A Year In News A Year In News
REOPENING PLANS DISCUSSED
ELSA O’DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
P
ali administrators
continue to modify
the school’s Road-
map for Reopening plan, which
will be presented to the Board
of Trustees on March 16.
Ultimately, the return to
in-person learning must fol-
low guidance from local and
state governing agencies. The
union representing teach-
ers in Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD) is
asking that teachers receive
the COVID-19 vaccine before
returning to classrooms, ac-
cording to published reports.
No decision has been
made about whether teach-
ers must be vaccinated
before Pali can reopen.
Currently, the COVID-19
vaccines are only available inLos Angeles County to health-
care professionals and peo-
ple who are age 65 or older.
School nurse Stepha-
nie Boyd is instrumental
in Pali’s reopening plans.
Boyd has many respon-
sibilities, including ensuring
that all students are vaccinated
with the required California
vaccines and handling out-
breaks of contagious dis-
eases such as COVID-19.
Boyd said she is not sure
if all Pali students need to be
vaccinated before coming back
to campus, even though earlier
this year, LAUSD superinten-
dent Austin Beutner stated
that “all Los Angeles students
will need to be immunized be-
fore they can return to campus.”
Even if all students, teachersand school staff get immunized,
Boyd stressed the importance
of wearing masks and maintain-
ing social distancing guidelines
upon returning to campus.
“A vaccine, while it is ef-
fective against contagiousdiseases, doesn’t completely
guarantee that you would nev-
er get sick,” Boyd said. “[The
vaccines] also have not been
around long enough for us
to know how long they last
or how effective they are.”VACCINES RESERVED
FOR CALIFORNIA TEACHERS
T
en percent of
available vaccines
will be reserved
for teachers starting in early
March as part of Phase 1B of
California’s vaccination roll-
out. Teachers have been prior-
itized for early vaccinations in
an effort to resume in-person
learning as soon as possible.
The impact has already
been significant for Pali.
Forty-one percent of Pali
teachers have received their
first doses of the COVID-19
vaccine and eight percent
have received both doses as
of March 12, according to a
Pali United Teachers Los
Angeles (P-UTLA) survey.
Teachers can schedule ap-
pointments through the statevaccine website using a spe-
cial code identifying them as
eligible educators. The codes
are doled out by the state to
county education offices, which
then allot them among local
districts and child-care cen-
ters for delivery to school staff.
Pali English teacher Hol-ly Korbonski’s route to the
vaccine was unconventional.
“I had a couple of chances to
get the shot through not entire-
ly ethical channels,” Korbonski
said. “Friends were going to
get me in and I was tempt-
ed, but I didn’t like the idea
that I was going to get some-one else’s vaccine. That didn’t
feel like good karma at all.”
She continued: “One of my
students reached out and said
her dad was a doctor with Los
Angeles County and they had
some extra vaccines... There
was a link attached and I got
an appointment the next day.”
Korbonski said she wishes
the state vaccination process for
teachers was more organized.
“I would really like to see
more direct action,” Korbonski
added. “I think if they want us
to go back to work it would
be nice to see that focus.”
According to the P-UT-
LA survey, 86 percent of Pali
teachers who have not already
been vaccinated say they plan
to receive it when it’s available.BIANCA CHERRY, STAFF WRITER
Courtesy of Stephanie BoydIllustration by Phillip Venkov