Schools
West Contra Costa USD Reopening: 6,338 Students Attend 1st Week
The district, however, did not have an accurate count of how many students it was not able to serve during the first week back.
By Ali Tadayon, EdSource
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — West Contra Costa Unified served 6,338 students during its first week of in-person instruction since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, district spokesman Robert Jordan said.
The district, which encompasses Richmond, El Cerrito and several other surrounding communities, welcomed students back Monday, April 19, for its two spring in-person offerings. The district is offering daily two-hour "interventions" for high-needs students, as well as longer in-person "hubs" on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for students from all grades where students can do distance learning in a supervised setting.
Not all families who wished to participate in the hubs or intervention were able to be accommodated the first week, though, Jordan said. That's due in part to staffing shortages, but also because the particular program did not fit the families' need.
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The agreement between the district and its five employee unions allowed teachers and other employees to volunteer whether or not to come back for the spring. The district did not have an accurate count Friday of how many students were not able to be served, but Jordan said it was in the hundreds.
School sites are still working to get more staff to bring those students in, Jordan said, and teachers are continuing to volunteer for in-person instruction. As of April 16, about 51 percent of West Contra Costa's teachers, counselors and other certificated staff had volunteered for in-person instruction, and 83 percent of aides, custodians and other classified staff had volunteered. The district is recruiting retirees, graduate student tutors and others to help.
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This story was originally published on EdSource, a partner of Bay City News.
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