Malibu has three choices for school in the fall
Michele Willer-Allred, Staff Reporter
9:23 am PDT June 29, 2020
July 16 will be a pivotal point in the reopening of schools in Malibu.
That day, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education will decide on how students forced to finish out the 2019-20 school year remotely will get their education next school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vote will come after three virtual town hall meetings that will be held to share with the school district community three potential options for reopening schools in the fall.
The virtual town hall meeting date for Malibu is set for 6 p.m. July 7. Agendas for all three meetings are available here.
At last week’s board meeting, Superintendent Ben Drati said the district has received a huge response from the community on a survey about the three options: in-class and distance; a hybrid model; and online-only.
For three days starting today, Malibu Surfside News will look at all three options.
Drati said he has already had the opportunity to discuss options with several school parent and teacher groups, staff, as well as 40 high school students from both Malibu and Santa Monica, to get their input on the options.
Like all districts in the state, Drati said, Santa Monica-Malibu is immersed in developing options with reopening, though direction by the county and state is still “fluid and ever changing.”
In a letter sent prior to the board meeting, Drati said each option has pros and cons.
“This is a complex situation so the goal is to invite the whole community into the situation and let them understand what we’re dealing with, so when we make a decision people will understand the rationale,” he said.
“We’ll do our best to try to serve all, but I know we won’t be able to serve everyone with whatever decision we make.”
Under the in-class or distance learning proposal, all students will return to school in person five days per week. Families who do not want in-person instruction can opt for distance learning only, and teachers would be either in-person teachers or distance learning teachers.
Some of the pros include that it allows parents or guardians to return to a regular work schedule, and provides daily preschool classes with ten students maximum per class, but at a higher fee. (Fully subsidized students would still attend at no cost.)
The cons include difficulty providing the recommended six-foot physical distancing requirement, and increased costs associated with personal protective equipment, cleaning products, staff overtime and increased staffing.
Tomorrow, we look at the second option: hybrid learning.