SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Scottsdale Unified School District's Governing Board has delayed their vote for a plan for returning to in-person education. As parents wait for a vote, the board waits for parents to vote.
The SUSD Governing Board took no action on a vote that would have approved or denied a hybrid plan for returning to school. In the plan, students would take online classes on Mondays, then choose either Tuesdays and Thursdays or Wednesdays and Fridays for in-person instruction. However, the days when students return to class are only half-days, and students are expected to be home for online learning for the second half of the day.
Instead, the governing board seeking input from the parents after their September 1 meeting, sending out a survey to parents, asking them to vote for one of three options for learning.
The first option being to continue online learning until the state's metrics are met for two straight weeks, adopt the hybrid plan and begin welcoming students back into the classrooms, or disregard the Arizona Department of Health Services guidelines and return to school full-time.
"That’s the best way to throw it to the parents. Say, "here are your options, what do you want?' And let us decide," said Kendra Scheer, a parent of many students in SUSD. "I voted for full return. My kids voted for full return."
"There are just so many different considerations it’s not just flipping the switch, and we’ll be back," said Emmie Cardella, who is leaning more toward staying at home with online education until the health metrics are met. "I feel like it’s really important to wait until we get to that just because the state of Arizona already saw that when we opened to fast we spiked and I just don’t want to get on that rollercoaster."
SUSD Board Member Jann-Michael Greenburg said he is more focused on the number of votes for the hybrid plan, being that the district currently meets moderate health metrics necessary for a hybrid plan.
Greenburg said he would like to see the results from a SUSD staff poll before voting himself, however that poll has not been sent out to teachers and staff yet.
The results of the poll will be shared during a special meeting Wednesday, September 9.
