Another Sacramento County school district votes to reopen campuses — perhaps next month

The Natomas Unified School District school board voted unanimously Wednesday night to return to in-person instruction soon — but no earlier than Nov. 16.

The district of roughly 16,000 students did not set a firm date to reopen schools as board members wait to see if Sacramento County inches closer to the state of California’s orange tier for coronavirus risk. The county is currently in the red tier, with coronavirus infection rates dropping.

Sacramento County schools could have reopened on Tuesday, as the county reached 14 consecutive days in the red tier. Natomas Unified chose to add a two-week buffer to certify classrooms for reopening, and two additional weeks to communicate to families when exactly schools will reopen.

“I get calls from this community that are really struggling right now,” said board member Micah Grant. “While I am looking at what other districts are doing, it’s always been the custom for Natomas Unified to lead.”

Some parents and teachers raised concerns about reopening just before Thanksgiving break and winter break.

But Superintendent Chris Evans said every minute in the classroom counts.

“Those are 15 days we can’t gain back, and that will matter to a number of students,” he said.

About 70% of parents said they are likely to return back to campuses if campuses open, according to the district.

Students who choose to continue distance learning will continue engaging with their same teachers through Zoom and Google Classroom. Evans said the district does not have the resources to open a virtual program, as other school districts have done, including Rocklin Unified and Dry Creek Joint Unified. Evans also said opening mid-year would be disruptive to students, who would end up with new teachers and new peers.

Brenda Borge, president of the Natomas Teachers’ Association, said it will be difficult for teachers to juggle students in person and at home. Teachers are also concerned with how often classrooms will be disinfected and if the district has enough custodial staff, Borge said.

Parents decide how students return

Natomas parents will be asked to submit a decision form by Oct. 26 to let the district know if they want to continue distance learning for the remainder of the school year, return to in-person at the end of November, or — for self-sufficient students — choose to do independent study and meet with a teacher for two hours a week.

Evans said once parents submit their decision forms, it will likely be difficult for their student to go from distance learning to in-person learning.

“We want (teachers) to have the comfort and be able to plan without them saying ‘There’s two more kids in my class?” said Evans.

In a letter to Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools Dave Gordon and their districts’ respective superintendents, the Natomas Teachers’ Association — along with the teachers associations at Sacramento City Unified and Twin Rivers — said allowing some schools to reopen before others “deepens inequality” in low-income neighborhoods where coronavirus infection rates are high.

The teachers unions called for schools to remain physically closed until at least January.

“That’s always going to be tension point unless we say, ‘Okay, well it’s January,’” Evans said in the meeting. “I know the public doesn’t like when we get into our occasional spats. It’s the one thing I asked them not to do was pick a day and call the shots, but it happened anyway.”

If the county returns to the purple tier in January, schools that are not open will be unable to open at that time, according to health officials.

“One thing is we don’t know much about this virus,” Evans said.

School districts across the region have varied plans on reopening.

San Juan Unified School District is preparing to bring students back to campuses Jan. 5. Students with special needs return to some in-person instruction Nov. 2.

Folsom Corodva Unified will bring elementary and middle school students back in November, and high school students are expected to return Jan. 4.

Both Elk Grove Unified and Sacramento City Unified implemented small, in-person cohorts for students with special needs, and at risk youth. Both districts are continuing their distance learning models for the time being.

This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 10:43 AM.