Status Change And Reopening Of Dixon Unified School District

Press release from the Dixon Unified School District:

September 23, 2020

As most of you are already aware, Solano County moved from the purple tier to the less-restrictive red tier in the state's color-coded reopening matrix yesterday. This shift is based on the improved condition in our county with regard to numbers of cases of COVID and other related factors. This is good news and hopefully marks a trend that will continue with our adherence to the safety precautions and protocols that we all are so familiar with.

As has been reported previously, schools in counties that are in the red tier are eligible to reopen with precautions in place. Those precautions, again, are all of the ones that we are so used to. Should conditions remain as they are over the next several weeks, or improve, schools in Solano County will be eligible to reopen on October 13th.

Being eligible to reopen and actually doing it are two different things. Any reopening must be done with very careful planning and implementation of those things that are identified as being necessary to return students and staff to in-person instruction. Reopening would be in what has been called the hybrid model - a mix of in-person and at-home learning. Factors involved in the planning process include, but are not limited to:

• Health and safety protocols for the presence of students on campus.
• Organization of cohorts for the smaller group instruction.
• Balance between in-person instruction and continued reliance on the asynchronous or independent work that students are currently responsible to complete.
• Addressing the needs of families who do not want their children to participate in in-person instruction.
• Reorganizing staffing needs with students in two different models - in-person and distance learning.
• Negotiating with our labor unions on the new working conditions presented by the hybrid model.
• Communication with students, families, and staff on the changes in program.

Again, this is a partial list reflecting just some of the factors that we must address before returning to any in-person instruction.

The obvious question that is being asked is how soon will we be reopening and what will it look like? The only answers that we can provide right now are that we don't know how soon it will take to open the hybrid model and exactly what it will look like. There seems to be a consensus that we need to start by bringing our youngest students - those for whom Distance Learning is especially challenging - back first. There are many other approaches that are being advocated that have value and need to be considered. That will take some time, so we are asking for your patience.
We have published an update every Friday since late May, and will continue to do so, with new emphasis on reopening planning. Our Governing Board Meetings will undoubtedly feature lengthy discussions around planning, as was the case during the summer before we reopened. Please look for notifications on the opportunities to receive information and provide your input in the coming days and weeks.

Knowing that the day would come when reopening was allowed, we have done much of our work on Distance Learning with the transition to hybrid in mind. There is a lot to do to make the transition happen as soon as possible and be successful, but we have laid a good foundation for it with what we have already implemented. We are not just starting to plan, in other words, and a lot of what we have in place now will be helpful in the move to hybrid.

The move from purple to red is positive, but also should draw our focus back to the continued necessity of all of us using good judgment and following guidelines to ensure better conditions. We have seen and heard about places that have progress and then slide backward due to people relaxing too much. Please help us in the effort to reopen our schools by meeting your responsibility to help prevent the spread of the virus.

State change and reopening

As most of you already know, Solano County went from the purple level to the least restrictive red level yesterday on the state's color-coded reopening matrix. This change is based on the improvement of the condition in our county with respect to the number of COVID cases and other related factors. This is good news and hopefully sets a trend that will continue our adherence to the safety precautions and protocols that we are all so familiar with.

As previously reported, schools in counties that are on the red tier are eligible to reopen if necessary precautions are taken. Those precautions, again, are all we're so used to. If conditions remain as they are for the next several weeks, or improve, schools in Solano County will be eligible to reopen on October 13.

Being eligible to reopen and doing it are two different things. Any reopening must be done with very careful planning and implementation of those things that are identified as necessary for students and staff to return to in-person instruction. The reopening would be in what has been called the hybrid model: a combination of learning in person and at home. Factors involved in the planning process include, but are not limited to:

• Health and safety protocols for the presence of students on campus.
• Organization for instruction in smaller groups.
• Balance between in-person instruction and continued reliance on asynchronous or independent work that students are currently responsible for completing.
• Address the needs of families who do not want their children to participate in in-person instruction.
• Reorganize staffing needs with students into two different models: in-person and distance learning.
• Negotiate with our unions the new working conditions presented by the hybrid model.
• Communication with students, families, and staff about changes in the program.

Again, this is a partial list that reflects only some of the factors that we must address before returning to any in-person instruction.

The obvious question being asked is how soon will we be reopening and what will it be like? The only answers we can provide now are that we don't know how soon the hybrid model will take to open and exactly what it will look like. There seems to be a consensus that we must start by bringing back our youngest students, those for whom Distance Learning is a special challenge. There are many other options that have value and should be considered. That will take time, so we ask for your patience.
We have released an update every Friday since the end of May and will continue to do so, with a new emphasis on reopening planning. Our Board of Directors meetings will undoubtedly include lengthy planning discussions, as was the case during the summer prior to reopening. Look for notifications about opportunities to receive information and provide your opinion in the days and weeks to come.

Knowing that the day would come when the reopening would be allowed, we have done much of our work in Distance Learning with the transition to hybrid in mind. Much work remains to be done to make the transition happen as soon as possible and be successful, but we have laid a good foundation for this with what we have already implemented. Continuous planning and much of what we have now will be helpful in the move to hybrid.

The change from purple to red is a good thing, but it should also refocus us on the continued need for all of us to use common sense and follow guidelines to ensure the best conditions. We have seen and heard of places that have progressed and then slid backwards due to people relaxing too much. Please assist us in the effort to reopen our schools by fulfilling your responsibility to help prevent the spread of the virus.

This press release was produced by the Dixon Unified School District . The views expressed are the author's own.