Some Clovis schools could be weeks away from partial reopening. Here’s how it’ll work

Clovis parents could soon chose whether their elementary school children continue learning from home full time or part time, but a full return to campuses is not on the table any time soon.

Clovis Unified school board trustees on Wednesday approved plans to allow a partial return to campuses for students in sixth grade and below.

The proposed hybrid schedule would put one group of students on a campus in the morning and a second group in the afternoon.

Each group would spend about two and a half hours on campus each day, four days a week. Both groups would remain home for online learning on Wednesdays.

It’s also unclear what the district would do if too many teachers said they weren’t comfortable returning to campuses in the coming weeks.

“The teacher is going to determine what we’re really going to do,” Trustee Steven Fogg said.

Clovis Unified plans to release surveys later in October to get input on the elementary hybrid schedule and determine how many elementary teachers want to return to the classroom. Those surveys will also be the opportunity for parents to chose whether their children will remain online full time or part time.

The hybrid schedule could change depending on community input, officials said.

Those issues could force schools to reassign students to different teachers as the year goes on, but district officials said they would maintain consistency as much as possible.

On Wednesday, several Clovis parents criticized the district’s reopening plans for including strict social-distancing practices and limiting the number of hours students can be on campus.

All Fresno County students might not be able to return to in-person classes this month because positive coronavirus cases have been increasing.

Last week, the California Department of Public Health moved Fresno County from the purple Tier 1, the most restrictive level of color-coded tiers, into red Tier 2. The red tier relaxes some businesses’ restrictions.

For schools to open, the county needs to stay in the red tier for 14 consecutive days, but if the county falls back to the purple tier before Oct. 13, middle and high school students won’t be able to return to campuses.

Fresno County remained in the red tier Thursday, according to the state health department’s website.

However, some elementary schools in Fresno County could still reopen if health department officials approve submitted waivers.

Hundreds of elementary schools across the state have been approved to reopen, including dozens in the central San Joaquin Valley. People can find a list of Valley schools that have been approved here.

Clovis and Fresno Unified schools have submitted waivers but hadn’t been approved as of Thursday morning.

Clovis Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell anticipates the district will know if the state approves its waiver to reopen elementary schools in one week, she said during Wednesday nights board meeting.

Clovis Unified elementary students could return to schools as soon as Nov. 3, district officials said, if the waiver is approved. Students who don’t feel comfortable returning to campuses can continue distance learning.

Central Unified has not applied for a waiver. Although officials have told The Bee if the county slides back to the purple tier on or before Oct. 13, the board will consider applying for a waiver.