SCHOOLS IN S.D. COUNTY FIGHT TO AVOID CLOSURES
Districts using study halls, substitute teachers, testing in effort to keep classrooms open
San Diego Unified leaders say schools are deploying “every available option” to stay open as the COVID-19 Omicron surge continues to batter schools across the country with massive staffing shortages and widespread student absences.
In the San Diego Unified School District, the shortage means some students are doing study halls or independent work instead of learning from their teachers and some classes are combining with other classes. It means some students have a substitute teacher if their teacher is absent, but a principal or a district office administrator will be used if a substitute teacher isn’t available.
The district told families in an email Thursday night that these measures are temporary and necessary to keep schools from closing because abnormally high numbers of staff are out sick due to COVID.
Last week, when the district returned from winter break, 648 employees, or 3.5 percent of the district’s staff, tested positive for COVID, according to the district’s dashboard.
Not only are teachers in short supply at schools, but so are bus drivers, front-office staff, nurses, food service workers, custodians, special education aides and substitutes.
“The surge is really impacting every part of school operations, and so it’s really becoming untenable in some places,” said Kisha Borden, president of San Diego Unified’s teachers union. “People are just sort of overwhelmed just trying to get through each day.”
As stressed as schools are, educators say it’s crucial that students attend school in person as much as possible, not only to avoid the learning and social-emotional
setbacks that happened during last year’s school closures, but because schools are successful in minimizing the spread of COVID.
“We continue to believe that school is the best place for students to be,” San Diego Unified wrote to families. “This has been demonstrated by multiple studies showing students are actually safer in school than in communities where the virus is widespread.”
Many school districts in San Diego County say they have managed to stave off school closures — for now.
Schools in California are allowed to close temporarily as a last resort if they can prove they have exhausted all other options to adequately staff. Before closing, a school must consult with the county education office and state education department to ensure they have no other option, according to state rules.
So far Sweetwater Union High, the county’s secondlargest school district, as well as Warner Unified and the charter school network EJE Academies in El Cajon have consulted with the San Diego County Office of Education about their staffing shortages, which could mean they are weighing potential school closures.
‘School districts are not designed for this’
Across the county, school districts are reporting student and staff absence rates of 10 to 20 percent.
“Schools and school districts are not designed for this, and many people are stretched way too thin,” said Mountain Empire Unified Superintendent Patrick Keeley.
Districts are keeping
schools open by combining classes, having teachers cover classes during their prep periods, and deploying district administrators and teachers on special assignments to schools. In the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, the majority of district office staff who have a teaching credential are covering classes, said Superintendent David Feliciano.
Some districts, including Poway and Coronado, are going to parents, retirees and community members and asking them to become substitute teachers.
The demand is causing districts to pay more for substitutes. San Diego Unified recently raised its daily rate
from $173 to $250, Borden said, and Coronado raised it from $120 to $200 a day.
This week the state temporarily gave schools more flexibility in recruiting substitutes. Schools can now hire subs who don’t have a current or pending teaching credential and can hire subs for a longer period of time. The state also made it easier to hire retirees.
Some school officials are embracing the flexibility, while others hesitate to use it.
“We really don’t want to lower the bar on the ability for someone to serve as a substitute teacher, but we are really glad to have the increased flexibility to hire recent
retirees without the normal delays,” Feliciano said.
Still, the helpfulness of the hiring flexibility is limited because everyone is looking for substitutes.
“The demand is great all throughout our region,” said Oscar Esquivel, interim superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District. “The flexibility is helpful but does not fully solve the challenges school districts are facing.”
Schools may begin to see some relief on the absences front with recent state guidance changes that make it easier for students and staff to return to school after a positive test result or contact
with someone who has COVID. For example, now students in some cases can return to school five days after a close contact, depending on testing and mask factors.
But the numerous changes to an already complicated web of quarantine and isolation guidelines — many of which rely on frequent COVID testing — also are adding to educators’ stress.
“It has been extremely challenging for our staff, students and parents to keep up with guidance changing so rapidly and frequently,” Keeley said. “The rapid changes add an extra layer of stress and uncertainty to everyone.” Other districts say a lack of COVID tests remains a problem. San Diego County schools received two rapid at-home COVID tests for each student earlier this month, but some districts said they need more, and school test sites are reporting long waits.
“Testing is consistently our greatest challenge,” Feliciano said. “I’d love to see all students and staff provided with enough home tests to test on a weekly basis, regardless of vaccine status. The rapid tests work. We simply need more of them.”
San Diego Unified announced several other changes Thursday to help schools, including canceling all nonessential indoor activities that would remove teachers from classrooms, such as training. Nonessential activities for students are also canceled, such as assemblies, field trips and dances.
The district is continuing to offer free COVID testing to staff and students at schools and its central office, and 112,000 N95 and KF94 masks were recently delivered to schools, the district said.
On Wednesday the district opened a new rapid testing station in Kearny Mesa to clear employees to return to work more quickly after recovering from COVID or coming into close contact with someone who has it.
San Diego Unified officials said they’re encouraged by predictions from medical experts. COVID cases appear to have peaked in some parts of the country, raising hopes that the surge will subside in California within weeks.
“However, we cannot afford to be complacent,” the district said to families.