As California’s reopening nears, Stanislaus County school districts await guidance
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Modesto Reopening Guide
This story is part of the Modesto Bee’s Reopening Guide, giving you what you need to know as the state’s economy reopens June 15. Read more of the stories here:
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Don’t expect a tossing of masks and tearing down of plexiglass partitions across Stanislaus County schools and other district facilities come Tuesday, when California is set for a big economic reopening from the COVID-19 restrictions.
District superintendents and spokespeople said last week that they’re still awaiting guidance from the state. So for staff and for students engaging in summer learning opportunities, they’re pretty much holding course with the health and safety protocols that have been in place.
“My understanding after attending an online statewide meeting last week is that we must still require masking indoors at school — both for vaccinated and unvaccinated students and staff,” Patterson Joint Unified School District Superintendent Philip Alfano told The Bee in an email Wednesday. He added that updated guidance is expected from the California Department of Public Health around the end of July.
“Overlapping agency jurisdiction continues to cause a great deal of confusion,” said Alfano, whose current school year started later than others in Stanislaus County and ends June 17. “In general, guidelines from (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) tend to be less restrictive than those adopted by the state of California. Our local public health officials have done a great job of keeping us informed of these changing requirements and interpreting them.”
Looking ahead at the next school year, the superintendent added that on a positive note, very few families are requesting distance learning/independent study. “Based on parent surveys administered as recently as late April, we were concerned that the number would be high,” he said, but the vast majority are opting for a return to in-person instruction.
Alfano’s response on anticipated changes, or lack thereof, from the June 15 reopening was similar to those The Bee received after reaching out to all districts within the county.
“We look forward to the governor’s June 15 announcement and how it will impact schools,” Turlock Unified School District communications chief Marie Russell told The Bee by email. “Until that time, we remain status quo with respect to school facilities and summer learning.”
Modesto City Schools, which started summer school June 3, said it awaits updated school-specific and workplace guidance from the California Department of Public Health and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to guide its next steps.
Ceres Unified spokeswoman Beth Jimenez said her district doesn’t anticipate receiving updated guidance before July 1. “As CUSD’s Super Summer Academy ends in early July, we do not expect to implement changes to our health and safety protocols before the start of the new school year,” she said.
The Stanislaus County Office of Education’s summer learning program is entirely Independent study, spokeswoman Judy Boring said. Students meet with their assigned teachers a minimum of once a week, in person, for an hour.
Additional time can be in person by appointment or via Zoom, she said, and school sites continue to maintain the cleaning and social-distancing protocols set in place six months ago.
“In the fall, we plan to reopen and continue as we have since November,” Boring added. “SCOE has a smaller student population that makes it possible to operate classroom programs Monday-Friday while also conducting independent study. If enrollment gets too large to accommodate the current daily attendance/classroom population and the guidelines for social distancing remain, we will reassess space and options at that time.”
Riverbank Unified School District’s summer program is likely to remain status quo “unless guidelines change significantly,” Superintendent Christine Facella said.
Waterford Superintendent Don Davis said masks remain required for summer school students indoors, but are optional outdoors.
And Dave Kline, interim superintendent at Oakdale Joint Unified, said his district is looking forward to having more information Tuesday. Protocols at school facilities have not changed, he said, and “as we are unsure what will occur at the state level, we do not want to position ourselves with making any change that is not supported.
“Our process will be as it always has been: We take directives from county Public Health.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
