What will school be like when Fresno, Clovis students return? Here’s the plan

When students return to school at Fresno Unified on Aug. 12, it will be the first time in nearly a year and a half they’ll be attending full-time and in-person.

Yet, school will still be unlike what it was before the pandemic, according to Fresno Unified Deputy Superintendent Misty Her.

Her, who was hired as deputy superintendent in March, said teachers, staff and administration understand how it may be a difficult transition for many kids to return after such a long time away. That’s why they’ll be taking it slow, she said.

Fresno Unified received more than $700 million in coronavirus relief funding, which is helping with all the changes taking place.

The first two days of instruction — Thursday and Friday — will be half days and focus on relationship building and understanding the school structure again.

“We’ve had kids away for a while, and so those two days are very specific so that staff and students can do a lot of that relationship building, orienting back to school, learning of the structures and protocols, including some of the health and safety practices that are going to be part of the school day,” she said. “So there’s a lot of intentionality that we built in to make sure that teachers are connecting with students and families before they come back for a full day on the 16th.”

Every school will have its own start and end times, but all students will have an extra 30 minutes added onto instruction each day, Her said. In that half an hour, teachers will focus on math and literacy to get all students caught up from any learning loss during distance learning.

Social and emotional support

Fresno Unified has hired an extra 25 full-time employees to help with health, social, emotional, and mental support, Her said.

“We’ve updated our social-emotional learning curriculum for all grades K through 12,” she added, “and so that’s where a lot of the counselors, social workers, and psychologists will be working very closely with our students.”

Teachers and staff are being trained to handle the unique challenges the pandemic has created. The district has also added nurses and expanded on-site health services and mentoring, and peer tutoring.

Staff will be working closely with teachers so referrals can be made “right away,” Her said, “but parents can definitely call your school, and we’ll make sure that we get (students) the services that they need.”

Her said teachers are prepared to welcome students who may need to learn or relearn school behavior.

“Every single one of our families has had a very different experience in the pandemic,” Her said, “and so we’re just being really mindful to that, letting our teachers know to pause and connect with their kid, or kids, and build those relationships and really get to know them.”

Health and safety

Masks are required indoors in all K-12 schools in California, and in Fresno Unified, students must have a doctor’s exemption if they cannot wear a mask.

Her said students and parents would do self-screening at home before school, and parents are encouraged to keep their kids home if they don’t feel well.

Frequent handwashing and sanitizing will remain, and there will be daily cleaning and disinfecting of campuses. The district will follow all other guidance from the state health department, Her said.

Ventilation systems have also been installed in all classrooms for better air circulation.

In the event of a COVID-19 infection on campus, there will still be a school-wide notification sent out.

Sports, clubs, and more

Her said athletics would return to a regular season schedule, and clubs, camps, and field trips will resume as well. Athletes will undergo routine COVID-19 testing for certain sports.

Secondary students will have opportunities to make up credits they lost, and English learners will receive extra support. English learners make up more than 18% of the Fresno Unified population. They are one of the most vulnerable groups that struggled with learning even before the pandemic, according to parents and the U.S. Department of Education.

The district has put almost $7 million into expanding after-school programs, ensuring that eventually, any student in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade will be able to stay after school.

Her said building after-school programs would be a phased-in approach. The district has done some hiring over the summer, and they may be able to hire about 88 employees.

School during a pandemic

Even with all the planning, Her said teachers and staff really wouldn’t know what to expect until school actually starts.

Students still have the option of online learning, and about 500 are enrolled as of early August, according to Fresno Unified spokesperson Vanessa Ramirez.

But if schools need to pivot to all distance learning again, it would be a much easier transition, she said.

“We had a whole year last year,” Her said. “All of our teachers went through simultaneous teaching and getting online, and then all of our kids now have their devices, and if they need a hotspot to get connectivity, we’re going to be able to do that.”

Back to school advice

The best advice she can give to parents and children for the weeks ahead? Take it slow, Her advised.

“Give them (students) the time and the support they need to get reacclimated,” she said. “That is why we put a big investment in health, social, emotional, and mental health support. It’s there for our students. Don’t feel like you’ve got to do it on your own. We’re here.”

Clovis Unified

The first day at Clovis Unified campuses is Aug. 16.

The district is using 20% of its one-time COVID relief funding to help mitigate learning loss, according to Michael Johnston, the associate superintendent of administrative services. CUSD received about $150 million, Johnston said.

The funds will also help adjust class sizes, disinfecting campuses, and beefing up technology devices and support.

Johnston said one of the unique things Clovis has done is install disinfecting technology on some of its buses.

“The driver will exit the bus, and once students are all off the bus, a push of a button can have that bus disinfected,” he said.

The district has also installed bipolar ionization for better ventilation in buildings. Bipolar ionization is marketed as being able to remove viruses, including COVID, from the air or surfaces.

Johnston said the district looked at the money to find the best way to bring students up to speed after distance and hybrid learning.

“We’re increasing the teacher support for students in grades 4 through 6 ... (and) increasing tutoring services for our foster and homeless youth to help support them in the transition of everything,” he said.

“We’re providing additional resources for after school, (and) reading and math intervention. So things like that we’re doing within our district are going to help support our students and our staff.”

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 August 6, 2021 at 8:00 AM.