Vista secondary schools close through holidays

The Vista Unified School District will close its middle and high school campuses until after the holidays, returning to distance learning for all secondary schools, the district announced.

The district issued the decision last week, stating that it made the change in response to surging COVID-19 cases worldwide, including in San Diego County.

“Based on verifiable data, the pandemic is expanding at a dramatic pace in San Diego County and within the five zip codes of our own community,” Superintendent Matt Doyle wrote in a message to families.

Elementary schools will remain open for in-person instruction, and the district will continue to offer on-campus learning support for some student groups at its secondary sites. It will also maintain athletic preparation for upcoming sports seasons.

San Diego County fell from the red tier of COVID-19 protocols to the more restrictive purple tier Nov. 10, after case rates rose to more than 7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Vista Unified reported 58 cases of COVID-19 among staff and students in November, including five at Breeze Hill Elementary School and seven at Bobier Elementary School. It reported 18 cases in October, but that number reflected only a third of that month, since campuses reopened Oct. 20.

Although the cases do not appear to have spread on campus, they create logistical challenges for staff because of associated quarantine periods, during which students and teachers must stay home and switch back to virtual learning. Within weeks of reopening, the district temporarily closed campuses including Mission Vista and Vista high schools, and Madison and Roosevelt middle schools, in response to positive cases. Students at those schools resumed distance learning during the two-week closures.

The district subsequently revised its policy to close a campus entirely for two weeks if two or more positive cases are reported at any one site. If three middle or high schools report one positive case each, all three campuses must close. The quarantine procedures are necessary to prevent transmission of the virus, but the frequent shifts between in-person and distance learning became unworkable amid rising case rates.