Board approves schools reopening
CHICO » The Chico Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the targeted reopening date of Oct. 19 for in-person instruction within the elementary and secondary schools.
DuringWednesday night’s special boardmeeting, which surpassed four and half hours, the board voted 4-1 to reopen schools, as long as Butte County stays in the state’s Red Tier of the reopening phases.
Board member Tom Lando voted against reopening schools on Oct. 19 citing concerns for safety and inaccurate test results. Butte County was downgraded into the Red Tier, the less restrictive tier, on Sept. 29. However, theCOVID-19 test site located at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds was unavailable since Cal Fire used the fairgrounds as a base campwhen fighting the North Complex West Zone fires.
“We don’t have accurate testing right now,” Lando said. “I don’t want to be on this board whenwe let kids back in and someone gets sick.
“We’removing to approve a planwe don’t know the details of.”
Parents were asked by the district to choose whether to return to campus or enroll into Oak Bridge Academy, the district’s online- only independent study program.
However, Jim Hanlon, the assistant superintendent of human resources, said during the meeting that it’s not a guarantee to keep students six feet apart on campus. Also, as part of the newly adopted safety guidelines, temperature checkswillno longer be required at the front gate of each school. No-touch thermometers will be available in the nurse’s office and in every classroom, Hanlon said.
A few parents spoke during the public comment session of themeeting expressing that they didn’t return the survey which asked to choose
between Oak Bridge and in-person learning because neither option was fitting for their child.
Oak Bridge Academy does not offer AP classes that are available at Chico High or Pleasant Valley High.
However, the board voted on the condition that a third option becomes available for students who aren’t comfortable going back to campus and don’t feel like Oak Bridge meets their needs. That condition is that teachers would have to teach in person, as well as live Zoom, for those students who don’t want to return to campus.
“You can’t say you’re going to put a big TV in a classroom and say it’s going to work,” Lando said. “You are asking teachers to do two jobs and that’s not fair. You are asking teachers to do too much without much better planning.”
The district will now have to meet with the teacher’s union beginning on Thursday to outline the details on them teaching both in person and online.
“There is no easy solution to this problem that’s going to meet everyone’s needs,” said boardmember Linda Hovey. “I do think our district has worked hard to put safety measures in place. I feel really strongly we need to get our kids back into school.”
The district will return to an AMPM model where half of the student body is on campus either in the morning or afternoon.
The board, however, will consider a possible AB schedule in the future. The AB model consists of students on campus for a full day but alternating each day. For example, half the students are on campus Monday, the other half is on campus Tuesday and the days where they aren’t on campus they conduct school online.