The novel coronavirus case rate has dropped low enough for Santa Barbara County to move to the state’s red tier, which means junior high and high schools can restart in-person classes, and many businesses can increase their indoor operations.
Sixteen public districts and seven public charter schools are doing hybrid in-person and remote learning, or are planning to start in-person classes by the end of the month, according to the County Education Office.
Many private TK-12 schools have also started in-person classes.
Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said school districts are now allowed to reopen without getting their plans approved by the county and state, a process which was required in the purple tier. Districts do need to make the reopening plans available on their websites for five days before classes start, she said.
The county had already approved plans for 10 TK-6 districts, including Santa Barbara Unified, Lompoc Unified, Buellton Unified, Goleta Union, Orcutt Union and Cuyama Joint Unified. The largest local district, Santa Maria-Bonita, plans to bring students back in mid-April.
On Tuesday, Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta announced it will restart in-person classes this week, ahead of next week’s spring break, with a hybrid schedule.
Principal Bill Woodard said staff have been giving campus tours to freshmen students (who have never attended classes there before) and other new students.
There will be a group of students who attend on-campus classes on Mondays and Thursdays, another group for Tuesdays and Fridays, and a third group of students who chose to continue remote learning, Woodard said.
Other secondary schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District sent out similar messages this week, and the elementary schools have already restarted in-person classes.
Educators and school staff are eligible to be vaccinated, and Woodard said 73% of the district’s 2,100 employees have been vaccinated or have appointments scheduled, 15% are waiting on an appointment date, and 11% have declined a vaccination so far.
As part of the reopening plan, all staff members will be tested before classes start and every two weeks after that, he noted. Testing is also available for students by request or if they show COVID-19 symptoms at school.
The Public Health Department has a map of school districts and reopening status on its COVID-19 data dashboard at sbcdashboard.org in the Community tab.
According to the Santa Barbara County Education Office, the following public school districts are open for full in-person learning or a hybrid schedule of in-person and remote learning:
» Ballard School District (hybrid)
» Blochman Union School District (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-8 starting March 22)
» Buellton Union School District (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-8 starting March 18)
» Carpinteria Unified School District (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-12 starting March 29)
» Cold Spring School District
» College School District
» Goleta Union School District
» Hope School District (hybrid)
» Lompoc Unified School District (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-12 starting March 22)
» Los Olivos School District
» Montecito Union School District
» Orcutt Unified School District (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-12 starting March 25)
» Santa Barbara Unified (hybrid for TK-6, hybrid for grades 7-12 starting March 18)
» Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District (hybrid)
» Solvang School District (hybrid)
» Vista Del Mar Union School District
» Family Partnership Charter School (independent study)
» Manzanita Public Charter
» Olive Grove Charter School
» Peabody Charter (hybrid)
» Santa Barbara Charter
» Santa Ynez Valley Charter
» Trivium Charter School (independent study)
As of Tuesday, the Cuyama Unified School District; Guadalupe Union School District; Santa Maria-Bonita School District; Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and Adelante Charter School were using distance learning.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
