As Ventura County COVID-19 case rates drop below 25 per 100K, Oak Park Unified School District has announced tha

t they are planning to have the district elementary schools will begin hybrid learning. If on Monday, Feb. 22 the case rat remains under 25 per 100K, which is what Ventura County Public health projects, the district elementary schools will be able to begin Hybrid Learning. The case rate for Ventura County is currently at 23.6 cases per 100K. 

If a parent selected distance learning on the Learning Model Choice Form in November for their student, this decision will hold and the student will remain in distance learning. 

Hybrid learning will begin with developmental kindergarten and kindergarten on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Cohort A will attend on Wednesday, Feb. 24 and Cohort B will attend on Thurs. Feb 25. After these first days, cohort A students will attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays and Cohort B will attend on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  

“This is the first time that many of these children will be coming to campus and we will be prepared to dedicate the care and attention that they need as we help them through the transition,” Superintendent Dr. Tony Knight wrote in the blast. 

The phase-in plan the district is currently following was approved by both the county and the state and follows the recommendations of the Safe Schools for All plan. 

Every staff member who is part of in-person, hybrid learning will be tested before their return to campus. They will then be tested once a week and eventually biweekly when the case rate is below 24 cases per 100K. Parents will be given a test to administer at home for their child on the first day of attendance. As with the teachers, students will be tested weekly until cases drop below 14 cases per 100K and then they will be tested biweekly. 

“The safety of all students and staff is of utmost priority, and our Principals will be checking the safety preparations using a COVID-19 Safety checklist for every classroom before reopening,” Knight wrote. 

All students and staff members are required to wear a mask when they are on campus, and teachers will be given a three-ply adult surgical mask to wear, along with gloves, hand sanitizer, face shields, alcohol wipes, Envirocare spray bottles, paper towels and student masks. 

When the county case rate drops below seven cases per 100K for five consecutive days, secondary schools will be able to open. 

“With the case rate cascading downward, the secondary schools could be opening in the next few weeks, with the possibility that this could occur even before completing the phased-in opening of the elementary schools,” Knight wrote. “Once begun, the phased-in opening of our elementary schools is permitted to continue even if cases tip above the 25 per 100K during this process, but secondary schools may not open until the cases are below 7. Once open, secondary schools can remain open even if the cases go above 7.”

All federal, state and local guidelines and regulations related to the opening of schools are being followed and “exceeded” according to Knight. 

“I sincerely appreciate your patience and support as we work towards reopening our schools and our teachers get settled into the new mode of hybrid learning in the upcoming weeks,” Knight wrote. “On behalf of the Board of Education and my staff, we look forward to welcoming our students back to campus for Hybrid Learning.”

Click here for a resource to look at prior to the return to school.