On December 15, the Glendale Teachers’ Association (GTA) organized a car protest around the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) headquarters. The GTA had been negotiating with the GUSD for weeks to either come to a new Distance Learning Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or extend the current one which is set to expire on December 31, 2020.
GUSD has wanted to bring back some employees, including nurses, counselors, teacher specialists, and K-2 teachers on school campuses. The GTA has requested that the current Distance Learning MOU should be extended until the end of the academic year in June. The GTA has also proposed only bringing back students in programs that are allowed by county health officials along with teachers who voluntarily choose to come back.
The Glendale Report contacted GTA, and GTA President Taline Arsenian said, “GTA wants the best and safest working conditions for our educators. Right now, while LA County is still in the purple tier and with Covid cases rising, the best possible scenario for our students and educators is to continue with distance learning for the remainder of the school year and until it is safe for us to be back in person together. GTA wants only students and programs that are approved by the LACDPH and the CDPH to be allowed into campus and educators who feel comfortable with providing in person instruction only should be invited to return.”
