The Lake Elsinore Unified School District Board on Thursday approved a Draft School Reopening Plan 2020-21. The reopening plan will serve as the ‘Constitution,’ or rulebook, for reopening schools safely under COVID-19 pandemic conditions.
“Reopening schools while COVID risk is substantial under the Red Tier is complex,” said Superintendent Dr. Doug Kimberly. “Traditional aspects of school are non-existent: recess, on-campus lunch, and transportation for general education are not possible under state guidelines that require social distancing for in-person learning.”
Kimberly described four converging efforts requiring board direction to finalize the plan:
- Approval of the Draft School Reopening Plan presented on Thursday evening.
- Finalize student schedules and learning models for elementary, middle school, and high school. Reopening terms and schedules are under negotiation with the Lake Elsinore Teachers Association and the California School Employees Assn. and its Chapter 598.
- Resurvey all parents/guardians to determine who wants to keep their children on 100 percent distance learning, once at least some in-person instruction is allowed. A previous limited survey did not offer this option to all parents, which the district wants to rectify.
- Set a Special Meeting of the Board within two weeks to finalize the district’s reopening timeline, learning models, and schedules to finalize the School Reopening Plan.
The Board directed staff to proceed with all four.
A virtual Special Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 22, at 4 p.m. to approve a reopening timeline, learning models, and schedules, and to approve the Final School Reopening Plan.
In the 14 day interim since Riverside County entered the Red Tier, county numbers for case and test positivity teetered between the Purple Tier and Red Tier. Schools are permitted to reopen under the Red Tier, county health officials have stated.
The video presentation of the Draft School Reopening Plan can be viewed at https://youtu.be/H5BlRxp0zLo.
