Update: Modesto City Schools waiver application for TK-6 gains approval
Update 7:30 a.m. Oct. 27: The waiver application was approved Monday, Oct. 26.
With a few revisions, the Modesto City Schools Board of Education on Monday night approved submitting an updated waiver application to reopen elementary schools for in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One revision is that all students will have to wear face coverings, a change from the draft plan’s wording that “TK-2 will be strongly encouraged” but not required to do so. Another is that the phased-in reopening of TK through sixth-grade on-campus learning will begin Nov. 12, a week later than originally proposed.
All this is contingent upon county and state health officials approving the waiver application, which the district intends to submit Wednesday or Thursday. “We need to ensure we have all the details included from the board meeting last night,” district Chief Communications Officer Krista Noonan said in an email to The Bee on Tuesday.
The vote to submit the waiver was 4-1, with trustee Adolfo Lopez opposed. Trustee John Ervin, who participated in the discussion of the agenda item during the online meeting Monday night, was not signed in when the vote was taken.
Presentation and discussion of the waiver application took a little more than two hours, including the reading of nearly 40 submitted comments from families and staff.
A number of people, including teachers and parents, urged the board to not reopen before winter break, to see what happens during cold and flu season. There were concerns that parents who need to work will send ill children to school after knocking down fevers with medicine.
Others called for the district to reopen all schools, though MCS is allowed under the waiver to reopen only elementary grades until Stanislaus County has been in the so-called red tier for 14 days straight. The red tier in the state’s ranking system indicates that COVID-19 is no longer “widespread” but is still “substantial,” and Stanislaus moved into the tier just last Tuesday, Oct. 13.
‘Give him his life back’
Parents cited the impact of distance learning on their children’s education and mental health. One mother wrote of her high school senior son, “There are only so many days left. He deserves a chance to play the sport he loves. He has done everything you have asked of him for 12 years as an MCS student. Now it’s time for you to do something for him: Give him his life back.”
Multiple commenters expressed concern that returning students to campuses during the pandemic will lead to a disruptive cycle of opening and closing classrooms or entire schools each time an outbreak happens. They pointed to Gregori High and Modesto Christian School both having to shut for 14 days when staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Gregori math teacher Lori Gaines asked, “When we have principals who are out of touch with what is happening on campus or simply not addressing it and not enforcing safety protocols, how will this even be possible?”
A few people, including Modesto Teachers Association President Doug Burton, said to return students to school would be to ignore science and safety. Referring to survey results that show the majority of MCS parents want children to return to schools in a hybrid learning model when it’s safe, parent Marie Price commented, “It is irresponsible to open based on families’ opinions.”
More choices for parents
The hybrid schedule under which children will return to schools has the student population split into two cohorts. Based on survey and community forum feedback from parents and staff, a child’s cohort will be on campus for two consecutive days, rather than split as initially proposed.
Group A students will attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Group B is home getting the same instruction online. Thursdays and Fridays, Group B group will have in-person instruction at school while Group A is at home. On Wednesdays, all students will be home, doing distance learning.
For families that want to keep their children in distance learning only, a child may remain at home, receiving the same real-time instruction being provided to classmates who are in the cohorts on campus and at home.
Also, if a child is ill and kept home on a day he or she normally would be on campus, but feels well enough to join in distance learning, the child can sign in and participate, avoiding an absent day.
Children in the Modesto Virtual Academy independent-study program will continue their year that way, and enrollment is closed.
Among concerns by board members were that siblings or other children living in the same house not be split into separate cohorts, making scheduling more difficult for families. They were assured that schools are working on that.
Board members sought the delayed start to Nov. 12 to help ensure additional safety measures are in place. Members of the superintendents cabinet had spoken of ventilation challenges in classrooms without doors and windows to the outside. Better air-conditioning filters are on order but have not arrived, and air purifiers are being piloted at Sonoma Elementary.
The reopening plan is available in English and Spanish at www.mcs4kids.com. “Right now, this is still a proposed plan,” district spokeswoman Becky Fortuna noted. “We’re still working on a letter of agreement with MTA (Modesto Teachers Association).”
The waiver application is an attachment in item B.5 of Monday night’s agenda, available at bit.ly/3m5tbA5.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
