Las Virgenes Begins First On-Campus Instruction Since March

CALABASAS, CA —For the first time since March 13, students returned back to Las Virgenes schools. On Monday, the district let in 198 students with certain categories special needs onto campuses, following a Los Angeles County ruling that schools can reopen to small cohorts of students with disabilities and English language learners starting Sept. 14.

“It was wonderful to see some of our LVUSD students back on campus today!” the district announced in a Facebook post showing just two masked students standing far apart, near a giant rolling divider.

In order to reopen, the district needed to submit a detailed reopening safety proposal to the county, which it explained to parents during a webinar Thursday.

First, preschoolers and kindergarteners will dress like astronauts. Well, almost - they will be provided visor hats with face shields because keeping a mask on all day can be difficult for children that young.

“Students sometimes think that they’re an astronaut or a pilot wearing one of those, so I just want to reassure everyone that we’re gonna make this return to school as positive and as fun and certainly as normal as possible, even though things will look a little bit different,” Dr. Clara Finneran, assistant superintendent of education, assured parents during the webinar.

The school will indeed look different than students remember. Students will arrive in morning and afternoon cohorts to ensure that no more than 12 students per classroom, and proper social distancing can always be maintained. As in stores, markers all over the school will show students where to stand to maintain six feet of distance. Additionally, some tables will be marked with blue tape and others in orange to designate which cohort can sit where. In each classroom, both students and staff will have access to hand sanitizer, sinks, and disposable masks.

Upon entering school, students will have their temperature scanned individually - a large infrared scanner will be used once larger groups arrive - and anyone with a temperature of above 100.4 will be sent home. Only students and staff are allowed on campus, and parents must call their school in advance if they’d like to visit.

Staff assured parents during the webinar that a team of custodians would be cleaning the building all day, spraying down door handles and other high-touch areas. Before the mid-day break when the cohorts switch, custodians will spray down any outdoor equipment used by the morning cohort. After the bell rings, a “strike team” of several custodians will perform a deep clean of the entire building and surrounding campus using electrostatic cleaners and 100-foot Sani-Spray hoses. The same process will be repeated at the end of each day.

Staff also reported that they hope to conduct a good deal of the learning will be done outdoors, weather and air quality permitting. The district has purchased 213 tilting umbrellas that have been delivered to all school sites so that small group learning can take place outdoors. Doors will also be open when possible when students are learning in the classroom.

Finally, over 100 staff members have received nasal swabs and antibody tests, and testing for staff will be offered every three weeks at the Arthur E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas. The district has also purchased over 5500 items to distribute to every school, including PPE equipment, sanitizers, acrylic desk dividers, gloves, stylus pens, thermometers, signage, wipes, masks, and face shields.

Monday also marks the day that Los Angeles County will begin reviewing applications to begin in-person learning for TK-2 students, which Superintendent Dr. Dan Steponosky said the district has submitted. Steponosky pointed out that cities in the Las Virgenes district have some of the lowest case rates in the county.