Stanislaus being stuck in purple means red light on reopening secondary classrooms
Remaining stuck in the purple tier, the most restrictive of the state’s COVID-19 risk rating system, has put the brakes on Stanislaus County school districts’ plans to reopen junior high and high schools.
Some districts were looking to return students to campuses a couple of days a week starting Monday, and at least Turlock Unified had hopes of bringing them back this week.
Not making it to the less restrictive red tier means the earliest his district now could bring students back is March 29, Patterson Joint Unified Superintendent Philip M. Alfano said in an email to The Bee on Tuesday morning. Because Patterson’s spring break is April 2-11, if the county doesn’t reach the red tier next week, the earliest its students could return is April 12.
That would give students 10 weeks of being on campus at least a couple of days a week because the last day of the school year in Patterson is June 17.
Last summer, the district’s board OK’d pushing back the start of the school year to Sept. 8 and cutting winter break from three to two weeks. At that time, Alfano told The Bee the aim was to “at least provide students and staff the opportunity for an additional month (at the end of the school year) of in-class instruction when conditions do improve.”
He said Tuesday that his district has made all necessary modifications to scheduling and facilities to provide a safe transition back to blended, in-person instruction, “and our staff is ready and able to do so.”
There is a parent meeting planned for Wednesday to provide an update to sixth- through 12th-grade families, Alfano said, adding, “It seems counterintuitive, but we could very likely wind up with a situation where our older students can play football or go to Disneyland, but are not able to attend school, even at half capacity, based on California Department of Public Health requirements.”
Modesto families to get update
Modesto City Schools told junior high and high school parents by email and phone call that it will send them an update Wednesday. Krista Noonan, the district’s chief communications officer, told The Bee by email Tuesday afternoon, “As far as the 7-12 schools, we will continue to closely monitor the tier reclassification process for Stanislaus County as we make progress to reach the red level.
“Now that the daily case rate has gone below 14 per 100,000, we can start to allow football, water polo and any other sports that require certain COVID-19 testing requirements for students to be able to participate.”
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She added that because the district’s elementary schools are not dependent on tier classifications, plans to merge cohorts A and B on Monday remain on track. “By merging the cohorts, this will enable students to attend in-person learning four days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday), with Wednesday remaining distance learning for all students,” she said. “Additionally, as we’ve done in the past, families can continue to keep their children in 100% distance learning, if they choose to do so.”
Modesto City Schools’ spring break is March 20-28 and its last day of instruction is May 27.
Turlock ready to move quickly
Turlock Unified spokeswoman Marie Russell said that when secondary schools are allowed to reopen, “we hope to bring students back as soon as possible; our goal is the same week as the official green light.”
Turlock’s spring break is April 2-11 and its last day of school is May 28.
Riverbank Unified Superintendent Christine Facella said via email that once the county is in the red tier for two successive weeks, her students in grades six through 12 will begin returning the following Thursday.
The district will use a phased-in approach in order to acclimate sixth-graders to the middle school campus and ninth-graders to the high school campus. “Both groups of students have not yet been on campus,” she said, “and we feel it is necessary to provide them opportunity. The rest of the students will begin the following Monday.”
Riverbank’s spring break is April 2-11 and its last day of school is May 27.
Modesto’s Sylvan Union School District Superintendent Eric Fredrickson is scheduled to give his board an update Tuesday night on the status of reopening middle schools, as well as the recent return of fourth- and fifth-graders to in-person learning.
Sylvan’s academic calendar is the same as Modesto City’s.
Oakdale Joint Unified Superintendent Marc Malone said that based on Tuesday’s information, the district has a new target date of March 29 to open grades 7-12..
And Ceres Unified spokeswoman Beth Parker Jimenez said the district is prepared to reopen secondary campuses for in-person instruction as soon as the county reaches the red tier. “For that to happen prior to our spring break, which begins April 2, the case count will need to fall within the red tier range by next week, with Stanislaus County reassigned to the red tier the following week, on March 23,” she said in an email.
“In that scenario, our secondary campuses would reopen March 25. Given the current case rate, this will require diligence on the part of all residents in continuing to practice preventive measures.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 2:03 PM.
