Frost, Aleen Hernandez, Willow Daun-widner, Paris Hansberger and Laila Britton. The students summarized what has been happening so far in the school year and voiced their hopes for the remainder of the year.
WHS teacher and Academic Decathlon coach, Mary Colvig, provided an update on the WHS team which is composed of 12 students who had recently competed against 20 schools in the Bay Regional Championship. She said, “I’m really proud of my team.” They received fourth place overall, with many students receiving Regional Individual Medals. Colvig said.