School board considering schedule
CHICO >> The Chico Unified School District board of trustees will consider staying in the a.m./p.m. model or possibly shifting to fulltime in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year during Wednesday’s board meeting.
The meeting begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will be held at the Center for the Arts on the Pleasant Valley High School campus. In- person participation will be limited to 80 people since Butte County is currently in the orange tier. Masks are required. The meeting will still be livestreamed at https:// bit. ly/3fKXYT4. Speaker cards must be submitted by noon Wednesday. Speaker cards can be submitted at https:// bit.ly/3rNpRvT.
The move to reconsider staying in the a. m./p. m. model comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for school reopenings March 19. The CDC says that students can be spaced at least three feet apart inside the classroom. The previous guidance recommended six feet spacing between students or at the very least, four feet of space.
On Feb. 4, the board voted 4-1 to remain in the modified traditional a.m./ p. m. model to establish consistency for students and staff. The a. m./p. m. sees about half of the students attend campus in the morning and half attend in the afternoon.
During the Feb. 4 meeting, CUSD noted that under the previous CDC guidelines, about 1,000 students would have to be uprooted and moved to different classrooms and teachers to accommodate spacing between students.
Since the Feb. 4 meeting, Butte County has made strides on its COVID-19 case numbers. Butte County moved from the most restrictive purple tier to the red tier on March 9. Then the county moved from the red to the orange tier on March 30.
Vaccine eligibility has also been expanded to all residents 16 and older who either live or work in Butte County.
The district will present survey results of parents and students about their preference on instructional models. The district will also go over the advantages and challenges of shifting models at both the elementary and secondary levels.
The topic of whether to move to full-time in-person instruction or stay in the a.m./p.m. model has been the root of heated debate for several months.
On March 4, the Chico Parents for In- Person Learning group launched a recall effort of four of the five board members. The group has advocated for a full return to in-person learning within CUSD.
By Monday afternoon, several public comments were already posted to the meeting agenda.
Chico Parents for In-Person Learning submitted a letter with over 200 signatures urging the board to consider moving to fulltime in-person instruction.
However, some parents and students have also submitted letters in support of staying the a.m./p.m model. Some students noted that the a.m./p.m. schedule has allowed them to get parttime jobs.
Another letter, signed by over 80 parents and students, requested to remain in the a.m./p.m. model because a change within a short amount of time would create “high anxiety levels for the vast majority of students.”