Trustees say continue distance learning
Board members will consider the matter again at their Jan. 14 meeting
T he Fair f ield- Suisun Unified governing board on Thursday voted to continue distance learning until the end of the 2020 calendar year and will revisit the matter in midJanuary.
In a Friday press release, Angie Avlonitis, director of student services for the district, the county’s largest with 22,000 students, noted that Solano County has sustained 14 consecutive days in the red tier on California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Being in the red tier allows school dist r ic t s t he choice to open schools for in-person instruction.
Still, on Thursday trustees decided to remain in the distance-learning mode until year’s end and take up the matter again at the Jan. 14 governing board meeting.
Should the county move back into the purple, or “widespread” risk, tier in January, the district will be required to remain in distance learning, Avlonitis pointed out in the prepared statement.
More than 7,400 students, parents, and staff members completed a survey to provide input prior to the governing board’s decision. Public speakers also provided various opinions regarding in-person instruction.
“The overall consensus of the governing board was to continue with distance learning,” Avlonitis wrote in the release.
“It is too early to return to school,” said trustee Craig Wilson.
Added trustee David Isom, “The COVID-19 pandemic makes it clear that we must depend on one another to be safe and healthy.”
According to g uidelines at covid19.ca.gov, every California county is assigned to one of four tiers based on its test-positivity and adjusted- case rates. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least three weeks before moving forward. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays.
To more forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. The tiers are delineated by risk levels: widespread, substantial, moderate and minimal.