Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Magnet Center Friday, February 19, 2021 Volume 65, Issue 3 Patriots Ponder Best Path Forward Still stuck at home and staring at screens, many are yearning for a safe return to Revere. By NICO TROEDSSON Coronavirus continues to take its toll on Los Angeles County. Just a few weeks ago, hospitals were at capacity. Am- bulances were lined up outside emergency rooms. And mortu- aries were backlogged with bod- ies. On top of all that, LAUSD announced extremely worrisome data from its COVID testing program. Approximately 1 in 3 students from low-income com- munities, who showed no symp- toms of the virus, tested positive for COVID-19. Students have been espe- cially affected by the lockdown both academically and socially. Just over a month ago, a strict campus closure terminated all on-campus programs including childcare, athletics and in-per- son tutoring. But with a recent downward trend in COVID cas- es and a loosening up of the lock- down, talk of reopening schools is on everyone’s lips again. Eighth-grader Mark Lewis, left, and Nolin, his seventh-grade brother, stare at their screens. Photo: Paula Lewis (continued on page 2) Patriots tune in as Joe Biden is Counselor Chit Chats bring the Revere Represents: Principal runs The quarantine cannot lock down sworn in as president. Page 8 social back to school. Page 11 to raise funds for pit bulls. Page 12 the school’s sports stars. Page 32 February 19, 2021 THE TOWN CRIER Paul Revere Middle School 2 Schools: The Forgotten Child well-being. It helps us deal with stress, cre- safety standards,” Beutner says. That could ates healthy self-esteem, and allows us to create inequality in the safety of schools. Throughout the pandemic, Superinten- have fun which creates endorphins.” Superintendent Beutner also criticizes the dent Beutner expressed his frustration over Safe Schools for All plan for its new standard the inability to properly meet students’ educa- Is It Time to Implement on COVID case counts. Previously, Califor- tional and social needs in a safe, on-campus the Safe Schools for All Plan? nia guidelines suggested it would be safe to environment. As a result, Beutner joined up reopen schools if case counts were at or be- with the superintendents of the New York and Austin Beutner doesn’t think so. Gavin low 7 per 100,000 population. But the Safe Chicago school districts to ask for the fed- Newsom’s Safe Schools for All plan falls School for All plan lowered the standard to eral funds needed to reopen schools safely. short, according to the LAUSD Superinten- 28 per 100,000 population, which Beutner He requested an additional $2,000 for each dent. Beutner does not feel that a safe reopen- has difficulty accepting and questions the sci- student, totaling about $125 billion of federal ing is realistic due to the city’s high levels of entific reasoning behind it. money for the district. The funds would be COVID-19. He also believes that the state Finally, there is a funding issue. Beut- used to keep campuses sanitized, and provide needs to create clear standards for reopening ner believes that “community health needs COVID-19 testing, mental health support, all schools, and then open those campuses should be addressed with public health and a summer school program to fill in edu- that meet those standards. funds, not money which voters intended for cational gaps caused by distance learning. “Schools are the forgotten child,” Beut- ner claimed, referring to the fact that reopen- ing businesses and recreational entertainment was prioritized over education. Students have been hit hard by distance learning, with a 15% increase in Ds and Fs by high school students across the district. And the longer students are expected to continue with re- mote education, the more trouble they will have bringing their grades up. Many students are feeling frustrated by the lockdown. In a school-wide Zoom assem- bly on Thursday, February 11, eighth-grader Basel Thierry sent an urgent message to Re- vere’s administrators in the chat box: “We need to go back! It’s completely unaccept- able that we aren’t in school by now, we need to be taught. No excuses. Put our own needs before yours. You guys aren’t the ones need- ing education. I know it’s not your choice but you guys have more power than us. Please fight for us!” Revere history teacher Ms. Makhani wor- ries about the impact of lengthy school clo- sures on teachers and students alike. “Edu- cation is not the same when you cannot learn and teach in person,” she says, going on to When students left campus March 13, 2020, it was supposed to be for only two weeks. But explain that “middle schoolers need the per- now, it is almost twelve months later and there is still no return in sight. Photo: Nico Troedsson sonal connection of both their teachers and their peers. It really makes a difference if While Newsom’s Safe Schools for All students can see their teacher smile or move plan would provide $2 billion to safely re- K-12 education.” He goes on to say that Safe around in the classroom and likewise it is mo- open campuses by mid-February and in- Schools for All would use state funds that are tivating for teachers when they can see their cludes an increase in COVID-19 testing as meant for “‘instructional improvement and students’ expressions. It helps us understand well as a mask requirement for school staff accountability,’ including reducing class size; if students are confused, need extra help, or and students, Beut- providing supplies, are mastering the information.” She feels that ner says that is not equipment and oth- “motivation is decreasing,” and hopes for enough. The LAUSD A spring reopening is looking er services to ensure “students to participate and turn their camera Superintendent feels uncertain but an extended that students make on so their classmates and teachers can inter- that the Governor’s academic progress; act in some way.” plan doesn’t acknowl- school year is in the works. providing profession- School Counselor Ms. Evans is also con- edge the huge impact al development to cerned about students’ emotional well-being. COVID-19 has had staff to improve and She explains that on top of falling grades, on low income communities. “It leaves the increase the quality of classroom instruction; “distance learning is affecting students both definition of a ‘safe school environment’ and and paying teacher salaries and benefits.” socially and emotionally because they are the ‘standard for reopening classrooms’ up to Beutner sees this as a problem because using not able to interact with one another; and the individual discretion of 1,037 school dis- the funds for public health means money that interaction is a big component of positive tricts across the state, creating a patchwork of is taken away from the classroom. February 19, 2021 THE TOWN CRIER Paul Revere Middle School 3 While the Revere campus remains shuttered, LAUSD’s COVID testing program continues to test its students and their families. In a recent announcement, LAUSD uncovered some alarming data on the number of positive cases among its student population. Photos: Nico Troedsson To date, LAUSD has used its own funds Like Superintendent Beutner, the union What’s happening in other school to upgrade the air-filtration systems in more is also calling for more funding and for districts around the country? than 80 million square feet of buildings; re- “school staff required to work in person to configure classrooms, restrooms, halls, cafe- have access to vaccinations.” They believe According to the New York Times, New terias and other common areas to keep people that current “state funding will dispropor- York City’s “push to become the first big safely apart; and provide PPE and masks at tionately benefit white and wealthier com- school district in the country to reopen class- every school and in every classroom. munities.” rooms last fall” was a “risky experiment,” There are also ionized cleaning systems The union points to recent data showing but it has “also provided reasons for opti- on every campus and staff have been trained “a 35% increase in a rare pediatric inflamma- mism at the midpoint of the academic year. on health protocols and practices. Beutner tory syndrome linked to coronavirus, known In-school transmission of the coronavirus believes that once public health officials give as MIS-C, leading to more hospitalizations has been very low, and there has also been the signal, LAUSD is ready to go. in school-aged children” as yet another rea- broad agreement that children have benefited son to hold off on reopening. from being in classrooms.” However, there They also claim that “More than 65% of have been many “disruptions—especially The teachers union stands firm LAUSD parents surveyed said they do not when classrooms and school buildings are against reopening want to return to in-person classes because frequently closed because of virus cases.” In New Hampshire, Governor Gina Rai- of too-high infection rates.” mondo made it a priority to keep all of her In a statement released Feb. 16, United In a paper published July 2020, titled Teachers Los Angeles, the union that rep- state’s schools open, even though her state The Same Storm, but Different Boats: The “was the most COVID-infected region per resents Revere’s teachers, spoke out against Safe and Equitable Conditions for Start- capita in the country,” according to the New reopening. UTLA considers it reckless to ing LAUSD in 2020-2021, UTLA outlined York Times.