With the surge in cases in Mendocino County, it will be some time before we are able to bring students back to in-person instruction; however, we want to be ready to bring students back to in-person instruction when local health conditions and directives from Mendocino County Public Health allow, so it is important we continue our planning process, and this is why I am updating you.
On November 12, 2020, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Coren put out Reopening K-12 Schools for In-Person, On-Site instruction Preliminary Guidance for School Year 2020-2021. The document provides new guidance on health and safety practices needed to safely resume in-person on-site instruction at K-12 schools. I wanted to alert you that this guidance has created significant roadblocks to eventually reopening our secondary schools (6th–12th Grade) with the previously communicated hybrid model.
Here are some of the issues we are working through:
- The new guidance limits the mixing of cohorts to 50 people for 28 day time periods. Our High School class size per the UTA contract is 34 students. Divide that by two in our Hybrid Model, and class size is 17 students. Ukiah High School students have four classes each day. 17 students X 4 classes = 68 students and staff mixing on a day we have school in-person, which is 18 more than 50.
- Bus transportation must limit available seats, keeping students at least 3’ apart and students at least 6’ from the driver. This guidance will only allow us to provide limited transportation for students.
- The 50 student cohort limit in the new guidance will make it difficult, if not impossible, to align elementary and secondary schedules. We understand how difficult this is for families with children in both elementary and secondary schools. We will do everything we can to create the best scenarios possible for our students and assist our families while adhering to the Schools Guidance put out by Dr. Coren on November 12.
We go back to the drawing board with our secondary hybrid school schedules and will communicate any updates after teachers and staff have reviewed any revisions; conditions have changed, so again we will adapt. We plan to hold virtual Parent Town Hall Meetings in mid-January to hear about your questions and concerns. Please be on the lookout for future dates.
We can do this together and safely. Thank you to our staff workgroups and our partners at UTA and CSEA for their hard work looking at a variety of ways to structure our secondary schedules that align with Dr. Coren's recent guidance.
On a positive note, it looks like vaccinations are on the way.
Distance Learning Survey: We have sent a survey to parents and guardians, which allows you to provide feedback on Distance Learning and other supports for students and families. We value your input and are committed to the academic success of our students! This easy 5-minute survey is vital to our understanding of how our programs are working for your family and what can be improved. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, December 9th.
Click here to complete the short survey.
Please continue to get information from official UUSD channels like my weekly communications, at www.uusd.net, and on the Ukiah Unified Facebook page. Reference The California Blueprint Data Chart for COVID-19 numbers; this is the information used by the state to calculate our average new daily cases and positivity rate. Thank you so much for all you are doing to support your students!