CLASSROOM LEARNING RESUMES FOR NEARLY 10K IN VISTA
About half of students returned; district among first to fully come back
Nearly 10,000 students returned to class in person this week at Vista Unified School District as campuses reopened after more than a half-year of remote learning.
In classrooms and common areas, students listened to teachers or worked with classmates, albeit with masks on and HEPA filters running. It’s not quite normal, but students and staff said they were happy to return to some semblance of traditional school.
“For me, it feels good to have kids back,” said Vista High School Principal David Jaffe. “To see them come back on campus, it just lifted my spirits.”
For some students, it was a relief to be back in classrooms after struggling with the technical and instructional challenges of online learning.
“I definitely feel that it’s better for the people who are visual learn
ers, who need extra help with math and English, me as well,” said Juanita Navarrete, 17, a Vista High School senior.
At The Leadership Academy, a nearby elementary campus, fourth-grader Penelope Boelhauf, 10, said she was excited to return to school in person. Her class was moved to a larger classroom to allow more space between desks, the front and rear doors were open, and a HEPA filter and fan were running to enhance air filtration.
“All of our teachers are doing everything in their power to make us feel safe, and make sure it is safe,” she said. “I like it a lot more, because I can see my teacher face to face and make sure she doesn’t live in a computer.”
Vista is among the first unified school districts in San Diego County to open fully instead of part time, or in phases by grade level. Schools are back in session full time, five days a week, and are open to all students from elementary through high school who chose the “Vista Classic” model for inperson learning.
A total of 9,546 students, nearly half of those enrolled in the district, went back to campus this week. The 9,922 students who selected the “Vista Virtual” educational model at the beginning of the school year will continue with remote learning for the foreseeable future.
By contrast, San Marcos Unified, which also reopened this week, is welcoming students back on a hybrid schedule, starting with early elementary grades, and rolling out higher grades in phases, with high school students returning next semester. Carlsbad Unified opened campuses part time to elementary grades earlier this month, and expects to open middle and high schools, with students on campus two days per week, after Thanksgiving.
The decision to reopen full time at all grade levels met resistance from some Vista teachers who said it was too soon and too sudden. They complained that with class sizes as large as 38 in some cases, the district could not ensure adequate
social distancing among students, and that some classrooms lack adequate ventilation.
Patrick Emaus, vice president of the Vista Teachers Association, and a math teacher at Rancho Buena Vista High School, said the association filed a health and safety complaint with the district, and plans to appeal to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration today if the district doesn’t revise its reopening plan. The association is calling for the district to take a step back and switch to a hybrid model for in-person instruction, with smaller cohorts of students on campus on an alternating schedule.
“We’re putting together all of this information to try to get them to change the model for how we reopen,” Emaus said.
This week at Vista High, however, students in face coverings worked in groups at lunch tables during a seminar class, or sat in an outdoor hallway with their laptops listening to science lecture. In some classrooms, students were seated 6 feet apart or farther, but in others there were just a few feet of distance between them. Administrators acknowledged that they couldn’t guarantee 6 feet of social distancing between students, given their staffing and class sizes, but said they provided other protections to mitigate that.
Superintendent Matt Doyle said Vista Unified has met the requirements set by state and county health officials, and the Centers for the Disease Control, but said the 6-foot social-distance protocol is a guideline, not a mandate. He noted that classes are meeting outside whenever possible, classrooms have new air filters installed, and the district has purchased new electrostatic cleaning equipment, which custodians are using to sanitize classrooms daily.
An outdoor sink and soap dispenser was placed outside a row of classrooms at Vista High, one of 100 such hand-washing stations that the district installed at its campuses. Surprisingly, Doyle said, students have taken health precautions to heart, and needed virtually no reminders about hand hygiene and mask use.
“I didn’t think they would use them,” he said. “I didn’t realize they would be so interested in washing their
hands as often as they are. It’s a pleasant surprise. I haven’t told one student to put their mask on.”
At the Leadership Academy, Principal Kim Morton has worked with staff to establish protocols for exit, entry, meals, movement and hand-washing that are designed to function with clockwork efficiency.
Students line up at handwashing stations for a squirt of soap and water and then return to the back of the line to rub their hands for the requisite 20 seconds before rinsing. They sit at assigned places, just three to a table, for lunch. The school has designated three separate entrances and four exits to minimize mingling at dropoff and pickup. Morton’s office is filled with charts and papers that map out those systems.
While some teachers have opposed reopening, or have selected to teach virtual classes, others welcomed the return to campus. Penelope Boelhauf ’s teacher, Rya Hege, said she opted to return in person, since it works better for her family.
“I have three students of my own, all in Vista Unified,” she said. “So you can imagine home schooling and teaching full time.”
Hege said Morton’s attention to detail, and efforts to move large classes such as hers to bigger classrooms, helped her feel safe about her choice. Parents chipped in as well, donating hand sanitizer and plexiglass dividers that will be installed between student desks for greater protection. Even with those precautions, she said it’s scary going to work during a pandemic. But it’s rewarding to greet students after months away from school.
“It’s been great,” she said. “The kids are excited to be back, excited for the routine.”
At Vista High, Principal Jaffe popped into a class of 22 ninth-graders to introduce himself to the new students, acknowledging the surreal nature of their freshman experience.
“You guys are going to high school in a unique time,” he said. “This won’t be forever, but the resilience you’ve shown, the f lexibility you’ve shown, will serve you forever. We’ll get through this together.”