Walnut Valley Unified School District Reopening Plan For Schools

Press release from the Walnut Valley Unified School District:

July 15, 2020

Message from the Superintendent - July 15, 2020

Dear Walnut Valley Educational Community,

To begin, I sincerely hope that you and your family are healthy during these most unprecedented times. I also want to say “Thank You” for your patience and understanding during these summer months as we all anticipate what the reopening of schools will look like on August 10, 2020.

As we look towards the 2020/2021 school year, please be reminded as we navigate through challenging decisions, plans, and programs to address the needs of our students in the upcoming weeks and months, that we place the safety and wellness of our students and staff as our highest priority. We also understand and empathize with the many different needs and wants of our stakeholders (students, parents, employees, etc.), which vary from person to person (and/or family to family) and thus, we know that we cannot find a resolution that will completely satisfy everyone. We will, however, strive to provide options and choices for students to the best of our ability.

After spending the last several weeks monitoring the data (which has seen large upward spikes in COVID-19 cases) and information on the COVID-19 pandemic, and relying heavily on the County of Los Angeles Public Health Department (Public Health) to provide us with guidance, direction, and recommendations on how we should proceed, it has become clear to me that the safest approach to reopening schools is to open with a 100% Distance Learning model.

Therefore, beginning on August 10, all students will attend school via Distance Learning. This model will serve as our primary means for education for a minimum of four (4) weeks. During the four-week period, we will reassess the data, study the effects of different implementation plans from surrounding school districts, and evaluate possible updates and revisions to recommendations from Public Health and then continue and/or adjust our plan accordingly. If after September 7 (Labor Day), the data and information provided by Public Health suggests it is safe for our students to return to school in-person, we will implement such a model; however, if need be, based on the data and information, we will also be prepared to continue our Distance Learning program until it is deemed safe to return.

I appreciate the many employees who have worked tirelessly to provide for a variety of safety protocols, resources, and equipment to be ordered, prepared, and implemented in an attempt to maximize the health, well-being, and safety of our students and staff. Additionally, now that Public Health has finally released some of their guidelines for schools (just this week), we can also spend the next several weeks maximizing additional safety measures. Existing and future safety measures will be shared with our community in the near future.

I appreciate the many people who have worked diligently over the past couple of months to plan for possible return to school scenarios. While I will not go into all of the details at this time (more information will follow from our Educational Services Division), I will share some of the significant differences in our 2020/2021 Distance Learning program from the emergency Distance Learning program implemented last spring:

• Daily live interaction will be required in accordance with new state requirements for Distance Learning (Assembly Bill 77)
• Student attendance will be taken daily
• All secondary schools will follow their traditional daily schedule (such as the regular start and end times to each class period)
• All students will be assigned a grade for each class
• All teachers will be offered additional Distance Learning professional development prior to the beginning of the school year
• Chromebooks will be distributed to students in need of a technology device (more information will follow)

Again, we will monitor the situation closely during the first four weeks of Distance Learning and be prepared to transition, if possible, to one of our in-person models on (or after) September 8. As we previously shared, we have three broad approaches that we have developed for implementation when ready:

• Full-time, traditional, in-person instruction (while implementing Public Health recommended safety protocols to the best of our ability)

• Split-schedule approach where approximately half of the students in a particular class/school attend two days per week (the other half of the students attend a different set of two days per week), while working from home on the other days, in an attempt to minimize the people on campus and an increased practice of social distancing (while implementing Public Health recommended safety protocols to the best of our ability)

• 100% Distance Learning approach (adhering to new state guidelines for high-quality instruction and student accountability)

We are also implementing a plan to allow students (with health and/or family considerations) to opt into a 100% Independent Study/Distance Learning approach if and when we choose to implement a full-time or split-schedule in-person approach. We will be sending you information and asking that interested parents commit to a full-time Distance Learning program in the near future for our planning purposes.

We understand that parents will have questions and concerns regarding the opening Distance Learning program, as well as other possible learning options. Therefore, we will be conducting an informational webinar to further explain the various aspects of our programs at the following times (webinars will be recorded and posted on our website for future viewing):

• Elementary School Webinar: Monday, July 20, at 3:00 p.m. (link will be provided in the near future)
• Middle and High School Webinar: Monday, July 20, at 4:30 p.m. (link will be provided in the near future)

We know that during this time of uncertainty, as observed just in the last couple of weeks in Los Angeles County and across the state, even the best laid plans are subject to change. We recognize that this situation is extremely fluid and we are continually monitoring the data and direction of our public health officials.

Again, we will provide additional information and direction to you in the near future.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions and/or concerns.

Bob

Robert P. Taylor, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Walnut Valley Unified School District

This press release was produced by the Walnut Valley Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.