PHOENIX — A digital billboard off Interstate 10 and Elliot Road isn’t advertising a business or a service. Instead, it’s bashing a Valley school district for how it’s handling learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tempe Union High School District is the subject of the slide on the digital billboard. The message reads “Tempe Union High School District is failing our kids! Open our schools!”
In a statement to 12 News, a Tempe Union High School District spokesperson called the billboard a “divisive distraction” and added that the district is focused on getting kids back to the classroom safely.
Tempe Union follows health department metrics
Throughout the pandemic, Assistant Superintendent for District Operations, Safety and Student Support Sean McDonald has been examining COVID-19 data.
“What we’re going to look at are the metrics,” McDonald said.
Both the Arizona Department of Health Services and Maricopa County Department of Public Health have created guidance for schools amid the pandemic.
Currently, Maricopa County's school dashboard lists the recommended learning model for Tempe Union as virtual with onsite support.
McDonald has been looking at new case data, hospitalizations, trends and also keeping his eye on vaccine distribution too.
“We have multi-generational homes and things of that nature, that could put families at risk,” McDonald said. “We need to look at the whole being and not just be shortsighted by one thing.”
Tempe Union High School District has been virtual learning since Thanksgiving due to the winter spike of COVID-19. Arizona is still working its way back down from the peak of the surge.
"We really felt that it was going to be important to stay, with the high levels that we had, in a virtual setting,” McDonald said. “But, as soon as we can and we believe we’re coming close to that, we’re going to get back in and really impact our kids.”
McDonald said the focus has been to get all roughly 13,500 kids back on campus safely. Currently, the district is planning to bring students back for in-person learning after spring break on March 15.
Despite data, some parents want students back in person
There are parents on both sides of the in-person or remote learning discussion.
Jon Ladd’s son, Kobe, goes to Corona del Sol High School. Ladd said Kobe has autism and said his counseling meetings through the school have been done over the phone. It’s one reason why he wants to see Kobe back in class.
“Calling him on the phone to discuss this stuff and try and help him and try to get his organization done isn’t the same as sitting with him in person,” Ladd said.
Arnold Payne, a parent who says he represents other parents who stand behind the billboard’s message, said they also want to see kids back in classrooms.
“The children need to get back in school we were told a year ago just wait a few weeks, wait a few months, now it’s time to get the kids back in school,” Payne said.
However, Desert Vista High School parent Monica Gellman, said she appreciates how Tempe Union has followed metrics set out by the state and county health departments.
“I do feel like Tempe Union has both made a commitment to following science and stuck with that but also tried to be responsive,” Gellman said.
It’s unclear who put the billboard up
Several parents that 12 News spoke with all said they did not know who put the billboard up on I-10 and Elliot Road. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for putting it up either.
Becker Boards is the agency that runs the digital billboard. In an email to 12 News, the vice president of sales stated they couldn’t say how much the slide might have cost.
In regards to the billboard, McDonald said he’s not giving a lot of time and energy into it.
“I’d much rather see our community members come to us and ask us what we need for our students. You know, laptops, or cards we can get internet access for them at home, things of that nature,” McDonald said. “You probably spent close to $4,000 on a billboard like that for a week.”
Payne also did not identify who put up the billboard. However, 12 News asked him why the money to pay the advertising fees wasn’t donated to the district.
“We have no problem, in any community for that matter, supporting any school,” Payne said. “But it’s gotten to the point where this keeps getting prolonged so there are those that are saying, ‘enough’ we need to get our kids back to school.”
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