Community Voices by Dr. Deborah Flores: Gilroy School District strives to provide quality learning virtually

The transition to distance learning has presented challenges to everyone in our school community

Dr. Deborah Flores

Dr. Deborah Flores

During the past seven months, Santa Clara County and our nation have experienced an unparalleled shift in our collective approach to public education. Schools have transitioned from offering a full array of in-person services to children of all ages in brick and mortar buildings, to providing a variety of virtual learning models.

Every belief I have about how to teach children effectively, based on a very long career in education, has been challenged as the institution of public education has evolved more rapidly in the past half year than it has in decades prior. As the proud superintendent of the Gilroy Unified School District, I am in awe of the work our teachers, administrators, and staff members have continued to do on a daily basis as they strive to educate the almost 11,000 students in our district. The standards they have set for providing a rigorous academic experience during distance learning has matched the same standards they maintain in a normal school year. The dedication they have shown to their students, families and each other demonstrates their professionalism, talent and care.

The transition to distance learning has presented challenges to everyone in our school community. But I am proud of the work we have done and continue to do as we begin to plan for how schools will operate when we return to a brick and mortar classroom setting.

On Sept. 8, Santa Clara County moved into Tier 2, or the Red Tier, of the state’s monitoring program. After 14 days at this level, school districts have the option to open campuses to staff and students. In order to open, districts must follow the mandates and guidelines issued June 30 by the Santa Clara Public Health Department and Santa Clara County Office of Education and reissued Sept. 22.

To begin the planning process, I reconvened the district’s Reopening Planning Committee, which is comprised of about 30 members to review the revised mandates and guidelines. The committee will develop recommendations about returning to in-person learning for our board of trustees to consider. (A decision about a return to in-person learning will not be made until January 2021 at the earliest.)

The district will not rush into opening campuses for many reasons, but our top consideration is how best to keep our students, staff and families safe. Gilroy continues to have one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County and the number of cases of school-aged children who have tested positive for COVID-19 nationally is steadily increasing. Some school districts that have opened in other parts of the country have had to close due to outbreaks of the virus. Additionally, health experts predict there will be an increase in cases during the winter months when much time is spent indoors. Allowing students to return to campuses and then having to return to distance learning if there is an outbreak is a risk we would like to avoid.

In upcoming weeks, the Reopening Committee will consider these factors and many others including the amount of personal protective equipment the district has, contact tracing protocols, COVID-19 testing protocols, and daily logistics including how many students can be housed safely in a classroom, use of restrooms, cleaning frequency, transportation, meals, and so much more. The committee will also review the revised guidelines and after doing so assess our district’s readiness to reopen.

We value feedback and input from our stakeholders and recently surveyed parents and guardians, staff members, and students to assist us in our planning and deliberation process. Part of this planning process will include meeting with several parent groups, union leaders and principals to hear their input.

Currently, our district and schools continue to provide support and services to our families and students in a number of ways. Addressing the technology needs of our students has been an ongoing challenge in order to ensure they can access distance learning platforms with their peers. To date, the Gilroy Unified School District has distributed more than 5,000 Chromebooks and 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to families so that students can participate in distance learning. For families who live in areas of Gilroy where Wi-Fi access is limited, the district has provided other alternatives, and continues to work with a number of partner organizations to provide support. We serve two free meals for all children in Gilroy, ages 0-18, five days a week, at seven of our school sites. Children and/or their parent or guardian can pick-up meals prepared by our Child Nutrition staff at five elementary schools and two middle schools in GUSD. Our Transportation Department delivers meals to more than 45 families living in rural parts of our community during the week, and recently partnered with the Santa Clara County Library District’s Bookmobile to provide books for children along those rural bus routes as well.  The district is providing technology training for parents and caregivers so they can better help their children during the school day. Our counseling staff and partner agencies are providing mental health services for students in all grades.

All of these supports and more, are in addition to the wonderful work being done by our teaching staff in virtual classrooms throughout our community. Whether they are teaching their students from their classrooms at school or their classrooms at home, so many are engaging students and building community in new and innovative ways that inspires and engages. Nine months ago, this task would have seemed impossible, but our staff continues to show that if school must happen in a virtual setting, we will continue to educate our students in exceptional ways.

Our work is bolstered by the ongoing support the Gilroy community has given to our teachers, staff and students. The support parents are providing their children in their homes has been such an integral part of distance learning and we are so grateful to them. I look forward to the time when we hear voices in our classrooms, footsteps on the playground, and laughter in the hallways.

Dr. Deborah A. Flores is the superintendent of the Gilroy Unified School District. She wrote this column for Gilroy Life.