The following letter is from MDUSD Superintendent Dr. Adam Clark:
Dear MDUSD Families and Staff,
I hope this message finds you well during this challenging time. This communication will focus on efforts that have been and are currently taking place to transition to in-person learning, in other words, to welcome students back onto their school campuses.
As you may recall, I presented an update on reopening schools on October 21, 2020. During this Special Governing Board Meeting, I shared two sample schedules, one elementary and one secondary, that could be implemented within the requirements of the California Department of Public Health and the Contra Costa Health Services Department safety guidance. However, the schedule was widely rejected by families and staff because it would require new class assignments and possibly new school assignments, due to the number of teachers who had underlying health conditions or were caring for others who had underlying health conditions, leaving them unable to return to work on campus.
In response to that stakeholder feedback, a new sample schedule was created and presented at the November 17, 2020 Special Governing Board Meeting. This new schedule met the safety guidelines as well as ensured that class and school assignments would remain the same. At this meeting, the Governing Board approved a reopening timeline that would open our schools gradually to specific grade levels starting on January 11, 2021. However, at the December 14, 2020 Governing Board Meeting, I recommended that we postpone the reopening timeline due to the State’s Regional Stay At Home Order. Furthermore, health officials warned that a holiday surge of the virus could lead to a significant increase in cases and hospitalizations. The warning proved to be accurate. Finally, at the January 13, 2021 Governing Board Meeting, due to the increased infection rates, I stated that MDUSD schools should remain in distance learning until the completion of the third quarter/second trimester (March 2021).
Thankfully, reopening guidance, health metrics and mitigation requirements were recently updated and disseminated throughout the state. School district personnel and stakeholders have access to the transparent, detailed process to reopen schools when the health metrics deem it appropriate to do so. In order to be cleared for schools to reopen this spring, updated guidelines require that districts lay out protocols for mask-wearing, physical distancing, hand-washing, cleaning, and disinfecting, as well as for managing COVID-19 cases among students and employees. With that said, eight of the eighteen school districts within Contra Costa County have signed agreements with their labor partners and are preparing to bring students on campus in the coming weeks.
At the February 10, 2021 Governing Board Meeting, I will provide the MDUSD Board of Trustees a formal update regarding our COVID-19 safety protocols, state and county requirements for reopening, and the status of negotiations.
This pandemic has created hardships for many of our students, employees, and families. I believe that together we can find common ground on how to best meet the immediate and long term needs of our families and staff. Thank you, as always, for your continued support and understanding during these challenging times.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Adam Clark, Ed.D.
It will just be more platitudes with zero actual plan and zero promises. These people cannot get anything together. Please, everyone email these clowns (even if you have no kids here, you still pay taxes to support this show) and tell them that the community DEMANDS they reopen and stop with the excuses. We need your support.
How can “you” make plans during all of this? How can a district with 10’s of thousands of students make plans for all of this? The teachers are working, and the kids are learning. Don’t ever make the mistake of saying otherwise! Your gripe is how “your” life is impacted, not taking anything else into factor. Why don’t you lobby to have teachers be vaccinated first? You’re not, and you want to blame the district for keeping not only kids safe, but teachers too. I don’t know if you’ve looked around lately, outside of your parroting friends group, but it’s not all good out there. And if you think it is, you’re an ill informed selfish person. Not even a human being…
@Because,
Wow, it must be impossible for school districts to reopen. Must be unprecedented – wait, it’s happened all over the country and the world. Whoops!
My life is just fine – it’s the kids whose parents both work, or who are too young for ‘distance learning’ to mean anything, or who are getting clinically depressed …
You’re clearly not well informed at all about any of this, because kids themselves are at no significant risk from Covid-19. It’s all about the effect on adults: school staff and the broader community. And there is a ton of evidence that schools, with very doable precautions, can be open without driving major spread. Does anybody in power/leverage around here care about that evidence? Nope!
@ Because
Wow …
The teachers are NOT working and the kids are NOT learning as they should.
High Schoolers get ~20 hours of week of class time, and the teacher only has to be there 50% of that. One teacher at College Park takes 20 minutes to do roll call … and then the last 20 minutes of required time to ask students if they have questions. Pre-Covid they were in a classroom over 30 hours a week … so don’t you dare say it is compatible.
Kids are missing out on sports where they learn team work and engage their physical body in addition to their minds. Sports are sometimes the only thing that keeps kids out of trouble.
Kids are missing out on the social development skills they learn by being with people their own age.
So ‘Because’, you are are the ‘ill-informed selfish person’ if you think these children are being treated fairly. I feel sorry for any offspring you would bring into your life with the attitude that you just displayed in your arrogant your little post.
Now, how can a district make plans .. O I don’t know. I would think that since hundreds, if not thousands, of other districts across the country and the world have figured out how to put kids physically back into a classroom that MDUSD could figure it out …
Vaccinations for teachers … why? CDC, WHO, even science says they do NOT need it to be safely back in a classroom. That is just a cop out that they are using today to try and ‘defend’ their position.
To @Because
The mind of the California progressive….you would be exhibit 1 of the “entitled enlightened class”…maybe its the school boards job to make plans, maybe people who are actually at risk of dying should be prioritized first, I don’t know if you have looked around lately, outside of your Kamala Harris fan group, but there are a lot of kids in this country back at school but you keep believing your holier-than-thou garbage. And if you think I am wrong, you’re an ill informed coward and not even a human being (see others can do the same thing as you!).
@Because
Thank you for your positivity and support!! It means the world to us teachers!
Its fascinating to see the difference in attitude between teachers with their secure government jobs, and grocery workers. We never got squat, no one asked us if we wanted to keep going to work. We got little plexiglass shields, a short two month pay bump, cheap cloth masks and a few rah rah articles about being heros.
I’m more than willing to let the teachers stay home and avoid risk if they’d like to divert some of that secure government salary to the grocery workers. I mean, if teaching is the risk they say it is, they should be profoundly grateful to us for taking that risk on their behalf, and more than willing to compensate us for the danger we are in, right?
Covid has made the class divide in this country very stark.
If I get vaccinated: 💉💉💉
1.- Can I stop wearing the mask?
Government Response – No
2.- Can they reopen restaurants, pubs, bars etc and everyone work normally?
Government Response – No
3.- Will I be resistant to covid?
Government Response – Maybe, but we don’t know exactly, it probably won’t stop you getting it
4.- At least I won’t be contagious to others anymore?
Government Response – No you can still pass it on, possibly, nobody knows.
5.- If we vaccinate all children, will school resume normally?
Government Response – No
6.- If I am vaccinated, can I stop social distancing?
Government Response – No
7.- If I am vaccinated, can I stop disinfecting my hands?
Government Response – No
8.- If I vaccinate myself and my grandfather, can we hug each other?
Government Response – No
9.- Will cinemas, theatres and stadiums be reopened thanks to vaccines?
Government Response – No
10.- Will the vaccinated be able to gather?
Government Response – No
11.- What is the real benefit of vaccination?
Government Response – The virus won’t kill you.
12.- Are you sure it won’t kill me?
Government Response – No
13.- If statistically the virus won’t kill me anyway … Why would I get vaccinated?”
Government Response – To protect others.
14.- So if I get vaccinated, the others are 100% sure I’m not infecting them?
Government Response – No
So to summarise, the Covid19 vaccine…
Does not give immunity.
Does not eliminate the virus.
Does not prevent death.
Does not guarantee you won’t get it.
Does not prevent you from getting it.
Does not stop you passing it on
Does not eliminate the need for travel bans.
Does not eliminate the need for business closures.
Does not eliminate the need for lockdowns.
Does not eliminate the need for masking.
So…what is it actually doing?
Original author: Behind Enemy Lines in MN5
Teacher- that is NOT positivity. That is delusional. Sorry to say that all of you parroting the “can’t teach from a coffin” soundbite are all brainwashed and deluded. Coming from a medical provider right here.
So basically still no real news on reopening the schools other than to “update Covid protocols on requirements for reopening”, while 8 other districts w/in the county plan to open up in the coming weeks since they were able to get agreements signed with their labor partners. More proof that there is no leadership within the MDUSD. We should get a partial refund from our property taxes.
Quit the BS and get the kids back to school.
This will be blocked by the teachers Union !!
I believe the teachers deserve a new contract with a better than average raise, it’s way over due !
I also believe the teachers Union is holding every child hostage by hiding behind the every teacher should be vaccinated before they will return to the classroom argument .
The same teachers that are receiving 100 percent of their pay and benefits and on average are only working only 50% of the time. I know that’s not all the teachers but a lot are taking advantage of this for sure ! Why would they ever want to return to the classroom.
How about we close all the grocery stores until all the food industry workers are vaccinated..
I find the teachers Union to be blind to what they are doing to the kids and it’s a shame!
John—
Do you really think the teachers Union are blind to this? They could care less about the kids. When they are all getting full pay for not showing up, there is something wrong. Shame on them, but then again, they have no shame.
Most teachers are working harder than ever! It’s like being a first year teacher again. We have to come up with all new lesson plans for every lesson every day! We are dealing with more technology issues than we have ever had to deal with. We are answering more emails, doing more training, and trying to help parents navigate distance learning for their children. No teacher likes distance learning. We are all sick of it and hate it. We can see students falling behind. It’s not beneficial for students to learn this way. We are working at odd hours to reach parents and families. It’s super stressful, difficult, and time consuming and yet feel helpless. Stop trying to blame the teachers. Blame Covid, blame society, blame the government. Blame the fact that our classes are over crowded which is making returning safely all much more difficult. How about you try keeping 30 five year olds six feet apart all day in a classroom that was built in the 1960’s. Vote for more funding and vote for smaller class sizes. When this pandemic is over, another one is likely to come again in the not so distant future. We need to have systems set up to be prepared to navigate this type of chaos. No one was prepared for this and that’s why it’s a ****storm!
@John – “I find the teachers union to be blind to what they are doing to the kids and it’s a shame.
The teachers union is not blind to what they are doing to the kids. How do I know? Before she retired and moved to Florida, the former president of MDEA told me to my face that the union was for the teachers, not the students.
teacher….. No sympathy here…
More funding, smaller classes, etc… Same song, different day. We’ve heard that whining for 20-30 years. You don’t fix things just by throwing money at it. And frankly, the public school system is a disgrace. As someone else posted – if you know your kids’ teachers politics, those teachers need to be FIRED!
Like being a first year teacher again? Horse$hit!
Having to come up with new lessons plans every day? Horse$hit! You’ve had to come up with lesson plans since day 1.
I blame the teachers union AND the teachers for not forcing the issue with the union AND the district. Apparently you’re not “sick of it and hating it” enough to do anything about it.
Deal with it – then you can call the waaaaaambulance.
I should add to my comment above regarding “the union was for the teachers, not the students”. As a teacher, now retired, I never believed anything the teacher’s union said. They are a power and money hungry group of unhappy people. Unfortunately, some uninformed teachers follow them like puppy dogs.
the cdc says in person schooling is OK, to get over it already!
Such a good letter that really says nothing. What s bunch of morons that are part of the department of our education. Useless people that have no idea what they’re doing.
Now they’re ignoring science!
The teacher unions at first claimed that science was saying they should not be in the classroom, which they heeded. Now though, studies and science say that is totally safe yet they’re ignoring science this time.
Exactly.
@adam clark
You’re an idiot. The stupidity you expel is insulting and condescending. Similar the last guy. Do your job. If you can’t do your job then resign. Better to drop the stupid. We see everything now.
Aren’t you an employee of the district??
Negative. I’m a scientist who has been trying to tell you guys masks are useless against the COVID HOAX.
No excuse to open now teachers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/cdc-director-says-schools-can-safely-reopen-without-vaccinating-teachers.html
In the meantime, I work at a daycare helping children with their zooms and all I see is how done they are with all this! I have been in the same room with those kids teaching them to keep their masks on and washing their hands all day! It’s doable! The daycare has 4 rooms of kids doing distance learning and no cases of covid! Not one! And parents need to be thankful we are managing all this and be supportive, not leaving everything to us! Anyhow…. my point is: small groups and proper guidelines should let our kids go back to school! So frustrated!
@Lola I couldn’t agree more that if the large childcare centers are managing groups of children and have very few problems, school should be in person. However, if I’m understanding you correctly you seem to be indicating that parents need to be grateful and supportive. Please know that I have many years experience in childcare as an administrator and as a parent of grown children who’ve attended various centers. The parents you speak of are showing their support and gratitude when they are writing out their tuition checks. I am sure your company has raised the rates to accommodate the extra services required to remain within the covid guidelines, and the families who attend your center happily pay the inflated rates for the care you’re center is giving. Though extending their verbal gratitude would be very nice and much appreciated, they are not required to do so. They are paying a proprietor for services and the proprietor is paying you for yours.
@parents need to be thankful
Parents are writing their checks because they have to! I get paid (no way I’ll be doing all this fro free!) but when they take the extra things you do for them for granted is frustrating, you should know that a lot of people have no idea what’s going on in their little one’s zooms as they do not get involved and leave it all to us. It’s bot about the money, itms about being recognized. But again, it is a society that thinks we do it all because we want a paycheck! I feel so bad for the teachers in public schools as well! But again, it’s not all about the money!
Adam Clark- the man who oversaw the dissolution of Mount Diablo Unified School District. So long and thanks for all the fish.
Wow that was the biggest pile of crap yet
Every post now from any entity that was telling us what to do and polarizing Covid as plague
Have now turned to covering their asses
As a full time job
The greedy self centered school system won’t budge until they get more money
Even though they have been paid the whole time while families suffered
About time to tell them how you feel
Nothing but more and more BS from MDUSD and the Teachers Union.
The title says it all: You don’t work with these people on behalf of children, you NEGOTIATE with them.
FREE NORTHGATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
108RS
Pissed off teachers sending kids to juvenile hall for letting the mask slip off their nose coming soon. You watch. Handcuffs, pepper spray, tasers, and criminal records for your little ones, all for the mask. Here we go. These people are sick.
They’ll still milk it until next fall, having meetings about meetings does nothing.
Why are they negotiating kids going back to school? Teachers need to get back in the classrooms. If you don’t want to, step aside for those who do. There are other teachers that would love to teach our kids in the classrooms. Just because you are union does not give you the right to deny a child the classroom education.
I don’t understand. Everyone has a choice where our kids go to learn. Quit complaining and find a way to get our kids in a classroom. You are responsible for your kids learning. No one else, especially MDUSD.
@ Dirk
Then why is it called public school if the parents are responsible? You are right in the fact that we should kick these teachers and their union to the curb and utilize a different scenario where the teachers actually care about teaching and not grandstanding…
@Dirk, I agree as long as the money that would have been going to educate that child is refunded back to the family so they could choose an alternative education, such as the private schools all around us…that have been operating very effectively since September.
#defundMDUSD
just more evidence that the leadership of this county is in the pocket of the unions, and those idiots voted for biden bin lying LOL
#Trump2024
To All Teachers. If you dont want to go back to the class room I respect that. However I dont believe you should get your salary then. There are plenty of other professions who have worked through this entire mess in person. Police, fire EMS, Hospitals, Hardware and grocery workers, Retail and I can guarantee you the teachers are out shopping, traveling Etc. Grow a set its time to go back to work or jump ship.
Not to mention the rest of the district employees have been required to come to work the entire time.
I would add ride share drivers who have been given very little protections and don’t even have a plastic partition to protect them from passengers with spacing less than 6 feet.
Teacher unions have far outlived any usefulness they might have once served. It is definitely time to look at abolishing this stranglehold that they have and dissolve their unions. People have been serving their coffee and making their Big Macs for over a year. Maybe we as a community don’t want these teachers back under any circumstances.
Did he say school employees were suffering hardships due to this situation? Did he really say that? What are the hardships? Getting extra sleep in the morning? Saving money on gas and lunch and other expenses incurred by someone actually going to work? There is no other profession in the country that has been able to work from home since March, doing only part of the job they are compensated for…..that is sitting at home collecting full pay. Those school employees have been living with exceptional privilege for the past year. To be clear there are excellent teachers who want to be back in class teaching but there are others dominating the unions who need to seriously check their privelege.
Not all, why do you think the teachers are being treated with so much more privilege than everyone else? Also why do maintenance workers and bus drivers do when there are no kids around?
Shameful…as bad as the statement put out by the WC interim chief of police
If the PCR tests work-Why the false positives
If the masks work-Why the 6 feet
If 6 feet works-Why the masks
If all three work-Why the lockdowns
If all four work-Why the vaccine
If the vaccine is safe-Why the no liability clause
If Covid-19 exists-Why has it not been isolated
Full stop.
Darn it Sam! Do you think logic might apply here?
Poor kids, it is only going to get worse
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/school-districts/contra-costa/lafayette-elementary/
Look at how much these people make to sit at home. This guy makes $250k before benefits to do nothing. The taxpayer should get a refund for all the money not going to the education of the youth.
I believe that it was Lao Tzu who wrote that a wise ruler “fills the belly and empties the mind”. Gavin bin Lyin is certainly emptying the minds of students in our state and bowing to the teacher’s unions at the same time.
If I were in charge, I would prevent teachers who refuse to return to the classroom from receiving the vaccine…until everyone else in the state had been inoculated.
Opinions aside, “Cranky Taco” is about the best handle I’ve seen in awhile.
I’m happy you laughed, folks can be so completely negative here sometimes…….
Sign the recall!!
This 🌎 has gone carzy.
Question: Why does the MDUSD board still meet remotely. Why are they not meeting in person safely?