Beaumont USD Eyes April 1 Reopening Of Middle, High Schools

BEAUMONT, CA — The Beaumont Unified School District is looking at an April 1 return to the classroom for middle and high school students, following discussion at Tuesday night’s BUSD board meeting.

The caveat is whether Riverside County’s COVID-19 adjusted case rate drops enough per state guidelines to allow it.

The district is proceeding with its planned March 22 return to in-person instruction for grades TK-5, according to a reopening update to the board Tuesday night by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Amy Nguyen-Hernandez. The return will be under a hybrid learning model — with time split between the classroom and remote instruction — although families can decide whether to opt-out and remain all virtual.

With the county’s improving COVID-19 numbers, along with a financial incentive from the state, the board members set April 1 as a target date to return secondary students to campuses. The date was not set in stone, however, because the district is awaiting updates on the county’s “tier” status.

Riverside County remains in the state's most restrictive purple tier because of its adjusted COVID-19 case rate, according to state metrics. Under California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy, the adjusted case rate must fall to seven COVID-19 cases (or lower) per 100,000 residents in order to progress to red-tier status and fully reopen all schools. Riverside County meets all other state metrics required to move into the red tier.

As of Tuesday, Riverside County had an adjusted case rate of 8.3 cases per 100,000 residents, according to state data, and the figure is trending in the right direction. On March 2, the county’s case rate was at 11.3 cases per 100,000 residents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has also hinted that the adjusted case rate criteria will be loosened in coming days.

If the county does progress into the red tier by April 1 — and BUSD middle and high school students are back in the classroom under a hybrid learning model — the district becomes eligible for significant AB-86 grant funding, according to Nguyen-Hernandez. As part of the legislation, $6.6 billion has been set aside by the state to incentivize districts to bring California students back to class. If Riverside County progresses into the red tier by April 1, and the BUSD doesn’t have its secondary students back on campus, the district would be penalized 1 percent of its AB-86 allocation daily, Nguyen-Hernandez explained.

The Beaumont Unified School District includes seven elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, a 21st Century Learning Institute, and an adult school.

The next BUSD board meeting is scheduled March 23, at which time the board will revisit the middle and high school reopening plan based on the county's tier status.