District announces it will open in full in the fall
In a letter dated April 27, Windsor Unified School District Superintendent Jeremy Decker announced that agreements and plans had been completed, and the district would be opening for additional days, following a shift to 3-foot social distancing guidelines.
“I am excited to announce that we will be transitioning to 3-foot social distancing in our classrooms,” Decker said in the letter. “Students in grades 6-12 will be making the change next Monday, May 3. Students in grades TK-5 will be making the transition beginning on May 6. This change will allow us to double the number of students in the classroom, and ultimately double the amount of days that students are able to attend in-person.”
According to Decker, they are able to transition grades 6-12 sooner because of the furniture in the classrooms. The lower grades will require a significant amount of reshuffling of furniture, given how much had to be removed to accommodate the previous guideline of 6-foot social distancing.
Because of the time needed to reposition and reconfigure the classrooms, the lower grades (TK-5) will transition to asynchronous instruction only on Monday, May 3 and Tuesday, May 4.
“We need all hands on deck to get the 73 classrooms ready to welcome the increased number of students back on Thursday, May 6,” Decker said.
According to Decker, beyond the increase in days, nothing else will be changing with regard to the start and end times for students, and they will still go home at lunchtime. Students will also continue to stay on distance learning on Wednesdays. However, there is one snag to the new guidelines and how they are being applied by the state.
“Unfortunately, the updated guidance that allows 3-foot distancing does not apply to lunch, and students are required to be 6 feet apart when their masks are not on,” Decker said in the letter. “Please be on the lookout for specific communication from the principal of your child as they will provide the necessary details to make sure that this transition goes smoothly.”
Decker’s letter also announced the district’s plan to open schools in full for the next school year, starting in the fall of 2021. “Obviously, this is contingent on the California Department of Public Health allowing us to do so, but is the intent of the Windsor Unified School District to be open full-time, five days per week, beginning in the fall,” Decker said.
Decker ended the letter with some introspection about how he has worked through the challenges of the pandemic.
“As the father of a kindergartner, I truly do know how hard this has been for everyone. I know that there have been tears, anxiety, and frustration this school year … and those were just my own emotions,” he said. “I am also aware that it hasn’t always been clear as to why students weren’t able to be at school more often. Oftentimes, I felt that I was simply providing excuses to all of you, and it ate me up inside. We have had so many barriers put in front of us throughout this pandemic, and I am excited that things are finally getting better. It has been a herculean effort to educate students this year, and I wish I could truly explain all of the planning that has gone into getting to this point.”
