State Of Capistrano Unified Schools Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA —As Orange County plummets back to the purple tier of Gov. Gavin Newsom's blueprint for a safer economy this week the reopening secondary schools will be delayed, according to multiple school districts.

On Tuesday, Gov. Newsom slammed many counties back into the most restrictive tier due to a rise in coronavirus cases. Unlike in times past, where counties could take a week to prepare for closures, Sacramento levied the "emergency brake" and gave businesses and schools a mere 24 hours to return to strict closures.

In southern Orange County's Capistrano Unified School District, those campuses that are already operating in-person learning can continue as usual. Currently, secondary programs for Capistrano Unified School District have two tracks: a hybrid in-person nd online or an online only instruction model. Hybrid students experience 50 percent of their time on campus with teachers, and 50 percent independent learning. As of this report, students will remain in their current models by quarter for 6th through 8th graders, and at the semester mark for 9th through 12th grade students.

There was no word as of this report if a student would be allowed to switch from hybrid to online only in light of the new purple tier status.

Regardless of training students and staff to stay home if they are feeling ill, as of Wednesday, Capistrano Unified is tracking a total of 12 students or faculty with confirmed cases of coronavirus. Cohorts of the infected students were notified by the Orange County Health Care's contact tracing as per protocol.

Of the high schools, Capistrano Valley High School has one confirmed coronavirus case out of the 1,082 people on campus. Tesoro High School, with 1,477 present on campus, has one confirmed case, as does San Clemente High School, with 3,106 on campus.

Of the middle schools, Fred Newhart Middle School has one confirmed case out of 934 enrolled. Ladera Ranch Middle School has two confirmed cases out of 1,188 on campus. Marco Forster Middle School has one confirmed case out of 1,119 on campus.

Of the elementary schools, Arroyo Vista, K-8, has one confirmed case out of 742 on campus. Bathgate Elementary School has one case out of 535 on campus, John Malcom Elementary School has one case out of 544 on campus, and Viejo Elementary School has two cases out of 455 on campus.

In Laguna Beach, elementary school students will continue in-person learning, as that structure has been in place since Oct. 5. The issue at hand is with secondary schools, now unable to return to the classroom due to the new tier limitations.

"Unfortunately, this means the reopening of our secondary schools for in person learning will be delayed," Laguna Beach Unified School District spokeswoman Anakaren Ureno tells Patch. "Students in grades 6 through 12 will remain in phase 1, distance learning only."

As for now, the earliest students would be able to return to class is January.

"If Orange County is able to move out of the purple tier criteria in the next few weeks," she said. Meanwhile, Elementary Schools that were already open for in-person learning as of Newsom's news are allowed to stay open, she said.

According to Superintendent Jason Viloria a "pause in reopening" is built in to their plans.

"Previous guidance received by the District indicated that we could reopen middle and high schools even if Orange County moved into the purple tier," Viloria says. "We were also operating under the guidance that since we had reopened classes and a learning center for students with disabilities and English Learners, we would be permitted to continue our planned reopening. However, the guidance has been updated to indicate that even though we have opened selected programs, we cannot commence in-person instruction for all grade levels."

As Orange County shifts to conduct even more testing in every home, the Board of Supervisors hopes to get things under control. This is even more important as governor implements a rapid reassessment of tier levels, daily now instead of weekly.

In order to shift from purple back to red, Orange County would need to demonstrate metrics consistent with red tier criteria for three weeks before closed secondary schools could reopen.

How is your student faring thus far in 2020? Let us know in comments or by emailing your Patch Editor.