Back To School, Sort Of
State issues guidelines for re-opening
It may not be an understatement to say it’s going to be a nightmare when it comes to schools in their effort to reopen in the late summer for the 2020-2021 school year.
“It’s a pretty good word,” said Porterville Unified School District superintendent Nate Nelson. “It’s going to be a challenge.”
The California Department of Education issued its guidelines on Monday for schools to reopen. Nelson said PUSD schools will begin the 2020-2021 school year as scheduled on August 13. But numerous logistics will need to be taken care of before the school year begins on August 13.
Nelson said there weren’t “any big surprises” in the guidelines released on Monday. But Nelson added “it’s nice to have the document to guide us.”
The state department of education released several alternative schedules for campuses to open. And no matter what the schedule is used, distance and online learning will have to continue.
And for some students distance learning on a full-time basis may have to continue for families who still aren’t comfortable with sending their children back to school. Nelson said the district will have to work out the details for families who still wish to keep their students home and for students with underlying medical conditions who may still need to stay at home as far as distance learning is concerned.
He added it’s likely the district will hold open houses at their campuses to let parents see everything that’s been done to ensure the safety of students.
As far as the alternative schedules, one option for students is to attend school two days a week with a third day for more specialized programs. As an example, K-3 students could attend
Tuesdays and Thursdays and 4-6 grade level students could attend Mondays and Wednesdays with Fridays set aside for such possibilities for small group learning or distance learning. School districts could also partner with those in the community in providing learning opportunities for students on Fridays.
Another option is basically for all students to attend school every other week. While half the students attend school four days a week, the other half of students would participate in distance learning.
There’s also a model at the K-8 level in which students at multiple grade levels would have the same teacher. As an example a class of first and second graders would have the same teacher.
And there’s the staggered scheduling in which some students would attend in the morning and others would attend in the afternoon. The staggered schedules could also be done by grade level.
School districts will decide how to reopen campuses. The guidelines also call for students and staff to have their temperatures taken when entering school. They also call for teachers and staff to wear masks. And hand sanitizing will be required throughout the day.
The State Department of Public Health set guidelines for students to remain six feet apart at all times — in the classroom, in the hallways and at recess. The state health department also recommends meals be served in classrooms or outdoors.
“That makes it very difficult to bring back students like we’d like to,” said Nelson about the guidelines. And about opening “full bore” as Nelson put it, he said, “I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
But even if it’s in a way the district doesn’t prefer, Nelson said it’s important for students to return to school in some fashion. “It’s hard on kids, it’s hard on families,” said Nelson about the campus closures.
The state can’t order schools to follow the guidelines, but school districts have been following the state’s guidelines as all school campuses in the state closed in the spring.
The state has stated it will supply every school with no-touch thermometers, hand sanitizer, face shiles for every teacher, face coverings for all staff and students and N-95 masks for health care professionals in schools.
Nelson said teachers and staff in the district have shown a great desire to do whatever’s necessary to make sure schools can open on August 13.
“It’s going to take a lot of different people working together,” said Nelson about the community effort to reopen schools. “It’s obviously going to be a collaborative effort.”
From how busing will be done to child care, school districts will have numerous logistical details to review. Not to mention the potential huge budget shortfalls school districts are facing.
“There’s just so many pieces,” Nelson said. “These things have to be sorted out carefully.”
To view the state guidelines for reopening schools visit https:// www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/ hn/documents/strongertogether.pdf