The Central Unified School District will start the school year with an all-online learning model amid the coronavirus pandemic, but officials plan to transition into traditional in-person classes.

The board voted unanimously on Tuesday night to reopen schools on Aug. 12 but to keep all students at home for online learning.

Teachers and staff will work on campuses, and have one-on-one or small group appointments for students.

Face masks will be required on campuses, along with social distancing, daily health screenings, and with fewer students allowed on buses at a time.

There will also be frequent hand washing, cleaning, and nightly disinfecting. Before school starts, teachers will receive online education training, and the 16,000 students will receive additional guidance to strengthen their online learning skills.

“We believe the recommendation to keep students six feet apart while they wear masks for several hours, as well as the rapid community spread, make in-class learning untenable at this time,” Superintendent Andrew Alvarado said in a statement. “Our hope is the online distance learning will be temporary, and students will slowly return to campuses as the community spread of COVID-19 decreases.”

The district will evaluate when students may begin returning to campuses as the pandemic develops. Students could return in slower stages, mixing online and in-person classes.

Positive coronavirus cases have continued to surge in Fresno County since June.

Parents who don’t feel comfortable sending their children to school can opt for all online learning.

Numerous community members called in during public comment, and most parents asked the board for in-person classes five days a week or to adopt a hybrid model that would be a mixture of in-person and online courses.

“I’m a father of four, and I can’t be supervising what they’re doing online 24/7,” one parent said during public comment. “In the Valley, every job is essential. So taking that into consideration, if we’re going to open up the schools, we should do it 100%.”

One parent, who said he and his wife are essential workers, asked the board to approve a learning model with at least a couple of days of in-person instruction. He said his elementary school child was negatively affected by not interacting with his peers and teachers.

A soon-to-be senior asked the board to consider starting with a hybrid model, similar to stage three. She said she was “disappointed” to see her junior year cut short, and senior year activities are a big part of the high school experience.

Although some parents stressed the importance of keeping students and staff at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We feel pretty strongly it’s more important to protect the health and safety of our students and faculty rather than rush back into a five-day a week full-time program so students can socialize,” a mother of two Central Unified students told the board.

Some parents were concerned about language barriers and not being able to help their children with school work. Others brought up the lack of technology resources they have and not being able to facilitate distance learning.

What are other school districts doing?

Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla on Tuesday said it’s “abundantly clear” that it will not be safe to reopen schools by August 17, the first day of school.

Fresno Unified Trustee Veva Islas also said Tuesday morning that she’s “not in favor” of schools reopening, and it’s “unlikely” that students will return to campuses next month.

“However, we can not allow education to fail,” she said on her Facebook page. Islas added keeping the district’s 74,000 students six feet apart per social distancing guidelines was “impossible.”

Comments from the Fresno teachers union and Islas come a day after the two largest school districts in the state, Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School District’s, announced classes would all be online in the fall. Fresno Unified is the third-largest school district in California.

On Friday, Fresno Unified will provide an update on its plans to reopen, officials said.

The Clovis Unified School District will be discussing their plans to reopen in the fall at its Wednesday night board meeting.

Classes begin Aug. 17 for Clovis and Fresno Unified students.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 9:59 PM.