Starting Monday, San Diego students in all grade levels will have the opportunity to return to campuses at least for a couple of days a week. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, safety measures will be in place for students and some still have the option to remain in distance learning.
San Ysidro School District
The San Ysidro School District will begin its Hybrid Learning Program. The program will offer either one day per week or two days per week of in-person learning depending on staffing availability. On March 19, parents were able to choose if they would like their child to participate in the program or continue with distance learning.
NBC 7 spoke with a parent, Leticia Varela, who says distance learning has forced her and other parents to become teachers and students themselves. Her two children will be returning to elementary school on Tuesday. Varela says students and teachers went through training to adapt to COVID-19 safety protocols.
The district said their COVID safety plan is aligned with the California Department of Public health guidelines for school COVID safety procedures.
“For me, I feel safe that my kids are returning and I also asked them how they felt and they said they are ready to go back to school,” Varela said.
For more details on the district’s reopening plan, click here.
Chula Vista Elementary School District
The Chula Vista Elementary School District will begin its in-person hybrid instruction model for students. Parents were able to choose between keeping students in distance learning for the remainder of the year or in the hybrid model.
The hybrid model will be in-person instruction Monday through Thursday in a half-day cohort model. Friday will be distance learning only, the district says in their CVESD Reopening Playbook for Parents.
Desks will be spaced out six feet apart, a CVESD spokesperson said each classroom in the district will be equipped with an air purifier and hand sanitizer. Drinking fountains and jungle gym playground equipment will be off-limits. Teachers will oversee enforcing the new safety protocols in the classroom in addition to their normal teaching and discipline tasks.
To view a sample hybrid schedule for in-person learning in the district, click here.
The Chula Vista Elementary School District will begin in-person learning on Monday for the first time in more than a year, reports NBC 7’s Joe Little.
Sweetwater Union High School District
The Sweetwater Union High School District will be welcoming back some students to campus. Students that will be attending in-person learning are seniors and students who fall under assembly bill 86. This includes students with disabilities, English language learners, foster and homeless students, students at risk of abuse or neglect, students lacking digital access and disengaged students.
Dr. Moises Aguirre, SUHSD Interim Superintendent said a little over 5,000 students have confirmed the return to in-person learning.
The district will adhere to guidance from the California Department of Public Health
(CDPH), San Diego County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), County of San Diego
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and San Diego County Office of
Education (SDCOE).
There will be a space between seating and desks. All student and staff will be required to wear face coverings and there will be designated routes and protocol for entry and exit in classrooms.
For more details on the district’s reopening plan, click here.
The plan is to bring back 10 percent of the students enrolled on each campus each day, but it wouldn’t be the same students every day, reports NBC 7 education reporter Rory Devine.
San Diego Unified School District
The San Diego Unified School District will be welcoming students back to campus. Families had two options to choose from: continue with online learning or an onsite/ online hybrid model.
Desks were seen spaced out in one classroom during a tour given last month. A device that monitors the room’s air quality was also seen. The social distancing and air quality monitoring are part of the school district’s effort to keep students, teachers and staff safe upon their in-person return.
“There are health and safety standards that have to be in place at every school,” said San Diego School Unified District president Richard Barrera. “That includes social distancing of students, that includes everybody wearing masks, that includes everybody being tested once every two weeks and the testing will take place here on campus, that includes regular cleaning of our classrooms. It very much includes…proper ventilation of the classrooms with monitoring of the air quality in our classrooms.”
SDUSD is California’s second-largest school district.
To learn more about what to expect when returning to school, click here.
NBC 7’s Rory Devine heard from district officials about their plan.