Some Fresno-area schools close to reopening under new California coronavirus guidelines

Fresno and Clovis schools on Friday said they would apply for waivers to reopen elementary schools amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic under updated guidelines from the California Department of Health.

On Friday, Fresno County Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra told reporters some Fresno-area students could start returning to campuses in the near future. At least one Fresno charter school is expected to reopen as early as next week.

“We are at a point where we can start reopening the elementary schools with these safe practices,” Vohra said.

The news came a day after Jim Yovino, the Fresno County superintendent of schools, sent a letter to all Fresno County superintendents saying the county’s Health Department could begin approving some waivers.

The waivers school districts can submit to reopen classes for transitional kindergartners to sixth-graders will be considered by the Fresno County Department of Public Health, Yovino said.

The Fresno Unified School District is planning on applying for a waiver, spokesperson Amy Idsvoog told The Bee in an email. The Clovis Unified School District board at next week’s meeting will consider submitting a waiver to reopen elementary schools.

Central Unified School District leaders will discuss their options on Monday, spokesperson Sonja Dosti told The Bee.

Last month, county health officials announced waivers would not be approved because, at the time, positive COVID-19 cases were surging. Now that positive cases have started to decrease in Fresno County, that could change.

What’s next

“This newly released guidance allows Fresno County districts to establish cohorts and provides the ability for elementary waivers,” Yovino said in the letter. “Schools and districts should now exercise their local control and decision-making process to choose the best path forward for their schools and community.”

Vohra said the county has started to receive waivers from school districts. He didn’t have the number of submitted waivers so far but said they’re coming in by the hour “and I would say it’s probably more than a handful. I’d be surprised if it was in the 20s to 30s.”

The county will have an update on the number of schools submitting waivers “probably” by next week, Vohra added.

After the county health department approves a waiver, Yovino said, it also needs to be approved by the California Department of Public Health.

More than 500 waivers from around California have been sent to the state department of health as of Friday, according to its website.

Not all were approved, although Hume Lake Charter in Fresno was approved on Tuesday, according to the website. Vohra said they are expected to reopen next week. There have also been seven schools in Tulare County have been approved waivers.

For schools to reopen for all grades, counties cannot exceed seven positive cases a day per 100,000 people for 14 consecutive days. Fresno County currently has 7.5 cases a day per 100,000 people, Yovino said, which is “allowing for county public health to start accepting waivers for elementary schools.”

Students of all grades could go back to campuses as soon as mid-October as long as Fresno County positive COVID-19 cases continue to decline, Vohra said.

“We are moving in the right direction,” Vohra said. “Please keep it up, Fresno County, because this is absolutely the way we need to go and we just hope this momentum carries us through so we can start to reopen schools as well as other businesses and other sectors.”

What will school be like?

Although, Yovino said, even if some school districts are approved for a waiver or if all schools can reopen, that doesn’t mean school will look like it did before the pandemic and distance learning will go away. Students and teachers will have to follow guidelines, like standing six-feet apart and wearing masks.

Reopening campuses will also look different at each school district, Yovino said.

“These are all decisions every school board and superintendent are making,” he said. “They will make decisions for what’s best for your community. Some districts in Fresno County have 75,000 students, and there are districts that have 50 students. They will look different when they open.”

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. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab here.

This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 12:58 PM.