District readies to reopen classes under hybrid model
Students can learn remotely or begin in-person classes
Students in the Brentwood Union Elementary School District could start heading back to campuses near the end of this month for a hybrid form of learning, the school board has decided.
“With (COVID-19) case rates coming down dramatically since their peak in January, the school board felt it was time to offer students the opportunity to come back to school,” Superintendent Dana Eaton said Monday about the trustees’ unanimous vote.
“While a hybrid program is far from perfect, I can’t tell you how excited I am to get students back on our campuses very soon,” Eaton added.
The decision may have surprised some because the board earlier this month indicated it would be guided by what a majority of parents surveyed prefer. The survey showed that 55% of parents, or 4,689, wanted to stick with distance learning
for the remainder of the school year and 45%, or 3,796, wanted to start the hybrid model that combines distance and in-person learning.
Parents in the district will be given the choice of allowing their children to continue with only distance learning or take the hybrid approach.
Under the plan, a hybrid schedule would be phased in starting March 29 after spring break, assuming Contra Costa County is in the red tier for reopening. Students in the lower grade levels would be the first to return, possibly with different teachers.
Middle school students would be taught in a simultaneous model, with teachers instructing in-class and on Zoom at the same time.
Although Contra Costa County is still in the purple tier, under new state guidelines announced Monday, schools can reopen for K-6 when there are 25 or fewer cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents for at least five days.
During Friday’s special meeting, which attracted more than 700 virtual participants, the school board discussed both the survey results and the large
number of calls and emails that came in from parents and educators during the past week, Eaton said.
Trustees had decided to conduct a survey because they thought a transition to a hybrid model would be best achieved if a majority of families commit to it, he noted.
Many parents didn’t want to switch teachers so late in the year, while others said students should return to classrooms as soon as possible no matter what the survey showed.
“Why are we allowing 4,689 people to decide what is best for the children of 3,796 people — 3,796 people who feel strongly that their children need to be back in the classroom even if it is only two hours a day,” wrote parent Marie Ross.
“Even if their child has to change teachers or classrooms, or in extreme circumstances, schools?”
“Despite our teachers’ heroic efforts, distance learning does not meet the majority of students’ social, emotional, psychological or educational needs,” parent Rosina Ayers said. “And worse, it leaves behind our community’s most vulnerable children.”
Others thought possible teacher changes and a hybrid model were not acceptable.
“…Different schools, different teachers, teachers being forced to teach a different grade level at a moment’s notice — possibly one they never taught,” parent Michelle Monsef said. “I have wanted my children back in school since April of last year but not at the costs offered in the hybrid model.”
Many other residents, though, thought a hybrid
plan was needed to help the schools transition to full inperson classes in the fall.
“BUSD needs to show that going back to campus can be done safely and effectively before next school year,” Leigh Burns Quan wrote. “Anything less than a full-time return to in-person learning come July is unacceptable, so we must begin trying the new procedures and routines immediately so we know how to implement them on a fulltime scale.”
The district’s reopening plans, which were approved previously, include numerous coronavirus safety measures such as constant cleaning, social distancing, a class size cap of 15-17 students depending on room layout/size, and no assemblies or group lunches.
Following public comments, trustees said they were surprised the parent survey results were so close. They also said elementary school teachers should be assigned either remote or in-person classrooms, with students choosing whether to stay with the teacher.
Schools will reach out to parents over the next two weeks to share schedules, potential return dates for different grade levels, safety procedures and to ensure that students are in the chosen learning model, Eaton told parents in a letter.
“We are hoping that the governor and legislature will move a little faster in laying out the rules for 2021-22 as we are in planning for next year now,” Eaton said in an email to this news organization.
“We are all hoping that the combination of increased vaccinations and lower community spread will allow for a full return to school very soon.”
A year after schools shut their doors for most in-person instruction, some children will be back in classrooms in a matter of weeks.
The Dublin Unified School District board has agreed to allow children in grades preschool, developmental kindergarten and kindergarten to return to in-person instruction on March 18.
The district is planning a phased return to school, with first through third grades returning March 22, and grades four and five returning March 25.
A return for secondary grades (middle through high school) has not yet been determined.
“Now the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen,” said interim Superintendent Daniel Moirao in a video message to the community. “This is an exciting time for Dublin Unified, and we are excited to unlock those doors.”
Parents were told to return a declaration form this past Sunday in order for the district to get an understanding of how many families plan on returning their children to school, and how many want to remain in remote learning. Parents have a choice of returning to a hybrid in-person model, continuing remote or staying with their child’s teacher, regardless of whether the teacher chooses in-person or virtual instruction.
The hybrid model for elementary school children will consist of a morning group and afternoon group; the kids will have in-person instruction four days a week, and Wednesdays will be remote for all. Siblings will be placed in the same group, but parents cannot request a preference for the morning or afternoon group.
Students in secondary schools must wait until the county reaches the red tier threshold — four to seven new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents — and remain there for five days. Currently, Alameda County remains in the purple tier.
The district hopes that it can release dates for a staggered approach for those grade levels in midMarch. When those students return to class, they will also have a hybrid approach, with one group returning to class on Mondays and Tuesdays only, and a second group returning for Thursdays and Fridays only. Much like at the elementary school level, Wednesdays will remain online with remote instruction for all.
At the high school grade levels, about 27% of families, or 353 students, chose the hybrid model; the rest will remain remote, according to the district. Valley High, the district’s continuation school, was nearly even split down the middle.
Survey results for other grade levels have not yet been released.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan Monday that provides financial incentives in the form of reopening funding for school districts to return students in grades kindergarten through second grade to the classroom by the end of March. Those that fail to reopen by March 31 would lose a percentage of the extra funding. Dublin is not in danger of losing that funding, since it plans to reopen classrooms for those grades by midMarch.