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October 13 – Week 3 COVID-19 Risk Status Announced

October 13 - Special Meeting of the Board of Education to announce reopening timeline

October 19 – Window Opens for 2nd Semester Program Choice (Hybrid or Virtual)

October 26 – Earliest Alvord can open Learning Hubs for Homeless and Students w/Exceptional or Extraordinary Needs

October 30 – 2nd Progress Report Period Ends

October 30 –Window Closes for 2nd Semester Program Choice (Hybrid or Virtual)

November 2 – Earliest Alvord schools can reopen in-person w/Hybrid model

December 16 – End of the first semester

January 4 – Beginning of the second semester

The most frequently asked questions I've received since the meeting are as follows:

Why didn't the Board take action and make a decision Thursday night? It's a good question. The reason the item was on the Agenda for discussion only was because counties must remain in their assigned tier for at least three weeks before moving forward. Riverside County transitioned from the Purple Tier (Widespread) to the Red Tier (Substantial) on September 22. Next Tuesday, October 13, will be the third week in the Red Tier for Riverside County. The Board has scheduled a Special Meeting of the Board of Education on that day, Tuesday, October 13, to take action on a reopening school timeline. Find details on how to watch the meeting live here.

Why does it matter what tier a county is in? If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. Riverside County's metrics have worsened and depending on this current week's data may transition back into the Purple (Widespread) Tier. School districts that reside in a County in the Purple Tier can only open elementary schools for in-person instruction and only if they are granted a waiver from county and state public health officials. See the infographic below comparing the last two weeks of COVID-19 data.

What is the Equity Metric that the Board discussed during the meeting? The Equity Metric measures the positivity rates in neighborhoods within a county. It is a new metric that went into effect October 6. It is based on the Healthy Places Index (HPI). The HPI is a tool that provides more detailed data. In order to move to a less restrictive tier, in addition to the Adjusted Case Rate and Positivity Rate, a county's lowest quartile HPI census tracts must meet the specified test positivity threshold too. This information is also valuable for schools districts since it provides data specific to the neighborhoods the district serves, compared to the overall county. See the infographic below for more details on the communities that we serve.

The Board of Education directed staff to reopen the Thought Exchange for another week, what's the latest data?

The exchange is now open until 4 pm on Tuesday, October 13, the evening of the Special Meeting of the Board of Education on reopening. We asked students and parents in a separate exchange to share their thoughts on "How do you feel about students returning to campus on the hybrid model?" When the exchange closed on October 7, 2,226 students had participated. As of today 2,416 students have participated. On the parent exchange, 2,893 parents had participated. As of today, 3,612 parents have participated. Below is word cloud for students followed by the word cloud for parents. Below the word clouds are instructional videos on how to participate in the Thought Exchange and have your voice heard.

For families new to Alvord or unfamiliar with the Thought Exchange, it's a crowdsourcing platform that allows stakeholders to anonymously share their thoughts on a topic of interest to all stakeholders so that decision-makers have candid and unbiased input from everyone who will be affected by the decision. Participants are encouraged to visit the exchange at least once a day to rate new comments that appear or add additional comments of their own. Students can participant in their exchange here and parents here. There is no log-in necessary. It's totally anonymous. It is moderated, however, and comments that are off-topic are removed. Participants also can report comments that are offensive or inappropriate.

Visit the Reopening/COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions section of our web site here and choose October 11, 2020 Update. All of the current questions and answers our students and their families are asking are there, including the question, "Why can't families who want to return to in-person instruction return to campus, and those who want to remain virtual, remain virtual? The answer is that when families chose hybrid in July/August, they expected or hoped, as we all did, that conditions in Riverside County and within the district's boundaries (see the Equity Metric question and answer above) would have improved. But after transitioning to a less restrictive tier, the conditions have worsened and are likening worsening further, according to local health officials. In addition, it's the onset of the flu season, as infectious disease experts have warned could further complicate matters if the COVID-19 and influenza epidemics overlap and peak around the same time. The input that we've received on returning for in-person instruction from our students, their families, and our principals and staff is among the considerations the Board is weighing, along with local risk indicators and guidance from Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the Health Officer for the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

On behalf of the Board of Education, please know that the district is going to move forward with an abundance of caution given the county's uncertain status at this time. However, if Riverside County and our local communities successfully emerge from the widespread tier there are reasons to be optimistic about reopening for hybrid students and staff based on school districts in other counties around the state that have safely reopened and have successfully managed the spread of Covid-19 in their communities. As of this past week, there have not been any school districts in Riverside County that have opened for in-person instruction or announced plans to open for in-person instruction prior to the end of 2020.

Thank you for your support. We value your input and appreciate your partnership. Our children are the beneficiaries.

Stay healthy and be well.

Allan Mucerino

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline [Call 800-273-8255 (TALK)] offers free, confidential crisis counseling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People do not have to be in crisis to call. Or text NAMI to 741-741. NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, among the numerous organizations we work closely with to prevent suicide. Another great resource is CareSolace, an online resource with a live 24/7 Help Line designed to assist individuals in finding local mental health related programs and counseling services. Email CareSolace at weserve@caresolace.org or call 888-515-0595. Their counselors speak English, Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Tagalog and Korean.