A/Bmodel: Oroville, Paradise elementary schools return to campus
After months of countywide negotiations, many schools on the ridge and in southern Butte County began to reopen formodified in-person instruction Monday.
The green light for reopening came as the county remains in the state’s Red Tier for coronavirus cases after twoweeks, according to Butte County PublicHealth.
Oroville
Depending on their district, students in Oroville saw different realities if they were among those who returned to campusMonday.
Oroville City Elementary School District adopted an A/B schedule for in-person learning, with half of students on campus for full school days Monday and Wednesday while the other half will attend Tuesday and Thursday. Friday will be used for distance learning.
Super intendent Spencer Holtom said the district will also still have a distance-learning option available for those not ready to return to campus. He added that of nearly 2,200 students, over 75% of students have chosen the hybrid A/B schedulemodel. About 21% chose to stay home with distanced learning, and the remainder are in independent study.
“As soon as we found out we had an opportunity to go into Red ( Tier), we started preparing our reopening plan,” he said. “We knewwe were on a very tight schedule. I personally wanted more time but we wanted to use that timeline in the event that we went into Purple Tier, we wouldn’t miss the window of opportunity.”
That means even if the county does go back into Purple Tier this week, schools can remain open
with social distancing and following guidelines for the rest of the year.
“We’re really excited that we’re able to start servicing students in person, because all the educators went into this profession because of the kids,” he added.
This model is returning to a more traditional system than the nearby district, Thermalito Union Elementary School District. In Thermalito, schools will truly reopen Nov. 9, and Monday was just the start of in person meetings for special education, reading intervention and other special programs.
This is because for the moment, parents do not know whether their child is in Group A or B, or what the schedule will look like yet, according to district Superintendent Greg Blake. Blake added the focus for now is on students who need “extra help” and additional support.
On Monday, some parents filed in with their students by appointment, to pick up materials and meet with teachers — such as at Plumas Avenue Elementary, where temperature checks and surveys were conducted in the front office before allowing each family to enter.
Blake said students will soon be assigned to groups A and B to determine when they will have online distanced learning andwhen they will receive instruction in the classroom with their teachers.
“We wanted to start in a way thatmade sense for
Thermalito,” Blake said. His district has over 1,500 students and committed to only returning to inperson instruction once the first trimester completes in the first week of November.
Smaller schools like East Center Head Start in the old Bird Street Elementary School building have already been open on a rotating hybrid schedule, keeping online classes Monday through Wednesday then holding full in person days Thursday and Friday. Center Director Connie Hayes said the system made it easier to transition while keeping the site clean and handling 19 families.
Hayes added that unlike in some other districts, themajority of her schools’ parents did not want their students to come in classrooms and wanted to stick to distanced learning.
Paradise
The new rules also means schools in Paradise do not need a waiver
to be open. Paradise Unified School District already voted to reopen schools in a staggered system with transitional kindergarten through sixth grades returning to campusMonday.
On Monday, Paradise Junior and Senior High School also opened, with small cohorts of 14. The school won’t fully reopen until Oct. 26.
Ridgeview will also reopen on the same schedule as the high school.
Changing times
The fluid, ever- changing nature of the situation means staff must think on their feet, as new guidelines come every day.
“What I can tell you is everyone is happy to have kids back on campus,” Blake said. And as things change, the district will keep families informed as quickly as possible.
“As soon as we know it, they’re gonna know it,” Blake said