San Mateo County School Reopening Plans Take Shape: Report

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — Planning a school year is never easy. Amid a pandemic, administrators are confronting arguably some of the most consequential decisions they’ve ever made professionally.

It’s amid that backdrop that San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee described plans to reopen K-12 schools this fall that heavily emphasize safety, The San Mateo Daily Journal reports exclusively.

Magee told The Daily Journal that administrators are completing a reopening plan that is expected to be made public next week.

School administrators developed the plans in consultation with county health officials, the report said.

Among the most notable changes that will be seen this fall should schools reopen include a requirement that all students and faculty wear masks, a reconfiguration of classrooms to encourage social distancing, more students taking classes in virtual settings, and the suspension of all gatherings, the report said.

Administrators are making these plans with the understanding that in the Age of COVID-19 circumstances on the ground can change rapidly and throw a monkey wrench into them at a moment’s notice.

“Planning is a challenge,” Magee told The Daily Journal.

“I believe we will get there. I don’t believe it will be an easy road. I think we will have a two steps forward, one step backward scenario.”

According to the report, the plans to reopen San Mateo County schools this fall center around health and hygiene practices, mask requirements, social distancing and the suspension of gatherings, the report said.

Magee said students and staff will be required to wear masks throughout the day, noting schools will provide them to students who forget them, the report said.

The schools will push students and faculty to frequently wash their hands and will conduct temperature scans among other health checks, according to the report.

The schools will encourage social distancing by reducing class sizes and limiting the movement of students, noting that students are likely to remain in classes for longer periods, the report said. Teachers could switch classrooms where students spend the bulk of their days instead of the other way around.

Schools will make distanced learning available to students who don’t feel safe attending physical classrooms, the report said. The introduction of outdoor learning is being considered too. Medical experts believe the chances of transmitting the coronavirus is exponentially greater indoors, SFGate notes in a report on San Mateo County schools that also links to The Daily Journal report.

According to the non-peer reviewed study conducted in Japan, transmission of the coronavirus is 18.7 times greater in indoor settings than outdoors.

“We want to reduce the mixing and movement of students around a campus in a day,” Magee told The Daily Journal.

Schools will not allow gatherings at sporting events or any other school functions, the report said, noting that she’ll seek guidance from the county health office, the report said.

“Even if the county were to open gatherings, the first two weeks of school we will limit them to zero to make sure we get off to a strong start,” Magee told The Daily Journal.

Read More in The San Mateo Daily Journal.