Earlier this year, an effort to recall several members of the Cupertino Unified School District (CSUD) board over their unwillingness to reopen schools was started by a group of local parents who prefer their children to return to in-person learning.
The Recall CUSD Board claims that despite the large amount of support from CUSD parents to resume in-person instruction, board member Lori Cunningham and other board members continued to block the process of school re-openings and have failed to prioritize students over the interests of the teachers’ unions.
To date, parents have gathered 2,000 signatures to recall Cunningham, but that number falls short of the 11,000 signatures required by October 4 to call a special election.
Fast forward to today, a group of about two dozen CUSD parents are petitioning for the return of virtual learning, at least until there are fewer COVID-19 cases or kids under the age of 12 can be vaccinated, according to reports They aren’t convinced classrooms are safe for kids, especially with the highly contagious Delta variant circulating throughout the country and Bay Area.
The group claims that they surveyed nearly 900 parents stating that more than 90 percent of them want to return to distance learning.
Although there is a home study option available to them, parents say it only entails 30 minutes with a teacher and the rest of the day falls on the parents to supplement instruction and monitor work. Parents who choose to go this route risk having their child lose their spot in class once they feel safe to go back, according to reports.
According to reports, CUSD has seen few COVID cases among students and staff since returning to campuses last month – just 10 students among 14,000 and six staff members have been infected.
Parents who organized the CUSD recall effort say they have no objection to those who want distance learning back, as long as it doesn’t limit in-person learning for the rest.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.