Sixth graders are back to school, others soon to follow
by Donald Morrison
Sixth graders in the Redondo Unified School District returned to in person classes for two days a week on Wednesday, March 10, in a hybrid learning model with limited classroom sizes.
To comply with guidelines set by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, sixth grade students were broken up into two groups, or cohorts. Cohort One students attend in person classes for half the day on Tuesday and Thursday, while Cohort Two students do the same schedule on Wednesday and Friday.
Seventh and eighth grade students in the RBUSD are scheduled to return to campus on March 29, in one of two models, depending on whether or not LA County sees a drop in positive COVID-19 tests.
If LA County stays in the Purple Tier, with more than seven new positive Coronavirus cases a day per 100,000, then seventh and eighth grade students will return under the same cohort model as sixth graders.
However, if LA County moves into a lower tier by spending two weeks with a new positive COVID-19 test rate of less than eight percent and no more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 people, then seventh and eighth grade students could return all together in three stable cohorts.
“If we can return under the Red Tier, then we would shift to our in-person, hybrid model for all grades, six through 12, beginning the week of March 29,” said Dr. Nicole Wesley, assistant superintendent of Human Resources.
Only 82 percent of sixth graders chose to come back to campus on March 9, according to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Susan Wildes.
Parents of sixth through eighth grade students have been asked to complete a survey on whether or not their children are planning to return to in person classes before the end of the school year.
“We’re talking about coming up with unique cohorting for thousands of students,” Dr. Wildes said. “We need to get some sort of pulse as to whether or not you’re in. Will your child be returning to campus? Or will you be staying home for the next year?”
Not everyone is pleased by the prospect of returning to campus before Spring Break.
Sarah Robinson, vice president of the Redondo Beach Teachers Association, said that during the week of March 29, most teachers are compiling grades from the past 10 weeks and preparing for the next quarter. It’s one of the busiest weeks of the term.
“Setting a return date for the fourth quarter, after Spring Break, would allow teachers and students to start fresh with a new schedule and new learning model,” Robinson said. “It would give teachers time over the break to contemplate how they will manage the hybrid learning schedule and give parents time to establish new family routines and schedules as well.”
Mckenzie Blunt, a senior from Redondo Union High School shared a public comment, asking the board to postpone reopening schools until the beginning of next school year.
“Myself and many of my peers fear that returning to school at this point would cause more harm than good,” Blunt said. “This would be a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for students due to the upcoming AP tests, finals and exams.”
Vaccinations
More than 300 RBUSD employees received their first vaccination between March 3 and March 12. Because many teachers had already found alternative ways of getting the vaccine, Superintendent Dr. Steven Keller predicted that the entire vaccine priority list will be completed by the end of this week. He said the RBUSD hopes to vaccinate tutors and substitute teachers next. ER