Letter By Redondo Beach Unified School District Superintendent

Press release from the Redondo Beach Unified School District:

June 23, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians:

We hope you are enjoying the beginning of your summer. I apologize for the length of this letter. I prefer to be concise… not today.

As reminder, we reopened our Child Development Center (CDC) program on June 11. We have about 161 TK-5 students enrolled, wearing masks. The student/adult ratio, per the LA County Department of Public Health’s current child care guidelines, is 10:1. This will eventually evolve into 15:1 and then 20:1. The county will provide us those orders at the appropriate time. Our CDC implemented safety and cleaning protocols that will be with us when we return to school. We follow county safety protocols very closely. Thus far, the CDC program is successful thanks to a committed and dedicated staff. We want to thank our CDC parents who are committed to a safe and enjoyable summer experience for their children, while wearing a mask. This includes my own daughter.

Thank you for completing the RBUSD Family Readiness Survey that you received last week. Thus far, we have received over 4,600 family survey responses. In simple terms, at least this week, about 57% of our parents shared that they would be comfortable with their child’s return to the school site for the 2020-2021 school year five days a week. Approximately 24% of our parents shared their comfort with a hybrid (or blended) schooling model—part-time in school and part-time in distance learning. About 11% of our parents shared that they are more comfortable with full-time distance learning.

We receive new information about reopening schools every or every other day. On Tuesday of last week, I attended a meeting (in person) at the LA County Office of Education, along with 80 other LA county school district leaders. The meeting focused on the draft Reopening Schools Protocol from the LA County Department of Public Health. They wanted our input before the final version is made public, likely this week. It was a big room, we wore masks, and we maintained 6-feet physical distance from one another at all times. At this meeting we learned that the 6-feet physical distance was not a flexible protocol (as has been written into the protocols from some county departments of public health throughout our state). More specifically, we cannot create our RBUSD classrooms with a range of 3 to 6-feet for physical distancing. On Wednesday of last week, the same school district leaders were on a conference call with Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the Director of the LA County Department of Public Health. She confirmed the adherence to the 6-feet physical distancing protocol. The reasoning is simple: following the protocol provides the safest experience for students and staff and minimizes the spread of COVID-19.

Based on this most recent information, the five-day in school model is no longer an option, at least for now. You may ask, “Well, then why did the survey ask the question about returning to school five days a week with safety precautions?” Fair question. The answer is twofold: 1) there was reason to believe that this was an option two weeks ago, perhaps if only for elementary students based on various physical distancing interpretations; and 2) if we return to a hybrid model, data is helpful for the next stage of reopening, which ideally would be a five-day model down the road. New surveys will be distributed as information and opinions change.

That leaves us with two choices remaining for reopening RBUSD schools: a hybrid model (in school learning along with distance learning) or a full-time distance learning model. You will receive another survey next week, after the members of the Reopening Think Tank confirm the modified questions for the survey. Thank you for continuing to provide us timely and necessary feedback. The survey system allows us to “take the pulse” of our parents and staff more easily and periodically. Some of you asked about surveys and survey questions. We use Qualtrics, as do many LA County school districts currently. With the LA County Office of Education’s support, we utilize questions that have statistical validity. Most of these questions have been used in many other school districts, thousands of times, and provide specific data to inform decisions. You will see a similar survey format, using Qualtrics, moving forward.

The Reopening Think Tank continues to meet weekly addressing the LA County Office of Education’s five key areas for reopening: Instruction, Health and Safety, Social-Emotional Support Systems, Family and Community Engagement, and Operations. The RTT spent considerable time addressing and implementing four of these key areas by following the county guidelines. Instruction will be the significant next step. Instruction includes teaching, learning, technology, engagement, connectedness, and the day-to-day learning schedules.

Once we have consensus from our Reopening Think Tank, its subcommittees, and the Board of Education regarding the 2020-2021 school year plan, we will provide you necessary details regarding educational program(s), and we will hold a modified town hall meeting to provide families complete information.

We know this current context is not ideal for anyone. This has been difficult on our children, our staff, and of course you. Continued patience, a sense of optimism, and our collective hard work will push us to the other side. For me, as likely for you, it just can’t happen fast enough. Once again, the Board of Education and I want to thank you for your commitment and support, both to your own child(ren) and to Team RBUSD. The 2019-2020 school year will be “the year” we will never forget. Not only did COVID-19 land on or near our doorsteps, but racism and social injustice became common discussions in homes, in communities, in social media, and in the news. The killing of black lives, and those images, brought us to tears. As I shared at our last Board of Education meeting, “…racism has no home in this school district…” We will move our fight to an antiracist and social justice pursuit. Although we have a lot on our plate right now, this too needs to be part of our daily work.

Steven E. Keller, Ed.D.

Proud Superintendent of Schools

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This press release was produced by the Redondo Beach Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.