PVPUSD Continues to Support Community Despite School Closure
As education facilities worldwide have closed down due to coronavirus (COVID-19), Palos Verdes Unified School District (PVPUSD) has also begun its district closure as of March 13, also in an effort to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. In order for students to continue their coursework, PVPUSD teachers have begun remote learning, with many employing platforms such as Edmodo, Microsoft Teams, Edlio and Zoom to teach their curriculum virtually. Being under the pressure of responding to the inquiries of students, staff and parents, PVPUSD has reacted in such a way that allows their students to continue pursuing their education at their full potential.
Schools outside PVPUSD, such as Harvard-Westlake High School which closed on March 12, have closed earlier than Peninsula. Although other schools such as Harvard West-Lake High School were able to close sooner, PVPUSD implemented their school closure at the earliest time that they were permitted to do so. PVPUSD closed as soon as closure was possible, as Los Angeles County authorities gave PVPUSD faculty and the school board very limited direction on what to do in this unprecedented situation. Los Angeles County urged PVPUSD to stay open amid potential dangers according to PVPUSD Board of Education member Linda Reid on the Panorama Podcast. The closure of PVPUSD schools was ensured when COVID-19 cases were discovered within the PVPUSD community for the health of students and staff, although the PVPUSD school board was urged to stay open. PVPUSD also closed earlier than many other districts within Los Angeles County, such as neighboring Torrance Unified School District, doing all it could for the benefit of the PVPUSD community.
“With such little time to prepare, I think [PVPUSD] has done [a good job handling school shutdown ],” senior Warren Bergman said. “The district is providing resources for students and teachers for learning, like the school Microsoft accounts and chrome books.”
In this pandemic, education with a curriculum designed for traditional in-person teaching is difficult to pursue.
“I personally think our district is [managing school closure well], but [I do not know] if this is good enough,” senior Yuri Takubo said. “Some teachers are struggling so much making everything online, they need more assistance [from PVPUSD].”
There are issues with online learning, as school closure is an unprecedented situation. However, any blame for said issues cannot be assigned to the district. Throughout this anomalous difficulty, PVPUSD has given all of the resources for online education that they can to their students, such as checking out chromebooks to those who lack technology at their disposal while staying home. This being the best thing that the district can do for its students and staff within online education, the district has fulfilled its responsibilities to support the school community. It is an accomplishment in itself that the district has made ways for students to continue receiving education from their homes. As many teachers have come into remote teaching with inexperienced approaches, PVPUSD is currently working to improve these circumstances. The PVPUSD school board is also having a meeting on April 22, to resolve any hardships that staff and students may be having during this time. The district was only unprepared for school closure because an accurate projection of the future circumstances related to COVID-19 would have been impossible to predict.
In comparison to districts that may have performed differently, liability for these issues may easily be assigned to a lack of effort from PVPUSD in helping their students and staff. Although this is true, PVPUSD has knowledge specifically of their students’ needs and has gone to all extents to benefit the PVPUSD community. As school closure is likely a trying ordeal for seniors specifically, closing slower was likely a favorable thing that could have helped to ease any shock that seniors might have dealt with. Furthermore, PVPUSD has continued to academically serve its students.
Currently, PVPUSD is working to introduce a new method of taking Advanced Placement tests during school closure. In this fashion, PVPUSD is making choices based on what best supports its students, student families and faculty during this hard time and will continue to do so.
“[I would not accredit these issues to the district] at all,” English 2 and English 2 Honors teacher Maria McCloud said. “This is just the fallout from an unexpected situation. Even had we attempted to prepare for this, [we could not have known] what it would be like. [I am] grateful for the support we are receiving–from colleagues to admin to [the] district level.”
