Some students to return to school in April

Wasco Union Elementary School District students have begun returning to the classroom.

Superintendent Kelly Richers said during the board meeting March 9 that the time has come to teach in-person with staggered dates beginning with Special Education mild/moderate and moderate/severe classes returning April 6, based on the original cohort schedule.

Richers also said that there were two minimum qualifications in order to return such as the level of new infections must drop below 24/100,000.

"We are currently below that," Richers said. "The second one was that every staff member has had the opportunity to be vaccinated, if they wished."

He added that since everyone has been offered the opportunity to make a reservation for the first vaccination March 6, Richers considers that by April 10, anyone who wished to do so would now be fully vaccinated.

The following schedule will be utilized for the return to class instruction:

• April 12 Special Education RSP students will return for in-person instruction;

• April 26 grades TK and K will return for in-person instruction;

• May 3 grade 6 will return for in-person instruction;

• May 10 grade 1 will return for in-person instruction.

Richers also said that at the present time, these are the grades anticipated to return during the 2020-21 school year for in-person instruction.

Richers added that those grade levels that are having in-person instruction, all students, both in-person and distance learning, will be checking in from 8 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. for attendance.

For those grade levels that are having in-person instruction, the next half hour will be for all students and will be the ELD learning time. Distance learning students will then log off at 8:45 a.m. and do their asynchronous work.

He added that all in-person regular education classes will be held in-person from 8-11 a.m. He said that teachers will teach distance learning from 12:30-2:30 p.m. and all teachers returning to in-person learning will be paid one hour for extra preparation time each day they ae doing in-person and distance learning.

"Time cards will need to be filled out for each extra hour," Richers said.

In addition, in-person learning will take place Monday through Thursday and Friday will be used for distance learning with all students to facilitate the PLC schedules. However, he also said that teachers doing in-person learning will not be required to come to the sites on Friday.

All office staff and support staff who normally work at the sites will be expected to operate at the sites from their regular hours of reporting in the morning until 3:30 p.m. or their normal leaving time starting April 6 as the sites will be open until 3:30 p.m.

Richers also said that starting April 26 all office staff and support staff who normally work at the sites will be expected to operate at the sites from their regular hours of reporting in the morning until their normal leaving time as the sites will be open until 4:30 p.m.

"Although it was initially intended that all teachers at all grade levels return to the sites when we began teaching any grade level in-person classes, the current bandwidth will not support that," Richers said. "Distance learning teachers may continue teaching from home if they wish until further notice. The bandwidth may or may not be installed before the end of the school year."

"Following this plan, the district will be allowed to open for June and July summer school," Richers said.

In other business, two students from Palm Avenue who placed in the Black History Month poem competition were presented to the attendees. Second place was Luke Ortiz and third place was Anna Bella Carranza.