Sacred Heart shows no ill effects from in-person classes
BRAWLEY — While all public schools remain closed in Imperial County, one private school is finding in-person instruction is safe when the proper protocols are in place.
While Sacred Heart School in Brawley has been open since October, said Sacred Heart Principal Annalisa Burgos. That’s when the school applied for and was granted a waiver that would allow it to provide in-person instruction for grades K-6.
Back then, the county’s COVID-19 numbers were below 25 cases per day per 100,000 residents, allowing schools the opportunity to receive such waivers. Only Sacred Heart applied.
While the numbers spiked soon after, Sacred Heart School was allowed to remain open.
If the current trend continues, the numbers will return to October’s levels by week’s end, which would allow schools a second chance to apply for a waiver like Sacred Heart did.
“Our preschool has been open since August and our K-6 grades returned to onsite instruction in October,” Burgos wrote in an email, “We have seventh- and eighth-grade students in a cohort model on campus as well.”
She said the school still has students who are distance learning.
“We have had one positive case so far, and we closed the cohort to quarantine,” she said. “The cohort returned after Christmas break.”
Many protocols had to be in place before opening, including frequent hand washing, sanitizing surfaces, social distancing, wearing masks, and eating snacks outside.
The school’s teachers are tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis, and so far no teachers have tested positive at any time.
“Students are happy to interact with their classmates, especially during recess time,” she said,
“Like many children, they had not been in school since last March. “
Brawley Elementary School District Superintendent Richard Rundhaug said several things would have to be decided before schools could reopen.
“Social distancing requirements (which exist under any model, the waivers, cohorts, etc.) would require us to open using a hybrid model,” Rundhaug wrote in an email. “With social distancing, there is no way we could bring all students back at once.”
With a hybrid model comes a change in working conditions, he said. That requires the district to negotiate with its employee associations or unions.
Imperial Unified School District Superintendent Bryan Thomason said the district realizes the numbers are decreasing.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and are encouraged by the lower counts of COVID-19 cases in the county,” Thomason said. “We are also hopeful the education community will begin to be vaccinated as soon as possible.”
In an email, he wrote that the Imperial Unified School District has negotiated an Impacts and Effects and School Reopening Plan with its teachers.