As mentioned in my Oct. 9 column, district staff are still working on a plan to bring elementary students back to campus in a phased approach. So far these are the only grades that the Alameda County Public Health Department is permitting to return to campus. Alameda Unified School District officials expect the agency’s guidance on secondary students to come within the next several months.
The plan is being shared, for review, with employees and families this week and will be presented to the Board of Education at its Oct. 27 meeting. The agenda and Zoom details for that meeting will be posted at www.alamedaunified.org/agendasminutes by Friday. After incorporating feedback from the AUSD community, staff will bring the plan back for final approval at the Nov. 10 Board of Education meeting.
The plan, which prioritizes staff and student safety, details a number of factors intrinsic to a reopening, including class and cohort sizes; cleaning and sanitization; ventilation; and health protocols (such as mask wearing, physical distancing and handwashing). In addition, the plan details the protocols that will be followed if a staff member or student tests positive for COVID-19, shows symptoms of COVID-19 or is exposed to someone who has tested positive for the virus. The AUSD is working on its plan for testing employees too.
At the same time, AUSD officials are surveying our staff, families and secondary students to get a better sense of their experience of distance learning this fall, as well as how comfortable they feel returning to in-class instruction part-time. We plan to incorporate findings from those surveys into our plan for reopening as well as our plans for supporting distance learning for the rest of the year.
In recent weeks, several community members have asked why the AUSD doesn’t already have a plan for reopening. The answer is that the district has been working diligently on plans to bring students back for in-person instruction since this summer. Public health orders and guidance, however, have changed a number of times during those months, and we are developing a plan that meets the most recent orders.
The Oct. 27 Board of Education meeting will also include presentations on the AUSD’s plan to address the “significant disproportionality” in its percentage of African American students who have been identified as requiring special education services. You can find background on this issue at www.alamedaunified.org/sigdis. The meeting will also include presentations on the AUSD’s Remote Learning Program, a board policy relating to equity and a board by-law relating to board member conduct. Again, the agenda will be available by 5 p.m. Friday.
Susan Davis is the Alameda Unified School District’s senior manager for community affairs. Reach her at 510-337-7175 or sdavis@alameda.k12.ca.us.
