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The Santa Clara County Office of Education is asking for parents of students in the county to fill out a survey that they said will help assist in plans for the 2020-21 school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey, available here, asks questions about how parents and students have received information during school closures and distance learning that started in March because of COVID-19, and what they think about the potential reopening of campuses.

An empty classroom at Gunn High School in Palo Alto on April 3. Photo by Magali Gauthier.

The county education office said decisions on how and when to reopen schools will also depend on guidance from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and the California Department of Education, but the opinions of local parents will be critical in the planning.

“We want to ensure these plans address the needs and concerns of children and their families,” County Superintendent Marry Ann Dewan said.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.

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10 Comments

  1. Uh oh! Palo Alto Online opened up a can of worms this Sunday. The PA parent reactions are in for the Fall Survey!
    1. You are sending this Survey out NOW?! I was expecting this survey MONTHS AGO!
    2. This survey is so invasive! I refuse to fill this out!
    3. There is an EGREGIOUS punctuation mistake on survey question #3! IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF THE WAY PAUSD IS EDUCATING MY CHILDREN?
    4. This survey just isn’t up to my survey standards. This is definitely not what I EXPECT from a survey! My parent network agrees!
    5. I am not seeing a comment section on this survey! How am I supposed to voice my concerns about this SURVEY, THE SCHOOL, and THE DISTRICT?
    6. Why do I even have to fill this out? Shouldn’t the District KNOW what my plans are?
    7. I also expect a hard copy! Why is this only in Google Docs when I pay taxes?!
    8. I bet that pesky teachers union is behind this substandard survey! We must get rid of the teachers union!
    9. This survey is a little long! I am doing all the work here again! What do teachers actually do? Teachers must take an immediate pay cut and let’s also get rid of their pensions while we are at it!
    10. In the future, can we please take a look at how other countries are doing district surveys and apply this to PAUSD so that we can do district surveys the right way?
    11. Wait..what? A vaccine may not be ready by the fall? How INCONVENIENT!

  2. I am glad the county is doing this. I hope they will take the results seriously and inform how to best enable and encourage districts to improve.

    Weekly, if you can, please let us know when the results are public!

    — Everything worker fine for me John, and the seemed fairly adequate, applicable, and straightforward. Maybe you need to unplug your computer and wifi, give them a power cycle and some time to collect themselves. 🙂

  3. @Sally- : )
    How about 1 more!
    12. Parents: Fill out county survey on 2020-21 school year plans?! That sounds SO demanding! Remember we are doing YOU THE FAVOR! Instead, how about: Parents: ***Please*** fill out county survey on 2020-21 school year plans.

  5. @Anon-Ahhhh… a potential survey issue…
    There’s a link to the survey above in the article so you can look through the survey for yourself and check that information.
    13. This survey didn’t meet my families’ individualized needs! It’s past time we left for a Charter School!
    14. A fall survey? What is this!? I was expecting Admissions Documents to Stanford for my 1st Grader!

  6. This survey is much better than PAUSD district sent out. Questions are more neutrally raised an there is an evaluation of the work of the district itself comparing to other districts during Covid times. One question- when will PAUSD send out the link of this survey to all the parents?

  7. This survey is what we needed, not the cut-down version sent by PAUSD a week ago! Parents, please, fill out and let your voice heard. PAUSD, please, send this link to all the parents! It is a shame we come to know about this survey from the newspaper.

  8. John Hicks,

    You are a troll, please, take your sarcastic comments elsewhere and don’t pollute the comments section. The one thing this survey needs is more publicity, not your hateful comments.

  9. I am not a troll! I’m not “polluting the comments.” You are by trying to police them.
    The survey is great. How did I say anything negative about the survey?
    But of course this county survey was better than the watered down PAUSD survey. Come on PAUSD AGAIN!
    You seem very sensitive so I am so sorry if my posts hit close to home and hurt your little sensitive feelings.
    Lighten up! Nice sense of a humor…

  10. Weird, why didn’t our school district send this survey to the parents? Is that because there are questions on how the district worked?

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