SDUSD continues online into January
On Dec. 1, San Diego Unified School District issued a statement announcing that plans to gradually open campuses to students were postponed and that distance learning will continue longer into 2021. Here is the statement:
Dear San Diego Unified Family,
Due to ongoing health concerns related to COVID-19 and the safety of our students, staff and community, we have decided to continue with online learning for the majority of students through the first part of the new year. However, appointment-based, in-person instruction will still be available on campus for students with the greatest needs through Phase 1.
The decision to remain online longer than we had hoped will be disappointing to the many students, teachers and others who are eager to be back in the classroom. However, the current spread of the coronavirus in our community makes it unsafe to move forward with Phase 2 of our reopening at this time. We plan to reassess the public health conditions and provide an updated timetable on Jan. 13.
In the meantime, we will continue to provide updated information on our reopening plans on our website. This includes a status dashboard and a complete list of the conditions we are continuing to watch for when it will be safe again to reopen campuses.
We will also continue increasing the number of students participating in the small group instruction, with infant/toddler, early learning, middle school, and high school students to start receiving appointments on Dec. 7. Since October, some 2,000 elementary school students have participated in these appointments.
Everyone looks forward to reuniting students and teachers in classrooms in the new year as quickly and as safely as possible. San Diego Unified has already spent tens of millions of dollars on air filtration, plexiglass desk dividers, hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment and more. Schools will be ready when it is safe and responsible to fully reopen. Unfortunately, that time has not yet come.
Gov. Gavin Newsom warned yesterday of potential drastic new measures at the state level, and, in San Diego County, close to 1,000 new cases have been reported. Hospitalizations have tripled this month. The most difficult stages of the pandemic may yet be ahead of us, but we are confident we will get through this together by remaining vigilant.
Sincerely,
San Diego Unified