Here’s where Modesto City Schools stands on reopening amid coronavirus pandemic
Stanislaus County’s largest school district is grappling with questions about reopening schools for young students in a county where coronavirus infections have slowed down but are still considered “widespread.”
Modesto City Schools could seek a waiver later this month for transitional kindergarten to sixth grade students to return for in-class instruction. But even if it’s approved, the district might wait until trustees are comfortable with opening classrooms.
Testing costs and possible impacts on community health are big questions for the school district with more than 30,000 students.
MCS trustees received a staff update Tuesday evening on its waiver application and won’t make a decision on submitting the plan to county public health until the matter returns to the school board Sept. 28.
Superintendent Sara Noguchi said the board has the option of getting the waiver approved and then waiting until late October or November to open K-6 classrooms, or whenever the board feels it’s safe.
Board member Adolfo Lopez said one-on-one instruction is the best for students, but the reopening of classrooms during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic should be done safely. Some of the district’s elementary schools are in Modesto neighborhoods that have generated the largest number of COVID-19 cases.
Trustee John Walker said he watches hospitalization data as a good indicator of disease prevalence and, on Tuesday, hospitals in the county had 11 intensive care beds available. Hospitalization of COVID-positive patients were well above 200 this summer but declined in August and leveled off between 99 and 115 in the past week.
“This is a public health issue for me,” said Walker, who wondered if reopening elementary schools will create a spike in cases exceeding hospital ICU capacity.
Modesto City Schools trustees feel pressure
MCS trustees said they have felt pressure to reopen schools and closely watched a recent county Board of Supervisors meeting, where supervisors narrowly turned down a motion that promised non-enforcement if local districts were to reopen schools in violation of state health orders.
The school district is still seeking clarity on its obligations for widespread testing of staff and possibly students. Staff said at Tuesday’s meeting that diagnostic molecular tests, antigen and serologic tests are accepted options for the school district.
Presumably, the district would need an outside contract with a lab. Board members were told 10,000 tests might cost $1 million and they wondered if federal CARES Act funding would cover testing costs.
Other school districts in Stanislaus County are still in the decision-making process of reopening classrooms for kindergarten to sixth grade students under coronavirus restrictions calling for health screenings, cleaning and teaching smaller groups of students who won’t mix with others during meals or recess.
Stanislaus is still one of 33 counties in California where coronavirus transmission is widespread, according to the state’s four-tier plan for reopening businesses and activities. The state allowed five counties to move to a less restrictive tier Tuesday based on declining disease numbers.
To move to a less restrictive “red tier”, where schools may reopen, Stanislaus needs to get down to seven daily cases per 100,000 population and a positive test rate of 8 percent or less. It has recently recorded 14.1 positive cases per 100,000 residents and a positive rate of 10.3 percent.
Local schools remain on distance learning, though districts and private schools can apply to the county health officer for waivers allowing in-class learning for kindergarten to sixth graders. Eight private schools received approval for their waivers Tuesday.
Younger school children are believed to be less vulnerable to COVID-19 illness, which has killed 295 adults in the county.
Stanislaus Union district awaits direction from board
The Stanislaus Union School District board is scheduled for an update Thursday evening and will be asked for direction on submitting a TK-6 reopening plan to county public health. The district began drawing up a reopening plan months ago when it looked like students would return to class in August, but Gov. Newsom’s order July 17 forced schools to begin the 2020-21 year with distance learning.
The Stanislaus Union plan calls for teaching smaller groups of students in classes at Chrysler, Eisenhut, Agnes Baptist, Mary Lou Dieterich and Stanislaus elementary schools. The gradual reopening would start with transitional kindergarten to second grade students, two half days a week; after three weeks, third to sixth graders would return to campuses for instruction.
Additional class time will be added for students as schools get into the new routine.
If the board wants to proceed, Superintendent Shannon Sanford said she will suggest an application to county public health near the end of September. That would allow county health officials and district employees to closely review the plan. The students could possibly return to classes in late October or early November, she said.
A survey showed 30 percent of parents want their children to continue with home study, Sanford said. Teachers were split 50-50 on seeking a waiver to gradually reopen classes, according meeting agenda materials.
Stanislaus Union expects to participate in an initiative coordinated by the county Office of Education to meet a requirement for testing employees for asymptomatic coronavirus infections. Details of the testing are being worked out. A SCOE testing option was not mentioned at Tuesday’s Modesto City Schools meeting, as local school officials express differing understanding of the test requirements in waivers.
County officials did not return calls or an email from The Modesto Bee on Tuesday asking for clarification on testing requirements for schools.
Sanford said Stanislaus Union was given clear direction on contact tracing responsibilities. Its plan designates staff members for contact tracing of confirmed cases at schools and quarantining of those who are close contacts of an infected person. Students or employees who had contact with an infected individual will be told to quarantine for 14 days.
Local schools that reopen are expected to grapple with trigger points for returning to distance learning if cases arise. The Stanislaus Union plan says an exposure to coronavirus in a classroom could lead to a two-week quarantine for the class and a return to distance learning for that time.
Under another proposed criteria, a campus could be closed for two weeks if 5 percent of the school population tests positive or there are multiple cases in several classroom groups.
Stanislaus Union is talking about employees self-screening for symptoms at home before going to work and checklists for parents for screening their children at home before leaving for school.
Sanford said it’s one way of screening students and staff to prevent them from bringing coronavirus into schools. The board could opt for mandatory screening and temperature checks of students and everyone else arriving at school sites. If so, additional technology is needed for screening large numbers of people at campus entryways, the superintendent said.
Oakdale plan includes random temperature checks
Oakdale Joint Unified School District’s reopening plan says parents should take their children’s temperatures daily. And school nurses will conduct random temperature checks of students and staff at school sites. Waiver applications from Oakdale and the Knights Ferry school district are awaiting county approval, while Paradise Elementary School District submitted an application Tuesday.
Sylvan Union School District said in an online presentation to staff that 6 feet is the distancing requirement in classrooms, but contact tracing and testing are sticking points of a waiver application. Is the county or the school district responsible for testing staff and students? Will it require an outside contract with a lab, Superintendent Eric Fredrickson asked during the presentation.
Fredrickson said another difficult issue is a criteria for reverting to distance learning if cases emerge at schools. It’s not as easy as flipping a light switch, he said. Sylvan is proceeding with caution and has not committed to a timeline for reopening K-6 classes.
Turlock Unified School District is finalizing its reopening plan and elementary school waiver application. After getting input from parent groups this week, administrators will bring the draft reopening plan, along with a timeline, to the board of trustees Sept. 15.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 6:18 AM.
