The students at Paul Mitchell The School Costa Mesa have been forced to return back to school despite the surge in COVID-19 and evacuation of the students on 6/29. The decision to open up too early could have exposed students to the virus and we do not feel like our health is being considered even with protocol. Opening up early and being immediately shut down left learning leaders without a solid plan & it has impacted our education tremendously. While school has been out of session, PM has been online with zoom and google classroom. Students are being taught to do hair over the computer with light bad lighting and a half structured agenda. Students are being made to do book work assignments with very minimal hands on assignments (the original curriculum had little to no book work assignments.) Hands on assignments become difficult to work through because our instruction is not clear and precise. We blindly go into assignments not knowing if we are doing it correctly. THESE ASSIGNMENTS COUNT FOR OUR HOURS. students do not have instructors there to help them with hand positions, foot placement, body posture, etc. which makes the learning process extremely frustrating and is NOT what we are paying for. This is a hands on craft that should not be taught digitally. Students understand that the world is continuously changing and we do not know what the new normal is BUT we do not want to be guinea pigs. Students are wasting their time and money and we are not getting the education we paid for. I found that YouTube videos are better and YouTube is free. The quality of our classes will create future professionals with poor skills and lack of knowledge under the Paul Mitchell name. Taking a leave absence is an option but not if the program you're in is continuing, You will just get left behind. Leave of absence is only valid to be used once a year and for some students IS NOT an option because they took leave in the beginning of the school closure and when it was opened we were told we HAD to come back or be behind. These policies are setting us up for failure. Pausing these programs would benefit student safety, staff safety, guest safety, Paul Mitchell's respected/loved reputation, and most importantly, our education. We pay for this program and we should have a say in what happens next. We as students absolutely love being apart of the Paul Mitchell family but the curriculum being presented is not helping us and only harming us in our education and eventually our careers. We want to represent the Paul Mitchell brand with excellence and diligence and if we continue to take our classes online with things that we should be learning in the classroom we will not be able to do so. Please sign this petition to demand Paul Mitchell The School to pause all active classes until the PANDEMIC is RESOLVED so that we can return later with a positive mindset and determination to be the best students to come out of Paul Mitchell The School Cost Mesa.