Schools - page 3

School districts in Stanislaus County have a lot of work to do before any reopen elementary schools for classroom instruction during the coronavirus pandemic.

First, an adjusted rate of infection in the county has to fall to a level where districts are eligible for waivers to reopen elementary schools for kindergarten to sixth grade students while the county remains on the state’s COVID-19 watch list.

And the numbers have not reached that level yet. Though they are falling.

The county’s rate dropped from 272 per 100,000 population to 244.5 per 100,000, as of Monday. The California Department of Public Health says the waivers to reopen elementary schools can be considered when the infection rate is 200 per 100,000 or lower.

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Summer vacation ended for Ceres Unified School District K-12 students on Aug. 11 and the 2020-21 school year kicks off today with remote learning due to state imposed coronavirus restrictions.

CUSD’s Distance Learning plan will rely heavily on the use of online educational tools such as Google Classroom, Zoom Video Conferencing and Clever. The district has provided all of its students with Google Chromebooks.

“We really miss our kids,” said Central Valley Principal Carol Lubinsky. “We really want them back on campus but it’s just not the right time for that.”

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Although you couldn’t tell it so much from looking around school campuses in Riverbank during the past week or so, classes began for the new school year as scheduled last week, on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Monday through Wednesday last week, Aug. 3 through 5, teachers were in their classrooms and in meetings, organizing themselves for what is expected to be the ‘new normal,’ at least for the fall semester. Distance learning is the platform for all Riverbank Unified School District students and, in fact, is in place throughout Stanislaus County.

The halls of the Riverbank High School campus were devoid of the normal hustle and bustle of school attendance, since students were at home, glued to their Chromebook computers. In the meantime, teachers were broadcasting from their classrooms, via the internet, trying to keep things as much like the past as possible. Class period schedules were the order of the day, including a break for lunch, as usual.

Continue Reading on The Riverbank News

The pace of school districts that will start the coming school year primarily with distance learning is accelerating in California. In recent days, districts serving at least 1.4 million of the state’s 6.2 million public school students have announced that they will be teaching students remotely, at least to begin the school year.

The rapid increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state just weeks before most school districts are due to open for the 2020-21 school year appears to be the driving factor in districts deciding to continue online learning for most or all of their students.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said he recognized the health realities that many districts are facing, and applauded districts for “putting safety first.”

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Although local schools had hoped to see students in the classroom come August, Stanislaus County announced on Monday that districts would need to begin the academic year with distance learning as coronavirus cases spike in the area.

In a joint release sent out late Monday afternoon, Stanislaus County Public Health Officer Dr. Julie Vaishampayan and Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall said that three determinations had been made earlier in the day: schools should open in August with Distance Learning Models in place, all conditioning for fall sports is suspended until further notice and all extracurricular activities (like band, sports and theater) are suspended as well.

“We recognize the significant impact school closures have on our entire community, students, families and staff. SCOE and all 25 school districts will continue to work diligently and collaboratively towards a prompt and safe reopening of schools in Stanislaus County when health conditions allow,” the release said.

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Turlock Unified School District’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday received information regarding recent data from the California Department of Education’s Dashboard website, which shows schools’ achievement ratings achievement ratings in several key categories. While TUSD schools improved their scores in many of these sections, many campuses are still struggling to meet state standards overall.

The Dashboard site displays statewide data based on status (how each school or district performed) and change (how much they have improved since the last year), with performance levels indicated by color ranging from red as the lowest and blue as the highest.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal