Downey parents asked to commit to back-to-school plan
DOWNEY — As the Downey Unified School District continues to plan for an eventual return to campus, they are now asking parents to commit to either full-distance or hybrid models.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Downey school board was given another update and glimpse at what the future holds for teachers and students.
At the elementary level, classes will operate on an a.m. / p.m. model. All students will come to school four days a week with one distance learning day.
Students will be split between two groups – a morning group and an afternoon group – meeting from 8:30-11 a.m. and 12:10-2:40 p.m. respectively. There is no formal recess period and lunch will be provided in grab and go style.
Between these two groups, teachers will be provided time for a break, cleaning, and lunch.
At the secondary level, students will be split into three cohorts – two in-person, and one distance learning - which will alternate between four days, with a full-distance day on Wednesday.
Classes will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with teachers teaching in-person and zoom students simultaneously. Lunch will also be grab and go, to be eaten off campus. There will then be an intervention/enrichment period from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m., with office hours following until 3 p.m.
Once on campus, students can expect mandatory face coverings, as well as the implementation of desk shields and safety signage.
Social distancing will also be in effect, including one-way directions / movement, and multiple and assigned entry points.
Students and staff will be trained on proper hand hygiene, and will be required to wash hands and/or use hand sanitizer upon entering school sites and classrooms.
Water fountains will no longer be accessible. Instead, the District will provide water bottle filling stations around campuses.
Classrooms, restrooms and workspaces will all be cleaned and disinfected at the end of the school day.
More information on safety protocols and measures taken can be found online on the District’s website.
Parents are now being asked to state their intent for their students, committing to either full-distance learning or hybrid schedule and submitting their choice to the District by next Monday, Nov. 16.
“In order to make schedules, we need to know how many teachers are coming back and how many students are coming back,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Roger Brossmer. “Everything surrounds getting that information as soon as we can. As soon as we have that, we can start working on schedules.”
“We have to confirm or lock [families] into that choice…We’re not doing it to rush people, but we really need to have the data so that we can come back and have schedules ready to go. There’s a lot of pieces, but we need all pieces together to really do the important next steps that we have.”
Still, a return cannot take place until LA County can move from the purple “widespread” tier to the red “substantial” tier.
“Our Jan. 4 date is contingent upon being red Dec. 7,” said Brossmer.