Imperial students likely to start school year at home
IMPERIAL — Despite almost 48 percent of Imperial Unified School District parents saying in a survey they approved plans to allow students to have education in school buildings this fall, the district has decided to go to distance learning, which 34 percent of the 1,819 respondents preferred in the survey.
The 47.8 percent chose a four-hour school day, with students attending in person two days a week and participating in distance learning on the other days.
Another 9.7 percent of the respondents preferred a four-hour day with students attending once a week and distance learning the other days of the week.
Of the 1,819 respondents to the survey, 8.4 percent or 153 people chose a four-hour a day with students attending one full week per month and distance learning the other three weeks.
About one-third or 619 respondents chose 100 percent distance learning with teacher instruction being done online on a daily basis.
Teachers with the district are saying they expect to begin the school year teaching online.
Imperial School Superintendent Bryan Thomason said he is well aware of President Donald Trump’s threat to cut federal funding to any school district that chooses online education over school buildings.
“The district is always concerned with any threat to school funding,” Thomason wrote in an email. “However, students and staff safety is the district’s top priority.”
In a July 6 letter to the Imperial Unified School District community he said any considerations for reopening include safety, learning modalities and the county health conditions.
He added this is a fluid situation that can change as conditions in the county improve.
In the letter he said if the COVID-19 metrics do not improve enough in two weeks to move up two stages to advanced Stage 2, school would be limited only to online education to start.
The seven-day positive rate in Imperial County is almost 20 percent and it would need to drop to 8 percent for the county to be able to move forward.
High school students will use the Canvass modality, and kindergarten to eighth grade will use Google classroom under this model.
The Imperial teachers are being trained to enhance the distance learning experience not only for the short term but the long term as well.
If the county’s positive test rate was to decrease to 8 percent or lower sometime in the future, school buildings would open with a 25 percent capacity with at least four hours of in-person instruction time per student each week.
When and if the county improves to Stage 3 the Imperial schools could add more options to include more students, attending two days a week and possibly resume sporting events.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has not announced the metrics or guidelines for counties to move into Stage 4 where school districts, like Imperial, would be able to fully reopen.