Many Berkeley parents now face a decision whether to keep their kids at home or send them to school for in-person instruction five days a week.
This comes after the Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley Federation of Teachers and Berkeley Council of Classified Employees reached an agreement to get kids back in class.
In an email early Tuesday, the district gave a Thursday deadline for parents to figure out if want their kindergarten through 5th grade students to keep learning from home or come in to class five days a week with safety measures in place.
The email, obtained by KCBS Radio, also said district officials aim to "quickly determine schedules, campus logistics for this number of students, and bus transportation opportunities at each school." Plans include staggered arrivals and dismissals, schedule variations and COVID-19 tests for students every two weeks.
"Oh my God. I couldn't believe (what I saw) at two in the morning," said Mara Kolesas, a member of the BUSD Parents group.
Kolesas said the district's reopening is something they've been working really hard to see happen now that the state's plan allows it. She hoped it will help kids who have been left behind with computer learning, emphasizing to the fact the plan gives teachers an allowance to continue virtual teaching.
But that isn't lenient enough, according to Berkeley 6th grade teacher Alex Chung.
She told KCBS Radio that while she doesn't have any underlying conditions herself and has a vulnerable family member, she worries she may not be able to get an exemption to work from home.
"If the (Human Resources) is telling me that I need to be there for my students, I just gotta say that my family comes before my career," Chung said.
Once parents respond to the emails, kids will be reassigned teachers for the remainder of the year and given a schedule that will stick until summer vacation.
