Old friends embraced, excited cheers echoed through hallways, and words of encouragement filled the air — it was the long awaited first day back to schools for Pasadena Unified School District students since schools closed more than two weeks ago after Eaton fire carved a devastating path through their communities.
At Willard Elementary School, students began trickling in around 7:15 am on Thursday.
Teachers and staff warmly greeted students as they walked through the halls. Some students were excited to see their friends again and return to the classroom. Parents stood outside the school convening with one another, sharing an embrace, and reflecting on the past two weeks.
Jennifer O’Malley, who lost her home in the Eaton fire, said she was “very happy” to have her son Bobby return to school. Bobby agreed with two thumbs-up as he joyously reunited with one of his friends.
In the two weeks that PUSD schools have been physically closed, support for students and their families have been more “self-directed,” Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco said.
“We didn’t want to put any pressure on our parents, students, or teachers because we did not really know where everybody was.”
On day two of schools being shut down, PUSD ordered 5,000 Chromebooks to start preparing for students’ return. They’ve ensured staff were equipped to work with children who’ve been in trauma and to employ accelerated learning, a strategy to make sure children were learning grade-level material even if they needed support and remediation.
Additionally, some of the infrastructure needed to support students was already in place due to COVID-19. For children not prepared to return to in-person learning, Dr. Blanco said that the Center for Independent Study was offering virtual lessons, which they expanded to include elementary school students during the pandemic. Families who have temporarily been living in different districts or even out of the state, but want to remain part of PUSD, can have their place held in the school district until they are able to return if they’ve enrolled in the Center Of Independent Study.
“It’s the stages of grief coming in and out, so we have to meet our children where they’re at, and there will be different strategies and resources depending on where they’re at,” Blanco said. “We’ve learned this same type of need through COVID.”
Wednesday, as staff prepared for the return to in-person learning, Blanco emphasized prioritizing the “social and emotional health” of children. In Cherie Wood’s kindergarten classroom, she started the morning with a prompt: “I know we missed our friends. Let’s start at [play] centers, and think about something you missed when you were gone.”
“I believe that children are resilient, much more resilient than adults sometimes,” Blanco said.
LINGERING CONCERNS
As students and staff return, concerns linger among parents about classroom readiness, air quality, possibility of school year extension and the impact of prolonged isolation on students. Teachers, meanwhile, are worried about the logistics of relocating classrooms and ensuring instructional materials are ready.
Emily Stough, whose two children attend Blair High School — one of first 10 PUSD schools and programs reopening Thursday, said she sympathizes with the PUSD Board of Education members and Blanco as they navigate a sudden and widespread emergency impacting so many people.
As a parent, however, she wants more transparency about the district’s safety measures.
“ I’ve emailed the leadership a couple times with some of my questions, and they’ve gotten back to me,” Stough said. “What I wish I could see, though, was some more detail, like, who’s done the testing? Did they get a certified industrial hygienist? Did they have an insurance company do it? Did they have a remediation company do it? What exactly are they cleaning? Can we get reports of the test results?”
As a result of these concerns, she is sending her children back Thursday with masks, Stough said.
In response, Blanco said the school district is working with its insurance companies, which have hired the restoration teams to clean the classrooms.
“So they’re all licensed people,” Blanco said during an interview on the sideline of the “welcome event” Wednesday. “They’re professionals, environmental specialists,” she added.
For Rene Gonzalez, a parent with children at Marshall Fundamental School — which is scheduled to reopen between January 27-30 — concerns extend beyond the cleaning efforts currently underway.
“I’m more concerned with the separation of the students and the separation anxiety that comes with not being in a community,” he said. “These are the same students that went through COVID, and they’re barely catching up with socializing and community building.”
The possibility of extending the school year is also another concern for some parents.
“At this time, we are looking at that as an option with our labor partners,” Blanco said. “But even if school isn’t extended in a formal way, there are other ways we can recoup learning loss, which we did when COVID hit,” she said.
Blanco pointed to PUSD’s “extensive summer programs” and the district’s built-in instructional minutes, which she said exceeds those of many other districts, as opportunities to help children catch up. She added that the district may tailor these programs to better meet students’ social and emotional needs, which she identified as the top priority.
“The state superintendent stated today he’s guaranteeing our ADA for as long as we need him to,” Blanco said, in reference to the Average Daily Attendance funding districts in California receive based on student attendance. “What I’m worried about is the health and wellbeing of our families, wherever they’re at.”
As for teachers, logistical challenges around relocating classrooms remain a concern. The relocation of severely damaged schools like Eliot Arts Magnet Middle School and Altadena Arts Magnet to McKinley and Allendale, respectively, has left some teachers with little time to set up their classrooms or access instructional materials, said Jonathan Gardner, president of United Teachers of Pasadena.
“ So our teachers are concerned about having the instructional materials, their supplies, because they’re not going to be able to get any of those things from their classrooms,” Gardner said.
“Of course, I don’t think it’s an evacuation zone anymore,” he added, “but it’s not really safe to step on campus at Altadena Arts until it’s been thoroughly cleaned. And by the time that’s occurred, they’ll have opened up fully at Allendale.”
In response, Blanco said the district has been proactive in addressing these concerns. PUSD began ordering instructional materials and Chromebooks as early as Day 2 after the fire, she said, and furniture for relocated classrooms is also on the way.
Gardner also noted that the union has worked out a memorandum of understanding with the district to ensure its members who have been severely impacted by the fire have the time they need to manage logistics moving forward.
“We’ve already lost a month, right, almost, with instruction, so that’s going to make an impact,” Gardner said, “but I think our teachers and all of our education professionals are going to be working really hard to make sure that the rest of the year is as high quality as possible.”