It's hard to believe we are on the cusp of May and the end of the 2021-22 school year. Among the areas we have focused our energy and resources on this past year is the growing crisis in youth mental health. We will continue to target support for our students' mental health needs in 2022-23 by providing a continuum of mental health services, including identification and assessment, early interventions, counseling, crisis intervention, and referrals for services beyond what we may be resourced to provide.

Creating a sense of belonging in our schools is our priority. We aspire to provide every student with a positive and successful school experience. We want our students to love coming to school. We aim to connect our students to our schools by promoting physical and mental wellness and providing behavior support for teachers, staff, and parents. Students feel safe and thrive when schools prioritize strong, positive relationships among students, school staff, and parents.

Thank you for continuing to strengthen your relationship with us as we continue to strengthen our relationship with you.

Currently, our high schools begin period one at 7:30 a.m. and our middle schools begin period one at 8:30 am. Starting this coming school year, our high schools will begin period one at 8:30 a.m. and our middle schools will begin period one at 8:15 a.m. The 15-minute shift in the middle schools was done to avoid conflict with high school start times. Zero-period classes will begin approximately one hour before period one classes at all schools offering zero-period classes. The length of time in the school day will remain the same. The periods will simply shift an hour later in our high schools and fifteen minutes earlier in our middle schools. All after school activities will shift accordingly.

Look for more details from your school principal.

The law does not effect elementary schools. Our TK-5 schools will retain their current start and dismissal times.

On behalf of your Board of Education, I want to express my deepest appreciation to our families for their parenting and leadership during this unusual school year as we all learned to live with COVID.

There are many, many reasons to be optimistic about the future now that we have a better understanding of our students' needs. I expect the 2022-23 school year to be outstanding. Our academic and support services will be better than ever.

While we continue to plan for 2022-23, our focus presently is on providing a great close to the 2021-22 school year. We are happy to offer all of the traditional year-end activities and events that our students deserve and our families appreciate. I look forward to seeing you and celebrating with you as we close out 2021-22.

Stay healthy. Be well.

Sincerely,

Allan Mucerino

California has established an Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, authorized by Senate Bill 129 and Assembly Bill 130, as amended by AB 167. It is the intent of the Legislature that expanded learning programs are pupil-centered, results driven, include community partners, and complement, but do not replicate, learning activities in the regular school day and school year. Expanded learning will include before school, after school, summer, and intersession learning programs that focus on developing the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs and interests of pupils through hands-on, engaging learning experiences. Look for additional information and a parent survey in the coming weeks.

Data for the week ending Friday April 22:

• 8 students (down from 10 the previous week)
• 6 staff members (up from 0 the previous week)

Contact Tracing:

• 105 students identified
• 7 students placed in full quarantine

Overall, as of April 22, including the first semester, we have had 3,266 students and 400 staff members report a positive test for COVID-19. Stay current with our case rate by regularly tracking our COVID-19 Data Dashboard and FAQ here. Cases recorded on the Dashboard are confirmed by Riverside County Public Health officials and remain on the Dashboard for 14 days.

During the week ending April 22, in Riverside County, there were 459 new cases (0.1% increase), equating to 4.4 cases per 100K (7-day average), 3 new deaths (0.05% increase), and a 3.0% test positivity (7-day rate), a 0.6% increase from the previous week. Since many people are now testing at home with antigen rapid tests, the positivity rate is estimated to be much higher since all cases are not reported. There are currently 55 COVID-19 hospitalized patients, 3 more patients hospitalized from the prior day total (5.8% increase).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's newly created Community Level COVID-19 rating system, the community level in Riverside County remains Low. The Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

This data is as of April 22, 2022, as reported on the State's tracking web site.