Spark: Art students reflect on the virtual semester
December 10, 2020
The virtual learning environment in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made significant changes to Palo Alto High School art classes, causing students to adjust their processes of creating pieces. Here, students taking a variety of higher level art classes, who are able to draw comparisons between in-person and virtual art classes, share what they have been painting and drawing during the semester.





![Charen Yu (left), the Palo Alto Unified School District chief business officer, presents the updated 2026-2027 budget during Tuesday's board meeting. According to Yu, expenditure changes are the primary reason for the deficit. “[Compared to the adopted budget], certificated salaries are up $18.8 million (which translates to 13.4%), classified salaries are up $11 million (or 17%), benefits are up $5.6 million and all other objects are down $2.9 million,” Yu said. “These are settled agreements with our bargaining partners. They are contractual obligations and they are the primary driver of the change.”](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/budget-presentation-300x225.jpeg)

