The School Board met on Thursday, February 18th to review options for returning high school students who chose Vista Classic to in-person learning. During the meeting, four possible options were presented based on recommendations from the Superintendent’s Council for Innovative Learning and alignment to the most recent revision to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) requirements for social distancing. The board voted unanimously to return all Vista Classic secondary students (middle and high) on March 8, 2021 to in-person learning 5 days a week if the district is in the Orange Tier and the state approves the exemption (called CDPH Safe Schools for All Specific Safety Review). If the exemption is not approved or if Vista Unified is not yet in the Orange Tier, all comprehensive high schools will open on March 8, 2021 with the same stable group model as middle schools, which calls for one day per week in-person instruction, three days per week synchronous virtual live learning with the teacher, and one day per week asynchronous learning (without the teacher). Middle schools will open on March 1st using this model, as planned.

Each secondary school is in the process of organizing the grouping, schedule, and communication plan for students and parents. Our administrative team is working with teachers and staff to address appropriate impacts and effects so that our staff is supported as we implement this new structure. Each school will be shifting to one asynchronous day - February 26th for middle school and March 5th for high school - to prepare for the transition back to in-person learning. The board directed the district administration to collaborate with the Vista Teachers Association in an effort to bring simultaneous teaching opportunities to secondary students in Vista Unified. Please note that in the event of inclement weather (defined as 30% chance of rain 48 hours before the day) all middle and high schools will pivot to virtual synchronous learning for that day or days depending on the forecast. This is a health and safety measure outlined in the Guidelines for Quarantines and Instructional Pivots approved during the December 15, 2020 board meeting.

Our Health and Safety team has partnered with middle and high school principals to prepare for the return of Vista Classic students the week of March 1st for middle and March 8th for high. Safety procedures and routines have been revisited to ensure social distancing when students are on campus, and the removal of nonessential furniture from classrooms has helped increase the distance between student desks. Anyone coming onto a Vista Unified school site or district property is required to wear a mask as universal and correct mask wearing is one of the best mitigation measures in the fight against COVID-19.

At the end of last week, the CDPH released new guidance related to youth sports, which takes effect this Friday, February 26th.

Our CIF Section Commissioner, Joe Heintz, has prepared a brief memo that summarizes the impact this new guidance will have on CIF athletics in our section. Key points include:

• Some sports (including football and soccer) will now be allowed to participate in competition when our adjusted case rate falls below 14.0 daily new cases per 100,000 residents despite the fact that this is still in the purple tier
• Informed consent forms will be required to be signed by parents whose children participate in athletics.
• Students recovering from COVID-19 will have different paths to return to sports based on the severity of their illness.

As we head into the second half of the school year and secondary students begin to return to in person learning, the district nursing team wanted to send out some reminders and updates to the COVID-19 symptom Decision Tree. The Decision Tree was formulated by a group of experts at the San Diego County Office of Education and the Health and Human Services Agency and serves as a roadmap for every school district in the San Diego County area.

The Decision Tree is an ever changing document, and as new situations arise, new guidelines are created or modified. The most recent change includes:

• A student now is able to return to school 24 hours after symptoms resolve or greatly improve,
• A Negative Covid-19 PCR test has been obtained, and
• A copy of the PCR Test proof is sent to the school.

This has changed from the previous “72 hour guidance.”

As a result of this new guidance, we have seen a large uptick in the amount of “COVID-19 rapid tests'' being submitted to our school sites. Due to the high false negative rate, San Diego County guidelines have deemed a Negative Rapid Test or an Antigen Test as not acceptable for a student to return to school. “Please ensure when you are getting your student COVID tested that it is a PCR test, as those are the only tests our District may accept”. The Linda Rhoades Recreation Center is open to all members of the public to get a PCR test for free Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.