The path forward on our return to school in Los Banos

As you know, COVID-19 has changed how we educate our students. I cannot express enough gratitude to the Los Banos Unified School District staff that have worked through the challenges this pandemic has produced to create new and exciting methods for teaching and learning to occur.

I also have a debt of gratitude to the LBUSD Board Members. Board members have a difficult job when things are going well, but when you add a pandemic along with the budget concerns it has caused, their job becomes even more difficult.

Despite the challenges, the Board, families, teachers, classified staff, students and administrators have worked together through this crisis. Without the support and collaborative efforts of all of our stakeholders, LBUSD would not be where it is in transitioning its students back to our campuses for in-person learning opportunities.

With a return to school now underway, I wanted to highlight the guiding principles that have served as a frame for the transition, as well as the steps that have been taken to ensure the guiding principles prevail.

Safety and Wellbeing

As we return to school, our single highest priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. All staff and students will be required to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines on school grounds.

Handwashing and disinfecting supplies will be readily available across our campuses. Bathrooms will be cleaned a minimum of three times daily and high- touch surfaces such as doorknobs, push bars and handrails will be cleaned and sanitized on a continuous cycle throughout the day.

Based on the best guidance from state and county officials, we are working to improve safety wherever possible.

Steady Forward

Straight forward is another key element to our resuming in-person instruction. As much as we want everyone back on campus immediately, we know that a phased- in approach — which brings back small groups and/or grade levels spaced out in two-week intervals — is the best approach when it comes to keeping our staff and students healthy and safe.

Small groups of students began transitioning back to the District’s campuses on November 2, 2020 as a part of this phased-in approach. Our goal is to have all students back in the classroom by January 11.

Throughout this process, we will utilize a hybrid schedule to minimize the number of contacts individual students will have on a day-to-day basis. Cohorts of students will remain together throughout the week with a combination of in-class instruction two days per week and two days of distance learning.

This will reduce the number of students on campus, by half, at any given time. Wednesdays will serve as student support days or additional distance learning.

Predictability

One of the greatest challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the ongoing changes to regulations, restrictions, etc. that impact everything we do as a District. A heightened level of uncertainty about the future has complicated this even further.

With this in mind, we have developed our plans to provide as much predictability and stability as possible so families can make decisions and plan accordingly. Now that the return to in-person instruction has commenced, we are committed to seeing this process through.

While we cannot predict the future or how conditions may change within the state and county, we understand that families need to be able to plan their lives and we are doing everything we can to facilitate this.

Importantly, families that wish to remain in a distance-learning environment will have an option to do so.

Educational Excellence

Providing a quality education for all students continues to be the driver for all things we do. I am proud of the way that everyone has worked together to provide engaging and enriching instructional programs during the distance-learning phase of this school year.

I am equally confident that this collaborative, roll-up-the-sleeves mindset will yield quality outcomes for our students as we return to schools, using the phased- in approach.

COVID-19 has, without a doubt, been one of the most challenging experiences in our lives. In spite of the challenges and hardships associated with COVID-19, we have witnessed many acts of kindness, charity, community spirit and service to others.

WE will continue to work TOGETHER as we return students to our classrooms. Brighter days lay ahead, and someday we will look back on this chapter in our lives, known as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will be proud of what we were able to overcome TOGETHER.