San Diego Unified, San Diego County's largest school district, welcomed students back to campus Monday.
About half of the district's students opted to return to the classroom while the other half will continue learning remotely. Students returning to campus won't find things exactly back to pre-pandemic times — there's a shortened school week, many safety precautions and changes to classrooms.
KPBS Midday Edition spoke with a student, parents, the district's superintendent and teachers union and a medical doctor to hear their thoughts on students heading back to school campuses.
High School Student Shares Her Experience
As the re-opening gets underway, many students will begin to assess how their learning has been affected by the school shutdown of the past year. Canyon Hills High School junior Kate Chasin, 17, shared with Midday Edition her thoughts on going back to school.
Parents React To Having Option Of Sending Kids "Back To School"
Not every district in the county has made the same decisions for in-person and online instruction. Some have already returned to campus, while others are continuing online-only instruction. We asked parents from around the county to share their thoughts about returning to school in person.
San Diego Unified Superintendent On Reopening
The superintendent of San Diego Unified, Cindy Marten, joined Midday Edition on Monday to discuss the resources available to students and the safety measures that have been put in place.
Teachers Facing Challenges In Reopening
The pressure hasn’t ended for teachers as they welcome back students who may have suffered substantial learning loss in the last year. And they also take on a dual role of teaching both in-person and keeping up distance learning for families who are still wary about sending their kids back to school. Kisha Borden, president of the San Diego Education Association, joined Midday Edition to discuss the range of emotions and challenges teachers are experiencing as they too head back to campus.
Protecting Student Health
As more of San Diego’s adult population receives their first and second doses of the vaccine, most children are not yet authorized to get the vaccine. And as variants prove to be more infectious and cause more severe illness, it is children who are now among the most vulnerable population.
So, as schools decide to reopen and kids go back to the classroom and start playing sports, what can be done to protect them, especially while clinical vaccine trials for minors are still underway?
Dr. Stephen Spector, a professor of pediatrics and member of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC San Diego joined Midday Edition to answer those questions.
