SAN JOSE – Although the San José Unified School District was preparing to start the new academic year with a combination of classroom instruction and distance learning, recent events have forced him to press the pause button.
First, the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates across Santa Clara County and much of the state began to increase again a couple of weeks ago. And then on Friday night, the local teachers union announced that many of its teachers were adamant against returning to the classroom.
The district then decided to survey parents on what they would like to see happen before making a final decision.
In an interview Tuesday, Deputy Superintendent Stephen McMahon declined to say whether the school district would rule out the hybrid teaching model it announced a few weeks ago.
“I can’t definitively answer what the school will be like on August 12,” McMahon said, acknowledging that “at this time health conditions are not favorable” for the plan.
Across the state, more and more school districts have chosen to start the year with distance learning and, depending on when the pandemic subsides, gradually incorporate some classes. Two of the largest districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, announced Monday that they committed to distance education throughout the fall.
In addition to considering the results of the survey he sent on Friday, McMahon said the district will conduct “day-to-day” evaluations according to county health orders.
“We don’t want to make any promises in July that we can’t keep in August,” McMahon said, adding that the district anticipated an increase in coronavirus and built a model that “would allow us to move from classroom to home learning.”
He said the district intends to publish the results of the survey on Friday.
Even if the district chooses to open some classrooms next month, many teachers do not plan to return, San Jose Teachers Association president Patrick Bernhardt said Monday.
Bernhardt said about 600 of the 1,500 union members have made it “clear that they were preparing to make individual decisions not to return to work.”
Those are individual decisions, he said, adding that the union itself is not organizing teachers to stay away from classrooms.
“This really is not a situation where we anticipate asking members to take action, it really has been a lot of grassroots talks,” Bernhardt said.
“This is really a situation where members tell me things they are going to do to protect their own health and that of their family,” he said. “The district is really at risk of a lot of people making individual decisions.”
Teachers who do not want to leave the district but fear contracting the virus if they return to classrooms may seek guidance from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, although it is unclear what type of protection the state agency could provide.
McMahon said teachers can also speak to the district’s human relations department about their concerns, but did not say whether a teacher’s position or salary would be affected by not returning to work.
Union representative Bernhardt said he has not spoken to district administrators since he sent the letter.
“From what I have seen of my members, I see no other path beyond distance learning,” said Bernhardt. “The sooner we know what we are doing, the better. We need to dedicate our limited time and resources to doing distance learning to the best of our ability the first day of school. ”
Jennifer Maddox, whose two children go to San Jose Unified Schools, said she prefers a hybrid approach because any level of in-person instruction “would be beneficial, even if it may not be for all students.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close in March, Maddox said parents of students in the San José Unified School District wanted more access to teachers and less distance education, while teachers concerned about their safety have lawyer for distance education.
The debate is “not helping people feel more comfortable with the situation,” Maddox said, noting that the school is only a month away. “There are no easy answers. If the decision is made because they feel (distance learning) is the best environment they can offer while keeping students and staff safe, then I don’t know if we have many more options to accept.”
