COVID-19

Oakland Teachers Say School Should Reopen When Science Says It’s Safe

Published

4 years ago

December 17, 2020

Kiki

Theresa Pistochini

Dr. Robert Harrison, MD, MPH

There has been considerable pressure nationally and locally to reopen public schools, as many recognize that online teaching does not meet the educational needs for students who need to be working directly with teachers in classrooms.

Locally, there was a move to prepare to reopen on Jan. 25, 2021 – a date that the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) submitted to the county as its reopening date. But that proposal was canceled as the COVID-19 tsunami spread uncontrollably across the county and the state.

“Our plan is to reopen schools in phases beginning when our county is in the Orange tier of our state’s color-coded tracking system,” said OUSD Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell, in a December 14 letter to the community. “Alameda County and most of California being in the most restrictive Purple tier, and the coming holidays, (makes) it is highly unlikely that we will move into the Orange tier in time for the original proposed date.”

When and how schools can be reopened comes down to what steps are necessary to protect the entire school community: teachers and other school employees, parents and students and vulnerable adults who live with students and their families.

Recently, there have been many reports that allege without much evidence that the pandemic does not have a severe impact on children and schools.

But Florida data scientist Rebekeh Jones, writing in U.S. News & World Report on December 2, said that the data shows that “in-person classes contribute to the virus’ spread.”

In what some say was an attempt to silence her, Jones was fired in May by the Florida Department of Health after she helped create the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Jones said she lost her job after she refused requests to manipulate data to suggest Florida was ready to ease coronavirus restrictions. A spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the time that she “exhibited a repeated course of insubordination during her time with the department.”

On December 8, Florida state law enforcement agents raided Jones’ home with weapons drawn, carrying out a warrant as part of an investigation into an accusation that she sent an unauthorized e-mail message on a state communications system.

According to Jones, “Our database …showed there had been nearly 250,000 student and staff cases (of COVID) across the U.S. since Aug. 1…In our opinion, the data suggests schools are NOT safe and DO contribute to the spread of the virus – both within the schools and within their surrounding communities.”

Locally, teachers, members of the Oakland Education Association, say the schools will reopen when the science shows it is justified, based on what the public can learn from health experts rather than politicians and corporate communications’ departments.

On Monday, the union released on an online panel discussion on the safe reopening of schools. Besides a parent and a teacher leaders, speakers included Dr. Robert Harrison, MD, MPH, a clinical professor of medicine and associate director of the occupational environmental medical residency program at UC San Francisco Medical Center; and Theresa Pistochini, an engineer and manager at UC Davis Energy Efficiency Institute, who talked about the air quality measures needed to allow staff and students in school buildings.

In his remarks, Harrison said, “The (latest) surge is unprecedented. We are in the third wave of COVID-19… higher rates of positive cases, greater rates of hospitalization, and in the last (few) days, a record number of deaths across the country.”

To reopen the schools, he said, “We need to drive those (rates) down across California from Purple to Yellow, which is the safest tier.” These community efforts will lead to a path to “safely reopen schools,” he said.

“First and overarching is that we have to control community transmission,” Harrison said. “We have to look at schools as a workplace, but they are also a community,” he said, pointing out that the schools touch 20 million people in California, half of all the people in the state. “It’s bigger than just the teachers.”

To drive down community rates, we need to do what other countries have done, “a layered defense against the virus,” Harrison said. That means widespread testing, contact tracing, and financial support for families so they can afford to stay home if they are exposed to the virus.

Ventilation expert Pistochini talked about the need to take steps to improve indoor air quality.

“COVID-19 can be spread indoors through airborne transmission,” she said. “The virus can infect others who are more than six feet away in an enclosed space with inadequate ventilation.”

Though face coverings reduce the amount of particles that get into the air, “indoor respiratory aerosols can build and remain airborne potentially for hours,” she said.

These particles can be removed from the air, but that requires improved ventilation and filtration systems, expenses that may be difficult to handle for many school districts that are already trying to survive on austerity budgets.

Speaking at the end of the discussion, OEA President Keith Brown said, “This December we are experiencing some of the deadliest days in U.S. history, but I do feel we have a light at the end of the tunnel. But we cannot let our guard down prematurely.”

To watch the OEA-sponsored panel discussion, go to “What Does a Safe and Equitable School Re-Opening Look Like?” at /www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fKmL0tXRgs

Kiki

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Activism

ESSAY: Technology and Medicine, a Primary Care Point of View 

The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, restricted millions of people to their homes, which required reliance on the internet for communication and information.  Personal internet searches became essential to understanding information about COVID, human physiology, symptoms, and keeping up with vaccine updates.  However, this increase in independent online research resulted in people accessing more misinformation circulating on the internet. This posed a challenge for medical providers trying to treat patients according to research-based guidelines.  With so much information within reach, it was difficult for providers to help their patients distinguish between legitimate evidence-based sources and opinion, speculation, and fabrication.   

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Dr. Adia Scrubb Photo provided by California Black Media..

Dr. Adia Scrubb
Special to California Black Media Partners

Technology has enhanced communication between medical professionals and patients; improved patient care management; and eased access to care and information, benefiting both patients and medical clinicians.

However, despite the ease and many conveniences these patient care improvements have ushered in, adequate patient care still includes physician supervision, examinations, and interaction, which present challenges for keeping up with demands on the healthcare system and accurate patient education.

Technology has made more educational resources available at our fingertips, and it has created independence for those who want to know more about their bodies.

Nowadays, patients continuously arm themselves with medical information and challenge clinicians with the research they gather from internet sources to advocate for themselves and their care.  This often leaves medical professionals with the complex task of navigating challenging discussions, pointing patients to validated and verified medical information, and following evidence-based medical guidelines for treatment.

Reviewing information before an appointment can certainly make an office visit much more productive, but it is essential to acknowledge the possible bias and limitations of internet searches.  Consideration of the author, source, and date of the information may help determine its validity.

Furthermore, simply asking medical professionals for their preferred patient information resources will direct patients to safe and validated information that is in line with standards of care practices.  This can help patients better understand the recommendations from their doctors and streamline their internet searches.

Access to individual online medical record information, such as blood tests, MRI reports, and office visit notes, has been a significant expansion of technology in medicine. This digitization of medical information enables and positions patients to take a leading role in managing their care.  What used to be multiple sheets of paper in a large file folder is now a click away at any time.  Despite these benefits, instant access can be overwhelming for both patients and medical providers, especially since patients, in many instances, can receive their test results online before the physician has had the opportunity to review them.

Patients may review the office visit notes or their lab results out of context or misinterpret information, which can lead to anxiety, confusion, and fear.  Clinicians are put in a difficult position when they are not able to suddenly break away from their scheduled office visits to reassure an unscheduled patient about their results and next steps.

Medical providers have tools to assist with identifying sensitive results that need urgent review, and efforts are made to notify anxious patients as soon as possible.  However, a patient can be proactive in scheduling a follow-up visit ahead of time to review results with their provider specifically.  This can help patients avoid the stress of suddenly trying to get a hold of their doctor when dealing with unclear or concerning results.  Normal test results often don’t require explanation, but allowing several days for your provider to work through hundreds of test results before sending messages requesting clarification will help medical professionals prioritize their responses to test results based on medical urgency.

Technological improvements such as online messaging and video/telephone appointments have made access to care much easier both for patients and clinicians.  Telephone and video visits have been especially beneficial for patients who are elderly, disabled, or do not have access to transportation.  However, the increase — and ease of — access has created much higher demand for physician time both during and outside of the office visit.  Test results, patient messages, insurance forms, emails, and medication requests are all pouring in while providers conduct their daily scheduled appointments.  Thus, very little time is left in the day for a clinician to respond to every email, fill out every form, and review every lab result when they are responsible for 1,800 or more patients.

This situation, unfortunately, creates a perceived delay in response in a culture where an instant response is expected from messaging and phone calls.  But the reality is that the medical provider is constantly playing catch up to thousands of inquiries due to the around-the-clock online access patients now have.

Patients can make the most of their experience and their physician’s time by taking the time to learn their physician’s communication preferences.  Despite the multiple modalities of access (telephone, email, video, in-person), a medical provider will have a preferred method of communication with their patients.  Some may ask their patients to make an appointment to explain a complex topic, instead of responding to multiple messages. Others may prefer to communicate via phone call if they have to deliver bad news.

There will likely be more medical providers who prefer to communicate only through email or video appointments as remote work becomes more common. If a patient’s communication preferences align with their physician’s preferences, it will create a stronger patient-doctor relationship and foster more effective and impactful communication.

The expansion of technology in medicine has fostered better collaboration, communication, and education between patients and their medical professionals.  Combining electronic resources with rapport, mutual respect, and trust for providers will help patients navigate this new landscape of healthcare.

About the Author  

Dr. Adia Scrubb, MD, MPP, is a Board-Certified Family Medicine Physician currently practicing in Solano County.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

Published

2 months ago

February 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Oakland City Hall. File photo.

By Post Staff

The City Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed.

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week.

These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis.

In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Biden had declared an end to the pandemic in September 2022, and that since then, “We have collectively moved into newer, safer health conditions.”

Johnson said “multiple departments” already have all their staff back in the office or workplace.

The City’s COVID-era policy, enacted in September 2021, was designed to reduce the spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus.

Many cities and companies across the country are now ending their pandemic-related remote work policies. Locally, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in a press conference made the policy a central issue in his campaign for mayor.

City Hall reopened for in-person meetings two years ago, and the city’s decision to end remote work occurred before Taylor’s press conference.

At an endorsement meeting last Saturday of the John George Democratic Club, mayoral candidate Barbara Lee said she agreed that city workers should return to the job.

At the same time, she said, the city should allow employees time to readjust their lives, which were disrupted by the pandemic, and should recognize individual needs, taking care to maintain staff morale.

The John George club endorsed Lee for Mayor and Charlene Wang for City Council representative for District 2. The club also voted to take no position on the sales tax measure that will be on the April 15 ballot.

Oakland Post

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Freddie Ray Turner, 75

Fred enjoyed a 27-year career (1972-1999) with the Oakland Unified School District. Starting as a classroom teacher, he went on to serve as a vice principal, principal and retired as director of Student Services. But retirement was not in the cards for Fred. He went on to serve as the Fremont Unified School District’s director of Pupil Services for five years, retiring in 2004.

Published

4 months ago

January 1, 2025

Oakland Post

Freddie Ray Turner. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

Freddie Ray Turner was born in Mesa, Arizona, on July 15, 1949, the youngest of Carlanthe and Jimmie Turner’s seven children. Fred attended the Chandler public schools and graduated high school in 1966. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and Spanish from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Relocated to the Bay Area, he continued his education, and earned a master’s degree in Education Administration from California State University-Hayward.

Throughout his life, Fred traveled the world. He didn’t just have a “travel bug,” Fred was a travel bug. He graduated from overnight stays in youth hostels in Paris, Rome, and Madrid to vacationing in much finer accommodations in Kenya, Turkey, China, Japan, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Amsterdam, and South Africa. If there was an airport, at some time in his life Fred Turner landed in it.

Fred was a devoted member of Brother-to-Brother from 2005 until his passing. He was also a life associate of the East Oakland-Hayward section of the National Council for Negro Women, an organization he strongly supported since 2013. Fred also served on the Board of Directors for the Leadership Institute at Allen Temple Baptist Church.

An avid reader, Fred’s response to the lockdown caused by the 2020 COVID pandemic was to organize “Plot Chasers,” a close group of friends who meet weekly to read and discuss short stories.

Fred passed away on Dec. 15, 2024, following a brief hospitalization. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Madelyn, and brothers Robert Lee and Franklin Eugene.

He leaves to mourn his surviving siblings Artie Mae Clark, Dorothy Rome, and Jimmie Richard Turner; first cousin, Catherine Markham; a host of nieces and nephews, great- nieces and nephews, and very close friends.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, at Allen Temple Family Life Center, 8501 International Blvd., in Oakland, CA.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that friends honor Fred’s memory with a donation in Fred’s name to the National Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Association, or to the East Bay AIDs Advocacy Foundation.