This San Joaquin Valley school figured out how to open despite the COVID-19 watchlist

A private Christian school in Visalia will open its campus to students on Sept. 8, operating under the rules of a day camp, despite the state order requiring public and private schools on California’s coronavirus watchlist to remain closed.

Central Valley Christian Schools, which serves students K-12, will follow a hybrid model that allows for in-person and distance learning, Superintendent Larry Baker said in a news release on Thursday.

Students will learn from home on Mondays, while cohorts of 13 or fewer will attend school at different times and days during the rest of the week.

The elementary and middle school will have a morning and afternoon session with half of each grade level attending one session a day, according to the school. High schoolers will come to campus either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and work outdoors or in large spaces.

Masks or face shields and social distancing is required, according to the school, and students and staff will have their temperature taken before entering campus.

“We are social beings and crave the interaction that in-person school provides,” Baker said in the statement. “This Day Camp model provides the in-person contact we all want. At the same time, by keeping cohorts small, and implementing health precautions like masks and distancing, (the plan) shows respect and care for the larger community in which we live.”

The school’s announcement comes as school officials await a waiver to be approved by the Tulare County Health Department that allows elementary schools to open if they can prove they can do so safely.

It is unclear how CVC’s high school or middle school could operate, even if the waiver was granted.

But the health department has previously said it is not granting any waivers, as coronavirus cases steadily continue in the region.

The health department did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Baker said, in the meantime, CVC will operate as a day camp, under the guidance of the California Department of Health’s Guidance on Operating Day Camps. Families can still opt for distance learning under CVC’s opening plan.

Opening as a day camp or daycare is a tactic several other private schools in the state are using, too. In Modesto, at Big Valley Christian, students are completing online work inside classrooms with no teacher present.

At Capital Christian High School in Sacramento, students were spaced out in a classroom with a teacher. The Sacramento public health department said attempting to reclassify students already passed kindergarten as being in daycare is “improper.”

Other opened schools

CVC is not the only school that has defied orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Immanuel Schools in Reedley, another private, faith-based school, opened its doors on Aug. 13 despite an order to close from the Fresno County Department of Public Health.

County officials have said the next step is to get Fresno County Superior Court to issue a court order and injunction to close the school, but it remains unclear whether that will happen.

Also in Tulare County, Outside Creek Elementary School has welcomed its students back to class. The school is less than 13 miles away from CVC and has about 90 students.

Outside Creek was the last school in California to stay open in March when schools started to shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Tulare County Department of Public Health said Friday it was aware that the school was operating on campus, but did not say if it would be ordered to close.

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 August 20, 2020 at 5:40 PM.