Phased Reopening Still Scheduled to Start March 29

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Dear Long Beach Unified Community,

We’re pleased to report that the phased reopening of in-person classes announced last week remains on schedule to begin March 29. In-person elementary instruction for California public schools recently became possible on a wide basis for the first time in nearly a year, according to state criteria. Those criteria allow the Long Beach Unified School District to activate its plans for bringing some students back to campus. If COVID numbers continue to improve, middle and high school grades also could reopen on the April schedule announced last week.

Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 5

As previously announced, students returning on March 29 will be those from grades TK-5 whose families have selected the hybrid schedule (part of the day at school, and part of the day learning at home). Families who prefer that their TK-5 students continue learning entirely at home through the online setting can continue with that option.

The return of TK-5 students to in-person learning assumes that the adjusted COVID case rate in Los Angeles County remains below 25 cases per 100,000 people, as specified by the California Department of Public Health’s most recent guidelines for school reopenings. The case rate fell below that threshold last week. This week, the case rate per 100,000 was 12.3, continuing a significant decrease in recent weeks.

菠菜网lol正规平台 is partnering with Long Beach Health and Human Services to vaccinate all school district employees who want the COVID vaccine. Thousands of 菠菜网lol正规平台 employees have received these vaccines in recent weeks, with priority going to public-facing employees and teachers in the early grades. Although vaccines are not required by health officials for a return to campus, 菠菜网lol正规平台’s TK-5 teachers who return to the in-person setting will have been offered both the first and second doses of the usual two-dose vaccine regimen. These teachers would return to their classrooms March 22 to prepare for students’ return as distance learning continues.

Middle Grades and High Schools

Assuming Los Angeles County meets the state’s public health criteria, middle and high school in-person learning on hybrid schedules would begin on this timeline, as announced last week:

• April 19 – Grade 12
• April 20 – Grades 6 to 8
• April 26 – Grades 9 to 11

Middle and high school teachers would return to classrooms April 12 to prepare for students’ return as distance learning continues.

California’s public health criteria are more stringent for the reopening of middle and high schools than they are for elementary grades. Middle and high school grade levels may reopen for in-person learning if the county remains in the state-determined “red tier” for at least five days. Under this red tier, seven-day average case rates are between four and seven cases per 100,000 people, and seven-day average testing positivity is between 5% and 8%. As with the elementary grades, in-person learning will be offered but not required of students when such reopenings are allowed by the state. Students will have the option of continuing with all-online learning or instead participating in-person on a hybrid schedule.

Sports and Other Activities

Parents will receive updates on sports and extracurricular activities as state guidance continues to evolve. California has re-examined sports guidelines to help clear the way for football, baseball, softball, soccer, water polo, cheerleading and other outdoor sports to return when certain thresholds are met.

Health and Safety Plans

The safety of employees and students is the school district’s first priority. In preparation for the return of students to campuses, 菠菜网lol正规平台 will submit an updated plan to Long Beach Health and Human Services by this Friday for review, and a response is expected within seven days. 菠菜网lol正规平台’s COVID-19 Pandemic School Opening and Safety Plan remains publicly available at ngskmc-eis.net/coronavirus. This plan is undergoing further updates to provide the most current information, and these updates will be completed in the coming days. The school district also continues to provide videos of what classrooms will look like with social distancing, sanitation and other safety measures in place. View the latest example here.

Parents and guardians can expect to receive school-specific information in the days and weeks ahead regarding health and safety protocols, including entrance and exit from campus, cleaning measures, asymptomatic anterior nasal (least invasive) COVID testing and other day-to-day details. These school-based communications will be rooted in districtwide health and safety plans that provide consistent expectations while allowing school site flexibility based upon factors such as the number of students on a campus at a given time.

Thank you for your support as we hope and plan for continued progress.

Sincerely,

Jill

Jill Baker, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools