What’s next for schools on the Central and South Coasts as they try to cope with the impacts of coronavirus? School districts throughout the region are wrangling with that issue.
Will instruction be all online in the fall? Will it be a hybrid, with children going to the school part of the time? And, will some classes, especially those for younger kids and those with special needs try to resume in person? One Ventura County school district set up a task force to try to tackle the question.
Dr. Angelica Ramsey is Superintendent of Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley School District. The K through 8th grade district has about 6500 students. She says their task force includes teachers, staff members, and parents, as it tries to come up with different operational options.
Ventura County’s Office of Education worked with school districts and employee groups to come up with a framework of reopening guidelines districts could customize for their specific situations.
Dr. Antonio Castro is the county’s Associate Superintendent for Educational Services, who headed a task force focused on the issue. He says options could range the gamut. There could be virtual classes once again, depending on the health situation. We could see a hybrid approach, with students going to school some days, and remote learning others to keep the number of people on campus down at any given time. And, for some students like those with special needs, it could mean daily in person classes.
Districts can use the county task force blueprint to help them develop customized plans.
Ramsey says with coronavirus numbers surging, and health orders changing, it’s hard to develop a plan which may fit perfectly weeks from now. The bottom line is schools need to be ready to pivot to meet the changes in the health situation.
The nation’s second largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District, announced this week that it would be doing remote learning for it fall session, which starts in a little over a month.
Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Stan Mantooth sums it up simply. He says the coming school year is going to be unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
