School reopening plans up in the air

In a typical year, we’d be hurtling fast toward the start of fall classes.

Children in Fallbrook, Bonsall and surrounding areas would be perhaps anxiously awaiting, but more likely dreading, the return to their teachers, to studying and to homework. Of course, this isn’t a typical year.

We are still hurtling fast toward those mid-to-late August back-to-school dates – as anyone who was ever a kid would remember, July goes by fast. But whether children will actually be in classrooms, and if not, how that will look, is far from certain.

Local districts are still drafting their plans for reopening schools. And even once those plans are finalized, there’s no guarantee they won’t be upended by new developments in the pandemic.

Vallecitos School District Superintendent Maritza Koeppen had a simple description for the situation.

“Vallecitos is opening August 20th,” she said in email. “Everything else is still in the planning stages.”

Bonsall Unified has communicated with parents in a little more detail.

The district sent out a survey to parents, asking which of three potential reopening plans they would prefer for their children.

The options for parents, to summarize, are full-time online learning, full-time learning in school, and an option blending the two.

In its communication to parents, Bonsall Unified said greater detail for each plan will be developed by staff after the district receives the survey results.

“We will make every effort to provide equity in what we offer for each child's education, such as course offerings, homework, grading practices, etc. regardless of the learning option you select, however, as you are aware, teaching and learning in a traditional classroom setting will look very different compared to learning in an online setting,” the district said.

The district asked parents to respond to the surveys by July 7, after the press deadline.

The options for parents though, are not necessarily what will end up happening.

“Please understand that we will do our best to accommodate your selection, however, this will depend on the results of this survey, and whether or not we are able to adhere to the California Department of Public Health guidelines,” the district said. “Additionally, the survey data will help us determine if we have the classroom teachers and staffing available to accommodate the percentage of students that fall within each learning option.”

Fallbrook Union Elementary School District did not respond to two requests for information on their reopening plans, but Superintendent Candace Singh addressed the matter at the district’s most recent Governing Board meeting on June 19, saying the district is still surveying parents to determine what course of action to take.

Singh said while the district is surveying parents on their preferences – 95% of parents, she said, want their children to be back in school to the highest degree possible – things are tricky because of differences between California Department of Public Health and California Department of Education guidelines on opening schools back up.

"They're not consistent with each other and now what we're looking forward to is San Diego public health guidelines for reopening school," Singh said. "That is really going to be the governing guidelines because it is within the county, but one of the things I have the opportunity to do is I am working and leading the board of superintendents to get some consensus about the guidance, and we talk things through every week because as you know, just as citizens, it's very confusing and it's very inconsistent, which makes opening schools very challenging."

The San Diego County Office of Education did put out guidance June 17, two days after the meeting, calling for symptom screening, changing classroom layouts to help social distancing, face coverings, frequent cleaning and restricting access to visitors.

Singh said the district in its surveys also recorded a large minority of parents who would be interested in homeschooling.

"We have 23 to 25% of our families who are interested in full-time home schooling, but not fully knowing what the options are yet.... this is a phenomenon that's happening across the county," Singh said. "This is a very consistent number, 20 to 25% across the county. That number could go down depending on what the opening plan would be."

Singh said the district planned to continue surveying parents to identify who would be interested in homeschooling and whether the percentage who are interested will decline as reopening plans are released.

Fallbrook Union High School District is also continuing to draft plans for returning to classes.

According to FUHSD Superintendent Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez, officials are examining the possibility of opening Fallbrook Union High School and Ivy High School with a blended learning model and an online-only option. Oasis High School, the district’s independent study high school, will remain the same, Garza-Gonzalez said.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].