GGUSD re-openings delayed

By Jim Tortolano

Campuses in the Garden Grove Unified School won’t be re-opening as scheduled in October.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the GGUSD Board of Education, President Walter Muneton read a statement about the change in plans.

Citing all the work that needed to be finished in organizing a hybrid in-person and virtual curriculum, he said “We have come to realize we will need more time and we cannot meet the Oct. 5 and 12 dates. We understand that parents have made plans based on these dates. We will soon be announcing an expansion of on-site supervision options to inform parents balancing work and their children’s distance learning.”

In the public comments segment of the meeting, the board heard recorded and written questions and statements from parents and district employees raising issues of health precautions, communications, staffing  and other factors affecting the timeline and conditions under which schools might be reopening.

On Sept. 3, the district sent a letter to parents announcing that pupils in grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade would return on Monday, Oct. 5. Pupils in grades seven through 12 (intermediate and high schools) would return on Monday, Oct. 12.

Although conditions in Orange County related to the coronavirus pandemic have improved and many facets of society are “re-opening,” the complexity of the task involved demanded more time.

“It’s uncharted territory,” said Board Member Lan Quoc Nguyen (Trustee Area Two). “No one’s ever done it before.”

The next GGUSD board meetings are scheduled for Oct. 6 and 20.

The district serves most of Garden Grove as well as parts of Anaheim, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Stanton and Westminster.