SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Schools may not reopen fully for in-person instruction until Sacramento County has been in the red tier for two weeks, but many parents are starting to receive surveys from school district asking them if they want to stick with distance learning or go back to in person.
“I’ve had a very difficult time with the thought of my grandchildren going back,” Tammy Williams said.
Williams is the grandmother to a kindergartener and a third grader and is not completely comfortable with them, or students in Sacramento County in general, going back to in-person learning even with the county in the red tier.
“I’m concerned about them passing it on to somebody else or that they get sick. We can always make up the education, but if the child is gone?” Williams said.
Teachers are feeling uneasy as well, according to David Fisher with Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA).
“We should wait until the infection rates in all the areas in all the zip codes are at a low enough level and testing is available for all students and staff,” Fisher said.
There are 246,663 students enrolled in public schools in Sacramento County. Larger districts like Sacramento City Unified, San Juan, and Elk Grove do not believe they will be ready to welcome students back to campus right away.
“Capacity is definitely one of the challenges that we face and we knew that, going from the very beginning with the concept of social distancing, how can we provide the space that would be required?" said Xanthi Pinkerton, a spokesperson for Elk Grove Union School District.
"The other challenge if we are only able to do 25% capacity or 50%, that obviously means you can’t have 100% with everyone on at the same time. So there has to be adjustments made with schedules," Pinkerton continued.
San Juan Unified School District Spokesperson Trent Allen said they have all of the PPE but are concerned a return to in-person learning will lead to a student having less time with their teacher than they did with distance learning.
“That learning lost is an important factor that we are taking into account,” Allen said.
A spokesperson with Sacramento City Unified said if they do allow students back on campus, English learners and special education students will be first. The spokesperson went on to say they are still working to make each campus safe and are still figuring out a plan on how they will adjust if there is possible exposure to the virus.
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