My two children suffered anxiety and learning loss during the remote schooling last year. The science says students are safest in school. It was school break holidays that caused the surge. Continue working to get N95 masks for all that want them. Consider making N95 indoors and/or vaccination required (for the next few weeks at least).
Teacher activism of illegal "sickouts" must not be given in to. Vaccines and masks work--omicron is mild.
Those that fear this surge need to learn the science and accept things will be OK. Carry on and we'll get through it as we have this entire school year.
My family with two OUSD students (Oakland Tech, Claremont) urges schools to stay open and in person, and urges teachers to stay in the classroom and teach. N95 masks should be required by all, and I'm encouraged by OUSD providing them to anyone that is not able to acquire their own. But these need to be mandatory. Accommodations to those want to do remote learning would be nice but vaccinated teachers unilaterally deciding not to come in and teach is not acceptable.
I think it is imperative that we implement the proper safety measure to keep schools open. If we are truly concerned about the health of our kids and community, bars, restaurants and gyms are much riskier places to keep open. I’m a pediatrician that pours over the data and I have to studies to back this up. School transmission risk is lower than almost every other social setting and is of higher social importance, we must rally our resources to keep the children safe and learning.
I'm not clear what position I'm being asked to support in the bubbles here but i want our schools opened. My son (senior at Oakland Tech) wants the schools opened. We feel that there are enough safeguards with testing and masks that the in person instruction must be maintained. This variant is going to pass through soon. Our focus should be on vaccines and boosters, and let the benefits of in person be realized. We can't go back to that terrible time again when it was depressing and isolating for so many. Mental health is at stake for these kids. My senior wants to be a senior given 18mo of his HS experience didn't happen. Let them play sports; let them have a life! And be smart about it too.
I want my child in person at school AND I also support the students and educators who are pushing for greater safety measures. Students and educators on the ground know far better than I do what is happening in schools, and they are saying that they do not feel safe. OUSD has done some things that I greatly appreciate, but the added pressure is clearly causing you to up your response and so please listen to the students and teachers and do what is necessary to ensure that ALL students and teachers feel safe, across the district, consistently and equitably applied. Stop using your direct access to parents as a way to attack teachers and as a PR tool. It is clear that w/o teacher & student pressure the increased measures we are now hearing abt would not be in place. At some point, with so many students absent, and with so many educators out due to covid, it may become necessary to cancel school to ensure safety. Let conditions on the ground be your guide, not a few parents pressuring you
Please, keep our children safe by keeping them in in-person learning. Their minds and hearts are so delicate. My son developed anxiety issues during the lock down, and only being with his peers helped to resolve them. Outside the US, the world's schools stayed open safely. We can too.
Please keep our students in school! I am a parent of an Oakland Tech Junior. Online learning was detrimental to the mental, social and educational health of the students of Oakland. There is a way to stay safe AND keep schools open. Please keep the schools open
I am a parent of a senior at Oakland Tech and I am asking that the Board keep OUSD open. Data complied by the CDC shows there have been minimal school related transmissions. There is also ample evidence that closing schools does much more harm than good.
Please please please keep schools open in person. It is SO incredibly important for our kids. Any kind of remote work will be further damaging to our kids. OEA doesn’t support going remote and OUSD should not support it either. Keep doing what we are doing - masking, filters, etc. Thank you to OUSD for the additional safety measures as outlined in yesterdays email. Let’s stay safe and stay the course and KEEP ALL KIDS IN SCHOOL, IN PERSON. Thank you!!
Thank you OUSD for your efforts to KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN. Vaccinations, masking, distancing and testing make it absolutely unnecessary to return to distance learning. Kids, especially in less affluent areas, suffered immeasurably during the shutdowns. I stand with other parent and kids to vigorously oppose any effort at closing our campuses again.
Please keep the schools open. We can now clearly see how much harm was done during the year of distance learning, both socially and academically, and we cannot afford to do that again. Many of these kids are safer in school than at home. Please work on adequate safety measures, including good masks (and enforcing correct mask-wearing), outdoor spaces for lunch in the event of rain, classroom sub coverage when needed, adequate testing, and mandatory vaccine requirements. Covid is our new reality, unfortunately, and we need to adapt to living with it the best that we can. Rebecca Riseman, NP
Please keep the kids in school where they are supposed to be and PLEASE keep teaching them... So much harm was done with the last shut down. Teachers are ESSENTIAL... imagine if doctors, nurses, police, and fire fighters decided to strike? We need to support our teachers but we also need to keep them in the classroom teaching.
As a parent of an elementary school student and high school student in OUSD schools, I strongly support in-person learning and open schools as the healthiest and safest option for our children. Thank you OUSD and teachers for all that you do.
Hi! I'm a parent of kids at Emerson, Claremont, and Oakland Tech. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN TO DISTANCE LEARNING. We can find a way forward to keep our kids in school with enough safety for them and our wonderful teachers and staff.
I support OUSD's dedicated efforts to KEEP SCHOOLS OPEN (and I oppose OEA threats to close again as a power move in teachers' longer term battles with the district in the name of safety). Thank you OUSD for being ahead of the curve on test-to-stay and keeping kids in school. School is the safest place for kids. Greater dangers for kids than Covid includes guns at home, drowning, car accidents -- all things they might be exposed to if schools close. Not to mention the long term effects of substandard education, and remote learning is substandard for most kids. It was for mine, despite how great our teacher was at innovating and adapting on Zoom (she was GREAT but it wasn't enough for my young reader who is still catching up). Schools should never close again. Lesson learned.
Schools need to remain open with the KN95 mask that the district has ordered. Testing should be expanded - but with all of U.S. struggling to find tests and testers, this may take time.
Thank you, OUSD for the continual messaging that vaccinations (and now boosters) are the primary way to keep all community members safe and healthy!
We are so grateful to OUSD and teachers for keeping our kids in school, where they need to be. Please keep schools open!! The risk of closing schools far exceeds the risk of Omicron (and all variants).
A return to remote schooling will only result in a further loss to OUSD of Oakland students to private schools and other districts. While this is likely the goal of the extremists who want to "tear down the entire system" in the name of "equity," this is not a goal worth pursuing. The board already did tremendous damage to Oakland students and the district by shutting down in-person instruction last year. Repeating the mistake would be insanity. Trust the science!
Closing schools must be OFF the table now that the science is clear that it is safe and loads of data show the benefits of inperson school vastly outweigh any covid risk. We know the great harm to children the last 20 months of school closures has done and we must NEVER close schools again, not even for a 1 day, 1 wk 'pause'. We parents are ready to help substitute teach, supervise and do whatever is needed on campus to KEEP SCHOOLS OPEN.
Keep schools open ! This is ridiculous that you are even considering closing again, my three kids mental health has suffered badly with the last time .. and even now they are not great!!! Two of my SN kids can not and will not do DL ever again !!! Keep ousd open !!!
My two children suffered anxiety and learning loss during the remote schooling last year. The science says students are safest in school. It was school break holidays that caused the surge. Continue working to get N95 masks for all that want them. Consider making N95 indoors and/or vaccination required (for the next few weeks at least).
Teacher activism of illegal "sickouts" must not be given in to. Vaccines and masks work--omicron is mild.
Those that fear this surge need to learn the science and accept things will be OK. Carry on and we'll get through it as we have this entire school year.
My family with two OUSD students (Oakland Tech, Claremont) urges schools to stay open and in person, and urges teachers to stay in the classroom and teach. N95 masks should be required by all, and I'm encouraged by OUSD providing them to anyone that is not able to acquire their own. But these need to be mandatory. Accommodations to those want to do remote learning would be nice but vaccinated teachers unilaterally deciding not to come in and teach is not acceptable.
I think it is imperative that we implement the proper safety measure to keep schools open. If we are truly concerned about the health of our kids and community, bars, restaurants and gyms are much riskier places to keep open. I’m a pediatrician that pours over the data and I have to studies to back this up. School transmission risk is lower than almost every other social setting and is of higher social importance, we must rally our resources to keep the children safe and learning.
I'm not clear what position I'm being asked to support in the bubbles here but i want our schools opened. My son (senior at Oakland Tech) wants the schools opened. We feel that there are enough safeguards with testing and masks that the in person instruction must be maintained. This variant is going to pass through soon. Our focus should be on vaccines and boosters, and let the benefits of in person be realized. We can't go back to that terrible time again when it was depressing and isolating for so many. Mental health is at stake for these kids. My senior wants to be a senior given 18mo of his HS experience didn't happen. Let them play sports; let them have a life! And be smart about it too.
I want my child in person at school AND I also support the students and educators who are pushing for greater safety measures. Students and educators on the ground know far better than I do what is happening in schools, and they are saying that they do not feel safe. OUSD has done some things that I greatly appreciate, but the added pressure is clearly causing you to up your response and so please listen to the students and teachers and do what is necessary to ensure that ALL students and teachers feel safe, across the district, consistently and equitably applied. Stop using your direct access to parents as a way to attack teachers and as a PR tool. It is clear that w/o teacher & student pressure the increased measures we are now hearing abt would not be in place. At some point, with so many students absent, and with so many educators out due to covid, it may become necessary to cancel school to ensure safety. Let conditions on the ground be your guide, not a few parents pressuring you
Please, keep our children safe by keeping them in in-person learning. Their minds and hearts are so delicate. My son developed anxiety issues during the lock down, and only being with his peers helped to resolve them. Outside the US, the world's schools stayed open safely. We can too.
Please keep our students in school! I am a parent of an Oakland Tech Junior. Online learning was detrimental to the mental, social and educational health of the students of Oakland. There is a way to stay safe AND keep schools open. Please keep the schools open
I am a parent of a senior at Oakland Tech and I am asking that the Board keep OUSD open. Data complied by the CDC shows there have been minimal school related transmissions. There is also ample evidence that closing schools does much more harm than good.
Please please please keep schools open in person. It is SO incredibly important for our kids. Any kind of remote work will be further damaging to our kids. OEA doesn’t support going remote and OUSD should not support it either. Keep doing what we are doing - masking, filters, etc. Thank you to OUSD for the additional safety measures as outlined in yesterdays email. Let’s stay safe and stay the course and KEEP ALL KIDS IN SCHOOL, IN PERSON. Thank you!!
Thank you OUSD for your efforts to KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN. Vaccinations, masking, distancing and testing make it absolutely unnecessary to return to distance learning. Kids, especially in less affluent areas, suffered immeasurably during the shutdowns. I stand with other parent and kids to vigorously oppose any effort at closing our campuses again.
Please keep the schools open. We can now clearly see how much harm was done during the year of distance learning, both socially and academically, and we cannot afford to do that again. Many of these kids are safer in school than at home. Please work on adequate safety measures, including good masks (and enforcing correct mask-wearing), outdoor spaces for lunch in the event of rain, classroom sub coverage when needed, adequate testing, and mandatory vaccine requirements. Covid is our new reality, unfortunately, and we need to adapt to living with it the best that we can. Rebecca Riseman, NP
Please keep the kids in school where they are supposed to be and PLEASE keep teaching them... So much harm was done with the last shut down. Teachers are ESSENTIAL... imagine if doctors, nurses, police, and fire fighters decided to strike? We need to support our teachers but we also need to keep them in the classroom teaching.
As a parent of an elementary school student and high school student in OUSD schools, I strongly support in-person learning and open schools as the healthiest and safest option for our children. Thank you OUSD and teachers for all that you do.
Hi! I'm a parent of kids at Emerson, Claremont, and Oakland Tech. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN TO DISTANCE LEARNING. We can find a way forward to keep our kids in school with enough safety for them and our wonderful teachers and staff.
I support OUSD's dedicated efforts to KEEP SCHOOLS OPEN (and I oppose OEA threats to close again as a power move in teachers' longer term battles with the district in the name of safety). Thank you OUSD for being ahead of the curve on test-to-stay and keeping kids in school. School is the safest place for kids. Greater dangers for kids than Covid includes guns at home, drowning, car accidents -- all things they might be exposed to if schools close. Not to mention the long term effects of substandard education, and remote learning is substandard for most kids. It was for mine, despite how great our teacher was at innovating and adapting on Zoom (she was GREAT but it wasn't enough for my young reader who is still catching up). Schools should never close again. Lesson learned.
Schools need to remain open with the KN95 mask that the district has ordered. Testing should be expanded - but with all of U.S. struggling to find tests and testers, this may take time.
Thank you, OUSD for the continual messaging that vaccinations (and now boosters) are the primary way to keep all community members safe and healthy!
We are so grateful to OUSD and teachers for keeping our kids in school, where they need to be. Please keep schools open!! The risk of closing schools far exceeds the risk of Omicron (and all variants).
A return to remote schooling will only result in a further loss to OUSD of Oakland students to private schools and other districts. While this is likely the goal of the extremists who want to "tear down the entire system" in the name of "equity," this is not a goal worth pursuing. The board already did tremendous damage to Oakland students and the district by shutting down in-person instruction last year. Repeating the mistake would be insanity. Trust the science!
Closing schools must be OFF the table now that the science is clear that it is safe and loads of data show the benefits of inperson school vastly outweigh any covid risk. We know the great harm to children the last 20 months of school closures has done and we must NEVER close schools again, not even for a 1 day, 1 wk 'pause'. We parents are ready to help substitute teach, supervise and do whatever is needed on campus to KEEP SCHOOLS OPEN.
Keep schools open ! This is ridiculous that you are even considering closing again, my three kids mental health has suffered badly with the last time .. and even now they are not great!!! Two of my SN kids can not and will not do DL ever again !!! Keep ousd open !!!