FUESD students return to classes Oct. 5 in hybrid in person/online format

Some Fallbrook Union Elementary School District students were heading back to school in person Oct. 5 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic first began to take hold locally in March.

Students are returning to classes in two cohorts, trading off on attending in person two days a week – either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday depending on whether students are assigned to "Group A" or "Group B." Students will attend virtual classes on days when they are not scheduled to be on campus, and all students will have virtual classes on Fridays.

The restarting of in-person classes was made possible by San Diego County's removal from the state's coronavirus watchlist on Aug. 18, which started a 14-day countdown to schools in the county being allowed to reopen.

FUESD started the school year in an online-only format the day before, Aug. 17, and Superintendent Candace Singh had said earlier in August that the district would stay online for at least the first four weeks of the school year and provide two weeks' notice to parents before transitioning to in person classes.

Officials at FUESD's Sept. 14 Governing Board meeting provided a look at a hybrid reopening plan, and the district also released a handbook explaining the district's reopening plans and procedures.

The handbook, available on FUESD's website, states that parents of children heading to classes are required to screen their children for symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, runny nose and fever before sending them to school.

"Anyone with a fever of 100°F or more should not go to a school site," the handbook states "Those experiencing symptoms including persistent cough, shortness of breath, or runny nose should not attend school, even if no fever is present."

Staff members are required to self-screen and complete a daily temperature check prior to entering a campus.

Parents who do not feel comfortable sending their students to in-person classes were given two options: have their children attend an all-online, five-day-a-week Fallbrook Virtual Academy, or attend the Fallbrook Homeschool Academy, taught by parents from home with a once-a-week check-in from an FUESD teacher.

Elementary students whose parents did elect to have them return to in-person classes were divided into "A" and "B" groups, and the district planned for students to have staggered drop-off times to maximize social distancing, and begin classes at 8:30 a.m.

Elementary students will all have separate recesses, FUESD Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Julie Norby said Sept. 14.

The groups were planned to be very similar for middle school students, with the addition of class periods to fold into the scheduling.

"A" students will attend periods 1,3 and 5 on Mondays and periods 2,4 and 6 on Wednesdays, while "B" students will attend those class periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively, according to Norby on Sept. 14.

Middle school students will get an approximately-20-minute nutrition break, Norby said, and while there will be passing periods, the students will not be the ones passing – teachers will instead move from class to class to minimize the potential for virus spread.

For both elementary and middle school students, there will be a final period of online learning after attending school in-person, so all students will attend classes for a full day, although they will only be on campus for approximately five hours.

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