I watched the Board Meeting on Sept. 17, and it is now clear the LBUSD board will not open for in person learning for Middle and High school until late November after first trimester. While it is safe for schools to open this week according to the OC Health Care Agency, the secondary teachers made it clear through numerous anonymous public comment that they do not feel it is safe. The Board stated they support teachers and many parents also support our hard-working teachers, but I heard no mention of the students’ needs.
Would Sheri Morgan and Amy Kramer support the use of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Guidance on small cohort instruction intended to bring small groups of students back to the high school for some in-person learning? The athletic coaches are doing that now. Possibly the teachers could start teaching from classrooms and learn to live stream with small groups and then when students return to school the teachers could teach four days synchronous instead of two repeated lessons (A/B cohorts). Seems like a lot of work for the teachers to teach the same lesson twice. Students get half the instruction and the pace is slowed down. Where is the innovation? Where is the problem solving to meet student needs? Could Amy Kramer and Sheri Morgan solve this?
The answer to the question is yes. Amy Kramer and Sheri Morgan can and will bring dynamic solutions and problem solving to the Board. We need innovation and creative thinkers like them for our schools. Our children deserve better than the incoherent governance of the current school board.
This last meeting of the school Board was an embarrassment, as the Board majority clearly has no plan and are doing the “slow drip” process of consensus, then hurry up to schedule another meeting. There is no progress in months for reopening for in-person learning when preparations could have been happening if the board was willing to follow the LBUSD Playbook approved by the Board majority to open up schools according to the intent of the Trimester System.
I know Sheri and Amy deeply care for the children, are smart; do the necessary research and could figure how to reopen safely with small cohorts. Make way for “new blood” that puts children first and understands that over 70% of families who requested a return to classroom expects board governance that represent them. Vote for Sheri and Amy!
David Flores, Laguna Beach
