GOVERNOR DOUGLAS A. DUCEY

STATE 
EXECUTIV- QD

Executive Order 2020-51

 

 

 

 

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Arizona: Open for Learning

WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, pursuant to A.R.S. 26-303 and 36-787, a declaration of
Public Health State of Emergency was issued due to the necessity to prepare for, prevent,
respond to, and mitigate the spread of and

WHEREAS, on March 30, 2020, the Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services
(ADHS), based on an epidemiological assessment of Arizona speci?c data and in alignment with
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), guidance, recommended that the State
implement enhanced mitigation strategies, which are continuing; and

WHEREAS, on June 24, 2020, Executive Order 2020-41, 2020-2021 School Year, was issued to
offer ?exibility and funding certainty to schools to ensure that Arizona students and families
would have educational consistency during these unprecedented times; and

WHEREAS, on June 29, 2020, Executive Order 2020-44, Protecting Public Health for Students
and Teachers, was issued to aid in the delivery of education for the 2020-2021 school year in a
safe and effective manner while monitoring the impacts of mitigation efforts for and

WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 2, of the Arizona Constitution vests the State Board of
Education with overseeing the general conduct and supervision of the public school system; and

WHEREAS, A.R.S. directs the State Board of Education to ?exercise general
supervision over and regulate the conduct of the public school system and adopt any rules and
policies it deems necessary to accomplish this purpose,? and

WHEREAS, A.R.S. directs the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools to
?exercise general supervision over charter schools that are sponsored by the board? and to ?adopt
rules and policies that the board deem necessary;? and

WHEREAS, A.R.S. 15-251(4) directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ?[e]xecute,
under the direction of the state board of education, the policies that have been decided on by the
state board;? and

WHEREAS, in order for Arizona?s public schools and their students to be successful, it is
essential that schools retain personnel who have the proper training, credentials and experience
to perform essential functions and job duties when schools resume in-person or other
instructional operations during the 2020-2021 school year; and

WHEREAS, the ability for Arizona?s schools to retain their current workforce is essential to
reduce the signi?cant costs associated with recruiting, hiring and training new staff; and

WHEREAS, the decision for students and staff to return to physical school buildings should be
made at the local level, based on health data, the needs of the community and capacity to return
with suf?cient mitigation strategies; and

WHEREAS, the American Academy of Pediatrics has noted that in-person learning is critical to
both a child?s education, and to their developmental, behavioral and emotional well-being; and

WHEREAS, the focus for this school year must be on ensuring that Arizona students have a
successful academic year even though it may look different than ever before given the ongoing
pandemic.

NOW, THEREFORE, 1, Douglas A. Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, in consultation
with the Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, by virtue of the authority vested
in me by the Constitution and laws of the State, including but not limited to A.R.S. 26-303
and 36?787 do hereby order:

1. The Arizona Department of Health Services shall develop public health benchmarks for
the safe return of in-person, teacher-led classroom instruction, and make them available
no later than August 7, 2020. These recommendations shall be informed by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, and may be revised as necessary to re?ect
the most current public health standards.

a. Each school district and charter school shall consider these recommendations,
guidance from county health of?cials, community needs and available resources
to determine when in-person, teacher-led classroom instruction can safely be
made available.

b. School districts and charter schools shall refer to mitigation strategies as outlined
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adopt a mitigation plan prior
to opening a school building for on-site support services or in?person instruction.

2. Each school district and charter school shall begin teacher-led distance learning
instruction by the ?rst day of the school district or charter school?s instructional calendar
submitted to the Arizona Department of Education.

a. The school district or charter school shall submit its distance learning plan to the
Arizona Department of Education or the Arizona State Board for Charter
Schools no later than the start date of distance learning instruction or August 14,
2020, whichever is earlier, as required under Executive Order 2020-41.

b. To the greatest extent possible, schools should offer learning where a
teacher provides instruction in real-time.

0. Instruction provided via distance learning shall count toward the minimum
instructional days or an equivalent number of hours required by A.R.S. 
15-34101 and 15-901.

(1. Consistent with Executive Order 2020?41, the state funding for students receiving
instruction via distance learning on either a full-time or part-time basis shall be

treated as a student receiving instruction via Arizona online instruction as
prescribed in A.R.S. 15-808. School districts and charter schools that comply
with the provisions of Executive Order 2020-41, Executive Order 2020-44, and
this Executive Order will be eligible to receive grant funding from the Enrollment
Stability Grant Program to address any. potential funding shortfall that might
occur

3. Each school district and charter school shall begin offering free on?site learning
opportunities and support services for students who need a place to go during the day as
required by Executive Order 2020-41 and shall begin August 17, 2020, as prescribed in
Executive Order 2020-44.

a.

Aschool district or charter school that has not returned to physical buildings
for teacher?led classroom instruction in accordance with paragraph 1 of this
Executive Order, is still obligated to provide on-site learning opportunities and
support services under Executive Order 2020-41.

On?site learning required by Executive Order includes in?person
support services such as student supervision and strategic support for students in
need during standard school hours, which may include teacher-led or
paraprofessional support for students with distance learning instruction.

A school district or charter school may adopt procedures to ensure that the
number of students present for free on-site support services does not exceed the
maximum number of students who can be present in a facility while maintaining
appropriate physical distancing or other mitigation strategies as outlined by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These procedures shall not limit the
availability of, or result in a refusal to provide, free on?site support services.

A school district or charter school may apply to the Arizona Department of
Education for a waiver of the requirement under Executive Order 2020-41 to
provide free on-site learning if a county health department, in conjunction with
the Arizona Department of Health Services, advises closing an entire school
district or charter school due to an outbreak of the virus, or a tribal sovereign
nation issues a ?stay-at-home? order impacting a school district or charter school
on or adjacent to a reservation.

4. Each school district and charter school shall take the following steps to ensure parents
and guardians are noti?ed of school operations:

a.

b.

Post its distance learning plan on the school district or charter school?s website by
the ?rst day of distance learning instruction;
Notify parents and guardians of the requirements of A.R.S. 15-802 and the
minimum level of contact required to maintain enrollment as indicated in the
distance learning plan;
Post its mitigation plan on the school district or charter school?s website prior to
opening the school building for on-site support services or in-person instruction;
Post on the school district or charter schOol?s website the details of their plan to
provide free, on?site llearning opportunities and support services, and:

i. Notify all parents of the availability of this opportunity;

ii. Make direct contact with families of children enrolled in the free or
reduced priced lunch meal program, students with disabilities, English
language learners and those in the care of the Arizona Department of
Child Safety, including foster care, to notify them.

5. All school districts and charter schools shall develop and implement a policy to require
face coverings, such as face masks or face shields, for all staff and students over the age
of ?ve until the Arizona Department of Health Services determines that face coverings
are no longer necessary or recommended to contain the spread of the virus.

a. Policies shall include exceptions for instances when students can socially distance
or are outside in playground settings with distancing, and shall allow breaks for
students to take their face covering off in a safe environment.

b. Schools shall incorporate other restrictions and exceptions consistent
with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

0. Cloth face coverings should not be worn by children under the age of 2 or anyone
who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to
remove the mask without assistance.

6. As a direct bene?t to the State, its public schools and Arizona families, and in furtherance
of the public purpose of ensuring that properly trained, quali?ed and experienced
personnel continue to be available when classes resume, Arizona?s public
schools may continue to pay their employees or classes of employees, including hourly
employees, during periods of school building closure, so long as:

a. The public school determines that such payments are necessary to preserve a
properly trained, quali?ed and experienced workforce, it serves the public
purpose of protecting the public schools? investment in its workforce and the
public school has suf?cient revenues to continue such payments due to
school building closures, as determined by the governing boards of each public
school; and

b. To be eligible for payment, the employee remains committed and available to
work during the employee?s normal work hours or during periods of
school building closures, whether the work is to be performed in-person or
remotely, or the employee is given an alternative work assignment for which they
are quali?ed to perform.

7. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Order, Executive Order 2020-41, and Executive
Order 2020-44, developmental preschools, which provide services to children with
disabilities, may provide services in-person, consistent with CDC and ADHS public
health recommendations.

8. The Arizona Department of Education in collaboration with the State Board of Education
and the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools may develop guidance to assist school
districts and charter schools consistent with this Executive Order.

10.

11.

12.

 

The Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools
shall monitor compliance to the provisions of subsection 4 of this Executive Order when

evaluating implementation of Distance Learning Plans as prescribed in Executive Order
2020-41.

Any provisions of this Executive Order that con?ict with Executive Order 2020-41,
2020-2021 School Year: Prioritizing Kids and Schools During COVID-19, or Executive
Order 2020-44, Protecting Public Health and for Students and Teachers, govern.

If any provision of this Executive Order and Executive Orders 2020-41 and 2020-44,
which are incorporated herein, or their application to any person or circumstance is held
invalid by any court of competent jurisdictions, this invalidity does not affect any other
provision or application of these Executive Orders, which can be given without the
invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of these
Executive Orders are declared to be severable.

This order shall remain in place for the duration of the 2020-2021 school year that ends
on June 30, 2021.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused to be af?xed the Great Seal of the
State of Arizona.

$27k" 0n

GOVERNOR

DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this.
twenty-third day of July in the year Two Thousand
- . and Twenty and of the Independence of the United
,5 States of America the Two Hundred and

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ATTEST:

Secretary of State