OAKLAND — Oakland Unified School District leaders told families in a letter this week they want students back in school by the end of next month.
According to the letter, which was sent to families and posted on the school district’s website Wednesday, the plan is to bring back the district’s youngest students first, but those who want to continue to learn from home could opt to do so.
“After being in distance learning since last March, the OUSD Board of Education now believes it is critical for the social, emotional and academic well-being of our students that Oakland Unified safely open our school sites for in-person learning by mid to late March, in alignment with the proposed deadlines currently being discussed in Sacramento,” the letter states.
According to the plan, elementary school students in small, socially distanced cohorts on a modified schedule would be the first ones back, along with high-need and special needs students, unhoused students and students who don’t have easy access to distance learning.
For middle and high school students, “our current thinking is instruction may remain primarily in distance learning until the end of the school year, but all students should have the option of in-person socio-emotional and academic support, and extracurricular activities,” states the letter, which was signed by the Board of Education.
The reopening plan will hinge on negotiations with the teachers’ union as well as feedback from families. The district has asked elementary school families to fill out a survey by March 2 to gauge their desire to return so it has an idea of how many students to expect.
Teachers union representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but in its previous proposals to the school district, the Oakland Education Association has indicated it is OK with a return to in-person teaching of small, stable cohorts of students under certain conditions. Those conditions include teachers being vaccinated, staff and students’ parents permitting COVID-19 testing and Alameda County entering the orange reopening tier with case rates of 3.9 per 100,000 people or fewer and a test positivity rate of 4.9% or less.
Alameda County is currently in the purple tier, the most restrictive set by the state.
The school district, too, had maintained for months that it would base its reopening on reaching the orange tier, but school leaders have changed their minds.
“Many pieces have fallen into place, with transmission rates and new cases down, vaccine availability and prioritization of teachers and the preparation of our school facilities,” said Shanthi Gonzales, President of the Oakland Unified Board of Directors, in an email. “The last piece is the negotiations with our unions, and both sides are working furiously to reach an agreement that keeps staff and students safe and meets students’ needs.”
Around the state, a chorus of parents have called on schools to reopen, but many educators — and some school families — have been wary of returning to in-person instruction while the virus remains prevalent.
San Francisco sued the city’s school district earlier this month, but that district recently reached an agreement to open before the end of the school year as long as the city is below the purple tier level for widespread infections and teachers are vaccinated.
A recent Bay Area News Group analysis showed that public schools that have reopened in the region are mostly in the wealthiest districts. Big city school districts have mostly stuck with online learning.
“This has been a stressful time with countless challenges, but we have seen many school systems across the
country successfully open with sufficient precautions in place to educate students safely,” the Oakland school board’s letter states. “It seems that everyone has come to appreciate like never before how much students benefit from being together in a classroom. After a long year away, it will be a tremendous relief to see our students return to campus this spring.”