CVUSD continues to plan for new school year one month ahead of fall start date

The Coachella Valley Unified School District continues planning for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

The district's back-to-school start date is on August 13. It still remains unclear what approach the school will take.

District administrators are set to propose three potential models to the Board of Education on Thursday. They range from full distance learning to a hybrid approach of integrating 50 percent of students on campus on an alternating basis.

"One, if we were to come back, the whole student body, what would that look like," Coachella Valley Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Maria Gandera, Ed.D. said.

A staggered return date, as well as complete distance learning, are all being considered.

"One of the reasons why we came up with these three plans, we knew things would be changing any moment in time. Even when and if we return to school at the same time, we still knew that there was the potential that we may have had to close schools again because of an increase in cases so that was always a part of a whole general plan," Gandera said.

A task force committee was formed to create each plan. Following the board's decision surveys will also be created to receive feedback from parents, teachers, and staff ahead of August 13.

Many parents and teachers have come forward to voice concerns.

"I live in the East Valley, a lot of us are farmworkers and I wouldn’t be able to afford it and live comfortably and stay home and take care of my daughter and be able to homeschool her," Thermal resident, Christina Lopez said.

Dr. Gandera said the district does not currently have a plan in place for parents that have to work and cannot stay at home with their children. She said they will eventually look to see what programs they can offer parents outside of the school day.

Lopez has a daughter who will be entering school for the first time. She is concerned about the spread of Coronavirus but also is unclear because the school district has yet to inform her of a plan.

"I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. I’m worried for her-- it’s her first year so I don’t know how it’s going to be when she gets on the bus-- other kids," Lopez said.

CVUSD parent, Victor Alcantara, also voiced his frustration with potentially allowing children to return to school.

"I think it’s too soon to do that. If they start doing online classes I’m okay with that but if they start taking this like nothing happened, and being normal the next year, I don’t agree with that," Alcantara said.

Alcantara said he wants his kids to get a good education and be with their friends, but "this time it’s different. So what is the deal with seeing my kids in the school and getting sick or staying at home and being healthy for the next 6 months? I don’t want to pay the price.

Many parents also spoke on not being able to adequately teach their children because they don't have experience. Many will be asked to participate in trainings to help children learn effectively.

"There’s going to be a lot of videos that we’re planning, of professional development, that we’re putting up on our website so our families will be able to see how to help their students get online," Dr. Gandera said.

Teachers are also expected to receive training prior to August 13. Dr. Gandera said some of that could happen a few days before school, when teachers are getting ready for the new school year.

Another challenge is that many families of the East Valley do not have access to resources for distance learning. Not all students have WiFi and computers. Dr. Gandera said the district is working to supply students with iPads and hotspots.

"The plan is to get something to everybody as soon as possible. We’ve already passed out thousands of iPads before the school year ended and now we’re going to pass out more," Dr. Gandera said.

The district is expecting to have a more finalized decision in the next few weeks.

If you would like to participate in Thursday's meeting on July 9 public comment will be available until 5:15 p.m. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. You can watch it at https://cvusd-us.zoom.us/j/84773737777.