HOLY ROSARY REOPENS FOR IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION
School is second in Woodland to be granted waiver to reopen campus
Holy Rosary Catholic School is now the second school in Woodland, joining Woodland Christian, and fifth in Yolo County to be granted a waiver by the Yolo County Health Officer and the California Department of Public Health to resume in-person learning for transitional kindergarten through sixth grade.
“We are so excited to have been granted the waiver,” Holy Rosary Principal Bob Bachmeier said Wednesday. “It was incredible to see the kids and the parents’ excitement this morning as they arrived on campus.”
Holy Rosary began the waiver process in mid-July and submitted the request on Aug. 21. After working closely with local health officials to finetune the return to school plans, the school received the waiver on Tuesday and began in person the next day.
On Sept. 8, Woodland Christian re-opened for kindergarten through sixth-grade in-person instruction after a lengthy waiver process of their own that went on for months. That decision affected nearly 400 students, not including those in kindergarten.
Wednesday morning, Holy Rosary had 59 out of the 80 enrolled students return to campus. The 14 students in the seventh and eighth grades will remain distance learning per waiver requirements.
Online distance learning will remain an option for students who are not ready to return to in-person learning. Those students may return as they wish as they become more comfortable with the safety protocols.
“We really wanted to make sure that we’re meeting families where they are,” said Superintendent and Executive Director
of Schools for the Diocese of Sacramento Lincoln Snyder. “We understand that a student or someone in the home might have underlying health condi
tions, and coming back to campus isn’t on the table. By providing that remote learning option, we ensure that any family who wants access to a quality Catholic education can still do so.”
The Yolo County Health Agency toured the Holy Rosary campus twice before formally accepting the waiver application.
“Yolo County was a more rigorous review process,” Snyder explained. “They are the only county to come out and visit oncampus twice. That part of the review process was definitely an extra layer that Yolo County put in place through their health offices.”
The waiver process included submitting their reopening protocols, which outline each step of the school’s plan for educating students safely during the pandemic.
“We have been getting guidance from the Sacramento Diocese with feedback and input from health departments, health officials, and medical physicians,” Bachmeier said. “When the time came to submit our waiver application for Holy Rosary, I felt very prepared.”
The school day beings with temperature checks for all faculty and students that arrive on campus and includes questions about any symptoms in line with COVID-19. The school has gone through the paces to ensure safety is the top priority.
“Our breezeways are marked with directional signage to keep congestion down, we have designated areas for cohorts to use, our desks are spaced to account for social distancing, and everyone on campus is wearing masks and practicing extensive cleanliness routines,” Bachmeier said.
Snyder, who oversees 42 schools over 11 counties, is now very familiar with the whole process.
“We know the routine with the waivers,” Snyder said. “We have a number of counties that granted us waivers before Yolo did including Placer, Colusa, and Sacramento.”
Davis Waldorf School, Grace Valley Christian Academy, and Peregrine School are the other three Yolo County Schools that have been granted a waiver.
According to Snyder, two more Yolo County schools are set to join. Our Lady of Grace School, located in West Sacramento, was the sixth school granted a waiver, and they are set to begin in-person instruction on Monday.
St. James School in Davis is about two weeks away from their waiver. Snyder is hoping to schedule an on-campus visit with the county health officials soon.
In the Woodland District, a waiver for any of the 11 elementary schools will be hard to come by.
“Right now, WJUSD is not in a position to meet the criteria for a waiver,” explained Woodland Superintendent Tom Pritchard during a school board meeting Thursday night. “First and foremost, all of our classrooms and schools cannot meet the requirements, and as a unified district, that would provide equity and access issues.”
The waiver process also involves consultations with the labor unions, physical distancing and facilities are other limiting factors.
“At this point we don’t qualify and the district will not look to qualify for one because the conditions are not right for us,” Pritchard said.