SoCal parents organize protest about reopening schools safely in the fall

LOS ANGELES - The majority of schools in California will begin the school fall semester online following Governor Gavin Newsom's guidelines, and some parents organized a protest saying more options are needed.

Rita Statman, a mom of three, organized a rally outside of Mayor Eric Garcetti's house Thursday to draw attention to what she describes as an "emergency."

"The emergency is educating the children because it's their wellbeing at stake especially for children who come from a disadvantaged background because they can't just borrow a computer, where are they getting the technology from?" said Statman.

Statman was working as an occupational therapist, but is now putting her job on hold.

"Someone needed to be here at the house to be with them. I took some time off, but now it seems that this is indefinite. Who's going to be home with them if they don't have school? It's not practical. I can't leave a nine year old and a six year old and a two year old home to figure out how to run their online curriculum. I know when this is all over, I can go back to work but that's really what's hard for me is to see my children suffering, " she said.

Statman said it was difficult to manage distance learning at home with her children.

"It wasn't working. It was chaos. A lot of the work fell on the parents which is fine but they weren't really learning. They were just kind of talking with the teachers and getting acclimated every day and then they would have homework on the side," said Statman.

Her nine-year-old son, Jonah, said he wants to go back to school.

"I want to go back to school. It's impossible for me to log on every five minutes. I hated Zoom. We're not really learning anything. We're just doing homework, talking about homework, and talking about how you're feeling," said Jonah.

Statman said her children attend private school, but the private schools are planning distance learning for the fall.

"The Governor's mandate covers all schools. It's not just public school. It's private school. It's charter school. There's no other option," she said.

Several other parents gathered outside of Garcetti's home along with Statman voicing similar concerns. A teacher was also in attendance saying there are ways to teach kids in classrooms safely.

"I would rather they learn in an environment where they can actually learn and when I ask them, they prefer to be back in the classroom where they can learn then I can go back to work to take care of patients who are in need and sick," said Debra Nima, a physician assistant who put her job on hold to help her children with distance learning.

Statman said she hears about parents buying personal tutors for the school year, but that is not an option for every parent.

"The upper class is going to educate their kids, that's what's going to happen and there's going to be a bigger gap," said Statman.

Statman said reopening schools should not be a political issue.

"This is about the kids. This isn't about politics. This isn't about what side you're on. This isn't about anything, but that the kids need to go back to school. It's better for their wellbeing. It's better for development, for their social skills, language development, for their education," said Statman.

FOX 11 reached out to Mayor Garcetti’s office for comment, but have not heard back yet.

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