YUHSD to resume in-person learning March 1
Families are asked to choose between in-person and remote instruction and ‘stick with decision’
Yuma Union High School District will resume in-person instruction March 1, per the district governing board’s unanimous decision Thursday.
In a recent survey distributed to district families revealed that 63.14% of 6,258 respondents – including 478 phone calls made to families lacking ready access to email and internet – expressed a desire to return to an in-person learning environment.
Students opting to return to campus will do so five days a week starting March 1; students who want to continue with a remote learning modality will still be afforded those opportunities.
The decision was made following a significant drop in the percentage and number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and hospital visits for COVID-like illness. For the week of Jan. 24, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) logged a 17.3% positivity rate for Yuma County, 289 positive cases per 100,000 residents and a 10.4% hospitalization rate. Data for the current week, slated to release in future ADHS report at www.azdhs.gov/ covid19, suggests Yuma County’s positivity rate has dropped to 11%.
“We’re seeing a downward trend in Yuma County, finally,” Ryann Quick, district COVID-19 project manager. “We’re hoping that will continue on as we go forward.”
Internally, the district has tracked its own data to assess the number of staff and students exposed to COVID-19 week to week. According to Quick, staff exposures have decreased “tremendously,” while students’ have seen an uptick due to exposures athletes incurred from other sports teams, which places whole YUHSD teams in quarantine until positive test results are confirmed or disconfirmed. Last week, 49 students were exposed to COVID-19, Quick said; seven staff reported exposures, with one confirmed positive case.
“The data changes but the good thing is we are looking toward that downward trend,” Quick said. “If it wasn’t for outside exposures from other teams, that number (of student exposures) would probably be about two reports.”
Quick said the district is “seeing a large group of our staff being vaccinated,” as 663 employees reportedly received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in a recent inoculation clinic.
Staff are slated to receive their second dose of the vaccine Feb. 23, according to Superintendent Gina Thompson.
“(A March 1 return date) provides a safe opportunity
for our staff to be fully vaccinated, for the effects of the second vaccination to be felt if they’re going to be felt and for our staff to come back as safe as possible,” Thompson said. “Every single one of our staff are sons and daughters, potentially parents, potentially grandparents and they and their family deserve the same opportunity to continue to work in a safe environment.”
According to Thompson, due to the number of students interested in returning to campuses, social distancing may not be attainable in every aspect. Enhanced cleaning measures continue to be in effect, with hand sanitizer and disinfectants in every classroom. All individuals must continue to wear a face mask while on site.
When students return March 1, their chosen learning modality, whether it be in-person or remote, will be their modality for the remainder of the school year, Thompson said; switching “back and forth” between in-person and remote learning is not an available option.
“We are still responsible for daily attendance, we are still funded by the state of Arizona and we have rules to follow,” Thompson said. “We’re asking people to make a choice and then live with that choice. Bus drivers need to know, food services needs to know and our teachers need to know, because they are deep in plans. That will affect how many people are in a classroom (and) what the campus dynamics are.”
According to Associate Superintendent Lisa Anderson, the district will activate an equitable instruction delivery model in which teachers will simultaneously instruct students learning in-person and students learning remotely, enabling teachers to communicate with all of their students while affording peer-to-peer interaction between students.
Campuses will continue to follow the bell schedule implemented in November, Anderson said.
At Cibola, Gila Ridge, Kofa and Yuma high schools, students’ six class periods will span 7:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. From 1:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., teachers will provide feedback as well as individual and group support while students work on assignments independently. At San Luis High School, class periods will span 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with independent work and teacher support from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Vista High School classes will begin at 8:30 a.m., while Strategies for Success will begin on site at 8:20 a.m. Classes will conclude at 1:30 p.m. and 12:33 p.m., respectively, with independent work and teacher support from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Grab-and-go meals will continue to be provided on all six campuses 30 minutes after their school days conclude at either 12:30 p.m. or 12:45 p.m. in order to prevent heavy traffic on site.
The full meeting can be viewed online at www.youtube.com/YUHSD.