High school athletes to return Monday, students Aug. 12
For the first time since school shut down in March, a small cohort of high school student athletes finally will be allowed back on campus Monday as school officials prepare for a new school year starting Aug. 12.
During a “recovery, reopening and redesign” webinar on Wednesday top Mountain ViewLos Altos Union High School District officials said they have received guidelines from the county about athletic activities and already have met with coaches at the district’s two high schools to choose a “very specific” group of athletes to return to campus.
Los Altos High School Principal Wynne Satterwhite announced that “very specific cohorts” of no more than one student per athletic activity will be allowed on campus starting June 22, the first tangible experience students will have back at school since educational facilities across the state shut down in March to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
“As we shared with our coaches, they’re kind of the guinea pigs,” Satterwhite said. “We’ll let parents and students know about how the process will happen. But we really want to make sure we’re getting kids back on the campus and doing things in a very health and safe way.”
She added that competitive sports seasons are still “up in the air” and school officials still are “trying to figure out” how and when to increase the number of athletes that will be allowed on campus.
Satterwhite was one of about a dozen school officials who outlined the most in-depth reopening strategy yet seen from the district Wednesday, a plan that sets out guidelines for social distancing inside schools, grading, teaching and interacting socially.
Most guidelines could be tweaked further as county health officials determine much of what school districts do. Superintendent Nellie Meyer said they are expecting an update from the county public health department and the office of education in the first week of July.
That update hopefully will include the release of more specific guidance and recommendations for school districts throughout the county, Meyer said. Though the district expects to return to school with a hybrid in-person and online model, the district still has contingency plans in place if a new shelter-in-place order shuts down schools again or if social distancing guidelines are eased further.
What is certain is that safety measures will be put in place to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus with mandatory procedures all students, staff ers and teachers must adhere to.
Associate Superintendent of Personal Leyla Benson said all staffers, students and teachers will have their temperatures taken before entering a school campus.
Benson also said the school will have to make facial coverings widely available to students, as well as ensure that there are ample sanitation stations “so hand
washing can be frequent” and enough sanitizer to go around.
“We also have to have physical distancing protocols,” Benson said. “We will need to create signage and protocols and train staff and students.”
Directional arrows on school hallways to guide foot traffic and keep social distancing are likely, Associate Superintendent of Business Services Mike Mathiesen said, as well as potentially propping doors open and minimizing the number of places a student could touch a surface.
“We’re also looking at how large our classrooms are and depending on how
many students we have, how do we use libraries and gyms for that larger space to have class,” Mathiesen said.” He added that physical education classes will likely have to be taught off campus.
Grading also will go back to normal, a shift from the credit-no credit policy the district implemented at the start of the pandemic.
“We will be awarding letter
grades in the fall,” said Margarita Navarro, head of professional development for the district. “Being that we’re going to issue grades, our teachers need to have a conversation with their students about grading and assessment. The challenge is how do you do that from another environment?”
Benson said there is also the “strong possibility” that the district will see longterm
absences of students and staff depending on how the health crisis evolves. So the school district “will need to have trained substitutes” to pick up the slack, a task that will be difficult for a district that is surely to face financial constraints.
Benson said she and others have been having conversations “all summer long” with union leaders to ease teachers into a new normal. The school district and teachers currently are discussing things ranging from hours of work, workload impacts, shifts and training requirements, Benson said.
“When we went into distance learning format in the spring, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with our unions, and we expect to do the same,” Benson said.