By Karen Phan
Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) will not reopen its campuses for the remainder of the school year and instruction will continue remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge that the end of the school year will not look like what we had imagined back in September,” HBUHSD Superintendent Clint Harwick stated Thursday in a community update.
This decision to keep HBUHSD campuses closed follows California Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement Wednesday that schools should operate with the expectation of remaining closed for the rest of the academic year given the uncertainty about when it will be safe to return to campuses, as well as Orange County Department of Education Superintendent Al Mijares’ recommendation to keep campuses closed.
“As we enter a new phase in our understanding of the threat, it is time to address the reality that our efforts to flatten the curve and keep students safe cannot be accomplished in the span of a few weeks or even a month,” Mijares wrote.
Harwick echoed the message, affirming the importance of the closures to protecting public health.
“It is difficult to think that we can no longer hug our friends and gather in crowds at sporting events or performing arts; however, we make these social distancing sacrifices to save lives,” Harwick said.
Harwick acknowledged that the campus closures would mean that activities including prom, senior week and graduation would not be held in their traditional format; and said that HBUHSD was working on “alternative ways to celebrate [students’] accomplishments.”
The closure comes two days after State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond wrote in a letter to district officials that it is unlikely public schools would reopen due to a need for greater social distancing. Newsom predicted two weeks ago and during a Tuesday press conference that schools would remain closed.
“This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year, but rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning,” Thurmond wrote Tuesday.
HBUHSD and surrounding districts closed campuses on March 16. The district extended the original school closure from March 27 to April 10 and then extended it a second time to May 1.
“In response to the President of the United States’ press conference on March 29, 2020, and in consensus with our Board of Trustees and feeder school districts, it was determined that the best course of action was to extend the closure of our community schools to care for our staff and students during this unprecedented and challenging time,” Harwick wrote in a letter to the HBUHSD community on Tuesday.
A permanent shift to online classrooms for the rest of the calendar year poses numerous challenges for schools, students and their families; especially for those who rely on school meals, lack access to reliable Internet connection and need daycare for younger children.
“To all of the moms, all the teachers, all the caregivers, I know how stressful this is, trust me,” Newsom said. “I know what we’re asking of you over the course of the next few months.”
Newsom also announced a partnership with Google. The company will donate thousands of Chromebooks and 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to households across the state, with the California Department of Education distributing these resources and prioritizing rural communities.
“Those 100,000 points will help us substantially address the digital divide issues, the rural issues, the equity issues that are at play, even in the best of times, but substantively are highlighted in these more difficult times,” Newsom said.
Although “Google stepped up in a big way,” Newsom acknowledged that there is still more work to do to expand distance learning throughout the state and urged for more private, public and labor sectors to help.
“We need more Googles,” he said. “We still have a little bit more coverage that we’re going to need in some of the more remote parts of the state, but this was a substantial enhancement that came just at the right time with the labor management agreement, with the federal waiver and with now the expectation that schools will close.”
HBUHSD will continue to provide Grab and Go lunches to all students. Distribution is at Westminster and Ocean View High Schools Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. except during spring break, which is from April 13 to April 17.
“We were very pleased to get a waiver from the federal government that will allow us to substantially increase access to food distribution throughout our public education system in the state,” Newsom said.
FVHS students experiencing problems with their chrome books and need them fixed can visit Joe Pendergrass at the textbook room near the softball field. He will be on campus Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students can also visit https://tinyurl.com/t337o6m to request for remote Student Technical Support.
Newsom added that the care, empathy and collaboration of Californians during the COVID-19 global health crisis “will never be forgotten.”
“I just want to note how deeply proud I am of everybody that is going to step into the void with these schools being closed but these classes now continuing so that we can educate our kids despite this challenging moment,” he said.
Harwick expressed similar sentiments in his statement.
“Most importantly, in times of adversity, we know that families come together to support one another,” Harwick wrote. “The HBUHSD family continues to demonstrate this with encouraging words, unselfish deeds, and thoughts and prayers for those impacted by this global pandemic.”
HBUHSD resumed instruction and grading earlier this week, which will continue until the last day of instruction, June 11. Click here for the full HBUHSD distance learning story.
The full HBUHSD release from today can be viewed here and a transcript of Newsom’s April 1 press conference can be found here.
Justin Hsieh contributed to this story.
