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LONG BEACH
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HERALD
When You’re Having an “Out ofMAIM oAUnMey DENB Experience”
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Former lifeguard gives to city
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Vol. 32 No. 41
18/21 itc FG Demi condensed
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Hodge plans to step down as MLK chairman by James berNsteiN jbernstein@liherald.com
Christina Daly/Herald
James HoDGe aNNouNceD that he would step down as board chairman of the Martin Luther King Center in the coming weeks.
James Hodge, a community leader and activist in Long Beach for decades, told the City Council Tuesday night that he was stepping down as the Martin Luther King Center chairman after 16 years in the post. Hodge, 44, who has become the face of the center on Riverside Boulevard, said he was “tenured out,” but would continue to work for the organization as an advocate. The announcement came about two weeks before the center is to celebrate its 40th anni-
versary, on Oct. 20, with a fundraiser and a reception. Cedric Coad will be installed as Hodge’s successor at the anniversary celebration at the center. “This will be the last meeting I will speak to you as chairman of MLK,” Hodge said at the end of a lengthy City Council meeting. But he delivered an often fiery speech, pleading for aid for the center, which serves food to the poor and homeless and provides educational, recreational and social services for children. “I come to you as an advoContinued on page 4
Long Beach schools offer students maskless alternative by breNDaN carpeNter bcarpenter@liherald.com
Most parents in the Long Beach School District appear to have made peace with the idea that their children will wear masks in class. But about a dozen have opted out, choosing a special maskless program. At a stormy school board meeting in August, a few weeks before school began, about 200 parents gathered at Lindell Elementary School, many of them voicing strong opposition to masks. But the state’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, had already mandated mask-wearing in New York schools.
The Board of Education voted, 4 to 1, to conform to the governor’s mandate. The lone “no” vote came from Trustee Sam Pinto. He has not explained his vote. While students and faculty members must wear masks in all school buildings, there is an alternative for parents who do not want to send their children to school with masks. A virtual alternate instructional program is now offered from 3 to 5 p.m. each day to students whose parents have opted them out of mask-wearing, though only about a dozen families have joined the program thus far.
W
e have had no issues with mask refusal.
Dr. JeNNiFer GallaGHer Superintendent
Teachers have also been asked to make sure students are outside for at least two periods a day. “Our buildings are doing lots of outdoor activities to give students substantial mask breaks during the day and quick mask breaks during class,” district
Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Gallagher said. “During days of beautiful weather, you can see students eating lunch outside, having phys. ed. classes on our fields and playgrounds and reading under the trees.” Gallagher also said that measures have been taken indoors as well, and she has been impressed with the adjustments that the
schools and students have made. “Students are sitting three feet from each other in class and six feet during lunch or when masks are off indoors,” Gallagher said. “Overall, when I visit students in our buildings, I see happy children engaged in learning. Our children are resilient and have adjusted well.” Continued on page 4