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Rural California Schools Prepare For Possible In-Person Teaching

A fifth grade class does classwork outside while social distancing at Bishop Unified in Inyo County over the summer. Photo courtesy of Bishop Unified School District
Photo courtesy of Bishop Unified School District
A fifth grade class does classwork outside while social distancing at Bishop Unified in Inyo County over the summer. Photo courtesy of Bishop Unified School District

While many school districts in the state鈥檚 more populous areas have been essentially forced to start the school year teaching remotely, more sparsely populated have options.

Students lined up in front of six tables spaced 20 feet apart across Bishop Union High School鈥檚 sprawling front lawn. School employees processed their registration packets, braving triple-digit heat on a sunny Tuesday afternoon.

Kids mingled for the 15 or so minutes they were there. They purchased yearbooks, picked up ID cards and only took off their face masks when it was time to show a photographer their smiles for their annual pictures.

Occasionally, the voice of Wanda Summers, the principal鈥檚 secretary, boomed friendly reminders through the intercom. Remember to maintain social distancing unless you come from the same household, she said. Make sure your face masks cover your nose.

鈥淎 little bit of normalcy is what it seemed like,鈥 Summers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our registration day. We do this every year.鈥

Reopening decisions
The vast majority of California鈥檚 public and private schools as coronavirus cases, and deaths continue to mount. But a handful of schools, such as those in Inyo County鈥檚 Bishop Unified School District, will be among the first in the state to reinstate physical school reopenings, offering case studies on when and how to safely bring children and adults back to campuses.

More than 97% of California鈥檚 6.1 million K-12 students live in the 38 counties on the state鈥檚 COVID-19 monitoring list, effectively shutting the door on in-person instruction until their counties stabilize infection rates and stay off the list for 14 days. The other 164,000 students live in the 20 counties not on the watch list.

In Bishop 鈥 an Owens Valley town at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains in a remote county that has largely avoided the virus 鈥 classrooms will be in session.

Wearing face masks and sitting spaced apart around a horseshoe table, the Bishop school board last Thursday decided in a 4-hour meeting to give parents in the district of 2,000 students an option of full-time distance learning or , in which students attend class in person for part of the week and learn remotely for the other portion.

鈥淲e鈥檙e privileged to be in a county that has a low (positive test) rate and we have this opportunity to do it. A lot of places in the state don鈥檛 even have the option,鈥 said Taylor Ludwick, a school board member and veterinarian.

鈥淭here are risks in every business 鈥 and they鈥檙e scary,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not an easy proposition to wrap your mind around, but I think the stakes are too high for these kids to not go to school.鈥

Rural differences
Back-to-school season in California and the rest of the country is happening at a time when dozens of states are experiencing surges in cases, prompting thousands of school districts, , to begin the year remotely.

Schools in at least two had students test positive for coronavirus within a day of reopening. Students鈥 has been raised as a possible cause of a coronavirus resurgence in Israel, as well. Without federal help, a sustained decline in cases and extensive testing and contact tracing measures, school officials around the country have cast doubt on whether schools can safely reopen and stay open.

California鈥檚 massive public school system is home to the nation鈥檚 second-largest school district as well as hundreds of small districts, some with as few as five students, each with diverse communities.

The challenges rural districts in Bishop and Lone Pine face in reopening might not apply to large, urban schools in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. But just about every California school district and community at some point this year will likely be in the same shoes as Bishop, grappling with the decision over whether and how to physically reopen schools once they have the green light from the state public-health authorities.

鈥淲e鈥檒l find out if they will provide more comfort or anxiety for the rest of the state as these schools go back in session,鈥 said Tim Taylor, executive director of the Small School Districts Association. 鈥淓verybody鈥檚 thinking of worst-case scenarios. Maybe when we get schools started, these example schools that are going face-to-face can provide us with some relief and reduce our anxiety.鈥

Many of the state鈥檚 rural schools have additional space to spread out classrooms and meet social distancing guidelines requirements, partially because of declining enrollments in remote communities, Taylor said.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic, there is a wide variance in how the 200 school districts in the 20 counties not on the state watchlist are choosing to start the new year.

In Northern California鈥檚 Lake County, for example, four of the six school districts decided to begin the year with , with plans to phase into a hybrid model.

鈥淓verybody鈥檚 thinking of worst-case scenarios. Maybe when we get schools started, these example schools that are going face-to-face can provide us with some relief.鈥
TIM TAYLOR, SMALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION

In Shasta County, the Redding and Shasta Union High school districts will offer in-person instruction, with the latter planning to have students in class five days a week. Shasta Union does plan on requiring students and teachers to wear masks, configuring classrooms to be more spread out and forbidding personal contact between students, among other rules.

Six of 15 school districts in El Dorado County will offer hybrid scheduling, with the rest beginning under full-time distance learning. Buckeye Union Elementary, about 45 minutes east of Sacramento, is the largest California school district currently not affected by reopening restrictions. The district鈥檚 8,900 students will begin with distance learning and school officials will consider physically reopening campuses once El Dorado County can test people for the virus and process results within 48 hours and its infection rates fall below 100 positive cases per 100,000 residents.

Mariposa County Unified School District, about 170 west of Bishop, will also begin under full-time distance learning. In a July 27 letter to families, superintendent Jeff Aranguena said that while the state provided 鈥済uidance and mandates for when a school or district must close its campuses, both the governor and (California Department of Public Health) have not provided mandates and metrics for when it is safe to reopen.鈥

Schools, he added, still need more direction to make responsible decisions for reopening.

Part of the Mariposa district鈥檚 distance learning decision had to do with the wariness that the county 鈥 home to Yosemite National Park where of the virus鈥 presence has surfaced 鈥 could likely end up on the state鈥檚 monitoring list. Another factor was that the district simply did not have all the logistics figured out to bring students back in person by August 20, the first day of school.

The district, which started last school year two bus drivers short, still doesn鈥檛 have enough drivers for the additional routes that would be required to transport students under social distancing practices. Some small, remote schools such as Yosemite National Park Valley Elementary 鈥 with 34 students 鈥 could potentially bring students back sooner.

鈥淲e have a lot of hurdles to get through to get to that point,鈥 Ceci Archer, executive assistant to the district鈥檚 superintendent, said.

Applying for waivers
The Lucerne Valley Unified School District lies in San Bernardino County鈥檚 high desert, a school district of 750 students in the geographically largest county in the U.S. The community in the district would like to physically reopen, but its path to doing so is difficult.

San Bernardino County is on the state鈥檚 watch list, but even schools in those counties have a path for reopening classrooms for K-6 students through .

Schools can submit waivers, which the state introduced in its July 17 rules for reopening schools, if they can attest that they have support from local teacher and employee unions and parent and community groups. Though county health officers will make those case-by-case calls, the state is that counties should not consider approving any waivers if their infection rates are above 200 cases per 100,000 residents.

鈥淩ushing into reopening schools is simply reckless.鈥
JEFF FREITAS, PRESIDENT OF THE CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Peter Livingston, superintendent of the Lucerne Valley Unified School District, said the process effectively prevents his district from offering in-person instruction despite strong support from the district鈥檚 teachers, parents and employees.

Livingston applied for a waiver to physically reopen Lucerne Valley Elementary the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled the new mandates in a long-shot attempt to begin the Aug. 6 first day of school on campuses for the youngest students. About 87% of teachers support a hybrid or full return to campus, Livingston said, adding that 6 in 10 families surveyed said they wanted in-person learning.

But while there are about 55 confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents within Lucerne Valley鈥檚 750 square miles, according to figures the county health department shared with Livingston, the county as a whole had a rate of 239 cases per 100,000 residents as of Saturday.

鈥淲e鈥檙e being lumped into the category of the large metropolitan areas down by San Bernardino, and we鈥檙e far from that,鈥 Livingston said.

The state introduced these elementary school waivers pointing to research that shows children age 12 and under are at lower risk of contracting, spreading and suffering severe complications from the virus. The waivers, however, have come under fierce pushback from the state鈥檚 two teachers unions and some school facilities experts who noted the waivers鈥 approval don鈥檛 consider critical factors such as whether classrooms .

鈥淩ushing into reopening schools is simply reckless,鈥 said Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers, calling the waivers 鈥渁 major mistake.鈥

鈥淒ecisions about reopening schools must be guided by a singular goal of keeping our students, our families, and our communities safe,鈥 he said. 鈥淯nfortunately, the state鈥檚 recent guidance and waiver allowances fall short.鈥

Teacher buy-in
In Bishop, Superintendent Katie Kolker said the district learned many lessons from operating socially distant summer schools. For one, she said, 鈥渟tudents need frequent mask breaks.鈥 They need time to be outside, distanced, without their coverings. An elementary school principal suggested that students have lanyards around their masks so they鈥檇 be less likely to misplace them, a practice that quickly caught on.

Kolker isn鈥檛 sure whether larger cohorts of students will maintain their distance during unstructured parts of the day 鈥 like lunch 鈥 without supervision, but adding more adults or a hall monitor to keep tabs doesn鈥檛 seem appealing, either. 鈥淧eople policing at all times is not going to create a very welcoming environment,鈥 she said.

The former guidance counselor and alternative school principal has wondered both how students with unstable living conditions have fared during the pandemic and how depressed and anxious Bishop students are.

鈥淚f we weren鈥檛 trying really hard (to reopen), we鈥檇 be doing a disservice to our community because these kids, they need us,鈥 Kolker said.

Stacy Van Nest, a math teacher at Bishop High who鈥檚 also the school鈥檚 athletic director and president of the district鈥檚 teachers union, said many logistics still need to be hammered out. The key question yet to be completely resolved is how teachers in the district will balance in-person classes while overseeing students in distance learning.

Though the district is considering dipping into its reserves to hire more teachers to reduce workloads and lower class sizes further, 鈥渢he bottom line is we鈥檙e all doing more,鈥 Van Nest said.

About nine in 10 teachers were on board with trying to offer hybrid classes, Van Nest said, though Kolker acknowledged some teachers are concerned about returning in person.

鈥淥ur teacher working conditions are our students鈥 learning conditions, so we want to make sure that it鈥檚 the best that it possibly can be for everyone,鈥 Van Nest said.

An Aug. 18 in-person start, though less than two weeks away, is far from guaranteed. Complicating reopening plans, the local county health department on Monday that a rise in cases could land Inyo County on the state鈥檚 monitoring list if cases keep growing.

Sometimes, it feels inevitable that the district would have to shut down campuses again, Kolker said. Even a temporary in-person return to schools would help build relationships among students and teachers, making distance learning a more satisfying experience. Unpredictability, she said, will be a constant theme this school year.

As Tuesday鈥檚 registration day wound down at Bishop Union High, Summers and the school registrar quickly leafed through the packets families turned in. Most of the school鈥檚 650 students opted for in-person instruction, she said.

Summers, the president of the local classified employees union who will celebrate her 60th birthday in late August, is a 鈥渓ittle apprehensive鈥 about physical school reopenings, noting her age puts her at risk. An informal survey of school employees found many supported the district鈥檚 efforts, but were most concerned by the sheer uncertainty of what will happen once schools reopen.

When students return to Bishop Union High for the first day of school, they will see signage posted on walls telling them which directions they should be walking in. Several handwashing stations will be placed across campus. Hand sanitizer will be in every classroom. A thick wall of plexiglass now separates Summers鈥 desk counter from visitors.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e on the road to being thoroughly prepared,鈥 Summers said. 鈥淏ut can you really be thoroughly prepared for this?鈥

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.