What Modesto City Schools’ draft plan says about reopening elementary schools
The Modesto City Schools district has released the draft of its plan to reopen in-person learning for transitional kindergarten through sixth grade. It is seeking feedback through an online survey and plans online community forums Thursday evening and Monday afternoon.
The plan is one component of a waiver application that would need approval from county and state health officials to reopen elementary schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ten private Christian schools in Stanislaus County have had waivers approved, and most if not all have reopened. Fourteen public school districts in the county have submitted waivers. As of Tuesday, eight had been approved, and several of those reopened or are reopening this week.
The Modesto plan is considering a learning model in which half the TK-6 students returning to schools would be on campuses Mondays and Thursdays, then doing at-home independent study on Tuesdays and Fridays. The other half of the kids would be on campuses Tuesdays and Fridays and doing independent study on Mondays and Thursdays.
Wednesdays would be “all online” instruction, though teachers would conduct small-group instruction virtually or in person. On Wednesdays, “teachers provide feedback for digital learning,” the plan says.
MCS has a current enrollment of 10,929 TK-6 students, and the district’s goal is to continue a distance-learning-only option for families who are not comfortable returning their children to classrooms during the pandemic. The district offers Modesto Virtual Academy, a self-paced independent-study program that is its alternative to daily remote instruction by teachers.
The draft plan addresses all the requirements to safely return children to schools, including physical distancing, facility cleaning and disinfection. protective wear and hygiene measures, health screenings and testing, and response to confirmed infections.
It notes than in elementary grades, it’s more feasible to keep children in small, stable learning cohorts for all activities because they don’t move from teacher to teacher as middle and high school students do. It also notes there is a greater need at younger ages for in-person instruction “with close contact to support social-emotional and academic development.”
Regarding physical distancing, the plan calls for students to be seated at least 6 feet apart, if possible, in existing classrooms. Furniture and equipment can be removed to increase distancing and reduce high-touch surfaces. When sufficient spacing is not possible, it says outdoor space and non-classroom space will be considered. Another option listed is the placement of barriers between student desks.
Another protective measure would be improving ventilation by opening windows and doors or using high-efficiency air filters and increasing ventilation rates.
Teachers and staff will have to wear face coverings unless separated by a barrier. So will all children in third grade and above, even when in a stable cohort in class.
At least daily, frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected, the plan says. Those include desks, tables, door handles, light switches, office equipment, bathroom surfaces, drinking fountains and playground equipment.
The draft plan refers a few times to procedures for allowing “only necessary visitors and volunteers” into schools. But district spokeswoman Krista Noonan clarified to The Bee in an email Wednesday that does not mean parent volunteers will immediately be allowed to return.
“Right now, our priority is on safely doing a phased-in reopening of TK-6 schools with a modified amount of students and staff (once we receive approval on the reopening waiver),” she said. “At this time, we are still not allowing parent volunteers, as we are trying to limit the amount of people on campus and in accordance with Public Health directives. If parents need to come on school campuses for some reason, they would need to go through the required health screenings and wear PPE.”
How screening and testing will be done
Staff and student families will be required to screen for COVID-19 symptoms at home each morning. “Alternatively, symptom screening can occur on site, via self-reporting, visual inspection or a screening questionnaire,” the draft says. Temperature screenings will not be required, but if done will be with a no-contact thermometer.
Students and staff will be expected to be tested as quickly as possible if they develop any COVID-19 symptoms or if a close contact tests positive. Even with a negative test result, expectations include “asymptomatic household contacts should remain at home until 14 days after the COVID-19 positive household member completes their isolation.”
In the case of a positive test, the plan lays out required identification and tracing of contacts. All students and staff in a cohort that has a positive case would be tested and quarantined.
A school might be closed and revert to distance learning when there are multiple cases in multiple cohorts or when at least 5% of the students, teachers and staff test positive within 14 days.
Versions of the draft plan in English and Spanish can be viewed at bit.ly/MCS-Reopening-Plan. The district also has posted parent surveys in English and Spanish for families of TK-6 students, as well as for 7-12 families “to work in our future planning processes,” according to a districtwide email.
Realizing some people will want to participate in Thursday’s and Monday’s forums before filling out the survey, the deadline to submit it is noon Wednesday, Oct. 7. Links to the survey were included in the email and also are at www.mcs4kids.com.
As of Wednesday morning, Stanislaus County remained in the lowest, or purple, tier in the state rating system that decides how much restaurants and other businesses can loosen coronavirus restrictions.
In the email to MCS families, district spokeswoman Becky Fortuna wrote, “It is important to note that at this time, Stanislaus County is only permitted to look at reopening of TK-6 schools. If the County reaches and sustains the ‘red’ tier of COVID case measurement, we will look to the possibility of reopening junior high and high schools, but we are not yet to that point.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
