‘Sit-in’ protest planned for Feb. 23 to push for reopening schools

Sentinel staff report–
Parents and students in Citrus Heights and other areas of the San Juan Unified School District are planning a “sit-in” protest to advocate for a return to in-person learning.

“After almost a year of no in person learning, parents, teachers, and students have come together to push back,” says a news release sent out by Keri Wannerses, the lead admin of a Facebook group called SJUSD Parents and Teachers for In Person School.

Also on The Sentinel: Business, community leaders call for end to shutdown during Citrus Heights event

The sit-in will involve students showing up outside the district office of the San Juan Unified School District in Carmichael, with each being asked to bring signs, masks and laptops — in order to log in and distance learn on-site until dismissed for lunch, according to the news release. The sit-in is planned for 8 a.m. to noon, on Tuesday, February 23.

An event flier says sit-ins are also planned to occur at the same time at Oakview Community Elementary, Earl Le Gette Elementary and Rio Americano High School. Sit-ins are also being encouraged at other schools in the district.

According to the group’s news release, concerns from its members about distance-learning include alleged learning loss, declining attendance revenues, district transparency, teachers prioritized over students, drop-out and retention rates, and mental fatigue and depression.

Wannerses is also circulating a petition to recall members of the San Juan Unified School District Board of Education. The school board is slated to meet in the evening on Feb. 23, where an update on efforts to return to in-person learning is expected to be shared.

According to the latest update from the school district, dated Feb. 18, the district noted that while coronavirus cases have dropped, Sacramento County remains in the “Purple” tier, with 18.7 cases per 100,000 residents. Rates must fall below seven cases per 100,000 and testing positivity rates must fall below 8% before the county will enter the “Red” tier.

According to the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, “K-12th grade schools can reopen for in-person instruction once their county has been in the Substantial (red) tier for at least 5 consecutive days and have posted their COVID-19 Safety Plan to their website homepage.”