JOANNE JACOBS: Will parents help? 670 volunteer in Palo Alto.

The call for parent volunteers went out at 9 pm on Sunday, reports John Fensterwald on EdSource. By 9 am Monday, 360 Palo Alto (California) parents had offered to work as classroom aides, Covid testing staff, office workers, recess and lunch supervisors, custodians or whatever else is needed to keep the community’s schools open.

By Tuesday morning, 1 Palo Alto had 670 recruits, says Superintendent Don Austin. Volunteers — the number has passed 700 — started work today.

The schools wills stay open, he pledged.

Teachers insisted they weren’t essential workers — and they were right!