ELK GROVE, Calif. — A crowd of dozens of students, parents and teachers in Elk Grove had one thing to say at the school board meeting Tuesday evening, "let us back!"
While parents, teachers and students are eager to get back into the classroom, school leaders say re-opening schools may take a bit longer.
In March 2020, the Elk Grove Unified School District became one of the first in the nation to pre-emptively close after a family member in the district tested positive for COVID-19. 11 months later, school board members discuss when students and teachers may return to their classrooms.
Many of those students and families are continuing to feel distance learning pains and some are calling for a change.
"Schools are safe," chanted a crowd of frustrated students, parents and teachers.
Elk Grove’s coalition to re-open schools argues virtual learning is sub-par compared to in-person learning and says it’s impacting students' mental, physical, and social health. They’re calling for the choice for students to attend in-person classes or online.
Devon Tillotson is an Elk Grove mother. She says the all-virtual model isn't working well for her 6th grader.
"My son, you know struggles with a learning disability and we were able to put it in our budget to make sure that he was in private school,” said Tillotson.
Jessica Armstrong, a Transition Kindergarten Teacher at Butler Elementary, says what is best for the children needs to come first when making decisions.
“It’s time for us to go back into the classroom," said Armstrong. "It’s time for us to put our children first and put them in the classroom.”
While the coalition hopes to get back into the classroom, Xanthi Pinkerton from the Elk Grove Unified School District says they will stick to the established plan, which means waiting for state restrictions to ease before moving forward.
“Once we are two weeks in the red tier, which had been established last fall, then we would begin to re-open schools with a phased-in approach,” explained Pinkerton.
The Elk Grove USD meet to discuss returning to in-person learning Tuesday evening but no actions were taken.
Meanwhile, not all parents agree with a swift return to school. A number of parents wrote in to Tuesday night's school board meeting to say that the district should hold off until its vaccines are distributed and it’s absolutely safe.
As one school board member said tonight, "it’s a matter of life and death.”
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