Return To Learning in San Diego
Many people have conflicting ideas about how to best handle the COVID-19 situation. These differences can be seen in the reopening plans of school districts in our area. State guidelines prevent school campuses in California from reopening unless their county remains off of the COVID-19 County Monitoring List for a period of 14 days. When they are allowed to open, strict mask policies will be enforced along with social distancing and health screenings. Regular testing for the staff is highly recommended as well. While all schools in San Diego County have to begin the school year fully virtually due to these regulations, their reopening procedures vary considerably per school district.
Some schools are taking serious precautions to ensure the safety of their students and staff. San Diego Unified School District in their reopening guide stated that, in addition to adhering to these state mandates, SDUSD has made the decision to implement several other reopening requirements. Advised by pandemic experts at the University of California San Diego, SDUSD will not send students back to school in person until additional health conditions are met within San Diego County, such as the occurrence of fewer than 7 outbreaks in 7 days, investigations of more than 70% of firsthand contacts of a positive case within 24 hours, hospitals having less than 80% capacity throughout the county, and more. Similarly, Poway Unified School District recently announced a fully virtual learning schedule until further reevaluation in their reopening guide.
However, many school districts including Encinitas Unified, Escondido Unified, Oceanside Unified, and Vista Unified prioritize getting students back at school as quickly and safely as possible. These school districts on their websites stated that they plan to allow students back on campuses as soon as state health requirements are met in San Diego County. Until then, families who chose the in-person learning models will participate in a temporary distance learning program. When the return to on-campus learning does occur, all of these schools will implement rigid safety regulations. Oceanside Unified School District will enforce policies such as requiring students in the third grade and above to wear masks and recommending them for students in second grade and below, encouraging hand washing or sanitizing throughout the day, implementing extensive cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and instructing students and staff to perform wellness screenings before entering the campus or the schoolbus.
Some school districts are balancing both safety and the return to classic education. Solana Beach Unified School District in their reopening plan states that they intend to send students back to campuses 10 days after the 14 day requirement of remaining off the COVID-19 County Monitoring List is met. Furthermore, they plan to enforce social distancing, a strict mask-wearing policy for students and staff, and an A/B schedule. The A/B schedule will send some students to school on “A days” and the other students to school on “B days”, and the weekdays will alternate A and B so that a limited number of people are at school concurrently. This method reduces class size and increases the capacity for proper social distancing on campuses. Additionally, SBUSD plans to stagger arrival, lunch, and dismissal times to prevent large groups of people congregating in the same place at the same time.
The spread of COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation across the world, and each set of educators is only trying to keep students and faculty safe while still improving teaching and learning approaches. Though they may differ in their methods, their intentions are the same: continue educating future citizens in the face of a global pandemic.