The Boulder Valley School District’s elementary students are returning after winter break for four days a week of in-person learning, while secondary students will be phased in for a hybrid model with two days in person.
“This plan gets all of our kids back in person,” Boulder Valley Superintendent Rob Anderson said. “We know how important in person learning in, not just for the academic impacts, but also the social emotional impacts.”
Boulder Valley’s plan largely mirrors that of the neighboring St. Vrain Valley School District, which announced its January plans on Wednesday. Both districts sent letters to families this morning with more information. Boulder Valley officials plan to discuss the in-person plans and answer questions in a live episode of “Let’s Talk Education” from 4 to 5 p.m. today at bvsd.org/bv22.
Boulder Valley plans for all students to return to classes Jan. 5.
Elementary students will go in-person four days a week. Preschool students will start in a hybrid model, then move to four days a week in person Feb. 2.
Middle schoolers will start online only, then move to two days in person and two days online starting Jan. 12. High school students also start online, then move to two days in person and two days online starting Jan. 19 — giving high schoolers an additional day in person compared to the fall. When not in person, middle and high school students will follow along with the in-person classes from home.
Middle and high school students in intensive special education programs, as well as the high school Newcomers program for immigrants, will have the option of attending four days a week in person. Boulder TEC and Arapahoe Ridge High School students also will attend in-person four days a week.
Mondays will remain a “launch” day, with students in all grades learning independently from home so teachers can plan.
Students who opted for remote learning only will continue learning from home with a mix of real time and independent learning.
The local decisions on in-person plans follows the release Tuesday of a report by Gov. Jared Polis’ back-to-school task force. The report outlines steps the state will take to support districts bringing students back to classrooms, The Denver Post reported.
Since Colorado updated its color-coded COVID-19 dial, the state now recommends in-person learning take place unless a county is at Level Purple, the equivalent of a stay-at-home order. At Level Red, the second-highest risk level and where Boulder County currently sits, Polis said schools should prioritize in-person learning for preschool through fifth grade, and consider hybrid or remote learning for middle and high school students.
The state also now suggests suspending extracurricular activities to avoid mixing cohorts outside of school until in-person learning is available at all grade levels.
Boulder Valley switched to remote only learning Nov. 17 because of skyrocketing coronavirus case numbers. Anderson said at the time that case increases had stretched the contact tracing capabilities of both the health department and the district team, overwhelming the district to the point it couldn’t keep up.
Before that, the district had phased in the different grade levels for in-person learning, with four days in person for elementary, two days for middle and one day for high school.
For January, Boulder County and Broomfield public health officials recommended bringing in the middle and high school students — who are considered at a higher risk of transmitting the virus — later in the month to make sure there’s not a spike in cases following the holidays.
Public health officials also recommended both Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley keep secondary students in a hybrid model until case rates drop.
“I’ve committed from the beginning to rely on the advice of health experts to make decisions for our district, and I will continue to do that though this pandemic,” Anderson said.
He said the goal is to move the secondary students to four days a week of in person learning as soon as case levels allow. Another goal is keeping schools open through the semester. This fall, multiple schools were closed for two weeks at a time because of staffing issues caused by state quarantine requirements.
Recently revised state quarantine requirements, which will allow for more targeted quarantines, should make it easier keep students in school, providing more consistency for the spring.
Under the new guidelines, schools that meet certain requirements, such as using seating charts and keeping students separated in cohorts, can quarantine only close contacts, instead of an entire grade or class, when there’s a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently revised its guidelines to allow quarantined students and educators to be readmitted to school after seven days if they produce a negative COVID-19 test result and do not have symptoms.
At the district level in Boulder Valley, changes include hiring classroom monitors, up to 250 or five per school, to help keep schools staffed and open during quarantines. So far, district officials, about 200 people have applied for the position. The district also plans to open a free COVID-19 testing site at Centaurus High for staff and students, along with working to provide mobile testing.
Ultimately, Anderson said, the district’s plans require community members to follow health guidelines and keep cases from spiking again.
“If you get too high of community cases, those cases will find their way into schools,” he said. “At a certain point, you just cannot operate schools. It’s going to take us all working together to keep these community cases low.”
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BVSD plans four days in person for elementary, hybrid for secondary in January - Boulder Daily Camera
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