Parents’ Guide: How Stanislaus County school districts are handling student mask mandates
As the new academic year nears, Stanislaus County school leaders have begun informing families of their instructional options and COVID-19 safety requirements for the fall.
School districts in California are required to follow guidance from the California Department of Public Health that says students and adults must wear masks inside school buildings. Districts also need to offer a remote independent study program for students whose parents deem the health risks too great to return to in-person instruction.
This was voluntary for districts before the pandemic, according to EdSource.
The state asked districts to decide how to enforce mask-wearing and recommended school leaders tailor other safety protocols to their local communities. Independent study offerings vary depending on whether a school district had an existing remote option or is building its own to comply with the new regulations.
Here are some Stanislaus County school districts’ plans. The Modesto Bee will update this story as more information becomes available.
Modesto City Schools
Families at Modesto City Schools can enroll their students in full-time in-person instruction or Modesto Virtual Academy, according to an email sent to parents Wednesday evening.
Masks are required for all students and staff inside school buildings, but not outdoors. Desks no longer will be spaced out for social distancing and won’t have plexiglass shields, according to the email.
If families choose not to send their children back to classrooms, they should fill out an interest form on the district’s virtual academy webpage.
MVA students meet with a teacher either in person or virtually once a week for one hour. At those meetings, they’ll receive assignments for the upcoming week and complete them independently at their own pace.
Senate Bill 130 requires that TK-8 students interact daily with a teacher or MVA staff member, the email said. MVA students in grades TK-3 will have a brief daily lesson with a teacher. Students in grades 4-8 will receive daily contact from an MVA staff member, according to an FAQ page.
Students enrolled in MVA can choose to switch to on-campus instruction at any time, according to the FAQ page.
The district will provide free meals to all students, according to the email. Information on pickup locations will be posted to the MCS website soon, the email said.
Turlock Unified School District
The school district asked parents to complete a commitment survey by July 26 indicating whether their student will return to in-person instruction or choose independent study. Parents can enroll their children in the remote option due to health concerns.
The district will use Edgenuity for its independent study curriculum for grades 7-12 and a TUSD board-approved curriculum for grades TK-6, according to Commitment Survey Information posted to TUSD’s website.
Independent study for grades TK-6 will include synchronous instruction in small groups for one hour four times a week and an hour-and-a-half once a week. Students in grades 7-12 will attend a daily teacher check-in and a weekly hour of live individual instruction.
Social-emotional learning will be part of both programs. All students will be required to turn their cameras on.
For in-person instruction, the district will follow state health guidance that says students and teachers will wear masks in classrooms, but do not have to outside, according to a presentation in a virtual forum Wednesday evening.
Every classroom will have an upgraded air filter by the time school starts, and the district will take other steps such as opening doors or windows to increase ventilation, according to the presentation. Hand sanitizer will be available in every classroom.
TUSD will continue to perform contact tracing and will report COVID-19 cases to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, according to the presentation.
Sylvan Union School District
Sylvan Union will follow the state public health K-12 school guidance and require masks indoors, Superintendent Eric Fredrickson said in a Facebook post. The district will ease social distancing and remove barriers on students’ desks, the post said.
Sylvan is developing an independent study program for students whose health would be endangered by returning to school buildings. The July 15 post said a commitment agreement would be sent to families this week via Aeries. The form is due July 26, Fredrickson said in an email.
Students in independent study will complete most of their learning at their own pace. Teachers will deliver live, virtual lessons daily to students in grades TK-3 and at least weekly to students in grades 4-8, the post said. Fourth- through eighth-graders will communicate daily with a school employee.
School officials still are figuring out how many minutes per day students will receive live interaction and what form the lessons and communications will take, according to the post.
Students enrolled in independent study must have access to an adult at home to help them, according to the post.
In comments, parents both protested the mask requirement and applauded the school district’s decisions.
Ceres Unified School District
Ceres Unified School District will follow state guidance and figure out how to enforce mask-wearing indoors as the school year approaches, Communications Specialist Beth Jimenez said in an email.
Jimenez said cleaning procedures will include: sanitizing high touch points frequently, sanitizing restrooms every two hours, sanitizing play structures after every recess, distributing PPE to all school locations and providing hand sanitizer in every classroom. Ceres has added a custodian to each site to assist with cleaning, she said.
“We will continue to monitor developments and meet regularly with local public health officials and area superintendents in order to make sound decisions based on the latest information,” Superintendent Denise Wickham said in an email sent to families Thursday evening.
The district will share updates on its independent study option before Aug. 11, the first day of school. Parents should check ParentSquare for more information, Wickham said in the email.
Patterson Joint Unified School District
Patterson Joint Unified School District is following state health guidelines and mandating masks inside school buildings, Grants and Communications Coordinator Johnny Padilla said in an email.
Many safety measures and cleaning procedures from the past academic year will continue, Padilla said.
The district’s latest parent survey indicated a little over 10% of families wanted to enroll their child in Patterson’s independent study program through Open Valley School.
Parents choosing independent study must commit to keeping their child home a full semester, Padilla said.
Spots in Open Valley School are limited because of staffing and resources, Padilla said. School officials told families to notify their home school administrators in late April if they wanted to enroll their child in independent study.
Families who are new to the district need to enroll their child first, and then may submit an interest form for independent study on the Open Valley School website, he said.
Empire Union School District
Superintendent David Garcia said families were notified of in-person and independent study options on July 9. As of Wednesday, only 2% of students opted into course-based independent study.
The district will follow CDPH and CalOSHA guidelines on masks, Garcia said.
The district will implement physical distancing of at least three feet in all situations, according to the Empire district’s COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Students and staff must complete a temperature screening and wellness check each day before entering a school building, according to the plan.
Riverbank Unified School District
Riverbank Unified School District will offer “all items required by state and local guidance in terms of learning options, masking, and safety measures,” Superintendent Christine Facella said in an email.
Families who prefer to keep their children home must register by Monday, Facella said. If families who are new to the district enroll after Monday, they should register for their home school location before potentially requesting independent study, according to independent study information posted to the district’s website.
Students in the Riverbank Academy of Multilingual Education cannot enroll in independent study and will be placed in an English-only pathway if they prefer to stay home, according to the information packet.
Independent study students will not be allowed to participate in co-curricular events or sports, the information packet said.
School officials are working out details for instructional time and lesson delivery for remote study, according to the information packet. Generally, though, K-3 graders will receive daily instruction from a classroom teacher, 4-8 graders will participate in at least weekly instruction and daily interactions and high school students will attend at least weekly live instruction.
Stanislaus Union School District
Stanislaus Union School District will follow guidelines and require mask indoors, Superintendent Shannon Sanford said in an email. School officials will refer students who don’t wear a face covering to the district’s independent study program.
School officials anticipate 6% of students requesting independent study and encourage parents to submit requests before the first day of school on Aug. 9, Sanford said.
COVID-19 safety protocols in school buildings will include handwashing, self-screening of symptoms, daily cleaning, ventilation maximization, seating charts, local quarantine guidance and general education about COVID-19 transmission, Sanford said.
Waterford Unified School District
Waterford Unified School District will make sure students wear masks inside. School officials had “little difficulty” reminding students to wear masks during hybrid instruction in the spring, Superintendent Don Davis said in an email.
Other COVID-19 safety measures will include deep cleaning, frequent hand washing and more outdoor activities, Davis said.
About 10% of students have decided to enroll in the district’s independent study option, Davis said.
Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District
Newman-Crows Landing will require masks during classtime and will use a “standard progressive discipline model” if students do not follow the rules, Superintendent Shawn Posey said in an email.
Families can choose to enroll in independent study before the school year starts, Posey said.
Keyes Union School District
Keyes Union School District will follow state and county guidance and require masks indoors for students and staff, Superintendent Helio Brasil said in an email.
The district will not require physical distancing. Other safety protocols include optimal ventilation and daily cleaning and disinfecting, Brasil said.
School leaders are working out details for an independent study option, Brasil said. Parents can indicate their interest for independent study through forms sent Friday.
Brasil said he hopes for families to decide by Aug. 9, but that’s a “tentative and fluid deadline” as school leaders flesh out plans.
“As a small district we are extremely limited in personnel and resources,” he said.
He said he expects a low percentage of students to choose independent study.
Hughson Unified School District
Hughson Unified School District will follow the California Department of Public Health guidelines and work with students to help them adjust to wearing face coverings indoors, Superintendent Brenda Smith said in an email.
Students who consistently do not wear a mask will be moved to the district’s independent study option, she said.
“Last year, our students were amazing and did what they needed to do so they could attend school,” Smith wrote in a July 16 message to families. “Students were not suspended or expelled for not wearing a face covering.”
Administrators and teachers will ask students to wear their mask, and if they don’t, will meet with parents to talk about keeping their child home.
Several parents have contacted school leaders about the state mask mandate, Smith said in the message. As a public school system, Hughson Unified follow the state guidance. She directed parents’ concerns to the CDPH.
Hughson Unified will offer an independent study program through the online program Edgenuity, with an Edgenuity teacher, according to a July 13 message.
Students in grades K-3 will engage in daily synchronous instruction for 1-2 hours per day, and grades 4-12 will have weekly synchronous instruction, according to the message. Kindergarten through eighth graders must engage with the program every day.
High school students can also enroll in a mix of online and in-person instruction through the HHS Options program, the message said.
Families should contact their school by July 30 to enroll in independent study, Smith said.
Denair Unified School District
Denair Unified School District will require face coverings indoors in compliance with state guidance, Superintendent Terry Metzger said in a letter sent to parents July 21.
The district will continue its mask enforcement discipline from the past school year, the letter said. Students who don’t wear face coverings first receive a reminder from staff. If it becomes a “problem,” administrators meet with parents to discuss moving their child to distance learning.
Metzger pointed parents who don’t agree with the mask mandate to the CDPH.
“It is not in our jurisdiction as a school district to bend the rules or ignore them,” Metzger said in the letter.
DUSD will offer independent study for K-12 students through Denair Charter Academy, according to a notification of enrollment options sent to parents.
Parents who want to opt their child into DUSD’s independent study program should complete this form by August 1.
Students can switch to in-person instruction or re-enroll in independent study at any point during the school year.
Kindergarten through third grade students in independent study will participate in daily synchronous instruction, fourth through eighth graders will have daily live interactions and weekly synchronous instruction and high schoolers will have weekly synchronous instruction, according to the enrollment notice.
Paradise Elementary School District
At Paradise Elementary, 10% of students are enrolled in independent study and the rest attend in person, Superintendent Heath Thomason said in an email.
Students attending in-person must wear masks and could face up to suspension or expulsion for refusing to comply. Students who regularly don’t wear a face covering will be sent to independent study, Thomason said.
“We have been doing this since March and will work with families who request the option of staying home,” Thomason said.
This story will be updated on modbee.com as other public school districts in Stanislaus County share details of their COVID-19 safety plans and independent study options.
This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
