CC SR 20200707 E - School Re-Opening Letter
RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 07/07/2020
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to state and
county officials regarding school reopening plans.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to state and county officials in concurrence
with concerns raised by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
regarding school reopening plans.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Megan Barnes, Senior Administrative Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Draft letter regarding school reopening plans (page A-1)
B. May 2020 letter from 11 Los Angeles County superintendents (page B -1)
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
In mid-March, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) closed its
campuses and moved instruction online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the months since, PVPUSD has been in the process of determining how and when to
resume in-person instruction in accordance with guidance from public health officials.
The district has organized five steering committees to provide feedback on return to
school plans, including three parent committees made up of stakeholders representing
elementary, intermediate and high schools; one committee made up of medical
professionals; and one committee made up of PVPUSD staff members. As of the writing
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of this report, PVPUSD was scheduled to hold a virtual town hall meeting regarding
reopening plans on July 1.
In May, PVPUSD Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss and 10 other superintendents
across Los Angeles County signed a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, L.A. County
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Debra Duardo and L.A. County Department of Public
Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer raising a variety of concerns with preliminary
guidelines for reopening schools (Attachment B). Final guidelines were released in late
May, and the California Department of Public Health released statewide guidelines in
early June.
Dr. Cherniss has expressed concerns with the feasibility of these guidelines and the
availability of resources to implement them, including requiring students and staff to
wear masks during all school activities, maintaining six-feet physical distancing, and
prohibiting gatherings. Dr. Cherniss discussed these issues in a May 29 episode of
EdSource’s “This Week in California Education” podcast.
These reopening plans will profoundly impact the lives of Rancho Palos Verdes youths
and their families. The City is exploring ways to support PVPUSD as the district
develops long-term strategies to ensure the safety of students and staff when they
return to school. One action the City Council can take is to send a letter to Governor
Newsom, Dr. Duardo, Dr. Ferrer, Supervisor Janice Hahn and the L.A. County Board of
Supervisors concurring with the concerns raised by Dr. Cherniss and other
superintendents.
Therefore, staff recommends the City Council send a concurrence letter to state and
county officials as drafted or with revisions.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative action s are available
for the City Council’s consideration:
1. Do not authorize the Mayor to sign the letter.
2. Take other action as deemed appropriate by the City Council
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July 7, 2020 Via Email
Governor Gavin Newsom
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
L.A. County Superintendent Dr. Debra Duardo
9300 Imperial Highway
Downey, CA 90242
L.A. County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer
5050 Commerce Drive
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
Dear Governor Newsom, Dr. Duardo and Dr. Ferrer:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes commends your efforts to ensure the safety and well-
being of the public, including our youths and school families, in responding to this
unprecedented public health crisis.
As we navigate the Roadmap to Recovery, the City remains in close contact with our
partners in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. We are writing today to
state our concurrence with the myriad concerns raised by Dr. Alex Cherniss and other
superintendents throughout Los Angeles County regarding state and county school
reopening plans.
We recognize the immense challenges that come with bringing students and teachers
back to school in a manner that is safe and will reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
However, it must be acknowledged that many of these measures are likely to be
unattainable, and that our schools lack the funding and resources needed to implement
them.
A-1
Governor Newsom, Dr. Duardo and Dr. Ferrer
July 7, 2020
Page 2
These guidelines will have a profound impact on the lives of students, families and
teachers in our City, and we cannot afford to overlook the practical considerations of
their on-the-ground implementation.
We urge you to revisit these reopening guidelines and to address head-on the concerns
raised by our school administrators, parents and educators.
Sincerely,
John Cruikshank
Mayor
cc: Ben Allen, Senator, 26th State Senate District
Al Muratsuchi, Assembly Member, 66th Assembly District
Janice Hahn, L.A. County Supervisor, 4th District
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Ara Mihranian, City Manager
Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
A-2
May 21, 2020
Governor Gavin Newsom
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
LA County Superintendent, Dr. Debra Duardo
9300 Imperial Highway
Downey, CA 90242
LA County Public Health Director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
PO Box 997377, MS 0500
Sacramento, CA 95899-7377
Dear Governor Newsom, Dr. Duardo, and Dr. Ferrer,
As Los Angeles County Superintendents, serving over 100,000 students, we are deeply
concerned with the proposed regulations from the Governor, the LA County Department of
Public Health and the LA County Office of Education regarding School Reopening Policies. While
many of these proposed guidelines may be feasible in a hospital setting or a comme rcial
business setting, we do not believe they are feasible or practical in a school setting. These
unattainable and unrealistic measures will drastically inhibit school districts’ ability to reopen in
LA County and beyond. Please consider a more measured approach when issuing guidelines for
reopening our school districts.
Why are we not affording schools the same flexibility in operating that other businesses have,
where maintaining 6 feet apart spacing is not possible? Is there data from studies showing the
increased prevalence of Covid-19 where schools are able to reopen without these measures
firmly in place? These questions and others remain unknown to many of us; however, what is
certainly known is our state is now projecting a $54 billion dollar deficit, much of our citizenry is
out of work, and many school districts are preparing for massive certificated and classified
layoffs and budget reductions. School districts are also experiencing major student mental
health issues as well as learning loss, despite the efforts of our teachers, staff, students and
parents.
Therefore, as school leaders, we urge you to reconsider, withdraw, and reframe many of these
forthcoming recommendations highlighted below and to stress flexibility for school districts as
we try to maintain safe schools for all students and employees:
1. All students and adults must be 6 feet apart in classrooms:
First and foremost, this requirement is impractical. Again, this may work in hospitals or
businesses, but not in schools. Just as 6 feet apart guidelines are not always possible to
maintain for other business such as airlines or taxis, these requirements should not be
required for schools. For one, primary grade students (Preschool – 3rd Grade) tend to
move around a lot and would not be able to adhere to this requirement. This
movement would undoubtedly involve students coming into close proximity with their
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peers and with their teachers. Secondarily, schools have students with special needs
who are dependent on adults to be at a close proximity to them throughout the
day. How could they adhere to this requirement?
There is also not have enough space in our schools to spread out students to meet th e
average of 8-12 bodies in a classroom. Allowing one or two grades entering school per
day or allowing groups of kids to access school for only a few hours per day does very
little for the students’ learning and puts a tremendous burden on parents who need to
go to work. The bottom line is that school needs to be available to all students that
choose to come to school EVERY DAY. The 6 feet apart requirement renders this nearly
impossible to achieve any sort of learning continuity and leads to a chain reaction of
challenges throughout LA County and California.
Please consider recommending that school districts make efforts to reasonably space
out students.
2. All adults and children over 2 years of age must wear face coverings:
The realistic application of this recommendation is impossible to enforce and
unrealistic. To think that children would wear face coverings for 8 hours a day is
unimaginable. We serve students ages 3-22 in our schools. Many of these students
have significant disabilities and disorders that would inhibit their willingness and ability
to wear a face covering. The thought of them being able to keep a covered face for the
entire day is something that would be difficult for an adult to do. Is it healthy to be
wearing masks all day? Have we studied potential breathing problems, shortness of
breath, and other issues associated with wearing masks over such a long period of
time? For adults, this too may be extremely difficult. Additionally, school requires
teachers and students to be able to converse with each other, which could also be
inhibited by face coverings.
The fiscal reality of this request is also daunting. With over 1 million students in LA
County, we would be spending millions of dollars per day for face coverings at a time
when we will be facing likely budget cuts. This unfunded mandate would not be
affordable nor an efficient way to spend scarce resources.
Please consider face coverings as optional.
3. No large gatherings:
Students that come to school need to be able to eat and have breaks. While this
request may be somewhat achievable, the requirement must be reduced to a
recommendation rather than a requirement. Schools are dealing with kids of all ages
who need recess, breaks and time to eat. This is impossible without times in the day
where there are large gatherings of kids (see face covering issues).
Moreover, secondary schools (grades 6-12) require students to move from class to
class. It is impossible to sanitize classrooms in between periods. Therefore, it could be
argued that the same effect of a large gathering would be when students go from class
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to class. This is another reason why the elimination of large gatherings in the school
setting is not practical or feasible.
Please consider allowing school districts to make efforts toward reducing large
gatherings rather than prohibiting large gatherings.
4. 14-Day quarantine for the entire class of students upon one positive case
identified:
This policy would make it almost impossible to return to school. Rather than
quarantining the person who tests positive, and those likely in contact, this policy would
apply a blanket approach that would cripple any hopes of in-person instruction. To
make an entire class quarantine for 14 days will not allow for any continuity of
instruction. The application of this policy has not been well thought out. What about at
the secondary levels where students go class to class? Under this policy we may need to
quarantine hundreds of students at the secondary level (entire grades) every time we
have one case.
Please consider allowing schools to quarantine positive tests and those in contact with
positive tests, rather than entire classes and grades.
While there are many other recommendations that are coming forward for which we question,
the bottom line is that procedures and protocols are easily written, but not reasonably or
practically applied to the real-life situation of a school in operation.
In conclusion, we urge you to not create guidelines and recommendations that schools will be
unable to follow. Please consult with education professionals before you make us adhere to
unrealistic guidelines. We fear that if these guidelines are not more measured and reasonable,
our schools will never reopen until everyone is vaccinated; this would negatively impact so
many aspects of our society, most importantly our youth.
Respectfully,
Michael Bregy, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Beverly Hills Unified School District
Annie Bui, Interim Superintendent, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District
Alex Cherniss, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
Hasmik Danielian, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District
James Elsasser, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Claremont Unified School District
Patricia Escalante, Superintendent of Schools, Hermosa Beach City School District
Kimberly Fricker, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Temple City Unified School District
Charles Hinman, Ed.D.,Superintendent of Schools, West Covina Unified School District
Gregory O’Brien, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, Centinela Valley Union High School District
Lori Slaven, Ed.D., Superintendent/Principal, Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District
Rob Voors, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Glendora Unified School District
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