On Thursday July 16th, the leadership of Davis TA sent a letter to the school board informing them that based on the overwhelming concern for the health and safety of our students staff and community, based on the reported data on Covid-19 cases in Yolo County, that the most prudent line of action would be to return to school in full Distance Learning. The letter read as follows:

Since then, there have been some developments. On Friday, the Board held a special meeting in which they heard a report from the Yolo Public Health Officer, and received a recommendation from Dr. Bowes and the District to reopen in 100% distance learning; they are scheduled to hear the District’s plan for Distance Learning and likely take action at the next board meeting on Thursday July 23rd. Governor Newsom, on that same Friday in the afternoon, announced that all schools within counties deemed to be high risk for the spread of Covid-19 must begin the academic year in full Distance Learning.

The DTA Negotiations Team met with the District team on Friday July 17th and Tuesday July 21st to begin discussing concepts surrounding Distance Learning. The next scheduled meeting is for Monday July 27th. DTA leadership and the Negotiations Team have reviewed the data of over 360 responses and will be using that feedback to inform our proposals at the bargaining table. Additionally, we would like to thank our members for the quality, quantity, and speed of the feedback we received in the survey. While most of us would have preferred to be with our students to start the year, the information you have provided will allow us to bargain for what will best serve our students and educators in Distance Learning.