Middle and high school students at Orange County’s largest school district will likely not return to campus full-time when classes resume in the fall.
Instead, some 26,700 students of Capistrano Unified School District will likely have two options: learn remotely full-time or attend classes on campus two and a half days a week, with the rest of their instruction done online.
The district simply doesn’t have enough credentialed educators to teach everyone five days a week, while significantly cutting its class sizes to account for social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus, spokesman Ryan Burris said.
Elementary school students will likely have an option to stay on campus five days a week. It is possible the district will start normally in the fall for everyone if state guidelines change so schools reopen without significantly reduced class sizes, Burris said. But the district appears to be the first in Orange County publicly acknowledging that at least some students will likely not be able to return to campus full-time in the fall.
“If we can open to every student on campus and fill our classrooms like in the past, we would welcome that,” Burris said. “But given the reality of where we are at, we have to plan accordingly.”
Since May, district leaders have been working on a reopening plan for the district, which teaches 47,000 students pre-K through 12th grade in south Orange County from part of Mission Viejo south to San Clemente.
In the district’s survey of parents, which received almost 25,000 responses, nearly 90% said they would prefer their child to attend school on campus full-time rather than to enroll in online programs.
Elementary schools can provide the full-time option because credentialed teachers have to only teach for half the students’ school day. The rest of the day, which includes activities such as art, music, recess and lunch, can be supervised by a staff member who is not credentialed, Burris said.
But for middle and high school students, each subject needs to be taught by educators credentialed in that area. If the district cuts its class size in half to 16-to-1 to account for social distancing and still plans to have everyone on campus full-time, it would need to hire a lot more teachers credentialed in each subject area, he said.
Burris also noted that 43% of the parents of elementary students would need child care for the days their kids are not on campus, according to the district’s survey. About 22% of the parents of middle school students and 13% of the parents of high school students said the same.
“The survey told us there was a significant number of parents who were working,” Burris said. “Part of our efforts, especially for K-5 kids, is to support our working families and to put a plan together that would allow parents to have their kids in school all day.”
District officials have yet to finalize the finer details, such as what to do with afterschool programs and whether to require students to wear masks. Burris said decisions on those issues will likely be made closer to when schools reopen in August.
Dannielle Kelly, whose daughter Emma will be a senior at Tesoro High in Las Flores, said she’s disappointed to hear it may not be possible for her daughter to attend school five days a week.
“They need their friends, which is a huge part of going to school, which isn’t just about academics,” she said. “Not all school is about education.”
Kelly also said she acknowledges the danger of having students return to campus.
“It’s up to us to protect our grandparents, but it shouldn’t be taking away from kids to be able to go to school,” she said. “They’ve got a long life ahead of them, and we shouldn’t make it so hard for them already.”
District officials will continue the discussion about their reopening plan at the June 24 board meeting at 7 p.m. At the meeting, officials will also discuss a proposal to lay off 88 employees – including preschool assistants and teachers as well as behavioral assistants – as part of the district’s plan to make $35 million in budget cuts stemming largely from the reduced money from the state.
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Middle and high school students at Capistrano Unified not likely to fully return to campuses - OCRegister
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