Temecula Valley USD Eyes March 15 Reopening For Grades TK-5

TEMECULA, CA — As the number of positive coronavirus cases continues to decline in Riverside County, the Temecula Valley Unified School District is eyeing a modified return to in-person instruction next month for TK-5 students, pending the county’s COVID-19 case rate and a green light from government officials.

TVUSD Superintendent Dr. Jodi McClay laid out the district’s reopening plan during Tuesday’s board meeting. In order for the district to move to in-person instruction for elementary students, the state requires the county’s new coronavirus daily case rate to drop below 25 positive cases per 100,000 population for five consecutive days. As of Thursday, Riverside University Health System reported the county’s case rate at 28.8 per 100,000.

If the rate continues dropping and the district gets the OK to reopen its elementary school sites, classrooms will not look the same, McClay warned. In addition to COVID-19 safety protocols that include an array of changes like plexiglass dividers and isolation areas for individuals suspected of illness, the students will not be in class all day.

The TVUSD reopening plan recommends a hybrid model that would bring students in grades 1 through 5 into the classroom for 2.5 hours, Tuesday through Friday, on either an a.m. or p.m. schedule. The classroom hours would be 8:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. for the morning students, or 12:55 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. for the afternoon students.

Each group would also receive 2.5 hours of online instruction Tuesday through Friday. Students in classrooms during morning hours would receive off-campus online instruction from 12:55 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.; students in classrooms during afternoon hours would receive off-campus online instruction from 8:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Home learning time without a teacher would also be required.

For grades TK-K, the schedules would mimic grades 1-5 but there would be less home learning required.

In a Thursday correspondence from McClay to TVUSD families, the superintendent said, "staff has worked hard to ensure we will have programs available in regard to before and after school childcare with the AM/PM learning models. Detailed information about TVUSD childcare options for staff and families of elementary students will be provided prior to Monday, February 22." Read the correspondence here.

The district is also eyeing bringing students in grades 6-12 back to campuses starting April 5, but the state requires the county to have fewer than seven new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 population for five consecutive days before that can happen.

In coming days, TVUSD families with elementary students can expect to receive notification from the district asking whether they want to keep their previously selected learning model or make a change, according to McClay. Additionally, the district is working to ensure all educators who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 get their shots before a return to in-person instruction, McClay said. Vaccine supply has been in short supply countywide, and it’s not immediately clear whether the vaccination objective will be met.

A return to campus with a hybrid model will be challenging, but it offers a transition to a full reopening — hopefully beginning in the fall, McClay said.

“It’s not going to be a walk in the park,” she said, explaining that the hybrid model and all the COVID-19 safety protocols are unchartered territories for the district.

While some have criticized the district for the shutdown and others have blamed labor unions, McClay said the state and county health mandates are the hurdles to reopening.

“As we have said repeatedly, this has not been the district’s choice,” she said. “Our employees want to return.”