The Long Beach Unified School District announced Tuesday, July 14 that it will begin the new school year with online courses, following on the heels of similar announcements from the LAUSD, Pasadena and Santa Ana schools.
“After much thought, research and consultation, we have made the decision to delay in-person instruction until at least Oct. 5,” Deputy Superintendent Jill Baker said in a video released by LBUSD on Tuesday, July 14.
“This decision was a hard one to make, but we have done so with input from our local and county health departments,” Baker said.
The superintendent said in the video that the district participated in “several health-related” calls that provided information that must be used to inform the next steps.
“COVID-19 cases continue to increase, hospitalizations are on the rise, and the percentage of positive tests is also climbing,” Baker stated in the video.
In order to protect district staff and students, the decision was made to begin the school year with online instruction and closely monitor health data as Oct. 5 approaches.
Baker added that the decision to delay in-person school was influenced by similar decisions from Los Angeles and San Diego School Districts that were announced on Monday, July 13.
“We pay close attention to the decisions of other districts, but we always filter the decisions of others through the needs of our community,” Baker said. “In this case we are fortunate to have a city health department that closely tends to the health-related data in our school district boundaries. In tandem with Dr. Davis from the Long Beach Health Department, we determined that it was the safest decision to delay the beginning of our plans for in-person instruction.”
The superintendent stated that a team will be working on a “robust online instructional program” that will include daily live lessons, synchronous instruction, grading and taking attendance.
She noted that the fall online program will be more “intense and consistent” than what students were able to receive during the rapid closure during the Spring.
The information from the surveys that were sent to LBUSD families have informed the district of what worked in Spring and what needs improvement, Baker stated. “We’ve heard you and we’re working diligently with all of that information as we plan for the fall,” she said.
More details will be presented In the weeks to come.
