Safe Return For Capo Students As Schools Reopening Plans Continue

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Students of the Capistrano Unified School District are planning to set foot back on campuses for the first time since March, officials say.

Schools across Orange County will be reopening as coronavirus statistics continue to improve. Capistrano Unified's return to campus plan was approved by the school board earlier this month, their waiver for elementary schools handed in, the reopening the board's priority since the schools shut down for coronavirus. In-person instruction was slated to begin Sept. 28 for select special education programs.

The district shared a detailed yet fluid document on what parents and students can expect as schools reopen.

For parents who have selected a return to campus model, in-person instruction for Kindergarten and first-grade classes was scheduled for Sept. 29. Second- and third-graders would return to school starting Oct. 1, the district reports. High School students may begin their hybrid plan Oct. 13, unless the school board votes differently on Wednesday.

Safety At School Amid Coronavirus
The district follows guidelines set forth by the Orange County Health Care Agency and the California Department of Public Health. Returning students can expect smaller class sizes, mandatory facial coverings, markers plotting foot traffic in and around the school, and social distancing, the district says.

Within the classroom, expect about 16 students per class. According to Greg Merwin, associate superintendent for student support services, desks have been spread out to accommodate for added space, though not always six-feet.

According to district spokesman Ryan Burris, elementary school students will spend almost half their day outdoors, where they will study art, music, and have lunch and recess. To do so, they are employing nearly 1,000 E-Z Up shade coverings, according to an OC Register report.

Classrooms have been modified to account for six-feet between the teacher's desk and the students, according to a report from the superintendent in what Kristen Vital calls "Back to School Part 2."

With 47,000 students to account for, this is no small feat.

According to a school reopening letter from the district, K-5 students will be open to either 100 percent on-campus learning, a hybrid online and at-home learning, or an entirely online independent study course. For students from 6th to 12th grades, students will be able to study in a 50-50 on-campus, online independent study, or fully 100 percent independent study.

If students refuse to wear masks on campus, as required, they could be sent to an at-home instruction plan, according to Merwin, who says the mask-wearing is not to "punish" students but to "protect students and staff."

Custodians will clean campuses with a "one-minute disinfectant," and all schools have upgraded their air filtration units. CARES Act funding has been employed to pay for all upgrades making campuses coronavirus ready, according to Burris.

Parents can expect temperature taking and isolation should a student have a fever over 100.4 degrees.

High School students will see significant changes continue with their instruction with the hybrid model, should it begin as planned in mid-October.

The ongoing debate as to whether to incorporate the hybrid model or stay with online only for the fall semester will be up for a vote on Wednesday, Burris says. In advance of that, parents planned a rally to reject the proposal to delay reopening.

"We are supposed to be back in school starting Oct. 13," organizer Kevin O'Donnell wrote on Facebook, adding that the district is voting whether to change that start date to Jan. 4, 2021. "We deserve a choice of when we send our kids back to school," O'Donnell says.

The rally was planned for Sept. 22 outside the Capistrano Unified School District Offices at 9 a.m.

The social aspects of High School are at the primary concern on the minds of parents and teachers. Will the rewards of returning outweigh the risks?

"Being able to manage all those kids on campus is going to be the difficult part," Marc Popovich, the father of two elementary school students and a teacher at San Clemente High School, told the Register. "I just hope our district gives them the support they need."

Send us your back to school photos of your at-home work station, or back to campus pictures! email your Patch Editor and tell us where your child attends, what grade, and your thoughts about getting kids back to school in 2020.