Butte County


   

July 23, 2020

This joint press release is to provide an update to our community regarding schools in Butte
County. First and foremost, we want to assure the community that educators around the
county, in collaboration with Butte County Public Health, have been planning and are
prepared to handle different scenarios for how student learning will take place this fall,
dictated by current health circumstances. Butte County Office of Education (BCOE) and Butte
County school districts and charter schools had prepared to offer families options for in?person
learning models. However, on Friday, July 17, 2020, Governor Newsom laid out his plan for
schools across California to physically open or close as the 2020?21 school year approaches.
This plan centers on local data and existing metrics to determine if our students and staff can
return to classrooms for a new school year.

 

The Governor?s plan and the California Department of Public Health?s (CDPH) updated
guidance offer much?needed clarity for our communities and aid our educational leaders in
their decision-making as the 2020-21 school year begins.

The CDPH guidance ties school reopening's to overall disease conditions in its county, as
tracked by the State's County Monitoring List. Counties are placed on a list when they meet
certain thresholds indicating elevated disease conditions, and removed from the list when
disease conditions improve. Counties on the Monitoring List are subject to State-ordered
restrictions for various sectors. The county-wide thresholds and placement on the State?s
Monitoring List determine school districts? ability to offer in-person instruction.

 

The full CDPH framework for school reopening is available here. Some of the'new guidelines
indicate that:
0 Schools can open for in-person instruction when its county has

been off the State Monitoring List for 14 consecutive days. Until the
state removes the county from the State Monitoring List,
schools must not open for in-person instruction.

Additionally, the public health guidance recommends staff in every
California school test for periodically based on local
disease trends and as testing capacity allows.

Butte County was placed on the State?s Monitoring List on July 22 due to a 
case rate above 100 per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. As of July 22, 2020,
Butte County?s case rate is 179.1.

Until Butte County is off the State Monitoring List for 14 consecutive days, all Butte
County schools may only provide distance learning.

We are not in a place that any of us wanted to be to start a new school year. The coronavirus
pandemic has presented us all with some of the most challenging times we have ever
experienced. We acknowledge that this has been another period of fast-changing
circumstances. Families may be feeling confused and ovenivhelmed by all of the information
they have received this summer, and by yet another last-minute shift. We also acknowledge
that the social-emotional needs of our students continue to be of great concern due to the
circumstances that the pandemic has created.

District leaders have worked diligently and thoughtfully to plan and respond with information
that changes seemingly daily. BCOE and local school districts have planned to move to full?

 

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Office of Education Butte County
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time distance learning if local health conditions dictate this. We are prepared for this scenario
and are ready to act swiftly to ensure that students have equitable access to education, and
food nutrition services. BCOE and BCPH will continue to support schools with all available
resources as they move into distance learning, including guidance, professional deveIOpment
for teachers, and collaboration, to ensure that students receive meaningful and equitable
opportunities to learn and succeed in online classrooms.

When the time is right, and public health conditions allow, every district's goal is to provide
families with safe and feasible educational model options. ln-person educational models
include limited in-class opportunities for students to learn and thrive while using health
practices and protocols to make school environments as safe as possible fer students and
staff. The ultimate goal for schools is a full return to the classroom. We need your help in
making this happen. We are asking the community to help us by wearing masks in public,
washing their hands regularly, and limiting social gatherings.

School districts will send families more detailed information regarding the start-of-school dates
and distance learning details in the coming days. It is crucial for families to keep their students
engaged in whatever educational options we can provide to ensure that learning continues to
occun

We understand that when our students and teachers can return to classrooms, school will not
be a ?normal" experience in our COVID reality. It will look, feel, and be different. However, we
as an educational community have learned that we can count on each other when times are
tough. The Butte school community has learned to be resilient. We?ve learned to adapt to
rapidly changing circumstances. Our unified goal is to ensure equitable access to education
for all students while maintaining a safe and healthy environment for staff and students. We all
look forward to our students? eventual return.

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Mary Sakuma Danette York
Superintendent of Schools Director

Butte County Office of Education Butte County Public Health Department