Three weeks after the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board approved a potential hybrid model for a return to school, a new scenario is now emerging: An all-remote start to the academic year. 

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordering closures again for some business sectors, and amid an all-around state of confusion about the future of the pandemic, momentum is building to start the year in a remote school environment and pivot to a hybrid scenario once the curve is flattened. 

“It is clear that as a state we were not willing to be as disciplined and unselfish as we should have been in order to mitigate the risks for teachers, staffs, and students,” board member Kate Ford said. “I am also less and less convinced that the hybrid model will provide the level of safety and the thriving school environment that our community deserves.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the country, decided Monday to start the school year in a remote environment.

“Given the recent alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in California, I am not surprised by the decision of LAUSD and San Diego Unified,” Ford said. “But, I am heartbroken.”

Ford said she is guided by the Hippocratic Oath: “First, do no harm.”

The school board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, for a special work session to discuss plans for re-opening. Several other representatives from Sansum Clinic, the United Way of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Santa Barbara Education Foundation will take part in the discussion.

The situation is fluid.

Three weeks ago it looked like the board was leaning toward a hybrid scenario, where students would attend two days a week, learn from home two other days, and then have a flex day for the fifth. But that shifted with the recent increase in cases. The school district is in talks with the United Way and other nonprofit organizations about creating a network of child care or cohorts around the city where students could continue learning and interacting with their peers on days they are not going to school, which would also allow parents to have coverage while they are at work. 

A hybrid scenario is still on the table, but there’s talk behind the scenes that it would be safer to begin with remote learning and then pivot to the hybrid scenario once the curve is again flattened. 

Karen McBride, president of the Santa Barbara Teachers Association, said teachers would love to return to teach their students because it is their passion, but safety is the No. 1 concern for educators, students and everyone who works in schools. 

“With the number of cases in Santa Barbara and countywide getting worse at a much more elevated rate than back in March, April and May, that may mean that remote learning is the safest alternative,” McBride said. “If we have to start the school year in full remote mode, it will not be like it the emergency conditions we faced in March.”

McBride said in March it was an “emergency situation in which we were flying the plane while we were building it.” Much has changed since then in terms of teachers understanding how to deliver online learning platforms. 

“Teachers gained many skills for remote teaching in the spring, they strengthened collaborative professional teams, and there is ongoing professional development happening to  improve our remote teaching and learning,” McBride said. “If teachers and students resume school in classrooms, there is a very high chance that we will end up in a remote learning mode, and that could happen quickly.”

The classrooms must be safe for everyone, McBride said. 

“If teachers do go back to the classrooms, they want every assurance that every public health and safety measure is considered, and funding and planning is ample to create safe environments for learning,” McBride said. 

She also said there are many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and the ability to monitor the health of everyone in the room. 

“At this time, it still seems that testing may be difficult to get, results can take up to a week, and there are questions about whether contact tracing is robust in our area,” McBride said. 

McBride said that almost every educator has some level of concern about adequate sanitation, personal protective equipment, classroom ventilation, social distancing and being able to keep students safe in classrooms, “and so many more conditions that need to be in place to safely return.”

“Some teachers want to continue full remote learning due to health concerns for themselves, family members, and their students,” McBride said. 

Dr. Dan Brennan, a pediatrician, will be one of the participants at Tuesday’s meeting. He urged people to take protective measures to ensure that schools open as soon as it is safe. 

“We can reduce the spread of COVID-19 by voluntarily staying home as much as possible, going out only when it is absolutely necessary and avoiding gatherings with groups of people who don’t live in the same household,” Brennan said. “Forty percent of people who are infected with COVID may not show any obvious symptoms, but can unsuspectingly spread the virus to others. If we all wear masks when we have to go out into public, we can help to further reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

He stressed that the community should work together and make a concerted effort during the final weeks of summer. 

“We are all looking forward to our kids being able to return to school as soon as it is safe for our students, teachers and staff to return to campus,” Brennan said. 

No one knows when that will be, though. 

Hilda Maldonado, the new superintendent of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, said the circumstances are changing rapidly. 

She said she is working with the technology team to ensure that all students have access to WiFi and the tools necessary to succeed remotely. 

“The scenario for all students to return safely is contingent on the ability to have testing, contact tracing and a vaccine,” Maldonado said. “We all know that the best place for students is in a classroom with caring teachers. With that said, the health of all in schools is key to the success of students.”

Maldonado said she and the board will be looking closely at the rates of infection “and our ability to follow the guidelines and mostly ensuring learning continues for all students.”

As the district plans whether to bring students back into the classroom, Tuesday’s meeting will be held via Zoom, with each member of the board and staff connecting online through their computers from their homes. 

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.