The California Department of Education released a 62-page guidebook Monday that offers local educational agencies detailed instructions for how to safely reopen schools this fall.
The guidebook, titled “Stronger Together,” includes health and safety protocols, instructional schedule models and details on how school buses and school meals services will be advised to operate when schools reopen their doors.
State superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond spoke about the guidance during a press briefing Monday and explained that local educational agencies and county health officers, not state officials, will determine when schools will be permitted to reopen.
“School reopening is a matter that is decided locally,” Thurmond said. “With 1,000 school districts in our state, all of our school (districts) will make their own decisions about when they reopen according to their own calendar.”
New protocols call for teachers and students to wear face coverings at all times, for all people entering campus to have their temperature checked and for portable handwashing stations to be placed outside of classrooms.
Thurmond and deputy superintendent Dr. Stephanie Gregson previewed four different models the state has suggested local educational agencies analyze in preparation for safe reopenings that provide for physical distancing in the classroom.
The first is a “two-day rotation blended” learning model in which students report to school on two designated days each week based on their grade level for in-person instruction. In this model, a school could have students from kindergarten through third grade learn at school on Mondays and Wednesdays while students from fourth to sixth grade could come to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All students would engage in distance learning on days they aren’t expected to show up at school, including on Friday when teachers would participate in professional learning opportunities.
The second is a “A/B week blended” learning model in which students would rotate learning in-person on a weekly basis. Like the first model, this would limit the student population to 50% and would also include a day each week for teachers to participate in collaborative planning or professional learning.
The third is a looping structure designed for schools that serve kindergarten through eighth grade in which students would stay together in cohorts with teachers for multiple grade levels. Students in a first-grade cohort would have the same teacher in second grade, a practice the department of education says would increase the opportunity for students to meet or exceed their grade level in literacy.
The fourth and final model includes early and late staggered schedules in which grades would have staggered start and dismissal times and the bell schedule would accommodate multiple recess and lunch periods. In this model, students would stay in a homeroom and teachers would rotate in and out to decrease congregation in hallways.
The models referenced in the guidebook could potentially be amended by individual school districts, but as Gregson said, “There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”
Aside from needing to allow school districts to determine which model of instruction is best suited for its students, the California Department of Education is also bracing for the potential that the upcoming academic year is interrupted by a spike in coronavirus cases.
Thurmond acknowledged the possibility all schools will need to close again and indicated the department is better prepared for a worst-case scenario.
“Our success on reopening schools, just like reopening parts of the state, relies on continual monitoring,” Thurmond said. “You’ve heard the governor talk about in his daily press conferences the need for testing and contact tracing, California has achieved the highest rates of testing of any state with 60,000 tests a day, so there’s going to have to be ongoing monitoring to determine if there is any need to determine to any kind of stay-in-place order.”
Thurmond also said he’s encouraged school districts to meet the needs of students who wish to continue distance learning this fall. A task force focused on closing the digital divide for students in the state led by Thurmond has asked school districts to survey parents and see if distance learning on a full-time basis next year is feasible for some students.
Families who volunteer to have students engage in distance learning would ease the burden on schools that are now tasked with determining how everyone will maintain social distance.
“Right now is a critical time for school districts to really begin to analyze the footprints of their campuses and to make determinations about how many students can be safely taught in an in-class instruction way,” Thurmond said.
Thurmond and Gregson are optimistic that by releasing guidance in early June, district leaders will have enough time to prepare for the challenging realities of welcoming students back to campus in a safe and healthy manner.
