By Max Zaninovich, Staff Writer
On the twelfth of November, the SMUHSD board met and discussed plans for distance learning. Some of the key factors in the return plans are flexibility, support, and consistency. There are 5 phases of reopening. Phase 1 calls for fully virtual learning with no on-campus sports and extracurriculars. Phase 2 will have the majority of students virtual and some socially distanced sports conditioning. Phase 3 entails most students and staff working on campus in pods with more sports and extracurriculars allowed to take place. Phase 4 allows for some in-person instruction and all staff working from campus. And lastly, phase 5 will allow everyone including students, teachers, and faculty to be on campus full time.
The district has presented many different models for the partial return to in-person school. Model AB with 2 cohorts and asynchronous days will have the first half of the day in-person and the second half virtually and asynchronous with an asynchronous Monday. Model AB+ is the same as Model AB but with a full virtual synchronous Monday. Model AB streaming will have some students in-person and the rest online learning synchronously at the same time as all the students in-person with a virtual synchronous or virtual asynchronous Monday.
Model AB Alternate will allow all students to return to campus at various times of the day. Half of the student body, group A will attend in-person classes in the first half of the day, while the rest of the student body, group B, will attend in the afternoon. This schedule will commence every day of the school week except for Wednesdays being set aside for a synchronous class day. Mondays and Tuesdays will be set aside for group A to attend morning classes and group B afternoon classes, switching places on Thursdays and Fridays.
Model Double 4 Streaming will allow juniors and seniors to attend school together for two weeks at a time for four days a week (Tuesday through Friday). Sophomores and freshmen will then rotate similar for two weeks, attending classes on campus from Tuesday to Friday. Mondays will remain a virtual synchronous day for the entire student body. This 4 week period will then cycle through to the end of the semester.
With students and staff returning to campus, many health protocols must be implemented to ensure the health of all. Daily recommendations upon returning to school are to wear masks, get temperatures taken, frequent hand washing, and remain six feet apart. There will also be an abundance of class and campus health and safety protocols implemented. Protocols within a class will include students participating in fewer classes a day, designated teacher-only areas, and the frequent cleaning of desks. Desks will be staggered six feet apart in classrooms, all facing the same direction to minimize airborne and physical contact with others. Campus health and safety protocols will begin to use outdoor space for classes as well as assign students to certain wings and bathrooms of the school. Though many measures are being taken to keep everyone safe, the scenario that an individual begins to show symptoms of COVID-19 is unfortunately not obsolete. If this occurs, pop up tents will be used as isolation spaces, but it cannot be stressed enough that if you feel sick, stay home. On-sight testing for Corona will be offered to all; staff, students who prefer in-person learning, and any student involved in extracurriculars will be expected to test monthly. Testing for students will be a charge of $40, covered by the district if said student does not have insurance. Cleaning will be vigorous around campus while conference rooms and meeting areas will be restricted to a limited capacity in stride to keep all employees safe.
It will be decided by the end of December whether or not students will have the option to return to campus and if the district will implement one of these many models into the spring semester. May you choose to return to in-person learning, please remember to keep yourself and others as safe as can be. Wear your masks, wash your hands, and make the best of whichever option you choose.
