All 113 elementary schools of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) are planning to reopen by April 12. These elementary schools are going to reopen to hybrid learning, meaning that students can attend in-person classes as part of a week or school day and then continue the week online. This is a step in the right direction for elementary schools in San Diego because children need proper education.
Richard Barrera, the San Diego Unified Board President, said that they need San Diego County to get out of the purple tier to reopen these schools. This means that the county case rate needs to fall or remain below 7 per 100,000 residents. As of Feb. 23, the county case rate is at 15 per 100,000.
“We’re confident that we can meet both those goals because the declining case rate gives us confidence that we will be out of the purple tier well before mid-April,” Barrera said.
“While a hybrid schedule is still difficult for many working families, this represents a step in the right direction,” Mayor Todd Gloria said.
Parents hope that the teaching and administrative staff are going to get vaccinated so the case rate can stay low. Barrera said that the San Diego Unified School Staff are not required to get vaccinated by the time the schools reopen.
If the SDUSD staff do not need to get vaccinated, there needs to be safety precautions, such as social distancing the desks and students, the requirement to wear masks, hand sanitizing stations, handwashing policies for students and staff and proper air ventilation.
If these precautions are in place, this can be a successful reopening with the process of slowly vaccinating the school staff to prevent spreading the virus.
“The district plans to call staff back to school the week of April 5, right after spring break,” Barrera said. This preparation on April 5 will be beneficial when hybrid learning starts on April 12.
The teachers can plan how they can socially distance themselves from the students when they need help, or how they can navigate around classrooms while staying 6-feet apart from students and staff.
Twenty-nine of the other school districts in San Diego still have not announced their plan to reopen.
Check the link to SDUSD website to see if your school is reopening: https://sandiegounified.org
Image Sources
- Carl Sandburg Elementary School: Nick Ng/The Telescope | All Rights Reserved