Fresno’s Central Unified schools to return middle, high schoolers to campuses in April

Middle and high school students in Fresno’s Central Unified School District can return to part-time in-person school starting next month.

The board voted at Tuesday night’s regular meeting to begin sending secondary students back to campuses starting the week of April 19, which is sooner than the board had originally planned. In December, CUSD trustees voted to wait until Fresno County reaches the orange Tier 3 in the state’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” of coronavirus safety measures and restrictions.

The orange tier represents “moderate” risk levels for spreading COVID-19. Coronavirus cases would need to dip between 1 and 3.9 daily cases per 100,000 for the county to move into the orange tier.

Now, CUSD students will join elementary students and be able to return to the so-called hybrid model of learning — a mixture of in-person and online learning — in the red Tier 2, which, according to state guidelines, represents a “substantial” risk of coronavirus spread, and Fresno County’s positive case rate would be between 4 and 7 daily cases per 100,000.

Fresno County had been in the purple Tier 1 — the most restrictive tier — since November. The county is expected to reach the red tier as early as next week.

Central Unified joins the other larger school districts in Fresno County — like the Fresno Unified School District — in bringing their students back earlier than expected following a major push for teacher vaccinations and after the governor released his plan to pressure school districts to reopen by April.

CUSD officials said next week teachers will receive the second dose of the vaccine.

Assistant Superintendent Ketti Davis also announced the county health department has approved modified in-person graduations for seniors.

The ceremonies are expected to be outdoors, she said and will be over multiple days because there will only be 20% for attendees. The ceremonies will also be live-streamed and recorded for those who won’t be able to attend, Davis said.

Davis said the state is expected to release more guidelines on in-person graduations by April 1.

More than half of CUSD students want to return

About 58% of Central Unified students said they want to return to part-time in-person classes and about 41% want to continue distance learning, according to a survey the district sent out earlier this month. About 72% of parents surveyed also said middle and high school students should return to campuses.

However, it’s unclear how many families did not respond to the survey. Davis said parents who did not respond were automatically enrolled for in-person classes so they had a spot available if needed. If a student wants to return to distance learning after going back to in-person that’s an easy transition, she said.

“The challenge ... for space both in transportation and classroom could potentially bring a waitlist the first week or so until we can evaluate but we’re not in that place right now,” Davis said.

Parents would have to contact their children’s school sites if they want to change to in-person learning, Davis said. At the elementary level, the district has been able to accommodate students who wanted to return to campuses.

Families who do have children in various grade levels will “unfortunately” be inconvenienced with the different schedules, Davis said, but the district is trying to accommodate families. However, she said, the district is grouping middle and high school siblings together.

“We anticipate there are some conflicts, this is a hardship for everybody to accommodate,” Davis said.

How will in-person learning look for secondary students?

School is going to look different. Central Unified students are required to wear masks and keep their distance from each other. There are air purifiers in classrooms and offices, hand sanitizer, and handwashing stations around campus, as well as no-touch thermometers and health screenings at entrances.

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its social distancing guidelines last week for school from 6 feet to 3 feet, Davis said the district is still implementing 6 feet social distancing. She said that could be adjusted in the future.

“If we continue the trajectory we have with the 3-foot social distancing now being announced as safe we should be able to return in August in a more normal fashion,” Davis said. “We believe we are moving in the right direction to start the (next school) year with our students on a regular schedule.”

There will be multiple locations where students can pick up their breakfast and lunch to reduce student traffic.

For those who take the bus, two students will be allowed to sit on one seat, and siblings will sit together. Buses will be disinfected through the day and before routes, and windows will be down as long as the weather permits it.

CUSD middle school students who choose to return to in-person classes will be separated into two groups.

One group will be on campuses Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7:45 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. and online the other three days of the week. The second group of middle school students will be on campuses during the same time but on Thursdays and Fridays.

Middle school students will have three in-person classes each day and have 10 minutes in between to shuffle between periods.

High school students will also be separated into two groups, but are on campuses from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. either Tuesday and Wednesday or Thursday and Friday. High school students have four classes per day.

All other students who choose to stay online will continue with their distance learning schedules.

Although in-person classes end before noon, Davis said all secondary students are still required to complete assignments and login to online classes in the afternoons, which consist of social-emotional and intervention support courses assigned by teachers.

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 on our website.

This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 10:09 PM.