FEATURED COLUMNIST
Questions on LGBTQ Flag Raising, Parking Permits & Quarantine Days Q&A With Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, Superintendent, Pajaro Valley Unified School District
Where can we get more rapid tests? I was given one box before spring break but used both of them and want more since my students keep getting sick and want peace of mind right away then having to wait 24 hours for a PCR test. apid (antigen) testing is currently available at the following Inspire Diagnostics drive locations: Pajaro Valley Unified District Office, Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz County Office of Education in Santa Cruz and Salud Para la Gente in Watsonville. Anyone registered with Inspire Diagnostics can request a rapid test and/or a PCR test when they visit the drive through testing sites. Testing with Inspire Diagnostics is free to all PVUSD students, staff and household family members. Will the Wellness Center be open all summer or are you going to shut it down as well? s part of the mission to serve students and families beyond the school day and school calendar, the PVUSD Family Engagement and Wellness Center will be open during the summer so that all PVUSD families and students can have access to services. Along with our partners, we will continue to provide food at the Second Harvest Food Bank co-op every day that we are open and frozen meals from Martha’s Kitchen on Fridays. PVPSA, Salud Para la Gente, and Luna y Sol will host youth groups; focusing on connection, health, and building interpersonal skills. Our mental health counselor will also be on-site meeting with clients and available for crisis support. Many community organizations are reaching out to add programming to the Wellness Center this summer so we will keep our PVUSD community updated. Follow us on Instagram: @Pvusdwellness and Twitter: @Pvusdwellness to be the first to know! Summer hours are Tuesday - Friday 11 am- 7 pm and Saturday 9 am – 4 pm. You can also visit the Center’s webpage at wellness.pvusd.net. We heard there may be another flag raising this year to support LGBTQ+ students. Do you have any information? VUSD will be having the 2nd Annual Progress Flag Raising May 23 at 10:30 am at the District Office. The morning will kick off with a warm welcome, the superintendent’s address, highlights of our board resolution, a rainbow reflection, and will close with our students raising the flag. Sites throughout the district will also be raising their flags in support of our LGBTQ+ students, families, and staff. As a District, we remain committed to
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providing a safe environment for all. We are also pleased to announce that the event will be live-streamed for everyone that is unable to make it. I read there were yet again new quarantine requirements that were going into effect on Friday, May 6. When are these changes going to stop? I cannot keep up. VUSD continues to follow all state requirements and guidelines which includes the California Department of Public Health for students and CalOSHA ETS for employees. The requirements for students remain unchanged as the CDPH guidelines have not shifted since April. There are new quarantine guidelines for employees, which went into effect on Friday, May 6, 2022. The new guidelines require all employees regardless of vaccination status to test after an exposure or quarantine for ten days. On this page is a chart which highlights the process. My child got her driver’s license 7 weeks before the end of the school year. In order to drive to Aptos High and park, she must purchase a parking permit. Now there are only 5 1/2 weeks of school, and Aptos High won’t pro-rate the parking permit or let a permit bought now be good for next year. What is the logic behind this policy? What does the money from the parking permit program go? Is there some Covid fund leftover to cover parking permits? Why are the students charged for permits at all? Thank you for considering this question, many families of new drivers are wondering about this. arking and driving on our high school campuses is not required for students,
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which includes Aptos High. PVUSD campuses may have very limited parking, as is the case at Aptos High School. To ensure roadway safety and adequate parking on the AHS campus, students are required to purchase a permit and park in designated areas. Aptos High School charges a small fee to assist with costs for parking enforcement, safety, and maintenance. AHS parking permits are sold on a priority basis in the fall term to juniors and seniors. At the second semester, any remaining parking permits are sold on a first-come first served basis to sophomores and/or freshmen. Permits are to be properly displayed, so that campus supervisors can assist in the event of an emergency. This spring, AHS has less than 20 parking permits available for students; this is atypical, as permits are often sold out at the beginning of third quarter. AHS staff revisit parking policies at the beginning of each year and make adjustments, as necessary, to be fair to all students. AHS administration is aware that there are more parking permits this year than in prior years and will review the fee for 4th quarter parking permit purchases in the 2022-23 school year. Will there be in-person kinder round-up this year? indergarten Round-up and the registration process has been modified for the last several years. Currently, families may register their kindergarten students through our online process and or inperson at their neighborhood home school. Parents/guardians should return
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required registration documents to their school office. School sites will contact families for additional appointments as needed, which replaced the formal Kindergarten Round-up process at most schools. Individual schools will invite families for Kindergarten Orientation events either this spring or at the end of summer before school begins. In addition, each school site should have a kindergarten virtual tour of their site located on their school website. Please contact your school site office for specific information regarding any Kindergarten Orientation dates. The kínder Schedule for Landmark is very short. Can you change it to be a schedule similar to Freedom that is five hours? hile we cannot change the kindergarten schedule for Landmark for next year, we have been working diligently with site administration and staff at all remaining elementary schools to provide robust programming that will include before and after school enrichment opportunities for all students including kindergarten students. These opportunities will be available to all kindergartners next year through our Extended Learning Opportunity Plan funding. In addition, the district is currently piloting the full day kindergarten program. With a successful pilot, we will continue to add additional sites over the next two years. The first set of schools to begin the full day model will be: Alianza, Ann Soldo, Freedom, Mintie White, Ohlone and Valencia. My child is in the Migrant Program. Will there be special programs for him during the summer? igrant Education will be providing summer services for every Migrant student. Depending on the grade level of your child, there will be different programs to promote their success. Our PreK staff will be scheduling home-based services to work with families and the child by providing support on how to best prepare for transitional kindergarten or kindergarten. If your child is in grades K-8, Migrant Education will be collaborating with the PVUSD Extended Learning summer program. If students attend the summer program, they will have an opportunity to receive a culturally relevant curriculum in both English and math. Additionally, if your child is in middle school, he/she can also participate in either the Girls or Boys in Engineering summer session in partnership with Cabrillo College. The Boys in Engineering will run June 20-24, and the Girls in Engineering will run June 27-July 1.
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“PVUSD Q&A” page 26
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / May 15th 2022 / 23
