Local district dates to return students to school still uncertain

By Doug Spoon, Editor

On a day when Riverside County health officials announced that school districts already approved by the county and state to return students to campus are now allowed to do so, districts in Menifee remained several weeks away from such a return.

Romoland School District superintendent Trevor Painton said during Tuesday night’s board meeting that the district’s COVID-19 Safety Plan was submitted that day to Riverside County officials, who have seven days to approve it or send it back for revisions. The plan includes a checklist of safety precautions districts must prove they are taking.

Once that plan is approved, it is sent to the state for final approval. If the plan isn’t returned for revisions in the following seven days, the district is approved for a return to on-campus learning, Painton said.

Given the 14 days both entities have to respond to the district’s application to reopen, it could be March 9 before such approval is given. Meanwhile, Painton said, district officials will go ahead with correspondence to parents outlining a proposed schedule for hybrid learning – a combination of on-campus and distance learning. Families who wish to remain in total distance learning will have the opportunity to do so. Negotiations are also continuing with the district’s teachers and classified employees unions.

Once the preferences of parents are determined – something that affects class size – and adequate supplies for COVID-19 testing of staff and students are on hand, students could begin to return to campus. Painton acknowledged that setting an exact date at this time is not possible.

The district’s school reopening plan was scheduled as a presentation and not to be put to a vote, but board member Gary Reller expressed the desire to do everything possible to expedite the process. He proposed that an action item be added to that night’s agenda to consider authorizing district staff to open school campuses once approval is received and it is deemed safe to do so. His motion, which included giving staff authority to set the return date without needing another board vote, passed unanimously.

There was no such action item to confirm a return to campus in Menifee Union School District Tuesday, although direction from board members following a staff presentation was to work toward a return to campus either right before or right after spring break, which is April 2-9. That amount of time is necessary, district officials said, for several reasons:

-- MUSD has not yet submitted its COVID-19 Safety Plan to the county. The process of ensuring social distancing in classrooms is not yet complete, according to superintendent Dr. Jennifer Root.

-- A system of COVID-19 testing for students and staff and the supplies for such a system are not yet in place.

-- Negotiations with the Menifee Teachers Association and the classified employees union are ongoing. Further meetings are scheduled for next week, Root said.

-- The district’s hybrid learning model – which has been discussed for months but has undergone several changes – is not yet finalized, said assistant superintendent Dr. Kim Huesing. Board and staff members agreed that a return should begin with a hybrid learning model, as many districts are considering. Huesing did not give board members details on what has yet to be determined before announcing the revised hybrid learning plan to the public.

The only students eligible to return upon county and state approval at this time are in grades TK through 5. According to state guidelines, COVID-19 case rates must continue to drop before middle school students could return. And the Perris Union High School District has already announced that its students won't return to campus this school year.

“Our goal is not to move children around,” Huesing said. “We want to create a system where children would stay with the same teacher.

“What we have now is a draft. The final plan could be a little different. It’s not that we’re working in secret. We’re just not in a formal position to share the plan with our families.”

The staff presentation asked board members whether they felt another survey of teachers and parents was necessary to get all the input possible. Most trustees said there have been enough surveys already and the next step of outreach to families would be to ask whether they want to come back in a hybrid format or remain in full-time distance learning. Both options will be available to families.

Following that discussion, board members discussed a suggested start date for hybrid learning, assuming the district’s eventual application will be approved by the state and county. The consensus was to return all students desiring to do so on April 12 – the first day back from spring break. That would leave eight weeks of instruction before the end of the school year.

Trustees also agreed that a “soft return” of a week for students in TK and kindergarten ahead of other students could take place the week before spring break. That idea was proposed so students who had never been in an MUSD classroom would have time to adapt to the change.

Board member Xavier Padilla said he would agree to that timeline only if he had assurances that all teachers had the opportunity to get both vaccinations first. According to Root, teacher vaccinations were made available within the district on Feb. 18, which would mean the second shot could be received on March 18, and with two weeks’ time allowed after that, teachers would be eligible to work on campus by April 1.

Root said there is no requirement for teachers to be vaccinated to return to work on campus, however, and that privacy laws prohibit the district from asking teachers whether they have been vaccinated.

Prior to Root’s presentation about a possible return to campus, Menifee Teachers Association President Shelli Sullivan reported the results of a recent survey, which included responses from 416 of the district’s 550-plus teachers.

Sullivan reported that 60 percent were against returning to in-person learning if the COVID-19 recovery tier is not considered. (Riverside County remains in the highest-risk purple tier). Only 25 percent were willing to return to campus at this time. In addition, 45 percent of teachers were opposed to returning in a hybrid model.

“They need to provide ample time for us to receive the vaccine,” one respondent wrote. “I am not in favor of returning if there are only a few weeks left,” wrote another.

In public comments read during the meeting, the number of parents in favor of an immediate return to class were about double those who were in favor of waiting. Before the meeting, a group of protestors stood on the corner of Newport Road and Haun Road, holding signs demanding that students be allowed to return to school.

According to Tuesday’s announcement by county health officials, Murrieta Valley Unified School District is one of four county districts with previously approved plans that are now allowed to return students to school. That district announced Tuesday that it plans for a March 15 return. Temecula Valley Unified School District, which is awaiting approval of its plan, hopes to return on the same date.

Board President Jackie Johansen said she believed teachers who wished to get vaccinated would have had ample time to do so by mid-March. She also acknowledged the district’s confirmation that teachers who expressed health concerns at that time would be allowed to stay out of the classroom.

“In a few weeks, the kids will have been at home an entire year,” Johansen said. “Murrieta and Temecula have already put out a start date of March 15. As soon as parents see that Menifee is not opening soon, a lot of people will be very upset.”