Parent Engagement in COVID-19 Discussion

Sent via email to Board Members and Superintendent on January 31

Dear President Villescaz and Members of the Board,

As a parent with children enrolled in a San Juan Unified School District school, I do not feel that I have been provided an adequate forum to routinely express my views regarding the educational needs of my children to the Board of Education.

So far, parents have been provided a couple of surveys and outside of that, we have been relegated to a passive role where we are told what will happen through emails and updates in the Superintendent’s report at Board of Education meetings.

When we are engaged with school leadership at meetings of the PTA/PTO, Site Council, and Superintendent's Parent Advisory Committee, it is at a staff level and does not provide us the opportunity to speak directly to the Board of Education.

Conversely, the San Juan Teachers Association and other employee unions have been provided unfettered direct access to board members and district leadership for private closed meetings, as well as preferential speaking opportunities in the few public forums that have been hosted.

Parents do not have a union and therefore we are reaching out to you directly with three simple requests. If granted, we believe they will provide parents with an equitable forum for civil discourse and demonstrate your interest in hearing from parents about their children’s education.

1. Placing COVID-19 as the first item on every school board agenda, before closed session, until both the state and federal emergency declarations are over. There is no issue more impactful on education than COVID-19 and it should not be diluted by being included with other matters or considered later in the agenda.

Placing COVID-19 at the beginning of every meeting will allow working parents, who are also supporting distance learning, a clear understanding of when COVID-19 will be discussed and what the district will present in advance. When placed at the beginning of the meeting it also allows more children to engage and participate in civic discourse (rather than asking them to stay up late when it is placed at the end of the agenda).

As an agendized item, it will allow parents to comment on that item specifically through written or verbal comments. More importantly, unlike non-agenda public comment, an agenda item allows you to ask district staff questions based on public comment. As our elected representatives, we believe this is a simple request that can quickly and easily demonstrate your desire to work with us to find our path forward.

2. We respectfully request a copy of the Letter of Agreement (Side Letter) between San Juan Unified School District, the San Juan Unified Teachers Association, and other employee unions related to the current reopening plan. As parents, the details of these letters directly impact our role in distance learning and it would be helpful to understand the details of this agreement. If the letter and related negotiation has already been made public, we would appreciate you directing us to that information.

3. We respectfully request an attendance “heat map” for the 2020/2021 school year to better understand the equity of current distance learning programs throughout our neighborhoods. We have heard rumors of significant absenteeism and learning loss and believe that an attendance map will start to provide the bare minimum of information we may need to provide you with our thoughts and counsel regarding distant, hybrid, and full time in-person learning.

Thank you for your understanding and attention to our request. You are welcome to contact me directly but otherwise, I look forward to an agendized discussion of COVID-19 at the Board of Education meeting on Feb. 9, 2021.

Sincerely, Ben Avey