Some FUESD students to get in-person classes 5 days a week starting Feb. 1

Fallbrook Union Elementary School District students were able to return to part-time in-person classes last week, and some grades will be able to attend in-person classes five days a week starting next month.

After returning from winter break in an all-virtual format on Jan. 5, students in transitional kindergarten through first grade headed back to a part-time in-person format four days a week on Tuesday, Jan. 19, while students in all other grades headed back to a two-day-a-week hybrid model.

Starting Feb. 1, TK-1 students will get an extra day of in-person instruction and students in second and third grades, as well as special education students, will join them in that format, meaning all TK-3 students will be on campuses part-time Monday through Friday.

Prior to winter break, students in grades TK-1 were on campus for half-days Monday through Thursday and learned virtually on Fridays. Grades 2 through 8 had been divided into two groups, with one group in classrooms Mondays and Wednesdays and a second group in classrooms on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since October.

Students attended classes virtually for two weeks after winter break to head off potential health issues resulting from students and families traveling during the break.

"We know that this is going to be difficult and it's going to feel like a step backwards for some that we would move to virtual instruction for two weeks," Singh said at the Dec. 14 FUESD board meeting, explaining the decision to start the spring semester in an all-virtual format. "This is a short-term sacrifice for long-term success. The health and well-being of our staff and students is the most important thing for when we get back into the classroom."

While Singh said during the meeting that no coronavirus cases had been traced to transmission on FUESD school sites, there were students who were sickened after Thanksgiving break and had to be quarantined.

"We had a number of families and children traveling and gathering over the Thanksgiving break which caused some children to get sick and therefore we had to quarantine kids," Singh told the board at the time.

Singh at the time said the two-week virtual learning period, plus the two-week transitional period after that during which TK-1 students will return to attending classes four days a week and everyone else will return to their cohort model, would give the district time to hire additional teachers to make it possible for TK-3 and all special education students to begin attending classes five days a week on Feb. 1.

The FUESD board approved five additional teachers at the same Dec. 14 meeting to help bring class sizes down for grades 2 and 3 to a level safe enough for reopening.

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