It's official: No increase in MUSD on-campus attendance

By Doug Spoon, Editor

After three days of silence on the topic – including Tuesday’s board meeting – Menifee Union School District officials announced today in an email to parents that there would be no further changes in teaching methods for the rest of the school year.

In short, no students will be allowed to attend class on campus more than the two days a week those enrolled in the hybrid model have been attending. There are 3 ½ weeks of school remaining before the final day on June 8.

In an email to parents, superintendent Dr. Jennifer Root stated, “As this decision has been contemplated, information was used from our Hybrid Task Force to consider the three overarching priorities: Maximize student learning time, keep students with their current teacher, and minimize changes to the schedules for our families. We also have watched and listened to feedback as our teachers have risen to the challenge of teaching in-person learners and distance learners simultaneously.

“In reflecting on all of this information and considering that there is one month left of the school year, Menifee Union School District will remain on the current hybrid learning model and schedule for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.”

In the previous MUSD board meeting on April 28, board President Jackie Johansen – a teacher and mother of five – asked district staff and teachers to make the necessary adjustments to return students to school full-time for the rest of the school year. She cited her own children’s increased productivity in just two days a week on campus and the fact that other local districts – including Romoland School District – were already welcoming students back at least four days a week.

“I’m asking our district employees to do the same, to allow our students to come back to school daily,” Johansen said at the time. “As a board member elected to represent the voice of the community on behalf of the students, I can’t ignore the pleas of our community for more in-person time.”

Because of the Brown Act governing public meeting conduct, neither Root nor other staff members had an obligation to respond at that time. The next day, in response to an email from Menifee 24/7, Root said, “All relevant information to reopening will continue to be shared via these presentations [during board meetings] and the presentations are posted on our district and school site websites to ensure that all of our stakeholders have a convenient location to access the most up-to-date information.”

In response to a question about the possibility of decreasing social distancing between desks from 6 feet to the now allowable 3 feet, Root said, “In order to determine whether or not everyone could come back in every classroom would necessitate us to restore desks in the rooms and measure appropriately.” She has not stated since whether that was done.

Also on April 29, in a text response to Menifee 24/7, Menifee Teachers Association President Shelli Sullivan said that she was surveying teachers for their opinions about combining the hybrid cohorts to return students to campus full-time.

That was where things stood until Tuesday’s school board meeting, which did not include an agenda item addressing the issue. Johansen did not make any further comments on the subject. Sullivan did not report results of the MTA survey.

Contacted later by Menifee 24/7, Sullivan said, “Based on our survey, a majority of our members had no issue with reducing the restriction of social distancing from 6 to 3 feet. However, two-thirds of our membership believed that it is in the best interest of all parties that we avoid disrupting our current classes with further changes. Combining the cohorts would make it very difficult to attend to the students that would still be in distance learning. It would be inequitable.”

District staff members had previously said they felt it important not to assign students who chose to remain in full-time distance learning to a different teacher, as some districts have. The thinking was that by combining the hybrid cohorts and thus doubling the number of students in the classroom each day, it would be difficult to also pay adequate attention to those participating online.

Following the online streaming of Tuesday’s board meeting, Menifee 24/7 reached out to Root for comment. The first response came this morning, after the letter had been sent to parents. In an email to Menifee 24/7, Root wrote, “Thank you for your patience. It is important that our community hears information from the school district before outside sources.

“A letter, which is attached, was sent to our families earlier this morning. It outlines our plans for the end of the year, summer opportunities, and return to school in the fall.”

In that letter, parents are told that “Menifee Union School District will reopen in August 2021 in traditional in-person learning while continuing to follow appropriate CDPH and Cal/OSHA guidelines. Based on the return to traditional in-person learning we will be discontinuing the Distance Learning+ model of instruction. Families who wish to continue their children in a virtual environment are strongly encouraged to enroll in our new Menifee Virtual School.”

The issue of social distancing and whether masks are required will depend on health guidelines at the time, according to the letter. Gov. Gavin Newsom stated this week that he expects the mask mandate to be removed by June 15 except for “large gatherings indoors.”

Action that was taken during Tuesday’s board meeting included approval of a tentative agreement with the Menifee Teachers Association on a salary contract for the current school year. Teachers will receive a 1 percent raise, retroactive to June of 2020.

In addition, an agreement was reached to give teachers a 3 percent salary increase for the 2021-22 school year. As part of that agreement, the instructional minutes for students in the 2021-22 school year will be increased by 10 minutes per day.

A year ago, teachers in MUSD were given a 2 percent raise in a contract retroactive to 2019. Negotiations between the district and MTA representatives have at times been tense in recent years. In 2015, after working for a year without a contract, teachers agreed to a 5 percent increase in base pay, with then-MTA President Mike Williams stating on the MTA website, “It would be disingenuous to pretend that the vote was an enthusiastic endorsement of the agreement between the MTA and management. In fact, as far as anyone can tell, the percentage of negative votes was the greatest ever.”

During her report to the board on Tuesday, Sullivan said, “I have a long speech written, but I choose instead to have an attitude of gratitude. I appreciate the consistent effort everyone has made to try to do things right.”

Sullivan told Menifee 24/7 later that “in regards to the compensation that was bargained for our membership, considering the current economic uncertainty, we are satisfied. There is no rancor among us in regards to this offer.”

Negotiations continue between the district and the Menifee Council of Classified Employees, which includes custodial staff and other physical operations. The school board on Tuesday authorized an expenditure to facilitate a 1 percent raise for the current year and 3 percent raise for next year, but an agreement has not been reached.

The MCCE’s stance appeared to be evident in the report to board members of Daniel Plasencia, the group’s representative.

“This is no time for fussing and crying,” Plasencia said. “Much of what was accomplished during COVID was due to the hard work of classified employees. Try to see it my way. If you see it your way, there’s a chance things will fall apart.”