Thank you to everyone who is supporting our students during this tumultuous time of Distance Learning. These are challenging times. Here are some of the questions I’ve received as a UUSD Board Member over the last few weeks. 

HELP IS ON THE WAY!  Two vaccines are ready for mass production and distribution. In the meantime, the best we can do to get our kids back in school is to wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay home as much as possible. I know you’re tired of hearing these messages, some call them pandemic platitudes, but they are the actions that each of us can take every day. And those actions prevent illness and get schools re-opened sooner. Yes, we all feel this sacrifice, but just as you shouldn’t complain about government if you don’t vote, you also can’t complain that schools aren’t open if you aren’t taking these steps every single day.

I’M SO TIRED OF THIS! I know, me too. Let’s use our faith in the vaccine to motivate us to stay the course for just a few more months. We are smart people. We can know that the vaccine is coming, AND we can follow basic public health steps at the same time.

DO UUSD STUDENTS HAVE THE TECH TOOLS THEY NEED? Yes! UUSD started outfitting students with laptop computers four years ago. This year, we also provided laptops to the younger students, kindergarten, first and second graders. Of course, this is not the ideal way to teach, especially our young students. But we are relieved that we already had the distribution system in place, IT Techs are on board, and most students were already taking care of their laptops responsibly.  We’ve also purchased over 600 hot spots that help students access the internet if they don’t have connectivity already at home. If that doesn’t work, students come in-person to our socially-distanced Tech Hubs and work from there.

IS THERE TECH HELP AVAILABLE WHEN A STUDENT NEEDS IT? Yes! Our Technology Team is available to help families virtually on Zoom anytime from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday. Go to meet.google.com/nvp-dpxi-uct for assistance. You can also call our Technology Support Hotline at 707-472-5074 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

WHAT OTHER HELP IS AVAILABLE? We have tutoring, after school activities, and partnerships with the City of Ukiah (ukiah.recdesk.com) and SPACE (www.spaceperformingarts.org). Please contact your child’s school or one of our partners for more information. These are free services paid through federal and state pandemic funding to schools.

WHAT’S THE PLAN TO RE-OPEN? We have all our safety measures in place: masks; fewer students at a time spaced farther apart; plexiglass protectors for teachers; vats of hand sanitizer; etc. However, COVID cases are on the upswing in California, Mendocino, and the greater Ukiah area.  As of today, the soonest UUSD will be eligible to open to in-person instruction is the end of January 2021. But stay tuned. Our business is education, and so we listen to science. We are learning more about this virus every week. 

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?  Dr.  Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, said yesterday, “that to the best of our ability we need to open schools. Do whatever you can to protect the children and the teachers, then after you do that, keep the schools open.”

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT DISTANCE LEARNING? Oh my, where to start? The best answer comes from students, many of whom reveal that they are lonely, depressed, failing classes, feeling disconnected from their community, and have a tough time pulling themselves out of bed in the morning.  There hasn’t been enough time to study Distance Learning thoroughly. Still, we are beginning to understand the social-emotional toll, the difficulty of learning how to read by Zoom, the slower academic progress, and a further deepening of the chasm between the haves and have-nots. Minority students and students with economic challenges are falling behind their peers during Distance Learning. So we’ll be back to in-person learning as soon as it is safe. 

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. (Be honest – did you start signing the tune from High School Musical?) Our common enemy is the virus; we are all just trying to get through this with our physical and mental health intact.