Fresno’s Central Unified schools to start reopening classrooms earlier than expected
Students in Fresno’s Central Unified schools will begin returning to classrooms next month after spring break, the district announced Thursday in a statement.
Students in transitional kindergarten through the sixth grade will return April 12. Secondary students might return as early as April 19, the district said. Priority will be given to seniors and students with special needs.
More details on the return of secondary students will be shared at Central Unified’s next school board meeting on March 23. People can also find updates on the district’s reopening plan on the district’s website.
In-person learning will look different. Students will be placed in different groups and only be on campuses for two and a half hours. While on campuses students will be following social distancing guidelines, wearing masks, washing and sanitizing their hands, and go through daily wellness screenings.
Central Unified’s announcement to reopen comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his reopening plan, which is intended to motivate schools to reopen for their youngest students by giving out $2 billion in grants to districts that reopen by April 1.
Legislation to enact the deal will dole out the money to schools that have reopened by the end of March for kindergarten through second grades and high needs students of all ages, regardless of the level of coronavirus transmission in their county.
High needs students include homeless and foster youth, kids who don’t have internet access, English learners, and those with disabilities.
For counties in the red tier 2 – where there are fewer than seven new cases daily per 100,000 residents and test positivity is below 8% – schools must reopen elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade to get the money.
For each day schools miss the April 1 deadline, they will lose 1% of the funding. However, the plan won’t penalize school districts for spring break schedules that interfere with the April 1 start date. Central Unified’s spring break ends April 9.
The legislature passed the reopening plan Thursday, and Newsom is expected to sign it Friday.
Central Unified’s original reopening plan was to bring elementary students back to part-time in-person learning once Fresno County was in the red tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The district planned to wait until the county was in the orange Tier 3 to bring middle and high school students back to school sites.
The Fresno Unified School District made a similar move this week to bring students back sooner. FUSD is also bringing back some of its students after spring break. However, Fresno Unified’s plan doesn’t completely align with the governors.
Rather than bringing back all elementary grades, FUSD officials have discussed bringing back transitional kindergartners through second-grade students back first and phasing in other grades in subsequent weeks.
The governor’s plan also calls for returning at least one middle or high school grade, but instead, Fresno Unified has discussed returning a percentage of those students. The district has also discussed prioritizing seniors to return to campuses.
It’s unclear how much money Central Unified will receive for the state, but it’s likely to be in the millions. FUSD estimates it will receive up to $79.6 million from the state. The Clovis Unified School District, which has had students on campuses since November, estimates it will receive up to $40 million.
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This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 12:36 PM.