Will Sacramento schools reopen this spring? What we know about the county’s large districts
Diners have returned to restaurant patios in Sacramento County. You can get a massage or a tattoo. Yet most public school campuses across the county remain locked, leaving thousands of families wondering whether their children will return to the classroom this academic year.
Most of Sacramento County’s 250,000 students are attending school via distance learning, even as thousands of students in neighboring counties managed to return to in-person instruction weeks ago.
But if COVID-19 infection rates drop and Sacramento County enters the state’s red tier of COVID-19 spread risk for five consecutive days, schools could get approval to reopen campuses. It seems likely that some Sacramento school districts will reopen their doors. For others, it’s looking more and more likely that the return to campus will have to wait until the fall.
Sacramento County is averaging 43.5 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents each day, according to the most recent state data. The state requires counties to be below 25 new daily cases per 100,000 residents to reopen schools for students in transitional kindergarten to sixth grade and 7 new daily cases per 100,000 residents to reopen schools for grades seven to 12.
Though it’s difficult to predict how long it may take for Sacramento County’s case rate to drop below seven per 100,000, it took more than two months for the infection rate to drop below that threshold following last year’s summer surge. And the winter spike was even more severe.
Does this mean students will return back to campus before the end of the school year? Or will students go an entire year having never met their teachers in person? Will another year of proms and graduation ceremonies be wiped out?
Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools Dave Gordon says he likes to be optimistic.
“It’s so important to get kids back in school,” Gordon said. “We have to do everything we possibly can to try. That’s our goal, for kids’ mental health as well as their academics.”
Reopening schools depends on multiple variables. Teachers in California could start receiving the coronavirus vaccine as early as February and it appears unlikely some districts and teachers unions will agree to reopen campuses until educators are vaccinated. The California Teachers Association in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom this week reiterated that it wants school employees to have a COVID-19 vaccine before the state more widely reopens classrooms.
Gordon said the Sacramento County Office of Education is doing everything it can to ensure the county’s 23,000 staff members across 13 school districts and charter schools receive the vaccine as soon as possible.
“We want to make sure we do it equitably,” he said. “Everybody means everybody.”
Gordon wrote a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking that the vaccine be made available to all school staff, and to allow the county to set up a vaccination process. On Monday, Newsom announced that teachers and school staff will remain high on the state’s prioritized groups for vaccines.
In the meantime, the state quietly updated its school reopening guidance on Jan. 14, leaving many parents and school districts wondering how and if their campuses can reopen or remain open.
The state’s new guidance requires that face-coverings must be worn by students in all grade levels at all times, including recess unless students are very active. Reopening plans ask that school districts train staff on how to implement safety measures and ensure that rapid COVID-19 testing is provided to anyone who is exposed to the virus or is symptomatic.
To reopen, districts are also required to come to agreements with labor unions, consult community organizations and submit COVID-19 prevention documents and safety plans – a COVID-19 School Guidance Checklist – to the county office of education and the state.
It’s unclear how many setbacks Sacramento school districts may face in the coming weeks. But it’s clear some districts are better prepared than others once the county hits the red tier.
Here is where the large districts in Sacramento County stand in the reopening process.
Folsom Cordova Unified School District
Folsom Cordova Unified officials are optimistic they will be able to welcome middle and high school students back on campus before the end of the school year.
The district already brought students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade, special education and students with unique needs back to campuses in November in a morning and afternoon hybrid schedule. Students are also able to remain in distance learning full-time.
Middle and high school students are still doing distance learning across the district, with plans to return to campuses once Sacramento County has been in the state’s red tier for two weeks.
“If we can get out of purple, and all of these external factors work in our favor, then we are hopeful and optimistic,” said district spokeswoman Angela Griffin said. “We are doing everything we can to bring staff and students back safely.”
Teachers union president Angelica Miklos said reopening plans will likely depend on the state’s approved blueprint and a finalized agreement on how to reopen middle and high school campuses.
“I see this (hybrid model) remaining through the end of the year,” Miklos said. “As case numbers rose, from Thanksgiving on, we saw more families move into distance learning. Our secondary students are all still in distance learning while we are in the purple tier. Safety is still our top priority and I believe the state framework, if approved by the legislature, will help to reinforce that for our district. We are still in the negotiation process for the return of secondary.”
Since reopening its elementary schools in the fall, Folsom Cordova Unified voluntarily reverted two campuses to distance learning for one week due to having more than 10% of their staff quarantined.
Elk Grove Unified School District
Elk Grove Unified’s had campus reopening plans in the fall, but those plans were put on pause when the county’s infection rate began to rise. Now the district is revisiting those plans, and district spokeswoman Xanthi Pinkerton said they are ensuring the district is in line with the state’s latest guidance.
The Elk Grove Education Association reached a memorandum of understanding with the district in October, fulfilling one of the state’s reopening requirements.
When the district does open for in-person instruction, it plans to phase students in by grade levels.
Students will not return to campus five days a week. A hybrid model will still be in effect in which students will return two days a week for shorter in-person instruction. Elk Grove Unified students who choose to continue distance learning will stay with their current teacher and school, and teachers will deliver lessons to both students in-person and online. Students can also choose to be in full distance learning.
In October, Superintendent Chris Hoffman said the partial in-person Concurrent Instructional Model allows the district to transition back to school with flexibility, and without disrupting student progress if the district needs to revert back to full distance learning.
The district has placed COVID-19 signage at all of its 67 campuses, created isolation rooms, installed plexiglass barriers in offices, installed disinfectant technology to be used by custodians, among other safety measures. The district reconfigured classrooms, installed hospital grade air filters and prepared support services for small cohorts.
Pinkerton said the district is welcoming newly enrolled kindergarten students whose parents may have initially decided to opt out of school this year. All new and returning students coming back to campus must be up to date with their vaccines required for school, Pinkerton said.
Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified has not set reopening dates for schools. It appears highly unlikely campuses will reopen this school year for the district’s roughly 45,000 students.
The district recently released a reopening dashboard, which includes how far along the district is in its reopening requirements and how many people working in the district have tested positive for COVID-19.
“We wish that we could provide you with more concrete information about reopening dates and assurances of when we would Return Together,” read a statement released by the district. “However, with the changing conditions and constant updates to state and county requirements, it is simply something that we are unable to do at this time.”
Sacramento City Unified installed plexiglass barriers where deemed necessary, placed temperature scanners at open learning hubs and is working to install MERV-rated filters on campuses.
About 460 kindergarten through 12th grade students returned to campus in classroom hubs, which prioritize students with special needs, foster youth, students experiencing homelessness and children of essential workers. Two thirds of those students are Black or Latino. The district has also finalized an agreement to bring athletes back on campus for sports conditioning.
But the district has not finalized reopening plans with its labor unions, hinting that the county may green-light school reopenings well before Sacramento City Unified is prepared to bring more of its students back to campus.
“It’s hard to imagine, with all the various moving parts, including the continued high rates of infection and the challenges we’ve seen regarding vaccinations, how schools can safely reopen for significant in-person instruction this school year,” read a statement from the Sacramento City Teachers Association. “Now more than ever, it’s time for districts to work cooperatively with educators to ensure that safety and science drive decisions to reopen, rather than politics.”
Natomas Unified School District
In a letter to families, Natomas Unified Superintendent Chris Evans said that once the county is in the red tier for two weeks, the district plans to reopen campuses in a modified schedule that was approved last year.
Evans said during a state Senate education hearing that districts are forced to adjust and renegotiate their reopening plans every time new guidance comes from the state. The district has a Memorandum of Understanding with its labor unions to reopen campuses in a transitional schedule, and while Evans said he will not rule out in-person learning this school year, he said he cannot promise it will happen.
The district is working on updating their reopening plan to comply with the state’s new guidance, but Evans said more needs to be done to prioritize urban school districts.
“Schools and districts that have reopened have faced class closures, school closures, staffing shortages – definitely not normal,” Evans stated in a letter to families. “We would be no different than those other places. In fact, even with minimal staff on campus and no students, we had to shut down at least one school facility before winter break due to an outbreak. There were not enough adults to run/clean the facility. I am not sure what is better. The consistency and frustrations that come with distance learning or the likely on and off inconsistency of attempting to remain open when we are allowed to.”
The district is also working with the state to provide 15-minute rapid testing for students and staff.
“This new program is a requirement of the new reopening guidance and would allow us to identify the differences between allergies on windy days and COVID,” Evans stated in his letter.
Evans also cautions families that a COVID-19 vaccine will not return schools back to normal, as state guidance still mandates physical distancing, masks, and schools are likely to have modified school schedules.
“While I know this will not make me popular, I need to keep it real,” he stated. “It will be some time before ‘normal’ returns in our schools. That said, I cannot and will not rule out some form of in-person learning this year.”
Twin Rivers Unified School District
Twin Rivers Unified officials said they are prepared to welcome students and staff back on campus for in-person instruction. They intended to bring students back on campus Jan. 19, but paused due to a surge in coronavirus cases. The district has not finalized an agreement with its teachers union, likely delaying plans to reopen once the county gives the green light.
The district has held more than 20 meetings since the start of the pandemic to negotiate a hybrid model, and officials are now seeking the help of a mediator in order to have an agreement on in-person instruction in place with the teachers union.
“Without a negotiated agreement with our teacher’s association, our eventual and long-awaited return will be further delayed much to the dismay of parents and staff we hear from daily,” read a statement from district officials to certificated staff.
Like other districts in the county, Twin Rivers Unified is waiting to reopen campuses once the county is in the red tier for two weeks.
“All of us want to return, but need to ensure we are safe in doing so and guided by science,” read a statement from the district. “As soon as public health conditions allow, we will move forward with returning students for in-person/hybrid learning. During this time we continue to work with our labor partners in order to support a safe return. In addition, we are working with local health officials to support the rollout of vaccines when they are available to educators.”
Many of the Twin Rivers schools are located in zip codes hardest hit by COVID-19 in Sacramento County, according to Superintendent Steve Martinez.
President of Twin Rivers United Educators Rebecca LeDoux said reopening timelines are challenging to estimate while the county is still in deep purple tier and without a clear timeline for vaccine rollouts.
“With so much uncertainty, it is difficult to imagine how schools can be safely reopened,” she said. “Being that our Twin Rivers community has been one of the hardest hit areas, our district must stay away from divisive language and work together to keep our community safe and ensure that our decision making is guided by the science.”
San Juan Unified School District
San Juan Unified has not set an official return date, but district officials said they remain hopeful students will be back on campus before the end of the school year. And there are signs for optimism.
“The rapid improvement we’ve seen in recent days is encouraging,” district spokesman Trent Allen told The Sacramento Bee. “We have already made agreements with our employee groups regarding the impacts of our hybrid in-person option (two days a week on campus) that will be offered when we do return.”
Allen also said the district’s existing district wide response plan and OSHA response plan address most elements in the new state reopening guidance. The district plans to review the guidance to determine what changes or additions need to be made “with specific attention on desk spacing, Covid-19 testing frequency for students and staff, and any modifications necessary due to specific school site circumstances.”
The San Juan Teachers Association has an agreement with the district to return to in-person instruction when Sacramento County returns to the red tier with two weeks notice from the district, according to union President Bill Simmons.
“We continue to watch the infection numbers and positivity rates along with emerging research,” Simmons said. “Our guess on when we return will be as good as anyone else’s. It would help if our community committed to wearing a face covering, staying six feet apart and avoiding larger gatherings.”
The reopening plans will be shared with parent, community and staff groups before the district submits them to the county and state officials.
San Juan Unified will also continue to provide distance learning, home schooling and independent studies.
Dry Creek Joint Unified School District
Dry Creek, a district uniquely located in both Placer and Sacramento counties, pulled back on its modified schedule to bring students back for longer school days.
The district announced to families that it won’t transition to a longer school day now that the state has issued new health and safety guidelines for schools that stated “under no circumstances should distance between student chairs be less than 4 feet.”
“After thoroughly analyzing class sizes and floor plans, we currently cannot meet this new requirement in many classrooms across the district,” read a statement from district Superintendent Brad Tooker. “It is disheartening and frustrating that despite Dry Creek schools operating safely in-person since September, we cannot currently expand our services to students and families.”
Students in the district are in a hybrid model, coming to campus five days a week for two-and-a-half hours in morning and afternoon cohorts.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.