Last night the SDUHSD Board of Trustees held a special Board meeting. The main topic of discussion was an update on school reopening.
There were a few discussions worthy of note, but the bottom line remains unchanged. State regulations prevent us from expanding school reopening until five days after the County falls from the COVID-19 Purple Tier to the Red Tier.
Since the last Board meeting, the Governor has lifted the stay-at-home order that was put in place in response to stresses on the regional health care system. However, neither the imposition nor the lifting of the stay-at-home order has any meaningful impact on school reopening.
The primary metric keeping us in the Purple Tier is the average number of daily new cases. That metric has been dropping dramatically over the last several weeks, which is good. Average new cases per day is down by more that 50% from the peak. However, the absolute number of new cases are still well above the threshold needed to be reclassified into the Red Tier. It is too early to have a reasonable prediction of when we might enter the Red Zone.
Much of the discussion centered around a key question - are we ready to reopen our schools as soon as allowed? The general answer is yes. If we magically were to be assigned to the Red Tier next week, we can reopen schools a week after that. Superintendent Haley emphasized several times that the only thing in our way is the State's restriction on our reopening. We have all of the safety and operational plans and processes in place to reopen, we only need the authority to do so.
A few other statements of interest from the meeting regarding school reopening:
Air Flow / Ventilation. All of our campus spaces have adequate air flow and ventilation. The combination of the HVAC systems, upgraded filters, portable HEPA filters, and open doors and windows provide adequate air flow to mitigate the risk of catching the virus.
Learning Model. Dr. Haley confirmed that when we do get back in school, the learning model will not generally be "distance learning from school", but a concurrent / simultaneous learning model. He emphasized that we can do better than having students simply watching their computers from their desks in the classroom.
Surveillance Testing of Students. Dr. Haley reiterated that the District does not intend on testing students who show no symptoms. That is not recommended by health officials.
Notification of Positive Cases. Cindy Frazee reiterated that the current plan is to notify the entire school and any close contacts when the District becomes aware of a positive COVID case.
In addition to the back-to-school discussion, two new committees of the Board were created, a Senior Celebration Committee and a Communications Committee. The Senior Celebration Committee will look for ways to celebration our senior class, and the Communications Committee will improve District communications with staff, teachers, parents, students, and the broader community. President Muir asked me to serve on both committees and I gladly accepted.