Students at 3 SLO County school districts return to in-person classes as COVID cases rise
As COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County continue to rise, three local school districts brought hundreds of students back to in-person instruction for the first time since March.
San Luis Obispo County saw an sharp increase in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks, pushing it back into the state’s purple tier of coronavirus restrictions.
Atascadero Unified, San Miguel Joint Union and Paso Robles Joint Unified school districts all had various elementary school students return to campuses across the county on Monday and Tuesday.
At the Atascadero district, third through fifth graders came back to classrooms on Monday, while first and second grade students at Paso Robles elementary schools returned to campuses on Tuesday.
At the San Miguel district on Monday, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students returned to Lillian Larsen Elementary School, while students in transitional kindergarten through third grade returned to in-person instruction at Cappy Culver Elementary School.
All three of the districts already had some students on campus. The Atascadero district brought back students in transitional kindergarten through second grade on Nov. 3, while the Paso Robles school district had transitional kindergarten through kindergarten students back on campus on Nov. 4.
Both those districts and the San Miguel district had some special needs students and small-group instruction return to campus over the past month or so.
North County parents send kids back to in-person learning
The rise in local coronavirus cases didn’t stop North County parents from sending their kids to classrooms. Many responded to students’ return to campus with joy mixed with some bittersweet tears.
“Even though it’s mid-November and he’s been home, I have some butterflies right now sending him off,” said Paso Robles resident Joe Holbrook, whose son, Joey, returned to in-person second grade on Tuesday at Pat Butler Elementary School. “It’s awesome to have him back in person, he gets to meet those friends he’s met online.”
Parents at the Paso Robles elementary school nervously watched their kids, who all wore masks, get their temperatures taken and ushered into class by their teachers.
Many expressed relief that their kids could finally be in a classroom learning environment.
“(Distance learning) was a struggle. No kid wants to do four hours a day of school on the computer,” said Donelle Butler, whose son, Daniel, returned to in-person first grade at Pat Butler Elementary School on Tuesday.
“The school did a good job being open with us and letting us know what the expectations were and what the kids were required to do at school,” Butler added. “And now we’re excited to be back. His teacher had a little countdown on the whiteboard every day.”
At all three North County school districts, students who opted for in-person learning are following a hybrid schedule: spending half their day in the classroom, and the other half online.
Each district allowed students to stay in fully-distanced learning.
Districts see few COVID-19 cases since school year began
While on campus, students and teachers at the North County school districts are expected to follow strict health guidelines to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.
However, schools have not been immune from experiencing COVID-19 cases.
At the San Miguel district, one employee and eight students tested positive for the virus. All were in small-group, in-person learning cohorts over the past four weeks.
Three employees at the Paso Robles district have tested positive since the start of the school year, which began in August. Teachers at the district were required to teach distance learning from their classrooms. The district did not identify how many students have tested positive for the virus, since only a small number have returned back to in-person instruction.
The Atascadero district did not return requests for information from The Tribune regarding how many COVID-19 cases the district has confirmed.
When an individual tests positive in a classroom, the whole classroom is required to quarantine for two weeks and monitor symptoms. The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department then assists with contact tracing and enforcing quarantine and isolation measures.
Each district said it is working to ensure that students have temperatures checked and are symptom-free before entering classrooms.
“Sometimes (students) sneak by. They don’t have a fever, they come into the classroom and then the paraeducator or teacher in charge of that group hears a cough,” San Miguel Joint Union School District Superintendent Karen Grandoli said at a Returning to School Safely webinar hosted by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education on Monday evening.
“Right now, we’re erring on the side of caution — the child will be immediately sent to the office, we call home and we send the child home,” Grandoli said.
The district then encourages to get the student tested to ensure they do not have the virus, she said.
SLO County students returning to campus
Other school districts in San Luis Obispo County are in various stages of reopening.
The largest district in the county, Lucia Mar Unified School District, plans to bring all elementary students back on Nov. 30, thought it may delay that reopening date due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the county. The district was holding a board meeting Tuesday night to discuss the plan.
The second largest local district, San Luis Coastal Unified School District, brought preschool and transitional kindergarten students back to campus Nov. 3. The district planned to discuss further reopening its campuses in January in its board meeting on Tuesday night.
Additionally, 13 private schools have had students back in classes for several weeks. Pleasant Valley Joint Union Elementary School District near San Miguel returned students to campus on Oct. 19.
