The Samohi 02 November 16, 2020 News Samo reacts as Biden sets to be president-elect “When I found votes on Dec. 14, which Congress while, Trump has stated at several received. Biden is the president-elect. out on Saturday certifies on Jan. 6. presidential debates that he may If Trump refuses to concede, the morning, it was Months before the election, rep- not accept the results at all, should Constitution will end his term. Either actually by my resentatives from the Los Angeles he lose. As Biden pulled ahead in way, Biden is set to take office on Jan. sister because she County Elections Division gave the race for president, the Trump 20, 2021. had gotten a no- presentations over Zoom in classes campaign announced they had filed tification on her throughout Samo to persuade stu- lawsuits against battleground states phone. We basi- dents to work as poll workers. Many Michigan and Pennsylvania to halt cally just looked students took this opportunity, in- ballot counting as it demanded in- at each other and cluding junior Nicole Barikhan (’22) creased access to observe the tallying screamed and ran who, like many of her peers, was process at numerous locations. The “Sit-down with People Magazine - Wilmington, DE - Au- to turn on CNN. not eligible to vote in this election. campaign also demanded it be al- gust 14, 2020” by Biden For President is licensed with CC I actually teared Those who signed up had to attend lowed to review the ballots in Mich- BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// up. It was all very the mandatory five-hour training igan which were opened and counted creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ emotional, and necessary to be assigned two 12-hour without their supervision. Further- my whole family workdays and what amounted to 15 more, Trump may demand a recount Megan Suchet was really excited too,” senior Lily hours on Election Day itself. in Wisconsin, which he is permitted Staff Writer Niven (’21) said. “I think that the volunteers deserve if the ballots fall within one percent- Though Election Day was Nov. 3, to be applauded. We all sacrificed age point. Georgia, by request, has al- On Nov. 7, hundreds celebrated in the winner was not determined until such a great deal of time but I only ready begun recounting the ballots by the streets of Los Angeles as Demo- the following Saturday, Nov. 7. All 50 did it for like three days since I’m a hand rather than a machine. crat Joe Biden was announced to be states continued counting votes after student. Others worked all 11 days The 2020 presidential election saw a Isabella Rodriguez / The Samohi the next president-elect of the United Election Day, 18 states even counted leading up to the election, and it’s not massive voter turnout. More Ameri- Samo Junior Mia Ferrara (’22) work- States, winning against Republican ballots that arrived after and 29 states easy. I guess I’m just very proud of cans voted than in any other election ing the polls at the National Typewrit- candidate Donald Trump. His victo- counted military ballots that also ar- them,” Barikhan said. for over 100 years. So far, nearly 65 er Company on Election Day. ry came after key wins in the battle- rived late. The deadline to certify state Biden has repeatedly announced percent of the voting-eligible popula- ground states of Pennsylvania, Mich- results typically ranges from Nov. 5 to that he will only accept results when tion has cast a ballot, the number ris- igan and Nevada. Dec. 8 before the Electoral College all the ballots are counted. Mean- ing as mail-in ballots continue to be [email protected] District plans for hybrid learning Nori Quist In addition, each individual school has director, Mark Kelly, spoke about specif- Staff Writer its own compliance team consisting of ic concerns regarding special education. the principal, a school nurse and an ad- Kelly said that secondary schools have In an Oct. 21 town hall webinar about ministrative assistant. to provide busing for special education the fate of secondary schools in the “What I’m doing is leading our teach- students, but not for the rest of the stu- coming months, Superintendent Ben ers along with our house principals and dents. Drati also recognized during the Drati announced that in-person class- teacher leaders. We’re gonna need to meeting that in-person learning is most es would not resume in any way until discuss what we believe hybrid should necessary for special education students at least Jan. 5. SMMUSD is looking into look like for Samo. We have a lot of dif- and students who are learning English feasible hybrid models for if and when ferent schools that we can look at their as a second language. In fact, some spe- this happens. stuff, but we have to look at, ‘how does cial education students have already re- The district is considering two differ- it work for Samohi?’” Principal Antonio turned to school through hybrid learn- ent hybrid learning options. The first Shelton said. ing. would divide the students into two dif- As is reflected in the district In addition to the town hall meeting, ferent groups, which would alternate COVID-19 compliance team’s lineup, there was a faculty meeting on Nov. 4 between going to school in person and one of the district’s main concerns is and a parent feedback meeting on Nov. staying at home, with switches between sanitation. During the webinar, a plan 10 to discuss plans for reopening once groups altering either by day or by was laid out for how many times per day Los Angeles County has been in the Red week. The second option would keep all different surfaces would be cleaned. It Tier of COVID-19 risk level for two students in online learning but would was also established that if students do weeks. approve various in-person activities decide to go to school for hybrid learn- If Samo returns to in-person school- such as clubs and sports. ing, there will be regular temperature ing in any way, shape or form during However, neither of the in-person checks and COVID-19 forms to fill out. the 2020-2021 school year, it’s going to models are allowed to be implemented If a student’s response to the form or be different than students are used to. until Los Angeles County has been in temperature check indicates that they With plans underway for a hybrid mod- the Red Tier of COVID-19 risk level for are sick, they will be asked not to go to el for all students that complies with two weeks. Los Angeles County is cur- school. That is unless they are already at COVID-19 safety codes, the town hall rently in the Purple Tier, meaning the school, in which case they will be put in webinar emphasized that school is not risk is widespread throughout the coun- a special room to wait for their parents going to be normal any time soon. ty, so classes are not allowed to return to pick them up. If it is discovered in in person. the middle of the day that someone in a Once schools are allowed to partially student’s household has COVID-19, the return to in-person learning, SMMUSD compliance team will find out which intends to be prepared. The district has classes and people that student has in- a COVID-19 compliance team, which teracted with, and send them all home. includes a few medical consultants and During the town hall webinar, the dis- nurses, as well as directors of human re- trict’s special education director, Dean- sources, facilities and special education. na Sinfield, as well as the transportation [email protected] Art By Isabella Rodriguez Malibu seperates from SMMUSD Sakura Amano Los Angeles County Office of Ed- feelings of discontentment as the is predicted based on previous the data presented at the Council Staff Writer ucation on Aug. 31, 2017. With consensus had been formed uni- data that after a five year period, meeting failed to take revenues At a City Council meeting on this, concerns regarding finan- laterally, without contacting the Malibu’s per student funding will generated by local sales taxes and Oct. 12, Malibu came to the de- cial equity between the students district in its decision. have reached $25,998 in contrast annual funding from the city into cision that they would be moving of each district have come into “We are disappointed in what to $14,264 for Santa Monica stu- consideration. forward with an approach which question. appears to be a retreat to a posi- dents. Ultimately, this means that As of now, future decisions would separate SMMUSD into “In times like this, how do you tion we thought we had all moved it is calculated for Malibu to have and predictions are still very un- two separate districts. This sit- create greater inequities...does it beyond in our discussions. We a five year growth rate of 58 per- certain. Nevertheless, the Santa uation is not unaccustomed, as make sense to create this gap?” are deeply skeptical of what we’ve cent, while Santa Monica over- Monica-Malibu Unified School Malibu has attempted to form an Samo Principal Antonio Shelton seen thus far,” Drati said in the sees a fairly minor growth rate of District delegation has stated that independent school district for said. letter. 5 percent.