March 29th was a big day for Downey Unified as we welcomed 10,000 of our students back to campus after a long 12 months of being apart. I, along with the rest of the Board of Education, want to share how happy we are that we were able to provide our students with the option of finishing this school year in-person! 

With that, we are even more excited to be able to honor our graduating and promoting Classes of 2021 as well as our graduating Classes of 2020.  Being able to celebrate our students’ accomplishments is something that each of us look forward to at the end of every year and we are elated to be able to recognize our Class of 2021 and 2020.  Graduation and promotion ceremonies are set for next week, with the Class of 2020 ceremony scheduled for Friday, May 28 and all current promoting and graduating classes being held on various dates between Tuesday, May 25 and Thursday, May 27.  Due to current LA County Department of Public Health restrictions, these ceremonies are limited to the immediate household of each student.  However, we are excited to share that all ceremonies will be livestreamed so all family members and friends can tune in to watch these milestone events.   If your child’s ceremony is being held within the Warren High School stadium, these ceremonies will be livestreamed on Downey Unified’s YouTube Channel.  If your child’s ceremony is being held within the Downey High School stadium, these ceremonies will be livestreamed on Downey Vikings YouTube Channel. Please make sure to check our website or our social media pages for links to these pages. Your child’s school will also be sharing this information.

As we look toward the summer and into next school year, I want to share how hopeful we are in regard to having our students return to full-day, in-person instruction in the fall.  With LA County metrics continuing to improve, the potential of having our students back in the classroom, five days a week for a full normal day, is a very attainable goal. The Governor has slated June 15 as the date where more announcements will be made, and as we continue to monitor these changes, we will keep our families updated.

Now getting into a few school and staff recognitions... At the end of April, Griffiths and Stauffer Middle Schools were redesignated as California Schools to Watch! This prestigious award was first earned in 2018 and both schools were re-evaluated prior to receiving this redesignation. This designation sets our middle schools apart from the rest because out of the 30 California schools to be redesignated, only nine were located within Los Angeles County, two being those in Downey Unified.  So, we are very proud of not just Griffiths and Stauffer, but of Doty Middle School also because they received this initial designation in 2019 and they will begin this redesignation process in the coming year.

Also last May, our Superintendent, Dr. Garcia, was selected as the Superintendent of the Year for Region 14 of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). This is a distinguished honor as Region 14 consists of 24 school districts covering an area from Beverly Hills to Long Beach. Recognized along with him was Downey Adult School Principal, Blanca Rochin, who was selected as the ACSA Region 14 Adult Education Administrator of the Year and later named the 2020 Adult Education Administrator of the Year for the State of California. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to celebrate these two for their achievements until recently.  At the beginning of May, now that county metrics have lowered, we were able to safely recognize them for their distinguished honors. I hope you can join me and my fellow Board members in congratulating Dr. Garcia and Mrs. Rochin!

I also want to share a quick update on our Downey Unified Human Relations Council (HRC).  As many know, the Steering Committee of this Council was established last June and since then, the HRC has expanded to include one member representing each school site within our district.  This HRC has met several times virtually and work has already been done to begin drafting an equity plan for our district. After providing a public update during April’s Board Meeting, their work has continued and a draft plan should be developed by this summer.  I am sharing this update because I want our Downey Unified family to know that once this draft plan is complete, the district will be reaching out to our students and families to get feedback and input on this plan prior to it being finalized.  Please make sure to continue to check your emails or the district app over the summer for an update on this HRC input session.

In closing, as we head into the last week of school, I want to thank our entire Downey Unified family for all your support, particularly the patience, grace and flexibility that each of you have shown us this past year.  It was a challenging year for us all, and as the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter, I know that we are stronger as a community because of it!  I look forward to my next update where I plan to share some exciting news about our summer school programs, continued meal distributions to our families and the community, and hopefully more information about the 2021-22 school year following the Governor’s decisions in mid-June.

Sincerely,

D. Mark Morris
Board of Education President