Watch: ‘School and COVID: What Stanislaus County parents and students need to know’ | Q&A
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Students and educators are well into the third school year affected by COVID-19. For the first time in a year and a half, most children in Stanislaus County are back to regular in-person learning, five days a week.
But campuses look different even from the end of the last school year, when some districts brought back students full time. Gone is social distancing, but masks and other safety measures remain, and a growing number of eligible students are getting vaccinated.
Still, there are COVID-19 clusters and outbreaks, and at times, thousands of staff and students have been in some form of quarantine.
Some students are having to work hard to catch up, and the mental health of both students and staff continues to be a concern.
On Oct. 6, Emily Isaacman of The Modesto Bee’s Economic Mobility Lab held a live Q&A on what parents, teachers and educators should know about education as the pandemic continues.
The panel was:
Sara Noguchi, superintendent of the Modesto City Schools district
Rana Banankhah, Modesto High School senior and student representative on the district’s Board of Education
Dr. ChrisAnna Mink, a pediatrician and former children’s health writer for The Bee through Report for America
Meredith Pimentel, a third grade teacher at Brown Elementary in Turlock and president of the Turlock Teachers Association
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Sara Noguchi, Ed.D., became the 17th Superintendent of Modesto City Schools in June 2018. She is passionate about equity and social justice in our schools, and throughout our communities, and leads the Modesto City Schools’ team of nearly 5,000 employees with the motto “Every Student Matters, Every Moment Counts.”
Rana Banankhah is the Student Board Member on the California State Board of Education, as well as the Student Board Member on the Modesto City Schools Board. Banankhah is currently a senior at Modesto High School in the International Baccalaureate Program.
ChrisAnna Mink is pediatrician in Southern California and former health reporter for The Modesto Bee. While at The Bee, she covered children’s health in Stanislaus County and the Central Valley.
Meredith Pimentel is a third grade teacher at Brown Elementary in the Turlock Unified School District. She is president of the Turlock Teachers Association.
Emily Isaacman covers education for the Modesto Bee’s Economic Mobility Lab. She is from San Diego and graduated from Indiana University, where she majored in journalism and political science. Emily has interned with Chalkbeat Indiana, the Dow Jones News Fund and Reuters.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 10:21 AM.