Amid a surge in COVID cases, a Placer County school district considers more classroom time

Rocklin Unified will vote tonight on a new in-person schedule for the third quarter of the school year.

The school board will look at all instructional options at the meeting in an effort to address the surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.

Some of the options under consideration will bring students back to campus five days a week, for morning or afternoon in-person classes. For these options, while the students will increase in-person instructional hours, they’ll still get less than a full traditional instructional model.

The district’s current in-person model has students coming on campus two to three days a week with shortened days.

A vote to move to one of two five-day models could result in up to 862 additional students — including 100 students in special education — moving to the district’s virtual academy, according to a recent parent survey. More than 1,400 students are already enrolled in that program.

That would require 22 teachers to move to virtual teaching, or force the district to pay $412,000 to hire new elementary teachers for the virtual program.

The consideration of new models comes as Rocklin Unified is seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases. The district reported 38 new cases between Nov. 30 and Dec 6. Nine of those cases were staff members, and 29 were students. The district reported six cases the week prior.

In documents prepared for Monday night’s meeting, the district warned that five-day instruction could have some negative consequences.

“Due to the COVID-19 surge, there are more teachers in quarantine and less substitutes,” read documents from the district. “Moving to a five day, all students on campus model may increase the number of staff members quarantined. If this occurred or additional teachers opt to remain at home on health leave, the result could make it very challenging to staff schools.”

Rocklin Unified students returned to campus for a hybrid model in September. By the end of 2020, the district will have been offering in-person learning for 81 days this school year — the longest any elementary and middle school students have been on campus in the entire Sacramento region.

Karisa Hughes, who has a third grader at Twin Oaks Elementary and a 4-year-old with special needs, said she wants the district to return to its full-day traditional schedule everyday.

“My daughter is struggling with focus and the education she is receiving with any type of modified schedule can hardly be considered an education,” Hughes said. “I send her for socialization so she does not become completely depressed and to keep her mental/emotional health intact. I’ve been having to talk to her pediatrician about ADHD symptoms we are noticing but am finding kids are experiencing these symptoms because they do not have the stimulation they need from school.”

As a single, full-time working mother, Hughes said the five-day, morning or afternoon model the district is considering will make it more challenging for her, and it provides nearly the same instructional minutes as the current schedule. Hughes is considering enrolling her daughter in a charter or private school. Her daughter is currently 56 on a charter school waitlist.

Another Rocklin parent, Jasmine Partida, said she prefers the hybrid model, because of the increase in COVID-19 cases.

“Campuses are not able to consistently implement COVID safety protocols,” Partida said. “If we do not yet have consistent safety across all campuses in Rocklin at 50% capacity, there is very real concern the district is unprepared to implement safety when 100% of students are on campus, even in an am/pm scenario.”

Teachers have been pushing back against some of the district’s earlier moves to cope with the pandemic.

In November, the Rocklin teachers union filed a lawsuit and a class-action grievance with the Public Employment Relations Board against Rocklin Unified for what it claims is a change of policy on how the district handles students and staff who may have COVID-19 symptoms.

Travis Mougeotte, president of the Rocklin Teachers Professional Association, said the district’s management failed to follow the memorandum of understanding signed in August that provided safety measures for students and teachers when Rocklin schools reopened campuses.

“Modifications have been put in place as school campuses reopened, to allow students, staff, and families back in a safe manner that addresses the physical safety, social-emotional/mental health safety, and student learning needs,” said Rocklin Unified spokeswoman Diana Capra. “These actions have been in compliance with guidance from the California Department of Public Health and the Placer County Department of Public Health. Public Health guidance, as well as government orders, are continually evolving. RUSD will continue to adjust and adapt to these changing conditions.”

The district plans a Jan. 19 implementation of whatever model the board approves on Monday night.

Monday night’s meeting starts at 6:30 p.m, and it will be live streamed.

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 3:58 PM.