With Newsom’s stay-at-home order lifted, how are Merced County school districts impacted?

After Gov. Gavin Newsom this week lifted the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in the Valley, questions remained about whether there would be any impacts on the 20 school districts in Merced County.

On the surface, the answer may seem somewhat complicated.

Superintendents with Merced County school districts this week spoke to the Sun-Star to explain what those primary impacts are.

They also shared their plans moving forward, 10 months into a pandemic that as of Friday has killed 349 county residents and infected a total of 26,038.

“We were hopeful that we would see some decline in the COVID numbers by now, but upon consultation with the health department, that is not the case,” said Alan Peterson, Merced Union High School District superintendent.

“However, we are optimistic that we are turning the corner and students will return to campuses soon.”

Back to purple tier

Once Newsom ended the shelter-in-place order, Merced County reverted back to purple tier under the state’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

The blueprint primarily deals with whether businesses can reopen based on the prevalence of new COVID-19 infections and the assessed risk of transmitting the virus in the community. Purple is the most restrictive of the four tier levels, representing “widespread” risk of spreading the virus.

Steve Tietjen, Merced County superintendent of schools, said the county returning to purple tier status affects school districts in different ways.

He explained that school districts under the state’s purple tier generally cannot reopen for in-person classes — although there are some exceptions.

Back in the fall, Merced County was in the red tier — the second most-restrictive level below purple. Red tier means there is a “substantial” risk of coronavirus transmission in counties under that designation.

Because the county was under the red tier, Merced County school districts could pursue a hybrid model of learning, meaning students and staff switched between online learning and in-person learning days.

In the fall, some Merced County districts — for example like Merced Union High School District — opted to pursue the hybrid learning model.

Others, like Los Banos Unified School District, did not, and instead remained with distance learning — where teachers have classes with their students through online courses.

Now that Newsom lifted the shelter-in-place order Monday, returning Merced County to purple tier status, districts that had been doing a hybrid model of education under red tier can now resume the hybrid model — if they choose to do so.

But school districts that did not opt for the hybrid model set in place during the fall, when Merced County was under red tier status, cannot have in-person classes under the current purple tier status.

Special education students and students with special circumstances that require in person instruction, however, can meet in settings of no more than 16 people, regardless of the tier status.

All school districts continue to provide free lunches for students.

In order for all Merced County school districts to resume in person learning, they would have to return to tiers that are red (substantial risk), orange (moderate risk), or yellow (minimal risk).

MUHSD moving to hybrid instruction March 15

Also, now that the state’s stay-at-home order has been lifted, sports that are permitted to compete in the purple tier — which include cross county, golf, tennis and track & field — can begin in February, school officials said earlier this week.

Golf, tennis, swimming and cross county teams may begin team practices on Monday with the first meets possibly being scheduled for the week of Feb. 8, Peterson told the Sun-Star earlier this week.

Merced Union High School District serves more than 10,000 students at six traditional high schools, three alternative schools, and one adult school.

In terms of student instruction, MUHSD officials say they are doing distance learning for now, but they expect their campuses to return to hybrid learning March 15.

While students and staff will alternate between in-person and online learning days, families will also have the option of continuing distance learning for their students.

“We knew that there was a good chance that the county would go back to the purple tier once the holidays came around, however we realized the importance of having them back, even if it was just temporary,” Sam Yniguez, director of communications for Merced Union High School District, said in an email to the Sun-Star.

“Grades were slipping and morale was low. Not to mention the toll that was taken on our students’ physical and mental health.”

Merced City School District has waiver

Merced City School District, which has which has more than 11,000 students and 19 campuses, is continuing with distance learning, following the lifting of the shelter-in-place order.

However, Merced City does have a state-approved waiver that allows for students pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade to come on campus for on-site instruction.

Despite the waiver, MCSD Superintendent Richard “Al” Rogers said he and the board have decided to not have students on campus due to safety concerns.

“By the time December rolled around, we saw the nationwide spike, and the (school) board became very unsure (about in-person learning), even though we had a waiver that allowed us to run school for those grade levels,” Rogers said.

“They were uncomfortable and feeling unsafe. So we shut down until things got safer.”

Rogers, when asked how districts go about obtaining a waiver for in-person classes, said conditions for obtaining waivers have changed.

“But before they changed the rule, you submitted a plan for in-person instruction that adhered to the safety conventions and protocols of the time,” Rogers said.

“If the local county department of health did not have a problem with your safety plan, then you could submit it to the state and you were authentically granted a waiver, which we were.”

Any waiver obtained before January is still valid, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Rogers said Merced City is doing everything it can to provide mental health support through telehealth for students and teachers who need it. Some teachers are even checking in on their students in-person, taking the necessary precautions to do so.

Rogers is optimistic that COVID-19 cases will die down by March, and hopes students and teachers will be able to return to campus then.

Los Banos Unified to remain with distance learning

Mark Marshall, superintendent of Los Banos Unified School District, is working with the Los Banos Teachers Association and Classified School Employees Association to guarantee a transition to in-person learning with the proper safety protocols put in place.

He said LBUSD continues to work hard to ensure students and staff are getting the necessary tools to cope with distance learning, which will continue as long as the county is in purple tier.

LBUSD, like some other school districts, provided laptop computers to all students and provided support to teachers, students and families as needed.

“The Los Banos Unified School district is always prepared to address challenges that come our way,” Marshall said.

“To date, our community has done an exemplary job handling the pandemic. In times of crisis, our great school communities pull together. Subsequently, I am confident that we are well prepared for any unexpected events.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 1:01 PM.