Coronavirus: The undetermined future of how PSUSD classes will resume

As Coronavirus cases continue to soar through the country and in Riverside County, local school districts are still weighing their options over how they intend on resuming the new school year.

The Palm Springs Unified School District start date is August 5, but parents may still not know the full outcome of what the school year will hold until July 28.

"Everything is up in the air. It's where it stands right now, not necessarily where it will end up," Palm Springs Unified School District Superintendent, Sandra Lyon, Ed.D. said.

On Tuesday the Board of Education will meet and review a proposal brought forth by the district, which will outline what the new school year could look like.

"At this point our recommendation is we have a phased-in approach starting with distance learning, working to a hybrid model, and then ultimately when health conditions allow, having everybody back on campus," Dr. Lyon said.

Dr. Lyon said the hybrid model could be implemented right after Labor Day, but the decision will be contingent upon health conditions.

"One thing that we’ll be working with-- we hope put in place will be more synchronous learning so that there is [...] the same kind of opportunity for our students on a regular basis so that they are actually getting live instruction as well and we think that makes a big difference," Dr. Lyon said.

The proposal calls for 2-3 hours of live instruction daily, and independent study time where teachers could provide one-on-one support when needed. Social emotional learning is also recommended, which could help students cope during the pandemic.

"We need to support the whole child. Academics are critically important and students need to have those interactive skills, those interpersonal skills, those self regulations skills, the ability to monitor and take care of themselves. That will be a part of what we’re doing. The mental health and well being of our students is as important as anything and we know adults are feeling very isolated in this new environment that we’ve been in, so we want to figure out what we can do to tap into how are students are feeling and help them understand what’s going on and then how they can do their own self care," Dr. Lyon said.

Palm Springs Unified School District has held board meetings, town hall meetings, and engaged parents and faculty through Thoughtexchange surveys. Teachers and parents addressed some of their biggest concerns, including the fact that parents will need to work and cannot stay home with their kids.

"Right now we’ll look to see what we can do in terms of our after school programs and what we’ve offered before and how we can help mitigate for that. At this point we really don’t know-- we know its put a tremendous pressure on our families and so of course we’re going to do whatever we can to help," Dr. Lyon said.

Despite working through many of the apparent challenges, the district is onboard ensuring students have the proper tools to be able to engage in classes online, including computers and hotspots. Dr. Lyon said that the district initially deployed equipment to students in grades 3-12.

"We are about 99 percent on track and we did just recently get a grant from CTET and we will be getting another 500 devices that will be deployed to students," Dr. Lyon said.

Instructors and staff have learned a lot following the abrupt transition from the previous school year. Teachers have also voiced their concerns, and asked whether there will be training to optimize their ability to teach classes online. Although the district will provide training, there was no timeline as of Monday, on when that would become available.

Following the board meeting focus groups made up of counselors, teachers, special education parents, and others, will come together to provide feedback.

"We’re not withholding information, we’re just trying to put it all together as that information also comes to us," Dr. Lyon said.

Dr. Lyon said they are currently abiding by guidelines put forth by the Department of Education and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She said information changes on a daily basis, and asked for the patience of all who are involved.

A more solidified plan is expected on July 28 when the board is scheduled to reconvene.

If you would like to submit comments for Tuesday's board meeting you can email hbonestell@psusd.us before noon on the same day. You can also watch the meeting live at https://bit.ly/psusdlive at 6 p.m.