Sonoma's schools remain on distance learning; not quite ready for reentry

On Monday the state health department issued new coronavirus safety guidelines for schools indicating they could reopen as soon as June 12, but Sonoma’s schools aren’t quite ready to make the leap, an official said.

“We will need to do a lot of preparation to keep students and staff safe,” said Socorro Shiels, superintendent of Sonoma Valley Unified School District.

During the June 2 school board meeting, Shiels said the district had been putting together plans for summer and extended school as well as looking at how school will operate in the fall. That was before Monday’s guidelines. Elementary summer school and extended school year for special education students begins Wednesday, leaving the district little time to prepare.

“We have been working with the state public health and California Department of Education guidelines coming forth to plan and formulate our reentry plans. Our ability to serve students in class is directly related to the specificity of the guidance,” Shiels said.

The district adheres to county rules and is waiting for the county’s chief health official, Dr. Sundari Mase, to interpret the guidelines.

On Monday Mase said that education was one of 11 sectors state government recently gave guidance for.

“So let’s see what happens here over the next couple weeks, and if we’re still holding at the case rate and other metrics, then we’ll probably succeed in opening these other sectors with guidance and mitigation measure on the 22nd,” Mase said. “If on the other hand we have metrics that make us worry, then we may not open everything.”

New guidelines include temperature checks, cloth face masks or clear face shields for teachers to allow for students to see their faces, hand washing and sanitizing products that won’t irritate those with asthma.

“We have been ordering specific cleaning supplies and equipment throughout the shelter in place,” Shiels said. The question for the district is how to provide the identified essential protective equipment, “where to procure these supplies and how to pay for them, is vital information we are still waiting on,” she said.

Some state guidelines were under consideration by the district prior to the release, including staggering class times to avoid large groups of students passing in hallways, smaller classes, barriers between desks or separating desks six feet apart. Another option is a hybrid of distance learning and on-campus classes, Shiels said.

Shiels said the district has been watching how business are reopening, reading plans from different organizations “so we can learn” from others and collecting ideas and concerns.

“We’re still learning, but we have ideas to bring to the table,” Shiels said about the district’s plans for reopening.

“We are grounding our coming back on science,” she said.

Classes will continue with distance learning for now, and could be an option to turn to during other emergencies given the past few years’ experiences such as wildfires and PG&E’s forced power outages during Public Safety Power Shutoff.

“Our toolbox has grown immensely” in that regard, Shiels said.

Contact Anne at anne.ernst@sonomanews.com.