Meeting Time: September 22, 2021 at 4:00pm PDT
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    Mayra Romero over 2 years ago

    As a parent of a student at Manzanita SEED,it is worrisome to be facing school consolidations with the pandemic still going,that would lead us to crowded classrooms and disruptions in the learning of our kids,with all due respect,I'm asking the school board members to put a hold on this vote for this school year,we need to come up with better solutions to fill the vacancies of other schools that need a permanent teacher,taking teachers from other schools to fill that void is not the answer.

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    Karen Hathaway over 2 years ago

    I strongly oppose the recently announced OUSD teacher consolidations at Montclair Elementary and throughout the district. To move ahead with reorganizing students would be unjust after a previous year of distance education and collective trauma. Uprooting students and shifting classes at this late stage damages the progress our hard-working teachers have made and the renewed stability we are all so eager to foster for our children.
    Instead, please join together to act creatively and find positive solutions that would be worthy of your promise of a truly "restorative start" for our teachers and children. If you move ahead with this decision, you will without a doubt, hurt the schools, teachers, and students you have pledged to support -- and more than likely lose OUSD teachers and students in the process. Teacher consolidation (although questionable to me) may be a somewhat reasonable approach in a normal year -- this is NOT a normal year.

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    Jennifer Rice over 2 years ago

    I oppose teacher consolidation at Manzanita SEED. For a restorative restart, we need to maintain the current classrooms. It is especially hard on a community that has so many frontline workers, a high free and reduced price lunch eligible student body, and a large number of families directly impacted by COVID to experience more upheaval in the classrooms. It is likely that the identified teacher would leave the district, rather than transfer schools—and it is so challenging to find qualified bilingual teachers to begin with. This is not the year to take a teacher away from SEED. Please recommend staff keep teachers where they are whenever possible and that consolidation shouldn’t happen unilaterally at all OUSD schools. Thank you!

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    Nelly Momblan over 2 years ago

    I am a parent of a student at Manzanita SEED and strongly oppose the teacher consolidation. By combining classrooms you will put our children and teachers at a higher risk of contracting Covid. This is not the restorative start that OUSD promised. Fellow OUSD parents have transferred their children to private school because of the classroom sizes, and I do not want to be forced to do the same. My daughter loves SEED we do not accept this consolidation. Do what is right and fulfill your commitment to the SEED community.

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    Lisa Gunther over 2 years ago

    Please hold a vote to pause teacher consolidations and honor your commitment to a "restorative restart" in an already extremely difficult year. It is unfair to students after a year lacking engaging learning and social emotional support to suddenly shuffle almost the entire student body into larger groups. The school district has the available funds to recruit teachers and hire subs for the vacancies and does not need to continue with this dire plan. Please support students' well-being and safety above all else. There are other solutions.

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    Clara Duenas over 2 years ago

    I am a parent of a student at Manzanita Seed and I am strongly opposed to teacher consolidations, especially during this pandemic. We need to have smaller class sizes for the health safety of the students and teachers. You do not want to compromise the students learning. They had a rough past year and they deserve better. It is your job to provide a better education for our students and not disrupt it and make it worse. I urge you to please stop teacher consolidations during this time.

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    Taylor Neaman over 2 years ago

    I am a parent of a student at Manzanita SEED Elementary and I strongly oppose the move to consolidate teachers. We need small class sizes now more than ever---this is a direct public health threat during a pandemic and a mental health issue for so many students who have suffered through the instability of the past two years. Students and teachers deserve the smaller class sizes to help catch students up academically. I am also deeply worried that if this does happen, more students and teachers will leave OUSD as a result. This is not the restorative restart that was promised and that OUSD students and teachers deeply deserve. There are other ways to fill vacancies, like pay increases and other incentives that will entice teachers to go back to work. This will have the opposite effect.

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    Karen Choury over 2 years ago

    As a parent of an elementary student at Manzanita SEED, I am deeply concerned with the potential impacts of teacher consolidation at our school. After two years of compromised and interrupted learning, it is unconscionable to think that our students face yet another year of disruption in their classrooms. I strongly urge the board to take action for Manzanita SEED and other schools impacted by lower enrollment during this pandemic school year. As a parent who loves our school and community, I respectfully ask the following of you:
    Please honor your commitment to a “Restorative Restart” and hold a vote to pause teacher consolidation triggered by lower enrollment numbers.
    Spend temporary Covid Relief Funds at school sites. Use some of the millions of dollars allocated for Covid Relief to shore up school budget deficits and keep class sizes at their current levels. Smaller class sizes support learning AND safety.