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Fallbrook, Bonsall campuses to remain closed when school year begins

At the Fallbrook Union High School District board of trustees' meeting Monday, July 13, district superintendent Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez said that the framework for returning to school could change on a dime.

"What's in place today may change next week, may change in August, may change again in October," she said.

She was right.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, July 17, ordered all school campuses to remain closed when the academic year begins in counties on the state's monitoring list due to spiking coronavirus cases – including San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Newsom said school campuses will only be allowed to open in counties that have been off the state's monitoring list for at least 14 days. Counties are placed on the monitoring list based on a variety of factors, including coronavirus transmission and fatality rates.

Schools that are eventually allowed to reopen will have to meet a series of other requirements, including mandatory masks for staff and students in third grade and above, physical distancing mandates and regular on-campus coronavirus testing. He also said distance-learning programs at closed campuses must be "rigorous," with daily student interaction.

"Learning in the state of California is simply non-negotiable," Newsom said. "Schools must ... provide meaningful instruction during this pandemic whether they are physically open, the schools or not."

On Monday, July 13, the state's two largest districts, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified, announced plans to begin the new academic year with online-only courses, essentially forcing the hand of nearby districts to follow suit. While Garza-Gonzalez wasn't ready to concede to online learning only to start the year, she said the district was ready to adjust if needed.

She emphasized during the Tuesday board meeting that the information she was presenting at the meeting "will facilitate either our ability to open traditionally once it is safe and we're allowed to do so or the ability to smoothly move into 100% online learning while still maintaining instruction."

The latter is what will happen come Aug. 17, thanks to Newsom's order.

On Friday, before the governor's announcement, Garza-Gonzalez sent word to district parents that the school would open with online learning only.

"I'm writing to you today to inform you that out of an abundance of caution and concern for the health and safety of our students, their families and our staff, we now have the intention to reopen instruction on Aug. 17, in a full distance learning format for FHS," Garza-Gonzalez said. "All possible options for reopening our schools in a manner that is safe and meets that guidelines recommended by the CA Department of Public Health in COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Schools and School-based Programs and in the CA Department of Education's Stronger Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California's Public Schools have been thoroughly considered. Based on the current rise in COVID-19 cases throughout our state and in Fallbrook, we strongly believe that the safest option is a temporary full distance learning program. Instruction will be delivered in a distance learning model for the duration of the first grading period which is equivalent to the first six weeks of school."

The superintendent said she was conveying the information sooner, rather than waiting for the governor's announcement to give students and families the opportunity to make the necessary arrangements for students to start the school year online.

"All content and instruction shall be mandatory, graded and aligned to grade-level standards," Garza-Gonzalez said. "Our course offerings will remain the same and will include Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate courses, dual language immersion, AVID, our Career and Technical Education pathways in agriculture, engineering, auto technology, culinary, robotics, Marine Corps ROTC and others, as well as our advanced physical education courses, band, choir, art and many more that make FHS a school that has something to offer each of our students."

She said the district would continue to provide support for English learners, students with disabilities, foster and homeless students.

"We are working on providing the structures for all clubs to continue to meet on a regular basis and for our career center and counselors to provide academic guidance, FAFSA support and college and career information," Garza-Gonzalez said. "Lastly, we are incorporating a social-emotional learning component to not only assist students through these difficult times but to strengthen the social competencies that are such a necessary part of today's education and workforce."

David Jones, superintendent of Bonsall Unified School District, issued a statement to students and parents on the district website Saturday, July 18, saying that the district would also be partaking in distance learning.

"Our district administration and teaching staff will turn their immediate focus to delivering a robust distance learning program to all BUSD students as the school year commences," he said. "Meanwhile, the BUSD Reopening School Task Force has been working on our Reopening School Plan offering the three learning models we have previously surveyed and shared with parents. The task force will continue to work on the reopening plan anticipating a future date when the county will no longer be on the (state COVID-19) watchlist and our district can take the appropriate next steps to reinstate on-campus learning."

Jones also addressed a previously offered three-option plan for learning.

"Please know we are doing our best to accommodate your choice of the learning models presented and surveyed; however, as we finalize the number of students within each option, along with the recommended social distancing of 6-feet between desks, and the classroom space and staffing needed, we may not be able to accommodate every parent's first choice," he said. "As we get closer to finalizing our numbers, we will notify parents as soon as possible regarding which learning model their child will be in once we are authorized to return to on-campus learning for the 2020-2021 school year. I will continue to provide parents with a weekly update throughout the summer and until school resumes."

On Monday, July 20, the California Interscholastic Federation announced a new plan that would push athletic competitions back until at least December, using a two-season schedule, instead of the fall, winter, spring schedule traditionally used. For some sports, their seasons will be moved up in the school year and others will move back.

The CIF's San Diego Section won't have a concrete schedule ready for the next couple of weeks but released a statement.

"Today's announcement from the state office provides our section with the information necessary to finalize the calendars and schedules for all of our CIF regulated sports, while also acknowledging the importance of the health and safety of our student-athletes and coaches by pushing the official start date back to align with the Roadmap to Recovery set by the state of California," according to the statement.

Candace Singh, superintendent of Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, also provided an update to the school board last week, while emphasizing that everything could change at the elementary level as well.

Singh presented two plans at the last meeting, an in-person option and an online option. Singh shared a statement on the district's website following Newsom's announcement.

"As part of this new mandate, school districts will not reopen with face to face instruction if they are located in a county that is on the state's monitoring list," Singh said. "As you may know, San Diego County is on this state monitoring list, and therefore, FUESD will not be able to reopen our schools until the county is off the list for 14 days.

"With this new information and direction from our state government, we will likely be implementing 100% online learning at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, with the goal of returning to on-campus instruction as soon as public health data allows."

Singh indicated that the district would be providing more information regarding the start of the new school year this week.

Under the guidelines announced by the governor, he expected school districts to ensure that students are engaged in the educational process.

"We want daily, live interaction with teachers and other students – students connecting peer-to-peer with other students, teachers connecting daily in an interactive frame to advance our distance-learning efforts,'' Newsom said.

He conceded that the effectiveness of distance learning during the spring months varied widely across the state, noting, "Clearly we have work to do to make sure we are doing rigorous distance learning.''

"We want to create a challenging environment where assignments are equivalent in terms of what you would otherwise get in an in-person class setting," he said.

"In the coming days and weeks, you will receive more information and details about our reopening," Garza-Gonzalez said. "Next week, I will make a presentation available to you and provide a forum for questions and/or concerns. You will also be receiving information on registration for the 2020-2021 school year."

City News Service, Will Fritz and Lexington Howe contributed to this report.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].

 

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