by Caitlin Wilson
With the 2020-2021 school year coming to a close, all eyes are on the San Diego Unified
School District to roll out the process for going back to in-person schooling next year. And although intent on a return to normalcy, the school board still has some lingering decisions to be made regarding safety precautions in response to the persisting COVID-19 situation. By the end of this school year, about 73 percent of students adopted an onsite/online hybrid instructional model, while the rest of their peers remained solely at home. However, it is probable that this number greatly increases next year with San Diego Unified pushing for a full five days per week for next school year for all schools. Nevertheless, students or families with sensitive medical conditions will still be able to participate in classes offered online.
Point Loma High School was especially proactive in steadily returning to in-person learning in not bringing students back too soon. For instance, while UCSD was testing both staff members and students for COVID, not one test came back positive. However, this data was limited to members that have returned to school, excluding students still behind their computers at home. It also did not account for those that may have not got tested due to them being sick, which could greatly skew UCSD’s findings. Despite these seemingly secure health conditions, the district is doing their due diligence by illustrating individual protocols that each school will implement to maintain safe schooling conditions for those that do choose to return next year. For those interested, Point Loma’s COVID-19 Safety Checklist can be found here.
In California, about 44.9 percent of the population has been vaccinated so far, that’s 17.8 million people that have taken both doses need to get fully vaccinated. This is above average with the total US vaccination rate at about 42.6%. California has yet to loosen its grip entirely on COVID protocols. The state has lessened its choke hold on full lockdown, instead opting for a tier system that regulates the “openness” of its counties. With 4 tiers, purple, red, orange, and yellow, in order from most critical to minimal worry respectively, San Diego County has dropped down to this orange or “moderate” tier. What does this mean? Well, it entails that most services can be open indoors, with a few modifications, generally from about 25 to 50 percent capacity. It also states that schools can “reopen for in-person instruction after five days out of the purple tier.” Although, this again is very vague and is open to the district's interpretation. The full list of regulations for counties in each tier can be found at ABC News along with graphs showing the 7-day average case rates per 100K for San Diego County, around 1.7 on May 30, 2021.
One topic of conversation yet to be decided still remains at the forefront of discussion, masks. As shown above, the vaccination rate could theoretically warrant deregulation of this long-standing requirement to wear masks in schools. The state of California has already made its position clear stating that the demand for masks is no-longer standing and that those who are fully vaccinated need not to wear them in public, even as some private institutions may still institute it. Once again though, California schools are being left behind to throw darts at the wall in deciding the process for a return to in-person learning. And whether or not, this program for the reinstatement of schools will be successful or not remains up in the air.
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