All of our summer school programs have officially come to an end and we only have a few weeks before the 2021-22 school year. I hope our families have had some time to rest and recuperate before our first day of school on August 11th. 

As shared last month, our districtwide summer school programs were a true success. They culminated with three heartwarming ceremonies honoring the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 within the Downey Adult Transition program and the students who completed their credits over the summer to officially commence as 2021 Columbus High School graduates.

As we continue to prepare for a new school year, we currently find ourselves in a place very similar to last summer where things are frequently changing. New guidance is being updated by the state on a weekly, if not daily, basis and our district and school site staff are working hard to adapt to these constant changes. 

As shared in Superintendent Dr. John Garcia’s video update a few weeks ago, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) released updated guidance detailing that masks will continue to be required for all staff members and students on all California school campuses. While these guidelines address the issue of masks, there are many details and questions that remain unanswered as we wait for direction from the state and county. 

What we do know, other than masks being required, is that the state recently finalized the directive on how districts will be able to offer online learning to students. This Assembly Bill, AB 130, officially requires an online learning option to be made available to students “whose health would be put at risk by in-person instruction, as determined by the parent or guardian,” for the 2021-22 school year. With that, our staff is working through the confirmation data provided by our families’ responses and they are finalizing what this online option would look like.  

We, as a Board of Education and as the entire Downey Unified family as a whole, understand that this is a trying time for everyone within our community. From our students and families, even up to our staff, things are changing quickly and you have our commitment that we will provide updates as soon as they are released and our staff has had time to analyze what this means for our Downey Unified community.

In the meantime, I want to urge our Downey Unified family to please tune in to our Board of Education meetings.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, our staff has been providing a Return to School Update as it relates to the items affecting our Downey Unified community as well as the most recent legislation from the state and county.  

Details related to the Board meetings can be found on the Board of Education Agenda and Minutes page on our district website: www.dusd.net. I want to again urge all those interested in hearing the most up-to-date information to please attend in person or via Zoom.

I hope our students, families and staff enjoy the last few weeks before our first day of school. We look forward to seeing our students back on campus on Wednesday, August 11!