Schools in a large suburban Sacramento district reopen – even as COVID-19 cases surge

Paisley Murphy stood outside her Folsom elementary school holding a chalkboard sign that read “First Day of Re-Do Kindergarten.”

It’s not really the 5-year-old’s first day. School has been in session – at home – for four months. But on Thursday, elementary schools in Folsom and Rancho Cordova reopened, bringing nearly 5,000 students back to 20 campuses. It was the first time students have been back since the coronavirus pandemic shut schools down in March.

Folsom Cordova Unified is the largest school system in Sacramento County moving forward with in-person learning, even as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the county are spiking and most businesses are being ordered to stop indoor activities.

Students in grades TK to fifth are returning to campus four days a week, while those who choose to continue distance learning through the district’s virtual academy may do so. Sacramento County was downgraded to the state’s purple tier on Tuesday, but the Sacramento County Public Health Department allowed schools that had reopening plans in place to continue with those plans this week.

Families arrived at Folsom Hills Elementary Thursday morning, dropping their children off for roughly 2-and-a-half hours of instruction.

Parents stopped at the school gates, gave goodbye kisses through face masks and sent their kindergartners off to school for the first time. Families were not allowed to enter school property – one of several safety measures the district took to ensure staff and student safety.

Caroline Schwall, who watched her 6-year-old son Logan line up with his classmates outside, said distance learning was hard for her son. She said the decision to return to campus wasn’t a difficult one.

“It will be better for him to be in-person,” Schwall said. “Kids have questions, they need to raise their hand, it was hard to do that online.”

All teachers returned for in-person instruction at the school.

Of the 510 students at Folsom Hills, 71% chose to return to campus and the rest will continue distance learning, making it one of the larger student bodies in the district returning. In comparison, 57% of students at Williamson Elementary School in Rancho Cordova are returning to campus.

School safety plans amid COVID-19

School Principal Shawn Lundberg said teachers planned to spend the first day on campus teaching children how to wash their hands and physically distance, ensuring students understand to space out on stickers and painted paw prints on the concrete.

“We are ensuring student and staff safety across the board,” he said. “We want to ensure that people feel comfortable, parents and kids.”

The district spent more than $7.6 million on PPE, air filters, hand washing stations and more, according to board member Dave Reid.

Lundberg said plexiglass has been installed in classrooms at Folsom Hills, either on students’ desks or between teachers and the class. Students are required to stay six feet apart and wear masks for the duration of their time on campus, according to county and district guidelines.

Many parents who brought their children back to campus were able to tour their classrooms in August and see first-hand what safety measures the district and staff members were using to protect teachers and students.

Tyara Sinogui walked her son, Layden, to his second grade class. The family moved from Foster City just before the school year started, so Layden had not yet made many friends.

“He will be more engaged in class,” Sinogui said. “He missed being around other students and it was weird to start school online in a new city.”

Just a week before opening, teachers and parents rallied in front of the district’s administrative office calling for more transparency in its reopening plan, reflecting that some teachers and parents were not confident in the district’s plan to bring students and staff back to campus.

Angelica Miklos, president of the Folsom Cordova Education Association union, said the district moving ahead with reopening while Sacramento County is being demoted back to the purple tier is “irresponsible and careless.”

“FCUSD has still not put in place robust safety measures at every school site,” read a statement from Miklos. “Based on the reports from (public health), there are still many areas that need to be addressed. As educators, we want to be back in the classroom with our students, but there is too much at risk to ignore science, facts, and safety.”

Some teachers said they weren’t given a choice to continue distance learning.

But district spokeswoman Angela Griffin said the district values collaboration, and teachers, including those with health concerns, are being accommodated.

Teachers who choose not to return to the classroom could be assigned classes through the district’s virtual academy. Some students who chose to continue distance learning were reassigned teachers who also decided to work from home.

Middle school and high school students are scheduled to return to in-person instruction in the coming weeks.

This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Schools in a large suburban Sacramento district reopen – even as COVID-19 cases surge."