Fresno students returned to campuses last month. How many COVID-19 cases were reported?

Fresno students have been back to part-time in-person classes for about a month, and for two of the larger school districts in Fresno County, positive COVID-19 cases have dropped, while the largest district in the county saw an uptick.

The Fresno Unified School District, the state’s third-largest school district and Fresno County’s largest, reported 67 positive cases since reopening campuses part-time on April 6, spokesperson Amy Idsvoog told The Bee’s Education Lab in an email.

That’s more than double the number of positive coronavirus cases the month before campuses reopening. In March, FUSD reported 23 COVID-19 cases.

In February, there were 40 positive COVID-19 cases at FUSD campuses and 75 in January. In the months before April, some of the district’s most vulnerable student populations, like foster youth and students experiencing homelessness, were distance learning on campuses utilizing its internet.

Fresno Unified also has many more students than the other larger school districts nearby, more than 74,000. The second-largest district in Fresno County, Clovis Unified, has nearly 43,000 students, and Central Unified, the third-largest, has about 16,000 students.

Clovis Unified has been open for part-time in-person classes since October and in recent months has seen a significant drop in positive COVID-19 cases on campuses, according to data on its COVID-19 dashboard. In March, there were 51 cases on campus, 25 in April, and 12 so far this month.

There were 23 positive coronavirus cases in February at Central Unified campuses, data from the district’s COVID-19 dashboard showed. There were 37 cases in March and nine in April. Like FUSD, Central students started in-person classes in April and had small cohorts of students in the months prior.

School districts around the state, including Fresno and Clovis Unified, are making plans to reopen five days a week for in-person learning in the fall. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most recent budget proposal sets aside billions of dollars for public school districts to return to full-time, in-person learning by the fall, according to the administration officials. Newsom has in recent days reiterated that kids need to get back to the classroom after more than a year of interrupted instruction.

Many parents have been clamoring for children to return to the daily routine of study as distance learning exacerbated longstanding inequities like the digital divide, caused grades to slump, and triggered concerns over the mental well-being of students.

And while nobody would ever completely rule out the possibility, another school shutdown appears highly unlikely, according to multiple health experts and local school leaders, who say vaccinations are key to returning to traditional learning.

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. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.