Back to School Plans

September 2, 2020

All districts in Marin have worked hard over the summer to develop and implement back-to-school plans that will allow them to move forward and backward along the Distance Learning ← → Hybrid ← → In-Person learning continuum as the county moves forward (or backward) along the COVID-19 parameters outlined by the State’s new Watch List Tiered Framework.

As part of these scaleable back-to-school plans, students are participating in Distance Learning block schedules and small A/B or am/pm cohorts that can be easily transitioned into safe, small, in-person Hybrid model cohorts and eventually into a full in-person learning context. Please visit each district’s website for more detailed District by District information. We will be sending out a more comprehensive summary later this month.

Here Is a good summary of the new CA Distance Learning Standards that were included in the 2020-21 State budget

Here is a good excerpt (with resource links) from the California Department of Public Health website explaining the state’s reopen for in-person instruction context:

“Schools may reopen for in-person instruction based on equivalent criteria to the July 17th School Re-opening Framework previously announced. That framework remains in effect except that Tier 1 is substituted for the previous County Data Monitoring List (which has equivalent criteria to Tier 1). Schools in counties within Tier 1 are not permitted to reopen for in-person instruction, with an exception for waivers granted by local health departments for TK-6 grades. Schools that are not authorized to reopen, including TK-6 schools that have not received a waiver, may provide structured, in-person supervision and services to students under the Guidance for Small Cohorts/Groups of Children and Youth.

Schools are eligible for reopening fully for in-person instruction following California School Sector Specific Guidelines once the county is off Tier 1 for 14 days, which is similar to being off the County Data Monitoring List for at least 14 days.

Potential re-closure should follow the July 17th School Re-opening Framework.”

And, per the Partnership’s commitment to equity and antiracist action to dismantle systemic inequities, we will also be watching for the State’s forthcoming COVID-19 health equity measures that will become part of their assessment in advancing counties to the next Tier of activity and reopening in-person instruction.

The state will establish health equity measures on activities such as data collection, testing access, contact tracing, supportive isolation, and outreach that demonstrate a county’s ability to address the most impacted communities within a county. Additional measures addressing health outcomes such as case rates, hospitalizations and deaths, will also be developed and tracked for improvement.” – CDPH