BUSD: Wed. Jan 27: 6pm State Of The District, 7pm Reopening Conversation

Berkeley CA

26 January, 2021

10:00 PM

Description

Press release from Berkeley Public Schools: January 25, 2021 Dear BUSD Community, On Wednesday, January 27, I will host the annual Superintendent's State of the District meeting for parents and guardians at this Zoom webinar link. I hope you'll join me from 6:00 to 7:00 pm to hear updates from BUSD about: Accomplishments during the Fall of 2020 State funding for the 2021-2022 school year News about BUSD community engagement efforts in the Spring related to our Local Control and Accountability Plan, middle school student assignment, and the revision of the district's English Learner Master Plan. The annual State of the District event is the traditional launch of the district's budget and planning season. I recognize that many parents hope desperately for information about school reopening and are eager for straight talk about how this process works, what is happening here in Berkeley to reopen our schools, and what to expect during the Spring months. For this reason, I plan to extend the State of the District meeting from 7:00 – 8:00pm in order to host an informal, unscripted conversation with the community about reopening. I plan to invite several parents with varying viewpoints on school reopening to enhance this discussion, and will also take live questions as well. You are very welcome to attend one or both of these webinars. The Zoom webinar link to both the State of the District meeting at 6:00 pm and the extended conversation about school reopening at 7:00 pm is the same. On Tuesday morning of this week, I am also appearing on KQED's Forum at 9:00 am (88.5 FM) to discuss school reopening, as are several BUSD parents with strong interests in school reopening. I hope that this serves as an additional opportunity to listen to a very local version of the school reopening conversation that is taking place all over the country, and I welcome you to tune in. I worry a great deal that we may be entering a very tough period of this terrible pandemic. The transmission rates are still high, the economic impact continues to be steep and disproportionate, and children are hurting – many of them very badly. The frustration seems palpable and is easy to understand. Still, we have reason to be optimistic that relief is coming, even if it's not fast as we crave. Soon – maybe in the next month – we hope to regain permission to open in a phased-in, hybrid model at the elementary level, once COVID-19 transmissions have declined further. We also hope that within the next several weeks, there will be greater COVID vaccine availability so that educators and staff may start receiving first and second doses, which will make a real difference to school reopening. Meanwhile, the district is making strides to develop a student COVID testing program, and the progress at the bargaining table with all unions for agreements is real. We are getting there, and in this moment of intensifying frustration, our compassion for one another – our belief in the quality of our Berkeley community – continues to be a great source of strength. Warmly, Brent Stephens Superintendent This press release was produced by Berkeley Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author's own.