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Depending on the California legislature, Palo Alto Unified School District may be required to provide virtual learning options for the 2021-2022 school year, and plans are underway.

At the March 23 school board meeting, Superintendent Don Austin and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Sharon Ofek outlined the three distance learning options being considered for secondary students.

The options include home hospital instruction (offered through a third party vendor to students with medical exemptions), an online curriculum through a third party provider with PAUSD oversight, and a newly developed virtual program based on the current distance learning model (essentially creating a separate digital and in-person school).

“We do believe that any distance program would require real, clear purpose, year long commitments right from the beginning and a predetermined cap,” Austin said.

According to a mid-March survey, 7.6% of PAUSD parents would be interested in a continuation of a virtual program offering for the 2021-2022 school year.

PAUSD parent Bryn Ewen voiced her concerns on the twoschool virtual program during the board meeting’s public comment.

“Distance learning has caused an irreparable harm and has disproportionately harmed low-income families, so knowing that, why on earth would you want to focus on creating a whole separate distance learning school?” Ewen said.

FULL-TIME FRENZY — Superintendent Don Austin announces plans to bring elementary students to campus five days a week at a March 23 Palo Alto Unified School District school board meeting. “As a result [of the new three-foot distancing guideline], students currently in hybrid, grades kinder through five, will return for five days a week in-person instruction at all sites,” Austin said. Photo: Paisley Annes

WITH 90% OF PALO ALTO Unified School District staff vaccinated and new social distancing guidance, Palo Alto Educators Association President Teri Baldwin joins the district in supporting the five-day-a-week elementary school reopening on April 19.

In the recent months, elementary students who selected hybrid learning have been attending school two days a week. However, with the California Department of Public Health’s new three-foot social distancing requirement, elementary students may now attend school full time.

“At the request of PAEA and our site principals, we are reversing our staggered approach for the return, meaning when we started in October, we started the return with our younger students and we’re going to turn that around this time,” Austin said.

One of the reasons PAUSD decided to postpone the full time elementary return is to allow for more teachers to receive their second COVID-19 vaccine dose.

“Good news, now we are trending at 90% of our staff that have either completed or have taken their first vaccination shot, which is a real big change in conditions and part of the reason we are waiting until April 19 to come back fully,” Austin said.

During public comment, Baldwin stated her support for the April reopening.

“We’re very glad that we won’t be bringing more students back until after the majority, if not all, of our educators and staff are vaccinated,” Baldwin said.

According to Austin, students who elected full distance learning in October will continue to learn at home for the remainder of the year.

During public comment, PAUSD parent Heidi Volkner voiced her gratitude for the full time return for Grades K-5, but requested that the same be done for secondary students.

“I do feel that there is the flexibility and perhaps the capacity for us to bring back more of these students,” Volkner said.

Austin plans to revisit more options for 7-12 grade students at a later date, and does not foresee any changes to the sixth grade student’s current four-day-a-week schedule.

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL District summer school is increasing its courses to include two comprehensive programs: credit recovery and the new kick-start program.

The PAUSD summer school webpage states that only rising seniors will have the opportunity to take the virtual living skills course over the summer. If COVID-19 restrictions allow, all in-person instruction for nonvirtual courses will be held at Henry M. Gunn High School.

“We are limited by staff who want to teach this summer due to the pandemic which is further compounded by the need for staff who are properly trained to teach Living Skills,” Program Director Judy Argumendo wrote in an email to Verde.

According to summer school co-principals Courtney Carlomagno and Kim Lohse, the course offerings have doubled compared to 2020.

“It was really important to us to increase accessibility to in-person instruction for students who have struggled in the pandemic, either for academic reasons or social reasons,” Carlomagno wrote in an email.

Kick-start credit is new this year, and will be offering rising 9-12 graders the opportunity to better prepare for and transition into their next grade level.

“We are super excited, due to our county’s progression in the COVID tiers of safety, to be able to offer in-person classes that feel similar to a typical school year,” Carlomagno wrote. “We believe that this summer will be the start of a return to normalcy.”

by ANYA MONDRAGON

THE PALO ALTO CITY Council will be implementing policies to reduce gender inequality and increase the recruitment of female firefighters in the Santa Clara County Region’s Fire Departments by June 2021.

On March 15, the city council unanimously approved the Civil Grand Jury policy recommendations stated in their “Why Aren’t There More Female Firefighters?” report.

“Currently, we are at four [female firefighters] out of 81 [firefighters],” said Geo Blackshire, the fire chief of the Palo Alto Fire Department and a participant in the study. “We must stay on the forefront of recruitment efforts as we pursue a diverse pool of applicants.”

The report analyzes data from 2009 to 2019, and cites insufficient recruitment of women, gender bias and a lack of inclusivity as the cause of the disparity. It identifies six main categories of inequality: recruitment efforts, mentoring, opportunity for promotion, accomodations, work environment and gear.

Of the findings, the city disagreed that current firefighter gear is a disadvantage to female firefighters, claiming that all gear is unisex-fit and tailored to each firefighter.

However, during public comment at the city council meeting, community member Rebecca Eisenberg criticized the city’s response and requested that more steps to lessen the inequalities be taken.

“You agree with the findings, but you don’t display any actual meaningful work in exploring them,” Eisenberg said. “Nowhere does it say that interviews were conducted with the current female firefighters and, more importantly, with the former female firefighters ... There was kind of a writing-off that the equipment and uniforms are passably [comfortable] without any kind of factual exploration into that.”

by ZANDER LEONG

Students returned to the Palo Alto High School robotics lab in cohorts of 12 students and one adviser on March 9.

According to senior Griffin Zajac, the robotics team’s technical director and drive team coach, the team has taken large steps to reduce the possibility of transmitting the virus by creating cohorts of team members and assigning a different adviser to each cohort.

In addition to limiting the amount of exposure students have with each other, the robotics team has also implemented other changes such as open doors and windows that will help with the air flow in their room.

“I’m not as worried about the team performance this season,” Zajac. “What we’re focusing on this year is making sure that we’re teaching the younger members the skills that they need to perform in the future seasons.”

by RYAN SETO

ROBOT CREATION — Junior Xiaohan Li uses a miter saw to cut wood for an upcoming project. Although the team is primarily focused on preparing for next year, they are participating in virtual competitions. “We have been working hard on the virtual competitions and preparing our award submissions,” Zajac said. Photo: Sofia Antebi

PALO ALTO TEEN VOLUNTEERS attended a community mural painting event at Mitchell Park Library on March 21 to stand in solidarity with sexual assault survivors and send a statement of united intolerance against sexual violence.

Palo Alto Teen Arts Council, a student-led and city-sponsored organization, created the mural in response to stories of sexual assault shared in January by local teens and young adults on social media. Palo Alto High School junior Alison Xiong designed the mural hoping to create a piece that would not only enhance the library’s outer appearance, but also bring comfort to survivors in the community.

“Since the main theme was showing support, I wanted to create a design with symbols that could reflect that purpose,” Xiong said. “I chose to incorporate a pair of hands in an uplifting pose as the focal point of the mural and have flowers to allude to growth.”

Vibrant flowers and hands holding signs with messages for survivors adorn the mural, visible to bypassers outside of Mitchell Park Library. Messages on the mural include phrases like “‘No’ doesn’t mean convince me” and “You are not alone.” At the center of the mural, a pair of open hands frame the words “We see you, we hear you.”

Participants aged 13-19 signed up for time slots online to prevent overcrowding and to ensure proper social distancing. The event ran from 12–6 p.m. with around 30 youth volunteers showing up throughout the day to help complete the mural. One of many artists contributing to the art piece was Teen Arts Council Faculty Advisor Cayla Ray-Perry, who hopes that their work will be an opportunity to hold challenging conversations in the community.

“Art is a really good way to connect and communicate with people,” Ray-Perry said. “This is a cause I care a lot about, because it’s very personal for a lot of people I know.”

Council co-presidents and Paly seniors Anna Hickey and Emma Cudahy discussed the intent of the mural.

“We want to highlight the strength of the survivors, instead of the tragedies that they’ve gone through,” Hickey said. “We want to give an opportunity for survivors of sexual assault to express themselves creatively through this and to do so in a positive outlet.”

Cudahy says that community activism is vital for creating a safe space for survivors to speak out.

“It [the mural] is a good way to raise awareness and make people feel like their voices are being heard and seen on the wall of such a major community center in Palo Alto,” Cudahy said.

by EMILY YAO

COMMUNITY CREATION — Teen Arts Council Staff Advisor Roxanna Reid reviews her painting plans before touching up the pink hands in front of her. Palo Alto High School junior Alison Xiong hopes the mural project will encourage more collaborative activism events in the future. “This was my first time completing a piece with other people, and that community engagement really brought out an entirely new dimension of creating art,” Xiong said. Photo: Emily Yao

THE RECENT PALO ALTO CITY Council initiative, UpLift Local, is working to support economic recovery in the community through local business promotions, efforts to expand outdoor dining options and art.

Originally known as the Summer Streets program, UpLift Local has pushed to establish pedestrian-only zones along California Avenue, University Avenue and various downtown Palo Alto neighborhoods. Through creating more opportunities for outdoor dining and retail business, UpLift Local hopes to help Palo Alto businesses recuperate from the pandemic’s toll on commerce and income.

To promote UpLift Local’s work around the community, eight Palo Alto artists created unique pieces conveying resilience and positivity in the face of difficult and uncertain times.

“If you are into public art, I really encourage you to get out and take a look at our temporary murals pilot project,” Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services Rachel Tanner said at a March 16 community check-in meeting. “Some of them have interactive components ... and maybe you can see if you can find all eight murals.”