Paso Robles School District Board of Trustees met last night. They got a report from Shanna Ray of Bauer Speck Elementary School on distance learning and how it is working for elementary students. She said there are challenges getting children to stay focused on a computer screen for an extended amount of time. The teachers talks with small groups of about four students at a time to try to keep them involved in the course work.
Calling in to the board meeting, PRHS ASB President Presley Bodenshot told the board about the “Zoom-in” at the high school parking lot. She said students want to return to school.
About ten parents and teachers wrote in asking the school board to reopen the schools as soon as possible. A staff member read some of the emails the district has received from parents and teachers. Although the vast majority of the letters asked the school board to reopen the schools, Teachers Union Representative Jim Lynette spoke against moving too quickly.
The district will continue working with the county health department to try to get a waiver so that students can return to school on a hybrid plan, which will mean attending school part time. Middle and high school students will not return until the new year. That’s the plan as it is being developed today.
The board also voted to implement a covid-19 testing program with WestPac Lab. Employees in the school district will be tested for the corona-virus on a regular basis, but the district has to meet with the two unions to negotiate how often that testing will occur and how it will be conducted.
