Here’s what will be required of Stanislaus County schools in order to re-open campuses
School districts in Stanislaus County have a lot of work to do before any reopen elementary schools for classroom instruction during the coronavirus pandemic.
First, an adjusted rate of infection in the county has to fall to a level where districts are eligible for waivers to reopen elementary schools for kindergarten to sixth grade students while the county remains on the state’s COVID-19 watch list.
And the numbers have not reached that level yet. Though they are falling.
The county’s rate dropped from 272 per 100,000 population to 244.5 per 100,000, as of Monday. The California Department of Public Health says the waivers to reopen elementary schools can be considered when the infection rate is 200 per 100,000 or lower.
The per capita rate was 276 on Thursday when county officials invited school districts to submit waiver applications, on a projection the rate would drop to the state threshold in five to seven days.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county health officer, said in an advisory Monday the per capita rate could drop below the 200 level in the next week.
School districts must provide extensive information in seeking the waivers: They must confer with labor groups, parents and community organizations and develop detailed reopening plans for keeping children and staff safe as kids return to classrooms.
“We are taking a real measured approach to it,” said Eric Fredrickson, superintendent of Sylvan Union School District in Modesto. “This came from out of the blue last week when the indications were that cases were still very high. We are not rushing ahead without making sure the numbers are accurate and we understand them, and without having a lot of engagement with our stakeholders.”
Sylvan, which has 10 elementary schools, will discuss the waiver process with a special needs advisory committee later this week and will meet with a curriculum and local planning committee Sept. 9. The Sylvan school board will also review the reopening plan before it goes to county public health.
When the time is right, Sylvan has planned to bring small numbers of students back to campuses to begin a careful reopening process, the superintendent said.
According to the state, elementary school reopening plans must address health and safety issues and include details such as cleaning and disinfecting, screening of students and staff, hygiene, identification and contact tracing in case anyone tests positive for COVID-19, safe distancing arrangements for classrooms and plans for teaching smaller cohorts of students, among other things.
Schools also need to identify triggers for switching to distance learning in event of an outbreak on campus.
The state is allowing local health officers to consider opening elementary schools first for K-6 students based on data that younger children are less likely to become infected with coronavirus and spread it to others or become seriously ill with COVID-19. According to county data, 936 children age 14 and under have tested positive in Stanislaus County.
Nationwide, about 570 cases of a rare inflammatory syndrome affecting children with coronavirus have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention including 10 deaths.
Modesto City Schools has been preparing a waiver application but also indicated Friday it was seeking clarification on how the state’s adjusted rate is computed. The normal 14-day rolling case rate — based on positive tests that labs report to the state — stands at 621 per 100,000 in Stanislaus County, three times higher than the state threshold.
To try to measure the current level of community spread, the state and county looks at events such as when a person scheduled a coronavirus test or was in a hospital emergency room with symptoms. Older cases are excluded from the infection rate that determines if schools are eligible for the elementary school waivers.
High school and junior high students must remain on distance learning until the county has been off the state monitoring list for 14 days.
Turlock Unified is working on waiver plan
Turlock Unified School District is working on a waiver application that will be shared with the district board and parent groups once it is completed, a spokesperson said Friday.
Vaishampayan has said it will take about a week to review the waiver applications after they’re turned in to county public health. It could take up to 30 days for a school to open for in-person instruction.
Stanislaus County has a discussion item Tuesday on the coronavirus emergency and waiver process for elementary schools. Supervisor Terry Withrow has been a major proponent of reopening schools even though the county remains a COVID-19 hot spot in California.
Top county officials cite declining COVID patient numbers in acute care hospitals as a sign the local outbreak is waning. Hospitalization of people confirmed with COVID-19 has fallen from 205 on Aug. 17 to 150. The count does not include patients who have been moved from hospitals to a 36-bed overflow facility.
Private schools have already submitted waiver applications to the county including St. Stanislaus Elementary, Sacred Heart elementary schools in Turlock and Patterson, Our Lady of Fatima of Modesto, Modesto Christian, Central Valley Christian Academy, Big Valley Christian Elementary and Brethren Heritage School.
The waivers can be viewed at the Stanislaus County Office of Education website.
St. Stanislaus submitted a plan proposing to ensure social distancing by maximizing space between desks in classrooms and placing teachers 6 feet away from students’ desks. The waiver includes the use of outdoor space for instruction when feasible, 6-foot markers to ensure distancing in the cafeteria and hallways, and not holding assemblies.
According to the St. Stanislaus plan, students in each class will remain with classmates at recess. Staff members have to wear face coverings, and masks will be required in grades 3 to 6, unless there’s an exemption for health reasons. Face coverings will be encouraged for younger students.
At a June 23 meeting, the Modesto City Schools board of trustees heard some limited details for reopening schools. The board was told spacing in classrooms of 3 to 6 feet would meet the coronavirus guidelines of the World Health Organization.
Social distancing would be maintained on school buses; the young passengers would be expected to wear masks and sanitize hands before boarding.
After the county’s invitation for school districts to apply for waivers last week, some Modesto parents commented on social media they hoped distance learning will still be a choice for families. The Modesto City Schools board of trustees received a report in June that 566 families had expressed interest in keeping their children in home study.
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St. in Modesto. Seating inside the chambers is limited due to the coronavirus emergency.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 1:51 PM.
