K-12 STUDENTS TO RETURN TO CAMPUS
District trustees set tentative reopening date of April 12
In a surprise move, Woodland School District trustees have set a tentative date to return all teachers and K-12 students to campus on April 12, the Monday following spring break.
Amid protests from parents outside the Woodland School District office — rallying for a swift reopening of campuses — the district held a special board meeting Thursday to discuss the upcoming third phase of their five-phase plan to reopen district schools safely.
After a short presentation from district staff, trustee Morgan Childers brought forward a motion.
“I would like to see students go back sooner, but I am very cognizant of the fact that we are ramping up vaccinations in this county for teachers,” Childers said. “I believe it will take a few more weeks. I am basing this motion with respect to the cycle that they have to go through, and so I’d like to motion that the board set a return date for all teachers and K-12 students, not just elementary, on April 12.”
Distance learning will still be offered to every student who decides to stay home for the remainder of the school year.
Board members unanimously passed the resolution.
“I am not surprised that the trustees set a date,” said Wood
land Education Association President Jen Shilen. “It is clear to everyone that availability of educator vaccines is a high priority and it’s a priority that is being filled. The April 12 date fits with the vaccination timeline. That should be more than enough time for the district to make sure that their facilities are ready for the health and safety protocols. The union has been working on the common goal to reopening in-person schooling and working with the district to achieve this goal.”
In a previous Woodland School Board meeting, trustees pushed for a higher prioritization for educators on the vaccination list. Vaccine eligibility was expanded to include Yolo County educators on Feb. 16.
Before the presentation, trustees listened to roughly 30 minutes of public comment after a motion was passed to exceed the normal time for one item of public comment by 10 minutes — most of the comments, which totaled around 50, heavily favored reopening.
“I have heard a lot of comments over the past few days asking us to follow the science,” said board President Jake Whitaker. “I understand the guidelines do not require vaccination for our staff to return. However, I support trustee Childers’ motion and time that it sets forth.”
“It gives our staff the time to get their first and second doses,” Whitaker continued. “It’s only going to make us safer in the long run. The issue our community has asked us to address is the impact of distance learning. It’s going to do us no good to return on a hybrid model and then start quarantining classrooms as soon as we return. That means the kids would go right back to distance learning. I think it’s important we take this time to get this right and mitigate the risk factors for inperson instruction.”
During the meeting, the district also revealed they were one to two weeks away from implementing a COVID-19 testing pilot program. The district will be able to administer COVID-19 tests on campus sites with an outer nasal swab test that will then be shipped to a lab the state has set up. Test response time would be around one to two days.
“We will make every effort to get it off the ground in two weeks,” said Assistant Superintendent Lanee Estrada. “We are trying to determine the level of staffing that it will take to make sure this is available to people quickly and easily at the sites. We may need staff and additional resources, but that is our plan.”
Currently, Woodland District schools are in phase two, part one, and are set to reach part two on March 1. Phase two, part one, includes all Special Day Class students at various district campuses. Part two will then include other students such as migrant students, newcomers to the district, English learners, and rural students with technological issues with a priority on homeless and foster youth.
“WEA’s goal remains to return to in-person instruction as this is what is best for students,” Shilen said. “The topic of school reopening is held deeply within our community and the work that is being done to accomplish this goal is not taken lightly. The obstacle to reopening in-person schooling is not the superintendent nor the board of trustees. The obstacle is not the teachers, the school staff, nor any labor union. The obstacle to reopening in-person schooling is COVID-19, one that each community member and stakeholder must work together to overcome.”