While the Lodi Unified School District recently allowed its teachers to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, classified employees are asking why they haven’t been afforded the same opportunity.

Earlier this summer, high school districts in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties planned to hold in-person graduation ceremonies for seniors in the event that communities had reduced the spread of COVID-19.

For the past several weeks, Lodi Unified School District has been unsure how the 2020 fall semester would be handled in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that all schools in California counties that are on the state’s COVID-19 watch list would be required to close and implement distance learning in the fall.

An estimated 300 teachers and their supporters spread across the sidewalk in front of the Lodi Unified School District offices on Tuesday afternoon to voice their displeasure with the possibility of returning to in-person instruction.

San Joaquin County’s Office of Education and Office of Public Health Services released a joint statement on Monday recommending that all schools in the county revert to distance learning to start the year.

The deadline to enroll students in Lodi Unified School District’s distance learning program is today, and several parents have been hesitant to sign their children up for the alternate instruction because they say the district has not approved a concrete plan of action.